IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 14, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We have less than two weeks to go before Summerslam and it’s time to try and juice the interest a bit. Last week saw Retribution show up on Smackdown and this week it’s a bunch of guest stars in a tri-brand battle royal for the shot at Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title. That could go a lot of different ways so let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at Retribution’s attacks and antics over the last few weeks.

Cole says that Retribution is “hiding behind current events.”

Big E. vs. John Morrison

Before the match, Big E. reminds us of his singles success and calls those who forget it false prophets. There’s no Miz here, but there are some flickering lights….and here’s Retribution. They chase off commentary and storm the ring, including taking out Big E.’s knee. A spear puts Big E. down and the team runs away, with Miz running out to check on Morrison. There were eight or nine of them this time but only about half of them got physical. No match of course.

Post break Big E. and Morrison are in the back with various wrestlers around them. Miz blames Big E. for sending out a tweet about Retribution, but here’s King Corbin to say Smackdown needs leadership. Corbin can lead them to safety so Big E. talks about how this is Smackdown. Cue Sheamus to say we need someone serious and he can smell the fear in Big E. because he’s lonely. Big E. says he’s not lonely and most of the wrestlers leave with him.

Here are Bayley and Sasha Banks for a chat. They can’t be held down by Stephanie McMahon and they’ll defend their Tag Team Titles at Payback. As for tonight, they don’t like commentary so they’ll handle the ring introductions for the battle royal.

Battle Royal

Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Tegan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart, Lacey Evans, Naomi, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Dana Brooke, Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Tamina, Asuka

The winner gets a shot at Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title at Summerslam. Before the match, Sasha runs her mouth about Asuka a bit too much and here’s Asuka to chase her off. We come back for the opening bell and Riott is kicked out in a hurry. Morgan pulls Kay out and Royce follows her, but they pull Morgan out as well. The four get in a brawl on the outside and Cross is thrown outside, but not eliminated. Belair is thrown over but hands on by one hand for an impressive save.

As Cole confirms that they are leaving the Performance Center next week, Tamina superkicks Cross out and has the staredown with Belair. That doesn’t last long as Tamina is thrown out, meaning it’s time for Naomi to clean house for a bit. Lacey throws her to the apron, where Naomi kicks Shayna in the head but gets Woman’s Righted out. Shotzi gets rid of Lacey but Shayna grabs the Kirifuda Clutch on Shotzi and Lacey pulls Blackheart out.

Nox can’t whip Belair in but she can roll her throat first into the middle rope. Belair misses a charge and gets low bridged out. We’re down to Nox, Asuka, Baszler and Brooke (on the floor) with Nox hitting the reverse Cannonballs on the Raw women. Baszler blocks Nox’s chokeslam and picks her up (barely) for the elimination. Brooke gets back in and is tossed by Brooke, meaning it’s off to Asuka vs. Baszler.

With Bayley looking worried, Baszler kicks Asuka over the top and out to the apron, but Asuka kicks her down as well. Bayley and Banks interfere and get knocked down so Baszler knocks Asuka onto the apron….and she lands on the champs, meaning no elimination. Asuka pulls Baszler out for the win at 8:05, meaning she’s facing both Banks and Bayley for both singles titles.

Rating: C. This was fine and Asuka getting both shots is certainly a different way to go. It’s not like there is anyone else who could be a viable option to challenge Bayley at the moment. I can get the idea of going with the safe pick, but at some point they need to actually elevate someone else. That’s going to mean more than just putting someone out there as the challenger of the month too, and WWE hasn’t seemed interested in doing that on Smackdown for a long time.

Post break Asuka jumps Bayley from behind and has to be held back.

We look at Sonya Deville jumping Mandy Rose two weeks ago.

Mandy doesn’t think much of Sonya saying she’s just a pretty face because she has heard it all before. She has been called a Barbie who has everything handed to her her whole life, but she worked three jobs to put herself through college while winning a Miss Bikini World Title. Is that being handed everything? If Sonya hates her that much, put her money where her mouth is and let’s have a hair vs. hair match at Summerslam. Then we’ll see how ugly it gets. This was better than any other Mandy promo, but that isn’t much of a bar to clear.

Sheamus tells security to enjoy themselves because no one is attacking him tonight.

Nikki Cross sees Alexa Bliss (who she should have seen as both of them seem to have been standing in the same place for a little while) and hugs her but Bliss needs to be alone to deal with this Fiend stuff.

Sheamus vs. Shorty G.

Sheamus powers him into the corner to start but Shorty takes him down by the leg. A chinlock is broken up in a hurry and Sheamus ax handles him in the face. Shorty gets in a rolling kick to the face and a missile dropkick gives him two of his own. Sheamus has had it though and hits White Noise into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 3:35.

Rating: D+. And there’s another loss for Gable, because we were dumb enough to believe that they might actually do something good with him for once. As long as he has that name, nothing is going to matter whatsoever with him though and when you add in the losses, it isn’t exactly looking great for his future. Not a good match either, but being on TV is better than being on the sidelines.

AJ Styles yells at an agent over something on a computer. That agent would be better known as Abyss, albeit in his Joseph Park attire.

Here’s AJ Styles, with the yet to be named Park and a board covered with a black sheet, to rant about how he has beaten a bunch of people and needs a new opponent. After plugging his Twitch channel, AJ talks about how fans have been telling him that he needs to face certain opponents because statistically, they are his best opponents. AJ has been watching baseball and football and realizes that he is a stud of a stats nerd himself. That brings him to Park, who is his Phenomenal Intercontinental Statistic System. AJ: “IT’S A WORK IN PROGRESS!”

Based on the statistics, let’s see who is #1 one on the board. That would be AJ Styles, and, after consulting with Joseph Park (who AJ mentions by name), we see that no one is #2-5, because no one has earned a shot at the champ. Cue Jeff Hardy to interrupt to say he never got a fair shot at the title because of Sheamus.

That title is important to him because it was his first singles title in WWE. Now he’s back on his feet and the idea of Hardy vs. Styles sounds mega cool. AJ says he respects Jeff but of course he can’t have a title shot. Jeff jumps AJ, hits Park, and nails the Twist of Fate on Styles. Hardy writes his name on the board in a nice touch.

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are in the back but Lucha House Party steals their titles. The chase is on.

AJ promises to erase Jeff Hardy, but the marker is permanent. The match seems to be on though.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Gran Metalik

Cesaro and Lince Doradn are here too, with Cesaro taking the titles back early on. Feeling out process to start with Nakamura taking him into the corner, only to have Metalik stop a charge with a shot to the face. Metalik hits a springboard elbow to the face for two and loads up the rope walk, but Cesaro offers a distraction.

Nakamura kicks him out of the air for a cocky near fall and grabs the reverse exploder. Kinshasa is loaded up but here’s the returning Kalisto (I believe in his first appearance this year) to take out Cesaro. The distraction lets Metalik kick Nakamura in the head and hit the rope walk elbow for the upset at 4:10.

Rating: C-. The action was good enough but the point of this was the return of Kalisto, which at least makes the House Party a little more credible. Dorado and Metalik are good but they haven’t actually won anything. Kalisto has won a bunch of titles and while it has been a good while ago, it’s better than what his partners have done.

Matt Riddle, after assuring that it’s ok to refer to Kayla Braxton as bro, isn’t worried about the King’s Ransom on his head. He’s tried to fight King Corbin but it’s clear that Corbin is just a royal pain. Cue Shorty G. to say he’s sorry and he was just looking out for his family. Injuring someone isn’t his thing and everything seems to be cool. Riddle is down for a fight anytime, but here’s Corbin to jump Riddle from behind. Corbin thanks Shorty, and even calls him Chad. Gable doesn’t seem sure of what just happened.

We get a sitdown interview with Alexa Bliss, who talks about her relationship with Braun Strowman. This includes a highlight package of their time together, including their rather adorable Mixed Match Challenge vignettes. She isn’t sure if anything would ever happen romantically between the two of them, but they have to talk about the Fiend. Bliss knows what it means to be in his presence and it really is like a moth being drawn to a flame. We see Strowman’s comments from last week where he said he didn’t care about her. Bliss is too emotional to speak to wrap it up.

Next week: AJ Styles defends against Jeff Hardy.

Sonya Deville accepts Mandy Rose’s challenge and can’t wait to see her bald.

Big E. vs. John Morrison

Miz is on commentary and praises Morrison’s mastery of all the martial arts. Miz: “He’s even a great painter!” Big E. has a taped up knee so Morrison goes straight for the target. Morrison heads up top but gets shoved down in a hurry. That’s enough to set up the apron splash but Big E. goes after Miz, allowing Morrison to get in a chop block. Miz has to get a fresh headset as Morrison grabs a chinlock. Cue Otis with the Money in the Bank briefcase but the lights start flickering. Cole calls for security and we take a break.

Back with the lights flickering again and the locker room at ringside for security. We cut to the back where Retribution is wrecking things, including beating up some referees and a lone wrestler. They lock someone in the bathroom and throw a bunch of chairs, but since no this isn’t on the screen for no adequately explained reason (They can play entrance videos but not show a backstage feed?), the wrestlers at ringside don’t know anything about it.

Cue Jessika Carr to deliver the message so the locker room runs to the back. Retribution is gone and the wrestlers aren’t happy with the crossed out WWE logo spray painted on the wall. Big E. shoves Morrison off the ropes and hits the Rock Bottom out of the corner for two. Morrison escapes the Big Ending and kicks at the knee as Miz explains that he cares about Morrison too much to go backstage. Big E. grabs the Stretch Muffler for the quick tap at 11:49.

Rating: C-. It was hard to focus on the match here as there was so much going on at the same time. This felt more like an Attitude Era style angle with a bunch of other stuff going on and the match as a backdrop, which is fine enough as it’s not exactly something important. At least Big E. got the win as well, as they haven’t managed to derail the singles push. Yet.

Post match here’s Sheamus to brogue Kick Big E. but here’s Braun Strowman (now bald) to scare everyone else off.

Post break Strowman says Fiend knows what he’s getting at Summerslam so get out here and face your fears. Strowman is going to eviscerate him and consume his entrails…but here’s Alexa Bliss instead. She says they need to talk but Strowman says she used him. He’s like a pawn that she used to get him to sing songs in her stupid car. Bliss wants to know what is going on, so Strowman explains that the Fiend changes everyone, including her. So get out of here, because he wants the Fiend.

Bliss tells him to be careful what he wishes for and offers to slap some sense into him. She demands he look at her and hits a heck of a slap before doing it over and over. Strowman picks her up in a gorilla press…and there go the lights. Strowman shouts for the Fiend and slams Bliss down as the lights go completely out. They come back in red with Fiend having replaced Strowman. Strowman appears on the screen and laughs, with Fiend doing the same, to end the show.

The Bliss stuff is a little more interesting but when you have Strowman reading what sounds like the results you get from looking up your promo in a thesaurus, you can only take it so seriously. Strowman still can’t talk and since his entire character is built around being really strong, he doesn’t have the emotional depth to make something like this work out. Also it has been about three months now and they need to wrap it up already.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling wasn’t the point here, but the big positive is the same thing that was the case on Raw: it feels like they have a focus and an idea that they’re going for on this show. I’ll take a slightly weaker show with a point than a bunch of meaningless stuff week after week. They set up stuff for next week and for Summerslam and that’s a heck of a lot better than Raw and Smackdown tends to do. Not a great show, but it’s a lot better than what they had been doing in recent months.

Results

Asuka won a battle royal last eliminating Shayna Baszler

Sheamus b. Shorty G. – Brogue Kick

Gran Metalik b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Top rope elbow

Big E. b. John Morrison – Stretch Muffler

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

Main Event
Date: August 6, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

Let the recapping continue as we move towards Summerslam at what somehow feels like a rushed and slow pace at the same time. This week’s TV featured the big ideas of Retribution and Raw Underground, both of which could be quite interesting if WWE can pull off a miracle. I’m not sure how they are going to go in short form, but WWE has done weirder things. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Arturo Ruas

Ruas has been on NXT before and has spent a good deal of time in Evolve. Carrillo ducks a big kick to the head to start and they grapple into the corner. An armbar takes Carrillo down but he spins out of a wristlock without much effort. A crossbody sends Ruas into the corner for a running dropkick to the floor. Ruas is back inside before the dive though and that means a jumping knee to the face back inside. Back in and Ruas kicks away before grabbing the quickly broken chinlock. An armbar works a bit better but Ruas misses a running knee in the corner. The high crossbody gives Carrillo two and it’s a torture rack into a faceplant for the pin on Ruas at 5:27.

Rating: C-. Yeah it’s still Carrillo, but it is nice to see someone fresh in there with him. WWE has this many people in and around Orlando so bring them onto the show and spice things up a little bit. It isn’t a great match or anything, but at least they did something fresh for a change.

From Smackdown.

We go to the Firefly Fun House where Bray Wyatt has a snorkel because he was looking for Braun Strowman. Though maybe the alligators have already eaten Braun. All Bray ever wanted to do was save Braun but now HE is awake and HE wants something Braun has. Until HE gets it, none of you are safe. Let him in.

From Smackdown again.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross

Bayley is defending and Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are the seconds. Cross starts fast by knocking Bayley around and hitting a monkey flip. The Purge is broken up so Nikki slams her head first into the mat over and over. Bayley is back with a shot in the ropes but Nikki sends her outside in a crash as we take a break. We come back with Bayley running Nikki over and sending her into the buckle. A belly to back suplex drops Nikki on her head for two but a shot to the throat gets her out of trouble.

There’s a tornado DDT for two on Bayley and a reverse DDT onto the apron has her in more trouble. Back in and Nikki gets two off a Regal Cutter but Bayley snaps her throat first across the rope. Bayley goes over to the announcers’ table to mock Nikki’s dance for reasons of general cockiness, allowing Nikki to take her down by the leg. A dropkick through the ropes takes Sasha down and they fight over some rollups for two each. Bayley pops back up and hits the bulldog driver to retain at 10:30.

Rating: C+. They were just starting to cook and then Bayley finished her in a hurry to retain. It didn’t last long but they had me believing they might pull the surprise for a bit. That’s hard to do given how dominant Bayley has been but they need to have someone give her a real challenge because you can only do these same things over and over so many times.

Post match Bayley and Banks leave and the copyright comes up but we stay with Bliss trying to help Nikki up. Nikki says no and shoves her down before leaving on her own. Cue the Fiend of all people to kneel next to Bliss and hold out his hand, which she looks at while shaking her head. Fiend Mandible Claws Bliss to end the show. If we have to do this one more time, that’s a different enough way to go to make it more interesting.

Here’s Drew McIntyre for a chat. He talks about Randy Orton has spent twenty years preying on vulnerability and then coming after McIntyre last week after an Extreme Rules match. McIntyre should have seen it coming and that’s on him. He has gotten in trouble for being lazy before and that was why Vince McMahon fired him. Orton has had everything handed to him over the years though and has gotten in so much trouble over the years that he should have been fired a long time ago.

Cue Orton with Ric Flair to say he wants to be here because he enjoys being here. He enjoys hitting RKOs and punting heads. Orton likes Drew’s spirit, which is going to make beating him at Summerslam all the sweeter. Reigns says Orton should have been fired years ago and he’s right. Orton should have been fired multiple times but Drew was the one who was fired. That’s because Orton was more valuable to this company than Drew ever could be. He has gotten chance after chance because he is the chosen one, then now and forever.

Drew has been quoting legends, but what has he done that makes him that great. McIntyre talks about Undertaker saying he pulled Orton up to his level in the Last Ride, but when has Orton ever done that? How about ten years ago? When Drew’s career was falling down around him and he was self destructing, a kind word from someone like Orton could have changed everything.

Drew looks at Orton and sees a selfish jerk, so at Summerslam it’s time to cash in some receipts both for himself and all the legends that Orton has kicked in the head. This time though, Orton will see it coming. This was good stuff and the kind of thing that can build up a match that makes all the sense in the world on paper.

Riddick Moss vs. Mustafa Ali

Moss throws him down with straight power to start and then does it again for a bonus. Ali’s chop has no effect and a dropkick doesn’t do much better. Another hard shot to the face gives Moss an early two and we hit the chinlock. We take a break and come back with Moss being pulled off the top but taking out Ali’s knee in a smart move.

Moss stomps away in the corner and a leglock sends Ali to the ropes. That’s fine with Moss, who wraps the knee around the post. A snap suplex gets a very delayed two and we hit the half crab. That’s broken up and Ali kicks his way out of the corner, setting up the rolling X Factor for two. The tornado DDT gets the same but the 450 misses. Moss’ neckbreaker is good for the pin at 11:06.

Rating: C+. That’s one of the best Main Event matches I can remember in a long time and I can’t say I’m surprised. First of all, you have Ali, who has shown that he can go with almost anyone on the main roster, but is stuck here for some reason. Then you have Moss, who has been treated like a big deal around here but can’t get on the main roster shows to save his life. Wouldn’t you think he’s at least worth a shot at this point? Good match here though, especially for where they are.

We look at Sonya Deville jumping Mandy Rose and cutting her hair.

From Raw.

We look back at Seth Rollins destroying Rey Mysterio and tormenting his family.

Here are Seth Rollins and Murphy so Seth can make a statement, but first he wants to ask Tom Phillips if he is an unbiased journalist. What was he doing last week when Dominic was attacking Seth with a kendo stick? Rollins starts shouting about Phillips cheering him on and inciting his rage. It’s the bias (oh it’s time to get topical) that causes these problems, so Murphy is going to take care of Phillips. Samoa Joe stands up and says that isn’t happening because he was laughing harder than anyone last week.

Rollins says Joe doesn’t want to do this but Joe says he does. Rollins and Murphy roll inside and tell Joe to come join them. Joe takes off the coat and we go to a break. Back with Joe still not in the ring but here’s Dominic with a kendo stick to lay out Murphy and Rollins. Dominic hits a big dive off the top to take both of them down and the two run off. Rollins grabs the mic and says the match is on for Summerslam.

Overall Rating: C-. What a confusing show. There was no mention of either Raw Underground or Retribution, but we have time for the Mandy vs. Sonya deal and DOMINICK??? For the life of me I don’t get why we are supposed to care about him so much but WWE is going to make sure that he is there no matter what. Even if the guy winds up being fine, I’m not sure how he can warrant this much attention so early. Anyway, Moss vs. Ali was good, but the rest of the show was your usual fare, which you can take or leave.

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 7, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

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

We open with a recap of the Swamp Fight, including Alexa Bliss appearing to tempt Braun Strowman, plus the whole murdering thing. Then Bray Wyatt said Fiend wanted the Universal Title, so Fiend attacked Bliss using the “follow the flying fingers” technique to set up the Mandible Claw.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House, with Bray saying everyone has been sliding into his DM’s over what happened last week, but it was all Braun’s fault. See, Braun has something that HE wants and HE will be here tonight, with someone Braun cares about. Braun should just give HIM what HE wants, or we’ll see what HE is capable of.

Matt Riddle vs. Sheamus

Riddle goes for the grappling to start and Sheamus has to go to the ropes to get out of a choke. Sheamus muscles him down with a headlock takeover but Riddle is back up with the striking. A knee to the ribs takes Riddle down though and we hit the armbar. That’s reversed into a Fujiwara armbar with Riddle cranking on the fingers for a bonus. That’s broken up as well and Riddle sends him to the apron, with Sheamus snapping the back of Riddle’s neck over the rope. There are the ten forearms to the chest but Riddle knocks him off the top and we take a break.

Back with Riddle fighting out of the chinlock but walking into a trio of Irish Curses. The chinlock goes on again but Riddle comes up with a kick to the head and the running forearms in the corner. The suplex out of the corner sets up the Broton for two but Riddle has to bail out of the moonsault. White Noise gives Sheamus two The Brogue Kick is countered into a rollup for two and Sheamus misses a charge into the post. Riddle kicks at the chest on the floor but gets sent hard into the barricade. Cue Shorty G. to jump Riddle from behind for the DQ at 12:20.

Rating: C. It was nice to have a hard hitting match but as soon as you remember that this is a stepping stone towards a King Corbin match, the interest falls away. Riddle getting to work with some bigger names helps a lot and as long as he beats Corbin at Summerslam (egads), he’ll be fine. Sheamus is a good choice as the heel gatekeeper and it worked here.

Post match Riddle fights back and sends G. into the announcers’ table. A whip into the step sets up a big kick to the chest and G. is left laying as Sheamus is annoyed. Riddle leaves so Sheamus Brogue Kicks G. twice for costing him a match. This seems like the “HAHA YOU THOUGHT GABLE WAS GOING TO BE SOMETHING!” moment.

Post break, Corbin is talking to a woman named Sarah when Sheamus comes up to complain about Corbin’s goon costing him a match. Corbin doesn’t like the threat and offers to cave in his skull later.

It’s time for the Dirt Sheet, with John Morrison saying he is more underground than anyone else around here. We see a clip of Sonya Deville attacking Mandy Rose last week and cutting her hair. Back in the arena, Miz and Morrison’s mics start going out, with Morrison saying Retribution isn’t booked tonight. Anyway, they have a special guest tonight, as Mandy Rose’s hair joins us via satellite. And yes, it is a wig with googly eyes.

Miz and Morrison handle the voices, talking about how the hair never left Mandy’s head before, but lately it has had to deal with Otis’ ham fingers. Miz and Morrison: “Can we get a HAIR YEAH? HAIR YEAH!” The hair has an agent now and that’s it for her. Cue Sonya Deville as the in-person guest, and she gets to rant about doing what she promised to do by making Mandy as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside. Sonya yells at Mandy to come out here and prove her wrong and isn’t surprised when no one comes out.

Now, it’s true that Mandy has talent, because she won a Bumpy Award for making out with Otis. Yes, she won an award for making out with a dude. Sonya agrees that they are starting to look like a couple, with Morrison saying it’s a couple of ogres. Cue Heavy Machinery to clear the ring in a hurry. The Sonya stuff was good as she continues to be very solid on the mic, but that hair thing is the latest entry in the “HOW MUCH DID FOX PAY FOR THIS?????” sweepstakes.

Lince Dorado vs. Cesaro

Cesaro wastes no time in throwing him around and hitting a hard clothesline. Dorado snaps off a headscissors though and Cesaro heads to the floor as the lights flicker. Graves thinks it’s Retribution, but maybe it’s that you’re in the same building that had power issues four days ago? A running flip dive is pulled out of the air by Cesaro and it’s a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to keep Dorado in trouble.

The jawbreaker gets Dorado out of a chinlock and the Golden Rewind (which Cole didn’t know) sets up the Super Crazy trio of moonsaults. The third is broken up but Dorado settles for a hurricanrana into a near fall. Cesaro has had it though and hits the Neutralizer for the pin at 4:17.

Rating: C-. Not the worst power vs. speed match but I’m not sure if this is the best way to get us towards the House Party vs. Cesaro/Nakamura for the Tag Team Titles. That being said, I didn’t need to see Cesaro lose to Dorado to get there, so at least they are letting the champ look strong for a change.

Otis shakes some things in the back but has to stop to answer a question about his match with Miz and Morrison tonight. He likes jokes, but Miz and Morrison’s have crossed the line. Tucker says Miz and Morrison can’t let it go, but disrespecting Mandy is too far.

And now, the Fiend. After his entrance and a break, we see Alexa Bliss sitting in front of him and looking scared. Fiend goes to the corner and crawls over to her, with Bliss rubbing his face. Strowman’s voice comes up to pull the Fiend away and he pops up on the screen. Strowman says this wasn’t going to work because all he cares about is destroying the Fiend. He tried to fight it but gave into the evil within and is fulfilling his destiny. Strowman is the thing that nightmares are made of and he is the monster. Fiend can have whatever he wants because at Summerslam, he is facing the monster. Strowman says let him in.

As usual, Strowman cannot talk to save his life and might as well be reading off the cue cards. I’m not sure if this was the end of the Bliss aspect of the story, but if that is the case, it feels like another case of setting something up and then changing their mind AGAIN, possibly because it could have been interesting and that cannot happen.

Jeff Hardy vs. King Corbin

Hardy forearms him in the head to start and hits the basement dropkick into the splash for two. The Twisting Stunner is countered and Corbin hits a hard clothesline for his own near fall. Corbin starts mocking the fans before taking his time sending Hardy outside. Hardy gets beaten over the announcers’ table for two and the chinlock goes on. Back up and Corbin does the slide under the corner but Hardy cuts him off and sends him into the Plexiglas. That just earns Hardy the Deep Six for two and a hard knee puts Hardy back on the floor. Cue Sheamus to kick Hardy for the DQ at 5:27.

Rating: C-. The match was fine enough but it goes to show you how Corbin continues to not be able to do anything above just ok most of the time. That was the case the whole time here, as Hardy is the kind of person who can draw some good stuff out of anyone, but give him someone to work with here. It wasn’t the worst, but it was just there and forgettable.

Yelling ensues post match.

King Corbin vs. Sheamus

Yes it’s the rare MORE CORBIN show as we get two Corbin matches in a row! Joined in progress with Sheamus knocking him down and hitting a knee to the ribs. The ten forearms to the chest connect and Sheamus knocks him to the floor. Sheamus sends him into the announcers’ table a few times as Corbin is rocked around the ring.

Back in and Corbin grabs a side slam for two and it’s time for the right hands to the head. Corbin knocks him into the corner and the chinlock goes on again. Sheamus muscles him up but can’t hit White Noise. Instead it’s a clothesline but here’s Matt Riddle for a distraction, setting up the Brogue Kick to finish Corbin at 5:20.

Rating: C. I liked it better than the previous match, though I’m not sure where this is going. Unless it’s a four way to get the next Intercontinental Title shot, or if Corbin finds another goon, it kind of leaves things in a weird place with three people who don’t like Sheamus and Riddle and Hardy. That being said, I can go with a bunch of people wanting to beat up Corbin, as long as Corbin isn’t around that long.

Bayley and Sasha Banks aren’t sure about Asuka, but Banks calls Bayley her role model. That has to be put on hold though as they are summoned to the ring for a video confidence with Stephanie McMahon.

Big E. talks about all of the wacky things that he has done and now it is time to see what could have been. He will give this all he has and gets Kayla Braxton to say NEW DAY ROCKS.

Bayley and Sasha are in the ring and Stephanie joins them via video conference. Stephanie congratulates them for winning all of the gold, minus NXT. They’re thrilled with this and just wanted to be role models for little girls, like Stephanie’s daughters. Stephanie doesn’t like some of the things they have done, but the two of them have gotten attention, including hers.

Stephanie wants to see them be challenged though, and that’s why Sasha will be defending the Raw Women’s Title at Summerslam. But against who? Well it could be Asuka, but we’ll see about that later. As for Bayley, she gets to defend against the winner of next week’s Triple Brand Battle Royal, with women from all three brands fighting for the title shot. That’s what’s best for business, much like hearing Stephanie’s theme song as her video ends.

Miz and Morrison aren’t sorry for what they said because sometimes, good comedy offends. It’s called gamesmanship and facing Otis is like playing chess against a pot bellied pig. What’s he going to do? Eat them?

Miz/John Morrison vs. Heavy Machinery

Sonya Deville is here with Miz and Morrison. Tucker takes Morrison down to start and rides him without much effort. A big clothesline takes Morrison down again and the lights flicker some more. Otis comes in for the Ode to the Bushwhackers and Tucker adds the Cannonball off the apron as we take a break. Back with Miz kicking Tucker in the face and handing it off to Morrison for some forearms to the head. Otis offers a distraction but Tucker gets DDTed by Miz anyway.

Morrison gets in another shot to the face as Sonya has walked all the way over to Otis’ corner before realizing she needs to go back a bit. Tucker gets in a quick sit onto Miz though and the hot tag brings in Otis to clean house. Morrison gets tossed around and there’s the Caterpillar for two with Miz breaking things up. A missed charge sends Tucker into the Plexiglas but here’s Mandy, now with shoulder length hair, which somehow confuses Cole, to brawl with Sonya. That’s enough for a no contest at 8:45.

Rating: D+. Otis continues to feel so out of place with the briefcase and if the Fiend winds up as champion, I can’t even imagine how weird that is going to be. The match was your run of the mill Smackdown tag match with a lame ending, but at least the people not in the match got in the ring to call for the ending this time. Sonya continues to be more of a star than anyone else, and the hair vs. hair match, or whatever they have, could be a good use of Summerslam time.

Post match the brawl stays on with Sonya spearing Mandy down and continuing to look like a far bigger star.

Post break, the women are being held back but the lights go out again. In the arena, here’s Retribution with a bunch of weapons and they all stand in the ring. Commentary gets chased off and one of the masked men gets in the cameraman’s face, shouting that it’s their house now. The camera crew all runs off and Retribution goes beyond the Plexiglas and beats up some NXT wrestlers, including grabbing a woman by the leg and surrounding her.

A kick to the ribs (from a Retribution member who appears to be a woman with long red hair) takes the woman down and they head back inside, still shouting that this is theirs. They turn over the announcers’ table and bust out the spray paint, which they put all over the Plexiglas. The Smackdown log on the ring skirt is covered up and they all celebrate in the ring. The fifth member whips out a chainsaw and they cut the ring ropes up to end the show. It was quite the moment, but they didn’t have any ties or matching colored shirts so it could only be so chaotic and violent.

Overall Rating: C-. The Retribution deal at the end was certainly something to catch your attention, but it came on the same show as Strowman ranting off cue cards and the wig with the eyes. I do like the four way feud (or whatever it is) though as it gives some people something to do. Tie in the Intercontinental Title somehow and you have something.

What matters here is that while they had a few things to try and shake things up, it felt more natural than Raw. It is a little better to have some wrestling matches and a little different kind of feud than a random underground fighting club. Then again Smackdown has a tendency to be more of a wrestling show than a storyline one, but having more than half of the matches end in a DQ or no contest isn’t the best idea. Not the worst show, but the two big bad parts really hurt things.

Results

Matt Riddle b. Sheamus via DQ when Shorty G. interfered

Cesaro b. Lince Dorado – Neutralizer

Jeff Hardy b. King Corbin via DQ when Sheamus interfered

Sheamus b. King Corbin – Brogue Kick

Miz/John Morrison vs. Heavy Machinery went to a no contest when Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose brawled

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

Smackdown
Date: June 12, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s title night around here as we have Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles for the vacant Intercontinental Title. Given that Backlash is this Sunday, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the new champion crowned on Sunday instead of here. Either way, it should be an interesting match given the people involved. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus situation, including the whole drunk driving deal.

Renee Young is in the ring for a contract signing between Sheamus and Hardy. Sheamus comes out with a guy in a lab coat and security and sets up a curtain. Hardy isn’t sure what’s going on but doesn’t care after what Sheamus has put him through. Sheamus wants some assurances that Hardy will be there on Sunday so he has to take a urine test. Hardy says he’s an alcoholic and he goes to meetings every week to talk about what he has done to his fans. Jeff takes the test and Sheamus gloats so Hardy throws the contents of the cup in his face. You can hear McMahon laughing from here.

Post break Sheamus is washing his face when the doctor comes in to say the test was negative.

New Day vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title and New Day kneels during their entrance. Kofi takes Cesaro down for a splash and near fall to start, only to have Cesaro come back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Nakamura comes in for Good Vibrations but everything breaks down in a hurry. Big E. launches Kofi over the top onto both of them for the big crash on the floor. Cesaro grabs Big E.’s boot and Nakamura knees Big E. in the face as we take a break.

Back with Nakamura working Kofi over until a charge into an elbow cuts things off. Kofi goes up for a high crossbody but lands on Nakamura’s knees, setting up a small package for the very fast pin on Kofi at 6:26. Not enough shown to rate but this feels like the setup for a Backlash title match.

Tucker is back and has Otis blindfolded for some reason. He tries to teach him to use his sense of smell on some meat but Mandy Rose pops in to surprise him instead. She hands him the briefcase and Tucker reminds him ti be ready if the opportunity presents himself with Braun Strowman tonight. Hold on though as Sheamus and Hardy brawl nearby.

Video on the history of the Intercontinental Title, plus a recap of the tournament.

Intercontinental Title: Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

For the vacant title. They fight over wrist control to start until Bryan dropkicks him into the corner. AJ misses a charge and gets sent to the floor for the suicide dive. Back from a break with Bryan working on the arm and then working on the other arm at the same time for a bonus. Styles fights up and hits his own dropkick before hammering away at Bryan’s head. Bryan fights out and goes after the leg as he keeps finding ways to pick AJ apart.

They go to the pinfall reversal sequence before stereo crossbodies give us a double knockdown. Back from another break with Bryan working on the arm some more and taking it to the floor. AJ sends him into the barricade but misses a slingshot dive. That lets Bryan post the arm and stomp it on the apron before taking things inside again. The arm is twisted again and Bryan stomps on it for a bonus.

The keylock keeps the pain up but Bryan misses a charge in the corner. Styles starts kicking at the leg and snaps it down over the apron. The knee is tied in the ropes so AJ can kick away but Bryan uses the good leg for an enziguri. The Phenomenal Forearm is broken up with a shove off the top and Bryan kicks away in the corner. AJ is sat on top for a super hurricanrana and there are the YES Kicks.

The big one misses though and AJ hits a hard clothesline. We take a third break and come back with the slugout in the middle of the ring until Bryan backdrops him to the floor. The suicide dive is countered with a kick to Bryan’s arm but Bryan is fine enough to suplex him into a cross armbreaker. That’s countered into the Calf Crusher for the break and then the cross armbreaker goes on again.

AJ gets out again so Bryan kicks him in the head for two and takes AJ up. An elbow knocks Bryan down and a series of them does it again. Bryan gets up top again for a belly to back superplex and we actually take a fourth break. Back again with Bryan flipping over AJ in the corner but banging up the knee again. AJ’s Pele sets up a brainbuster for two but the Styles Clash is countered into a jackknife cover (ala Drew Gulak pinning AJ last week) for two.

Bryan hits a German suplex for two before AJ hits one of his own for the same. Now it’s Bryan getting his own German suplex for another two of his own, followed by the downward elbows to the head. The YES Lock goes on but AJ gets a foot on the rope. Bryan stomps away at the head but the running knee is countered into the Styles Clash. AJ can’t cover though and they’re both down again. The Phenomena Forearm connects to give AJ the pin and the title at 38:10.

Rating: B+. Yeah what else were you expecting here? The knee vs. the arm here was a good structure for the match and they beat the heck out of each other. All of the commercial breaks got annoying though and took something away from the match. What we got was pretty great though, and doesn’t exactly bode well for what Edge and Randy Orton have to do on Sunday.

Post match AJ confirms his phenomenalness.

We recap Miz/Morrison pranking/destroying Braun Strowman’s car last week. Strowman turned their van over instead of, you know, pulling the door open and destroying them.

Strowman promises to destroy Miz and Morrison. He doesn’t mind doing the same thing to Heavy Machinery tonight if he has to.

There are balloons everywhere and here are Bayley and Sasha Banks to brag about their title win. They brag about how great they are and how much better they are going to get, with Bayley having a poem for Banks. Cue Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss to say this is going a bit far, but the IIconics popup on screen to say they’re winning the titles on Sunday. They don’t think the champs should turn their backs on Cross and Bliss, and the two of them jump Bayley and Banks.

Miz and Morrison have a new music video….but Braun Strowman’s entrance cuts things off.

Matt Riddle debuts next week.

Heavy Machinery/Braun Strowman vs. Miz/John Morrison/Dolph Ziggler

Otis scares Ziggler to the floor to start so Otis pulls Miz in instead. Tucker comes in for a double headbutt and then grabs Morrison by the arm. Morrison’s springboard is countered with a powerslam for two so it’s Ziggler coming in. That’s fine with Strowman, who forearms him in the chest. Otis comes in for a suplex but King Corbin pops up on screen and goes up to Mandy Rose.

That sends Otis charging into the back as Corbin talks about Rose fantasizing about being with a man with stature. Otis charges in and beats Corbin down as we take a break. Back with Ziggler kicking Tucker down for two as there is no Otis in sight. Ziggler front facelocks Tucker into the corner but Tucker fights to his feet. Miz and Morrison take care of Strowman though, meaning there is no one for Tucker to tag.

Cue Otis though, with Mandy following, allowing Tucker to get in a kick to the face. The hot tag brings in Otis to clean house, including tossing Ziggler over the top for a crash to the floor. Strowman is back up for the running shoulders around the ring, including a big one to Ziggler. With Ziggler mostly out of it, Strowman throws him back inside so Otis can hit the Caterpillar for the pin at 11:06.

Rating: D+. So Miz and Morrison, the unlikely challengers to the Universal Title, are left laying by Strowman to end the go home show before a pay per view match they have next to no chance of winning? All while Otis and Corbin are gearing up for a feud that will likely result in Corbin getting the briefcase? Someone get the new creative over here in a hurry, I beg of you.

Overall Rating: B. Yeah it’s a one match show, but that one match was about a third of the show and that’s all you need. They went with a different structure here and it was nice to see for a change. Obviously it isn’t something that can be done every single week, but for a one off, this was a good treat. Now just get through Backlash so we can move on to….whatever is next on the calendar.

Results

Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura b. New Day – Small package to Kingston

AJ Styles b. Daniel Bryan – Phenomena Forearm

Braun Strowman/Heavy Machinery b. John Morrison/The Miz/Dolph Ziggler – Caterpillar to Ziggler

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 29, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re very slowly closing in on Backlash but tonight is all about the Intercontinental Title tournament. That means a pair of semifinal matches and one of them is actually interesting. It’s AJ Styles vs. Elias and Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan, where I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which is the interesting one. Let’s get to it.

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

We open in the parking lot where Elias has been attacked. The police find the car that the attacker was in and it’s rented to Jeff Hardy. Braun Strowman was an eyewitness who called the cops and saw someone running off. The police go over to the bushes and find Jeff, who apparently smells like alcohol and looks rather out of it. They pass Elias being loaded into the ambulance and Jeff screams at him before being put in the police car. They’re really doing a DUI angle with someone currently still facing legal issues over a DUI? I know it’s going to be something else but there was NO other idea here?

The roster is briefed on the situation and Sheamus says this is Hardy’s sixth strike. AJ Styles says it’s him vs. Daniel Bryan in the finals but Bryan wants them to both have an opponent. He’s not going to be a coward so Sheamus volunteers to be one of the opponents, because Jeff had to be on something to beat him last week.

King Corbin wants in on this too so we’ll have Bryan vs. Corbin vs. Sheamus for the right to face Styles. No one is cool with that so an unnamed boss says it’s a battle royal next for the right to face Bryan in the main event, with the winner of that facing Styles for the title in two weeks. That works for everyone, leaving Styles to call Bryan an idiot.

Battle Royal

Drew Gulak, Shinsuke Nakamura, Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, King Corbin, Cesaro, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Shorty G., Jey Uso

It’s a brawl to start and Ziggler is already doing his near elimination deal. Sheamus yells at Cole while choking Uso but has to survive Gable’s elimination attempt. Corbin punches Dorado out and Gulak follows him. The fans aren’t happy with that and it’s Metalik going after Corbin until Ziggler superkicks him out of the air. Corbin dumps Metalik and tosses Ziggler for trying to turn on him.

Jey superkicks Corbin out and we take a break. Back with the five (Sheamus, Cesaro, Uso, Gable, Nakamura) all still in and Gable getting the armbreaker over the ropes on Sheamus. A tornado DDT plants Sheamus and it’s Uso cleaning house. Gable gets rid of Cesaro to tick him off and suplexes Nakamura out clean in a heck of an upset.

Cesaro sneaks back in to toss Gable though and we’re down to Sheamus and Uso. Jey fires off forearms but gets sent to the apron. A Stunner across the top staggers Sheamus and the superkick connects back inside. Jey clotheslines him to the apron but Sheamus hangs on and hits the Brogue Kick to win at 14:13.

Rating: C-. They had some surprising moments in there with Gable getting some big eliminations, though I have no reason to believe it’s going to lead anywhere. Sheamus winning is the most logical move they have, if they insist on doing the Hardy angle for whatever reason (which might wind up being a good one). I’m not sure where it’s going though and I’m almost scared to find out.

Sonya Deville tells Lacey Evans to put her hair up and square up. Evans pops up from behind to shove her down.

Cesaro and Nakamura yell at Gable over the eliminations and Cesaro tells him to be the bigger man for once and walk away. Either that or face him in the ring. Gable hits him in the face and says challenge accepted.

Lacey Evans vs. Sonya Deville

This was set up on Twitter when Deville insulted blondes (seriously). Lacey talks about what blondes can do and gets down into referee position for an amateur wrestling fight. That goes to Lacey so Sonya shoulders her down without much trouble. Sonya ties her hair back so Lace nips up and puts her hair up as well. Lacey knocks her into the corner and gets punched in the face for her efforts, allowing Sonya to take over in the corner. Sonya stands on her hair so Lacey gator rolls her to the apron for some right hands. They fight on the floor and it’s a double countout at 4:16.

Rating: D+. They are not only having a match, but apparently a continuing story, over Lacey being a blonde. Was there no one else out there who could come up with a better idea than that? It wasn’t a horrible fight either, but hearing them talking about hair color over and over was killing it for me.

Post match Lacey says bring it but Sonya says on her time.

The Forgotten Sons, with Wesley Blake doing the talking, says he supports his brothers and gets in the blood on our hands line.

It’s time for a special tag team edition of A Moment of Bliss with New Day as the guests. Corey: “I must have been a horrible person in a past life.” Nikki Cross has a special present for New Day: SCOTTISH pancakes! Big E. pulls out some coffee beans (Big E.: “From Djibouti of course.”) and mixes them into Alexa’s coffee (with a wooden spoon that he happens to have), though she’ll save that for later.

Bliss wants to know who is up next for New Day and they like the idea of the Forgotten Sons. They ask Alexa the same thing so here are Bayley and Sasha Banks to interrupt. Banks gets in the ring and takes off her track jacket to throw in Bliss’ face. Bliss isn’t listening to Bayley and points out that Sasha is the only one here without a title. Sasha calls herself the conversation and says she put the titles on the map (with Bayley serving as the annoying hype woman). Bliss says name the time and the place but Bayley makes Bliss vs. Banks right now, even though Banks is in track pants and heels.

Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss

Bayley and Nikki Cross are on commentary and Banks has gotten some better shoes during the break. Some rollups give Bliss some early near falls and Insult to Injury connects for two. Banks is right back with the running knees in the corner for the same, leaving Nikki to LOSE IT when Bayley threatens Cole. The Meteora gives Banks two and Cross starts the LEXI chant.

Banks grabs a double arm crank and hits a backbreaker for two. Bliss faceplants her out of the corner as commentary still won’t stop shouting for two seconds. A dropkick cuts Banks off but it’s another Meteora into the corner. Two knees out of the corner gets two but Bliss fights up and goes to the top. Bayley gets up so Cross deals with her, only to have Banks grab a sunset flip for the pin at 7:18.

Rating: F. Usually I can block commentary out but this was the most annoying thing I have ever heard in wrestling. It was literally just Bayley and Cross screaming for the better part of seven minutes and taking away any focus the match might have had. It wasn’t even that good of a match in the first place but this was a nightmare to listen to and odds are we’ll get it again soon enough. The match itself was watchable enough, but commentary pulled this into a bottomless pit and dragged everything down with it.

We look back at the Hardy/Elias situation.

Shorty G. vs. Cesaro

Nakamura is here with Cesaro and how much of this show was actually booked in advance? Gable starts fast and hits a moonsault for a very quick two and then twists the knee for a bonus. Back up and Cesaro blasts him with a clothesline, followed by a gutwrench suplex. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on but Gable fights up, earning himself a near Last Ride for two. Gable backflips out of a belly to back superplex and grabs the ankle lock, only to be sent into the ropes. Cesaro’s crucifix gets two so he tries another powerbomb, only to get reversed into a sunset flip for the pin at 4:06.

Rating: C+. After that previous debacle, I was ready to take anything here and they had a rather action packed match. I don’t believe in Gable’s push for a second of course and calling him Shorty G. is still as horrible of a decision as you could have, but at least he’s doing something and getting a win. Now keep it going and don’t just drop everything next week.

Earlier today, Otis and Mandy Rose got to spend some time by the pool with Otis pouring her some peach champagne. We go to the dream sequence where Mandy rather approves of Otis in his limited gear and it’s the homage to Fast Times At Ridgemont High, with Otis taking his shirt off. Mandy squirts the bottle of suntan lotion, only to be woken up when Otis cannonballs into the water and splash her. She rather approves of the dream and gets in the water with him for various canoodling. This is certainly a thing that happened and I’m not sure what else there is to say about it.

Kurt Angle is looking forward to seeing Randy Orton vs. Edge but he’s here for something else. He has gotten to know someone who is going to be the future of this show and introduces a video on Matt Riddle, who is officially coming to the show.

We get a Riddle highlight package.

Sheamus isn’t impressed and wants the Intercontinental Title. Daniel Bryan comes in and kicks him in the leg.

Intercontinental Title Tournament Semifinals: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Sheamus kicks him down to start and grabs a chinlock, only to have Bryan fight back with the kicks in the corner. The suicide dive to the floor connects and we take a break. Back with Bryan working on the arm but Sheamus elbows him down. The top rope clothesline gives Sheamus two and he says he created the YES Movement when he beat Bryan at Wrestlemania.

Bryan fights back but gets Irish Cursed into the Cloverleaf. That’s broken up so Sheamus takes him up top for a superplex. Bryan blocks that as well and hits the missile dropkick but the YES Lock is countered into White Noise for two. Sheamus runs him over again and loads up the Brogue Kick….and here’s Jeff Hardy. The distraction lets Bryan hit the running knee for the pin at 13:12.

Rating: B-. Odd ending aside, they beat each other up well enough and played off some of their history. Bryan knows exactly what he’s doing int here against a big guy and Sheamus is better than your average monster lug. I’m curious about the Hardy ending, but at least they didn’t wait long to seemingly move past the drunk/high thing.

Overall Rating: C. People talk about how something like Stadium Stampede was unrealistic and made wrestling look fake. You can argue that for yourselves, but for me, this show is what makes it look take. Of the five matches taking place, four were booked tonight. It’s true that there were two others booked in advance, but they just happened to find a solution to make the whole thing work out in the end? And it just happened to fill two hours with Hardy arriving at the very end of the show? Plus they filmed a dream sequence. It was entertaining content but the setup didn’t work for me and that hurts things a good bit.

Results

Sheamus won a battle royal last eliminating Jey Uso

Lacey Evans vs. Sonya Deville went to a double countout

Sasha Banks b. Alexa Bliss – Sunset flip

Shorty G. b. Cesaro – Sunset flip

Daniel Bryan b. Sheamus – Running knee

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: AEW

Smackdown
Date: May 22, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re on the road to Backlash and that means the Intercontinental Title tournament is still ongoing. We have two more first round matches tonight and that means we could be in for some interesting showdowns. Other than that, we need to build towards the pay per view and see what we have coming up. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with the Memorial Day video, which is starting early this year.

Opening sequence.

We open with the Dirt Sheet, where John Morrison’s abs are now certified social media influencers. Miz can’t believe that Otis is Mr. Money in the Bank and goes on a rant about how Braun Strowman teamed together. Miz: “It just makes no sense.” Morrison: “Like Becky Lynch choosing to have a child with Seth Rollins.” Morrison can’t believe that the Universal Champion is the one that Bray Wyatt replaced with puppet animals. Miz: “Bray Wyatt had the choice between Braun Strowman and stuffed animals. HE PICKED STUFFED ANIMALS!”

We have a special feature tonight: rejected Firefly Fun House puppets, all of whom don’t think much of Strowman. One of which is Mandyquin Rose, whose power is to whisper plans into Otis’ ears. Mandyquin: “Not everything about Braun is a monster.” Morrison: “TOO FAR!”

Cue Strowman to say the show isn’t half bad. Now ask him about Bray’s puppets at Money in the Bank. Miz can’t believe that Strowman thinks Bray is done with him. Miz fought Bray Wyatt and it spiraled into the lowest point of his life (and it only took him about a week to bounce back) but Morrison was there to help him. Morrison doesn’t think much of Strowman and manages to get him a match against Miz next.

Miz vs. Braun Strowman

Non-title. Miz slugs away to start and is knocked down with a single forearm to the chest. The running shoulder puts Miz down again and the dominance is on. A low bridge puts Strowman on the floor and Morrison adds a Flying Chuck. Strowman posts himself by mistake and Miz kicks him in the head. The short DDT is blocked though and Miz is driven into the corner. There’s the big toss and the running powerslam finishes Miz at 3:45.

Rating: C-. Miz got some stuff in here but he and Morrison, even combined, shouldn’t be any real threat to Strowman at this point. It’s not a very good match but that wasn’t the point of something like this. Odds are we get Morrison vs. Strowman next week and that’s the end of it as Bray comes back for the PPV title match.

Post match, Morrison challenges Strowman to a handicap match for the title at Backlash. Strowman says it’s on.

Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Styles has officially been traded to Smackdown for wrestlers to be named later. AJ’s headlock is reversed into the same thing from Nakamura, followed by a shot to Styles’ throat. That just earns Nakamura the dropkick, setting up the forearm off. Nakamura kicks him down and we take a break.

Back with AJ hitting the Pele to give us a double knockdown, with AJ up first for the fireman’s carry backbreaker. The Calf Crusher sends Nakamura to the ropes so he can snap off a Landslide for two. The sliding knee gives Nakamura two and he grabs a triangle choke. That’s broken up in an awesome counter into a one armed Styles Clash for two. AJ is sent to the apron and cuts Nakamura off with a kick to the head, setting up the Phenomenal Forearm for the pin at 13:17.

Rating: B-. These two always work well together, though AJ’s sudden face turn was a little jarring. I can go with that though as the trading wrestlers is something that would be fine for a logical storyline explanation of various moves. It’s certainly better than the Brand To Brand thing and a four guest star punch card.

We recap Charlotte stirring the pot between Bayley and Sasha Banks last week.

Bayley doesn’t want Sasha in her corner tonight so she can prove what she can do on her own. Banks doesn’t seem thrilled.

Charlotte vs. Bayley

Non-title and the announcers talk about this like it belongs at Wrestlemania. They also make it clear that this is another part of the Brand To Brand Invitational for Charlotte so that’s two in a row. Bayley tries an early rollup with feet on the ropes but the referee isn’t having it. Charlotte tries the same but only gets one without getting caught. After dropping Charlotte onto the apron, Bayley misses a baseball slide so Charlotte can drop her with a clothesline. Charlotte tosses her over the barricade and calls Sasha out here so she can beat both of them up at once.

Back from a break with Bayley fighting out of a chinlock but being knocked down in a hurry. Charlotte misses the moonsault though and seems to tweak her knee so they go outside. Bayley rams her into the apron and barricade to put her in real trouble, meaning it’s time to hammer away back inside. The chinlock goes on as we hear about Charlotte defending the title against Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley at Takeover. This is noteworthy as it was first reported by TV Guide, who always has someone on the NXT beat.

Charlotte fights up with a fall away slam and sends Bayley face first into the middle buckle. The moonsault misses again (the knee seems fine) so Charlotte hits the big boot for two instead. Bayley kicks her into the corner but the top rope elbow hits knees. That doesn’t hurt Charlotte’s knee either so it’s off to a Liontamer.

That’s reversed into a rollup for two and Bayley sends her head first into the middle buckle for a receipt. The kickout makes Bayley shout at commentary before chopping away at a kneeling Charlotte. Bayley’s Figure Four attempt is blocked with a right hand and Charlotte chops her down in the corner. They fight over a rollup and Bayley grabs the ropes and trunks for the pin at 14:58.

Rating: C+. This worked well enough but it wasn’t exactly the epic that they were going for. Part of that comes from the fact that Bayley does not feel like she’s on Charlotte’s level, despite having practically held the title for a year straight. She’s a distant third to Charlotte and Becky Lynch and a single win over Charlotte, after commentary reminded you how great Charlotte was every chance they could, isn’t some game changer.

Post break Bayley and Sasha are all good.

Otis/Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville/Dolph Ziggler

Otis slams Ziggler down to start so it’s quickly off to the women. Sonya sends Mandy into the corner and shouts a lot as Ziggler whips Otis into the steps. Back from a break with Sonya chinlocking and then kicking Mandy as Otis is up on the apron to shout a lot. Mandy fights up and makes the hot tag to Otis to clean house, including the running splash in the corner. The Caterpillar is loaded up but Ziggler gets over for the tag to Sonya. Mandy’s running knee sends Sonya into the corner and a running dropkick gets two. Sonya knees her in the face though and a running knee finishes Mandy at 9:35.

Rating: D+. Mandy really isn’t very good in the ring and it doesn’t help that Sonya is outclassing her every step of the way. Sonya has been bringing it on the microphone and completely outshined her in the ring here. Sonya just feels way more complete and polished at this point and it is becoming more and more clear every week.

Post match Ziggler hits a superkick to Otis for a bonus.

Jeff Hardy is ready for one more run and it starts with the Intercontinental Title. What better way to kick things off than by beating up a bully like Sheamus?

In Memory of Shad Gaspard. Just a graphic, an hour and a half into the show.

The Forgotten Sons say their blood is on the fans’ hands. Therefore, the fans’ blood should be on their hands.

Long recap of Miz/Morrison vs. Strowman. It was barely an hour ago and we need a long recap? The match is officially set.

Miz isn’t thrilled with Morrison making the challenge but Morrison talks about Strowman’s record in handicap matches. They even quote Sun Tzu about how to get ready, sending them into a Renee Young assisted HEY HEY HO HO dance.

We recap Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy.

Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus

Sheamus powers him into the corner to start so Hardy grabs a headlock to take things to the mat. Back up and Jeff hits a running forearm, only to get blasted with a running elbow to the face. The ten forearms to the chest are blocked and Jeff hits a dropkick through the ropes. The dive off the apron is blocked though and Sheamus drives him into the post. That’s not all though as Hardy gets bounced hard onto the announcers’ table. Sheamus shouts at Cole for spending four weeks putting Hardy over as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus dropping a knee and leaving it on Hardy’s face for a bonus. A hard clothesline lets Sheamus talk trash, only to have Jeff fight back with a dropkick. Whisper in the Wind drops Sheamus but Hardy’s delayed cover only gets one. Sheamus grabs the Irish Curse and hits it two more times for a bonus.

Hardy is so out of it that Sheamus can even dance a bit (Graves: “I GOT YOU SHAME-O!”) but Sheamus misses a charge into the post. The basement dropkick gives Hardy two and they head outside, with Hardy hitting the clothesline off the barricade. Back in and the Swanton hits knees to give Sheamus two more. The Brogue Kick misses and Hardy grabs a rollup for the pin at 14:09.

Rating: B. I don’t have anything major to complain about here as they told a good story of Hardy being physically outmatched but surviving long enough to win in the end. It’s a well told story both in the short and long term while also giving us a good match here. Sheamus doesn’t lose much by getting pinned by a legend and can complain about something that cost him the win. I liked this a good bit and it was well put together and executed.

Here are the updated brackets, with the semifinals next week:

Daniel Bryan

Jeff Hardy

AJ Styles

Elias

Overall Rating: B-. This was one of the better shows in a long time and the tournament has a lot to do with that. By having something to build the show around, it keeps things from going too nuts and you can see where a lot of the things are going. It’s not perfect as the Charlotte overkill is on full blast and Strowman vs. Miz/Morrison at the pay per view sounds horrible. I liked the show a lot more than I didn’t though and it was one of the better pandemic episodes.

Results

Braun Strowman b. The Miz – Running powerslam

AJ Styles b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Phenomenal Forearm

Bayley b. Charlotte – Rollup while grabbing the ropes

Sonya Deville/Dolph Ziggler b. Mandy Rose/Otis – Running knee to Rose

Jeff Hardy b. Sheamus – Rollup

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

Main Event
Date: May 7, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, MVP

It’s the go home show for Money in the Bank and that means the recaps will be weak with this one. There is almost nothing going on of note over the last week’s worth of shows and while I’m sure they are going to showcase things, that doesn’t mean they are all that interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

R-Truth vs. Cal Bloom

Truth does WHAT’S UP and only MVP responds. Bloom powers him into the corner to start but gets forearmed in the face a few times. An armdrag into a hiptoss puts Bloom down and a legdrop gives Truth two. Bloom is right back with a butterfly suplex and it’s time to hit Truth in the face a few times. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Truth busts out John Cena’s finishing sequence. The AA is countered into a powerslam for two though and Truth is in trouble again. Bloom loads up a powerbomb but Truth reverses into the AA for the pin at 5:14.

Rating: D+. Bloom is someone they clearly see something in and it’s smart to put him in there with a veteran like Truth. He’s been around forever and has worked with a lot of people with a lot of experience, making him a treasure trove of wrestling knowledge. You don’t get to see him win that often and he still has all this charisma no matter what is going on around him. No wonder he’s been here forever and is showing no signs of slowing down.

From Smackdown.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Carmella vs. Mandy Rose

Feeling out profess to start And they dive over each other a bit, setting up a low superkick for two on Mandy. A shot to the face sets up a chinlock on Carmella but here’s Sonya Deville for the distraction. She praises Mandy as the match continues, including Mandy getting two off a side slam.

Last year, Sonya almost handed Mandy the briefcase but Mandy managed to screw it up anyway. Sonya: “How embarrassing! Not nearly as embarrassing as losing to Carmella, which is probably about to happen!” Sonya says she’ll stop talking but then says she’s sick of standing up there and challenges Mandy to a fight right now. The distraction lets Carmella spin Mandy around so she can stand there and get superkicked for the pin at 3:49.

Rating: D+. If ever there was a place for the distraction rollup finish, this was it.. Instead we had Mandy get distracted, get spun around, and then stand there while Carmella superkicked her. That looked terribly fake and while the bigger story is fine, come up with a better way to do it. I do however like Sonya cutting a promo instead of just popping up for the distraction. At least it was a little different.

From Smackdown.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis

Otis runs him over to start and hits an early delayed vertical suplex for two. Ziggler gets sent into the corner and slammed down for two, followed by a catapult into the corner again. A trip tot he floor slows Otis down and Ziggler sends him into the barricade. Back from a break with Ziggler still in control, including hitting a dropkick for two. Graves mentions something that might be kind of important: the two ladder matches, with the wrestlers going up through the headquarters, will be taking place AT THE SAME TIME. They’ve hinted at that a few times but I didn’t think they would actually do it.

As I try to get my head around that brilliant idea, Otis fights back but the Caterpillar is broken up with a neck snap across the top. The Zig Zag gets two but Otis throws him down with a suplex. The Caterpillar finishes Ziggler clean at 9:53. Cole: “That is probably the biggest win of Otis’ career.” I know WWE wants you to forget about Wrestlemania but give me a break.

Rating: D+. I think we’ve pretty much hit the peak of Otis’ worth at this point and that’s fine. He got the big win at Wrestlemania and now he can do some spots in Money in the Bank without having a chance of winning. The match wasn’t very good but again, points for trying someone new and having Ziggler lose.

We look at the end of the gauntlet match from Raw with AJ Styles earning the last Money in the Bank qualifying match, plus AJ promising to win.

Ruby Riott vs. Kairi Sane

This could be interesting. Sane laughs a lot to start and takes Riott up to the ropes for a clean break. A headscissors into a running Blockbuster drops Riott and a top rope forearm gives Sane two. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Riott sends her into the post. Back from a break with Sane fighting out of a seated full nelson.

Riott misses a running kick in the corner though and Sane hits a running forearm. The Sliding D gets two and Sane goes up top, only to have the Insane Elbow broken up. Riott gets two off a top rope backsplash but Sana Alabama Slams her out of the corner. The Insane Elbow is good for the pin at 10:44.

Rating: C. As has been the case on a few shows prior to this one, it was nice to see something fresh like this one. This match might have taken place before, but it isn’t something that has been beaten into the ground. In other words, it felt like something I might want to see and that is the kind of thing WWE could do a little more often.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Braun Strowman for a chat but the Firefly Fun House cuts him off in a hurry. Bray has a story for us about the Black Sheep, who smelled a little funny. The Black Sheep was ready to do everything but the shepherd came to get him. Then the government placed a lien on the Sheep’s house and reptilians took over, because that’s what reptilians do. Bray wants to write a happier ending, but Strowman cuts him off and says come say it to his face. Strowman: “BYE!”

And from Raw to wrap it up.

Drew McIntyre vs. Murphy

Non-title and Seth Rollins is watching from the stage. Murphy gets knocked outside early on and McIntyre throws him over the barricade for a bonus. McIntyre stares at Rollins a bit too much though and gets sent into the barricade. Back in and the Meteora gets two on McIntyre, who comes back with one heck of a chop.

Murphy strikes away again, only to get caught with a Glasgow Kiss. McIntyre knocks him hard off the apron though and it’s a top rope clothesline for two back inside. A super White Noise is countered though and Murphy hits a powerbomb for two. Murphy loads up his own Claymore but walks into the real thing for the pin at 6:21.

Rating: C. So yeah, the unstoppable champion pinned the lackey after a fairly competitive match. This was less a contest and more counting down until one of two possible conclusions. That’s what we got here and it wasn’t all that interesting. Rollins could be an interesting threat to McIntyre but sending Murphy out there isn’t the way to go about it.

Post match McIntyre begs Rollins to fight him but Rollins walks off instead. Rollins runs back to the ring and hits McIntyre with a knee to the face. He shouts about how this is bigger than either of them and looks at the title. The title is dropped though and McIntyre avoids a Stomp, setting up the Glasgow Kiss. Seth bails from the threat of the Claymore to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I know it wasn’t much but I rather liked that Sane vs. Riott match. It’s nice to see a match where you immediately wonder what might be going on in a match because it sounds good. You don’t get that kind of a feeling very often in WWE, but it doesn’t happen very often. Use the talent that you have and see how much more fun it might be.

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: May 1, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re almost to Money in the Bank and this time around that means we get to find out who will be filling out the ladder matches. There are two qualifying matches left to go and that means it’s time for at least Wrestlemania rematch. I’m not sure where this is going to go but it could be an interesting show. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Daniel Bryan to open things up. He loves new challenges and he can’t wait to compete in the most unique Money in the Bank match of all time. Now granted he’s a little worried about getting fined for breaking something expensive at Titan Towers. Nine years ago, he couldn’t even get booked on Smackdown and then he won Money in the Bank. Now he knows how important this is and he’s looking forward to the challenge.

Bryan wanted his friend and coach Drew Gulak to be in the match with him but that isn’t happening due to King Corbin. Cue Corbin for their match, but first we need to see a video of him taking out Gulak last week. Bryan brings up Corbin being one of the four people who managed to lose a Money in the Bank cash in so not Corbin is going to teach Bryan a lesson.

Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin

Bryan takes him down by the leg to start and kicks away before grabbing a leglock. Corbin fights up and starts slugging away, including a cheap shot when the referee tries to break things up. A right hand knocks Bryan off the top and there’s a whip into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Corbin throwing him down and hitting a knee to the face.

Corbin’s slide under the ropes clothesline is cut off by a suicide dive, because it’s not like isn’t that hard of a move to scout. Bryan starts kicking away at the leg and grabs an ankle lock. That’s broken up so Bryan charges into the corner, only to run into Deep Six for two. Bryan is back up and stomps away while shouting about revenge, setting up the suicide dive. That’s caught by the throat so Bryan kicks him in the knee and the head. Corbin is sick of this and throws a ladder at him for the DQ at 14:55.

Rating: C+. Not a bad match here with Bryan being out for revenge and losing his cool, though I’m still not sure how smart it is to fight bad ratings with a nearly fifteen minute King Corbin match to start the show. I do like the fact that this had a personal issue and wasn’t all about the fabled “building momentum”, so at least they have something new. Just get to the moment where everyone is sitting on a ladder though so we can be done with it.

Post match Bryan isn’t done and grabs the YES Lock on a ladder, only to have Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro come in for the save. Bryan gets thrown off the stage and through a bunch of ladders. Graves: “Could that happen off the roof of WWE Headquarters?” No.

Here’s Braun Strowman for a chat but the Firefly Fun House cuts him off in a hurry. Bray has a story for us about the Black Sheep, who smelled a little funny. The Black Sheep was ready to do everything but the shepard came to get him. Then the government placed a lien on the Sheep’s house and reptilians took over, because that’s what reptilians do. Bray wants to write a happier ending, but Strowman cuts him off and says come say it to his face. Strowman: “BYE!”

Make-A-Wish video.

Sheamus vs. Leon Ruff

Three Irish Curses, ten forearms to the chest, Brogue Kick for the pin at 1:53.

Post match Sheamus yells about Jeff Hardy, leading to the fourth part of the Hardy video series. This focuses on the knee injury from April but doesn’t quite bring up the legal issues while he was gone (to be fair though, those have been covered). Now he’s back and ready for the future. Hardy is back next week. This would be a bit better had he not had that one off match a few months ago.

Back in the arena, Sheamus says he’ll be here next week too.

Otis promises to beat Dolph Ziggler again, for his beautiful peach Mandy Rose. Mandy says she’s had a hard time for the last few weeks and tonight she’s focused on Carmella.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Carmella vs. Mandy Rose

Feeling out profess to start And they dive over each other a bit, setting up a low superkick for two on Mandy. A shot to the face sets up a chinlock on Carmella but here’s Sonya Deville for the distraction. She praises Mandy as the match continues, including Mandy getting two off a side slam.

Last year, Sonya almost handed Mandy the briefcase but Mandy managed to screw it up anyway. Sonya: “How embarrassing! Not nearly as embarrassing as losing to Carmella, which is probably about to happen!” Sonya says she’ll stop talking but then says she’s sick of standing up there and challenges Mandy to a fight right now. The distraction lets Carmella spin Mandy around so she can stand there and get superkicked for the pin at 3:49.

Rating: D+. If ever there was a place for the distraction rollup finish, this was it.. Instead we had Mandy get distracted, get spun around, and then stand there while Carmella superkicked her. That looked terribly fake and while the bigger story is fine, come up with a better way to do it. I do however like Sonya cutting a promo instead of just popping up for the distraction. At least it was a little different.

Post break Mandy has a bruised leg that she is getting checked out. Otis comes in to check on her but the doctor asks him to leave. That’s fine with Otis, who runs into Dolph Ziggler, who asks if Mandy is ok before leaving.

New Day vs. Forgotten Sons

Non-title, Jaxson Ryker is here with the Sons and here are Miz and Morrison to join commentary as the ten person limit is thrown out the window. Big E. throws Cutler down to start so it’s off to Kofi as Miz and Morrison make Tiger King jokes. Are those even still a thing? Kofi hits a running basement dropkick to Blake in the corner as everything breaks down.

Big E. splashes Cutler on the floor and we take a break. Back with a knee dropping Big E. as the Sons take over. A double Rock Bottom backbreaker gets two as Miz and Morrison complain about Cole saying Miz lost while Morrison retained the titles at Wrestlemania. Big E. finally shoves Blake away and the hot tag brings in Kofi to clean house.

A butterfly backbreaker gives Cutler two and everything breaks down. Cutler hits a Backstabber to set up Blake’s top rope elbow for two on Kofi as things settle a bit. Big E. gets sent outside for a posting from Ryker, leaving Kofi to take the reverse DDT/top rope stomp pin at 12:58.

Rating: C-. Yeah they’re still the Forgotten Sons, meaning that they are still as good as they have been before. It’s not a good match but I’ll give them credit for putting someone new in the division. I’ve been asking for it for so long now and saying “yes but not THEM” isn’t the best reaction to have. They’re not awful, but they’re also not that interesting in the slightest.

We look back at Bayley and Sasha Banks having issues last week, plus Tamina superkicking Bayley after the match.

Tamina doesn’t like fake girls pretending around here but here’s Sasha to say Tamina has helped her. It’s a ruse for a Bayley sneak attack though and the beating is on. Lacey Evans makes the save and everything is broken up. Yeah still not caring about Tamina.

Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville talk about how he isn’t the bad guy. Fans cheer for Otis because they see themselves in him but guys like Otis don’t win in the end. Eventually, talent is what matters and Ziggler will be Mr. Money in the Bank. Then he’ll be champion and get Mandy back. Sonya: “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis

Otis runs him over to start and hits an early delayed vertical suplex for two. Ziggler gets sent into the corner and slammed down for two, followed by a catapult into the corner again. A trip tot he floor slows Otis down and Ziggler sends him into the barricade. Back from a break with Ziggler still in control, including hitting a dropkick for two. Graves mentions something that might be kind of important: the two ladder matches, with the wrestlers going up through the headquarters, will be taking place AT THE SAME TIME. They’ve hinted at that a few times but I didn’t think they would actually do it.

As I try to get my head around that brilliant idea, Otis fights back but the Caterpillar is broken up with a neck snap across the top. The Zig Zag gets two but Otis throws him down with a suplex. The Caterpillar finishes Ziggler clean at 9:53. Cole: “That is probably the biggest win of Otis’ career.” I know WWE wants you to forget about Wrestlemania but give me a break.

Rating: D+. I think we’ve pretty much hit the peak of Otis’ worth at this point and that’s fine. He got the big win at Wrestlemania and now he can do some spots in Money in the Bank without having a chance of winning. The match wasn’t very good but again, points for trying someone new and having Ziggler lose.

Overall Rating: C-. Recently, I saw someone say that there is almost nothing in the WWE midcard that had any real energy or pop. That was in my head during this show and it’s absolutely right. So many people feel like they’re in a firm bubble and nothing is going to change for them anytime soon. They’re going to do their thing, which comes and goes every week, and nothing feels important. You might get some good matches or stories, but nothing feels like it’s a big deal. That becomes a major issue year after year and it brings shows like this, without much from the main event scene, grinding to a halt.

This show had a focus and a purpose, but it never really felt important. Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy could be good and they’re adding in some new people, but there is nothing on this show that really made me want to watch. It feels like so many people are firmly in their spots and aren’t going anywhere because they have found their places in WWE. That gets old fast and it has been old for a very long time. Spice it up a little and it can go a long way.

Results

Daniel Bryan b. King Corbin via DQ when Corbin used a ladder

Sheamus b. Leon Ruff – Brogue Kick

Carmella b. Mandy Rose – Superkick

Forgotten Sons b. New Day – Reverse DDT/top rope stomp combination to Kingston

Otis b. Dolph Ziggler – Caterpillar

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