Smackdown
Date: October 14, 2022
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

We’re on the road to Crown Jewel but this is going to be the Bray Wyatt Show. After not appearing on Monday Night Raw Wyatt is advertised for this week’s show, meaning we might get an idea of what the new version will be like. Other than that, we find out the new #1 contender to the Intercontinental Title so let’s get to it.

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

We open with Scarlett and Karrion Kross having been in a car wreck outside the arena and barely able to walk. Drew McIntyre runs up and jumps Kross, ramming him into the side of a truck over and over, with the trunk being dented. The door is slammed on Kross and referees break it up, with McIntyre shouting that this is just the beginning. Major points for starting with something different for a change.

Opening sequence.

Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn

Before the match, New Day talks about the Usos challenging their Tag Team Title reign. We cut to the back where Jey Uso isn’t happy with Sami Zayn. The phone rings and it’s Roman Reigns, who seems happy with Sami but not happy with Jey. Rather than fighting though, Jey goes along with whatever Reigns (who we can’t hear) is saying. As for the match, Kofi sends him outside to start and we take a break less than a minute in.

Back with Sami hitting a suplex and adding a running Umaga attack in the corner. Sami goes up top, only to be dropkicked out of the air for a big crash. Kofi seems to try a hurricanrana out of the corner but they mistime something, with Sami managing to turn it into a rollup (that was a sweet save and it could have been WAY worse). Sami knocks him off the top and out tot he floor as we take a break.

Back with Sami being sent outside for a change so Kofi can hit a dive. Jimmy Uso drops Woods with a heck of a superkick on the floor, allowing Sami to hit the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Kofi flips out of a suplex and rolls him up, only to have Jey make the reversal and Sami gets the pin at 14:50.

Rating: B. These two are both better known for their out of the ring antics (or at least well known for them) and I think people forget just how good they are once the bell rings. Kofi vs. Sami is a match that could work well under almost any circumstances because they’re both so talented at what they do. Jey biting the bullet and helping Sami win should calm things down for the time being, but that explosion is coming one day.

HHH is here when Rey Mysterio comes up to him. Rey talks about how bad things are going with Dominik on Monday Night Raw. He doesn’t see a way forward….so he quits. HHH says hang on a second and asks to talk about this in his office.

NXT’s Roxanne Perez is here with Shotzi to pick Cora Jade’s opponent for next week’s NXT. She picks Raquel Rodriguez, but Damage Ctrl comes in. Bayley says she should be the pick, but instead, we’ll have a six woman tag tonight.

Braun Strowman vs. James Maverick/Brian Thomas

The destruction is on but Omos and MVP come through the crowd for a distraction. Strowman doesn’t mind and it’s the powerslam into a powerbomb for the double stack pin at 1:57.

Post match MVP mocks the idea of Strowman being the monster among monsters. Next to Omos, Strowman looks normal. Strowman calls Omos to the ring but MVP seems to think we’ll do this later.

Jey Uso wants Sami Zayn to thank him for that out there but neither Sami nor Solo Sikoa saw it. Sami is happy that Solo is following in his footsteps.

Mansoor vs. LA Knight

Mace and Maxxine Dupri are here too. Knight backdrops him to start and hits a running clothesline to the floor. Mace offers a distraction though, allowing Mansoor to get in a cheap shot. A DDT drops Knight but he’s right back with a jumping neckbreaker. The slingshot shoulder drops Mansoor and BFT (Blunt Force Trauma) gives Knight the pin at 2:52. Knight looked just fine here as usual, making me wonder why they bothered with the Dupri stuff in the first place. I mean ok so the answer is “Vince” but it’s still an odd choice.

Post match Knight mocks the fans for cheering him and puts the locker room on notice. It’s his game so everyone can line up to get their ticket punched.

We look back at Bray Wyatt’s Extreme Rules return.

Damage Ctrl vs. Raquel Rodriguez/Roxanne Perez/Shotzi

Perez and Kai start things off with Perez managing to hit a headscissors. Sky comes in and takes Perez into the corner. That’s broken up and Perez sends her outside for a suicide dive. Back in and it’s off to Shotzi to knock Sky to the floor. Back in and Shotzi gets caught in the wrong corner, only to come back out to send Kai face first into the apron.

The hot tag brings in Rodriguez to clean house, including loading up a powerbomb to Kai on the floor. Sky breaks that up with an Asai moonsault, leaving Shotzi to hit a big dive. Back in and the Bayley to Belly gets two on Perez, leaving Bayley stunned. Bayley goes up top but gets super hurricanranaed right back down. The Rose Plant is countered into a rollup which is countered into a crucifix to give Bayley the pin at 6:42.

Rating: C+. This was all about showcasing Perez and she nailed her part out there. That sequence at the end with Bayley saw her going move for move with an established veteran and I think WWE knows they have something special with her. The other four more or less vanished near the end and let Bayley vs. Perez go, which wound up being great.

We look back at Ronda Rousey taking the Smackdown Women’s Title from Liv Morgan.

The Viking Raiders are coming back.

Legado del Fantasma vs. Hit Row

Santos Escobar/Zelina Vega/B Fab are here too. Hit Row starts the fight in the aisle until Top Dolla throws Cruz del Toro inside for a dancing jumping elbow. Santos Escobar pulls Ashonte Adonis off the apron for a crash into the steps though, albeit by being smart enough to go down as well so the referee doesn’t know what happened. The distraction lets Legado hit Sacrificio to finish Dolla at 1:22.

Sonya Deville trash talks Liv Morgan, who runs in and beats Deville down. Morgan puts her on a table, climbs up a scaffolding and drives through Deville to leave her laying.

Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Ricochet vs. Rey Mysterio

The winner gets a future Intercontinental Title shot and Mysterio is replacing an injured Karrion Kross. House is cleaned rather quickly and Rey hits his big dive as we take an early break. Back with Sheamus powerbombing Ricochet as we’re told that Rey is officially part of Smackdown. We get a Sheamus vs. Sikoa showdown and slugout until they fight to the floor.

Sikoa hits a Samoan drop so Rey dives onto him, setting up a showdown with Ricochet back inside. Ricochet flips out of a running hurricanrana but Sikoa is back in to run them over. A running spinwheel kick drops Sheamus and we take another break. Back again with Sikoa still in control until Sheamus knocks him down.

Rey and Ricochet catch Sheamus on top but Sikoa powerbombs the two of them down. Sheamus breaks up Sikoa’s cover with a top rope knee to the back and grabs the Cloverleaf on Sikoa. Cue Jey Uso and Sami Zayn for the save and a beatdown on Sheamus, though they get in a fight over who should get to beat him up. The Brawling Brutes come out to help Sheamus and they all brawl to the back. That leaves Rey to 619 and frog splash Ricochet for the pin at 16:19.

Rating: B. Another match built around action and near carnage and that isn’t a bad thing. Once Mysterio was introduced, it felt like a pretty safe bet that he might be winning but Sheamus being there for a potential trilogy match with Gunther added just enough intrigue. It was fun insanity and that is what you tend to get out of these things.

And now, Bray Wyatt. The lights go out and the door near the entrance opens, with Bray coming out for the full lantern entrance. Bray gets on the mic and says he never thought he would get to be here. This is just him being himself for the first time and he seems rather choked up about this whole thing.

Over the last year, he lost a lot of things, like his grandmother, his career, his self confidence and two people who were very close to him. He thought nothing he ever did mattered and he was wrong. Once he was done feeling sorry for himself, people started asking him to come back. There were people he met who said he helped get them through some tough times and those people would say thank you Bray. Fans: THANK YOU BRAY!

The thing is, he could sit right here and say they were there when he was weak and vulnerable so thank you for saving his life. He talks about the reason things got better….and then the (limited) lights go out. The mask pops up on screen and says to forget the future and follow him. The new Wyatt logo appears and that’s the show. That was definitely different and that’s a good thing, though I’m curious about where it goes. This feels like the kind of story where we’re going to get a little bit each week and that’s not a bad thing.

Overall Rating: B-. Well it wasn’t boring. This was one of those shows where it felt like a lot of stuff was happening but it might take awhile before we see where some of it goes. The opener and main event were both rather good and the Bray promo….well that’s going to get some very polarizing responses. What matters is they moved things forward and added some intrigue throughout the show, so now we wait and see what is going on. As you’re supposed to want to do when a wrestling show ends.

Results
Sami Zayn b. Kofi Kingston – Rollup
Braun Strowman b. James Maverick/Brian Thomas – Double pin
LA Knight b. Mansoor – BFT
Damage Ctrl b. Shotzi/Roxanne Perez/Raquel Rodriguez – Crucifix to Perez
Legado del Fantasma b. Hit Row – Sacrifico to Dolla
Rey Mysterio b. Ricochet, Sheamus and Solo Sikoa – Frog splash to Ricochet

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

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Impact Wrestling
Date: October 13, 2022
Location: Albany Armory, Albany, New York
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

It’s the Bound For Glory fallout show, as the biggest pay per view of the year ended with Bully Ray as the next challenger to Josh Alexander. Since there was no way to have him show up on Impact and make a challenge, Ray won a twenty man match by pinning Steve Maclin to get the shot. I’m sure nothing but good will come from this. Let’s get to it.

Here is Bound For Glory if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of Bound For Glory.

Here is Josh Alexander to get things going. The fans are rather glad to see Alexander, who talks about how Eddie Edwards said their match was going to be a war. That is what it was, but now the war is over because here he stands, still the World Champion. He is the champion but he has made mistakes. Now he knows that the next challenger is waiting so Bully Ray, get out here right now.

Cue Bully, who Alexander welcomes back to the company, but wants to know why Ray helped him at Bound For Glory. Bully talks about how he could have stabbed Alexander in the back but didn’t. He has been here longer than he has any other company he has ever worked for, just like he did to Sting, Hulk Hogan, Brooke and his own brother. Ray says he has done it all, but now he needs to do it right. He knows that no one has a good thing to say about him and he wants to change that. Ray isn’t cashing in his title shot like Moose did last year, so Alexander is going to see him coming.

Cue Steve Maclin to interrupt because he doesn’t trust Ray. How exactly did Ray get into Call Your Shot anyway? Maclin talks about how he has done things the right way but now he wants to know what it takes for him to get his title shot. Cue Moose to say Maclin is in the presence of World Champions so step aside. As for Ray, he is a scumbag, but that’s ok, because Moose likes scumbags. Moose learned his bad ways from Ray, just like how he won the title last year.

He would go after Alexander again….but here is Bobby Fish to interrupt as well. Fish agrees that Moose has turned into quite the scumbag himself and Maclin is becoming quite the locker room politician. Sure Ray is a scumbag, but he didn’t scumbag Alexander at Bound For Glory. For tonight though, Fish wants his own match against the champ, with Alexander saying it’s on. This was a good bit longer than it needed to be and hopefully it isn’t the start of a new style.

The Motor City Machine Guns are happy with their win on Before The Impact and they want another Tag Team Title shot. They walk off and run into Heath and Rhino, who are getting a title shot next week. Rhino wants revenge on Honor No More so they’ll get it next week. Don’t worry though, as the Guns can have a title match when they win the belts.

Killer Kelly vs. Tasha Steelz

No DQ and Savannah Evans is here with Steelz. Evans doesn’t waste time by jumping Kelly before the bell to start fast. Kelly gets dropped face first onto the apron but sits up to glare at Steelz for a cool visual. A basement dropkick drops Kelly and it’s time for a chain. With that taking too long, Steelz has to counter an attempt at the Killer Klutch. Kelly gets two off an Alabama Slam and grabs a chair but settles for two off a Death Valley Driver. Evans comes in to grab Kelly but she fights both of them off. Steelz gets in a superkick and grabs the chain, only to get choked into the Killer Klutch for the tap at 6:52.

Rating: C. Kelly winning in what should be the last match of the feud is a good thing but I was expecting a bit more out of a No DQ match. I did like Evans not bothering to just stand around as she got involved from the beginning, but Steelz and Evans are pretty clearly on the downside of their run. Kelly has a charisma that makes me want to watch her and that is a major step towards being a star.

Zicky Dice and Johnny Swinger are bragging when Dirty Dango comes in to say he should cuff them for being stupid. Swinger invites him to Swinger’s Dungeon.

Sami Callihan jumps two guys in yellow because they part of Violent By Design. Good. Get rid of all of them.

Scott D’Amore praises Josh Alexander for his recent efforts but tells him to keep an eye out for Bully Ray.

Black Taurus vs. Trey Miguel vs. Kenny King vs. Alex Zayne vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Laredo Kid

It’s a brawl to start with no one actually getting an entrance. Taurus is sent outside into a pile of people, leaving Zayne to work on King’s wrist. Zayne’s dive is broken up and it’s a series of dives to send us to a break. Back with a bunch of reverse DDTs into King’s Blockbuster, setting up a spinebuster for two on Miguel. Uemura comes in with a high crossbody to King and a super hurricanrana brings Taurus off the top. Back in and Miguel grabs something like a reverse Angle Slam for the pin on Zayne at 5:20.

Rating: B-. The match was the usual insanity that comes with this kind of a scramble match, meaning that it was only going to be so good. You can’t put together any kind of a serious story in something like this as it’s all about flying around and getting in whatever you can. Miguel winning is nice, but it only means so much in a match with this format.

Mike Bailey gives Frankie Kazarian a very respectful congratulation. Trey Miguel comes in to say he’s coming for the title but Kazarian says we’ll see what happens. Bailey continues to be quite less than interesting.

VXT/Gisele Shaw vs. Death Dollz

Jessicka slugs away at Shaw to start and takes her into the wrong corner for the running knees from Taya. Purrazzo comes in and gets caught in Rosemary’s Upside Down, sending Rehwoldt into a frenzy. A Green distraction lets Purrazzo hit a Backstabber on Taya though and the villains take over with the stomping in the corner.

Taya and Green go down off a double clothesline though and it’s back to Rosemary for the house cleaning. Green catches Rosemary with a Bully Bomb into a faceplant but Rosemary is right back up with a spear for two. Everything breaks down and Rosemary hits a spear on Purrazzo, only to get kneed in the head to give Shaw the pin at 5:38.

Rating: C. Another match that didn’t have much time to do anything and it hut things a lot. What mattered was giving Shaw and VXT a win to give them some momentum back. The Dollz having success without Rosemary continues as well and that should make for an interesting story down the road.

Tommy Dreamer begs Bully Ray to not lie to everyone about his intentions. Ray says he’s telling the truth and they’ll team together.

Maria Kanellis gives Honor No More a pep talk but they think the company is trying to kill them off again. They’re not sure where Eddie Edwards is but next week, they’ll retain the Tag Team Titles.

Matt Cardona vs. Bhupinder Gujjar

Cardona’s headlock doesn’t get him very far as Gujjar hits a dropkick into a slingshot elbow for an early two. They head to the floor with Cardona knocking him down for a change, setting up a hangman’s neckbreaker for two back inside. The middle rope missile dropkick misses though and Gujjar strikes away but here is Brian Myers for a distraction. Radio silence finishes Gujjar at 4:22.

Rating: C. Not much to see here but Cardona and Myers being back together is a good thing. Cardona being back in general is nice to see as he really is good at his heel stuff, though Myers does add a nice bonus to the mix. Gujjar continues to seem like he has potential and he’s starting to feel more like one of the regular guys around here, but please give him something else to make him interesting.

Video on Jordynne Grace vs. Masha Slamovich.

Mickie James would love to face Grace if she gets to the top of the mountain. VXT and Gisele Shaw interrupt, saying Mickie should respect them instead of losers like Mia Yim. Chelsea Green mocks James for beating her but James challenges Deonna Purrazzo instead.

Bullet Club would love to face Tommy Dreamer/Bully Ray next week.

Here’s what’s coming up next week.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Bobby Fish vs. Josh Alexander

Alexander is defending. Feeling out process to start as they grapple up against the ropes. Some headlock takeovers work well for Alexander but Fish is back up with some knees to the ribs. Alexander is right back with an overhead belly to belly but the crossbody to the back doesn’t get to launch.

Fish is fine enough to drop him with a dragon screw legwhip on the ramp and we take a break. Back with Fish hitting a slingshot elbow and kicking away in the corner. Neither of them can hit a suplex so Alexander goes with a clothesline and then drops Fish with a hard right hand.

The C4 Spike is blocked and Fish kicks him in the head, setting up a Saito suplex for two. The ankle lock is broken up as well though and Fish catches him on top. Alexander knocks him down and hits a moonsault, only to have the ankle lock pulled into a triangle choke. That’s countered into a backbreaker and now the C4 Spike can retain at 16:18.

Rating: B-. This was another match that had no story and was a showdown between two technicians, meaning it was only going to be so good. They had no reason to be mad at each other and it was hard to imagine that Fish was going to be a real threat to the title. The action carried it to pretty good, but they had a firm ceiling above them.

Post match Frankie Kazarian comes out to congratulate Alexander for being a great champion. For now though, he is cashing in his X-Division Title, using Option C, to get a World Title shot.

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t know if it’s the focus being on Bully Ray or the X-Division Title being vacated but there was a lack of interesting stuff going on this week. Hopefully things pick up again as we get back to normal next week, but this show didn’t feel like it was coming off the biggest night of the year. Granted any show with an announcement of Ray and Tommy Dreamer getting a featured match the next week isn’t going to do me much good, but the rest wasn’t exactly great.

Results
Killer Kelly b. Tasha Steelz – Killer Klutch
Trey Miguel b. Black Taurus, Kenny King, Alex Zayne, Yuya Uemura and Laredo Kid – Snap neckbreaker to Zayne
VXT/Gisele Shaw b. Death Dollz – Running knee to Rosemary
Matt Cardona b. Bhupinder Gujjar – Radio Silence
Josh Alexander b. Bobby Fish – C4 Spike

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

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Smackdown
Date: January 14, 2022
Location: CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are just over two weeks away from the royal Rumble and the big match on this side is Roman Reigns defending the Universal Title against Raw’s Seth Rollins. That is likely going to mean Brock Lesnar will be getting involved and I’m curious to see where that is going to go. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar arguing over Paul Heyman, leading to Reigns dropping Lesnar with a Superman Punch. Then Seth Rollins was announced as the opponent in a bit of a weird pick.

Here are the Usos for a chat. They talk about how the only team to ever give them a real fight is the New Day, but they beat them again last week. Instead of helping Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins, we need to have a four way to consider the #1 contendership. Jimmy even handles the entrances, with a special/not so serious voice.

Los Lotharios vs. Viking Raiders vs. Cesaro/Mansoor vs. Jinder Mahal/Shanky

One fall to a finish and the Usos throw in some brief instructions, including remember that they’re the ones. The Usos fire off some superkicks but get sent to the floor so the brawl can be on. We take a break before the bell and come back joined in progress with Humberto diving into an atomic drop from Mansoor.

Cesaro comes in but Erik tags himself in to kick away at Shanky. Mansoor and Cesaro head outside for some reason but come back up to see Jinder beating on Erik in the corner. Erik fights over and brings in Ivar, who is driven into Shanky’s face in the corner. Ivar gets caught on top though and Cesaro/Mahal (weird combination) load up a double superplex. That takes too long though and Erik makes it a Tower of Doom as we take a break.

Back with Cesaro getting the hot tag to clean house, including hammering away on Humberto. Ivar tags himself back in so Cesaro takes him down for the start of a swing. Mahal breaks that up with a Khallas and it’s time for the parade of people hitting each other. Erik gets double superkicked and Los Lotharios dive onto Cesaro and Mansoor. Back in and Ivar cleans house, setting up the Viking Experience to finish Angel at 9:31.

Rating: C+. They kept this one fast enough and had everyone getting in there as fast as they could. The Raiders are the only team on Smackdown that feels like they could be a threat to the Usos so this was the best way they could have gone. If nothing else, it is almost interesting to see who they randomly throw Cesaro with on a given week, as the nothing teams just keep coming.

Post match the Usos get on the announcers’ table and shout at the Raiders, who can’t raid Samoa.

Naomi comes in to see Sonya Deville and wants to know why Deville is holding her back. Deville says when the jacket is on, she is Naomi’s boss and she doesn’t like Naomi’s attitude. Now Naomi needs to get out of here before she loses her Royal Rumble match. This is every interaction these two have had for months now. Naomi leaves so Adam Pearce comes in to talk about how cold Sonya has the temperature in here. Oh I have a bad feeling about where this is going.

We look at some of the history between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, mainly looking at the original Shield run.

Here is Sami Zayn to talk about how the conspiracy against him is finally going to end, but now there is a new cast member in the conspiracy: Johnny Knoxville. We see Knoxville throwing him over the top last week, with Sami saying he is going to show the world that no one can is better at being a jackass than him. After realizing that might not be the best wording, it’s time for the debut of his own stunt show: InZayn!

There is a wooden ramp set up but Sami runs to the back, only to come out in a shopping cart with two guys pushing him. He is going to use that ramp to jump the ring….but it does look kind of far. It’s so far that he changes his mind at the last second. Zayn gets in the ring but here is Rick Boogs for a distraction. Shinsuke Nakamura comes in for Kinshasa and Boogs gorilla pressed Zayn over the top and onto the crash pad.

Aliyah is ready for her singles debut and hopes she doesn’t embarrass herself. Natalya comes in to say there is no shame in embarrassing yourself against her because she has three Guinness World Records. Natalya even has the book, which Aliyah didn’t know was still a thing. The glare sends Aliyah to the ring.

Aliyah vs. Natalya

After Aliyah makes her entrance, Natalya is still in the back to talk about her records: most matches by a woman in WWE history, most pay per view matches in WWE history and most wins by a woman in WWE history. Tonight, she is going to set the record for fastest win in WWE history, breaking the mark of 3.8 seconds. Natalya stomps her down in the corner and unloads before the bell. The referee says she can’t do this but Aliyah says she can….but there is no match anyway. Actually scratch that as the bell rings and Aliyah rolls her up for the pin at 3 seconds. Why yes, that is a new WWE record for a fastest pin at 3.1 seconds.

Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville think it is getting hot in their office but the thermostat seems to be broken.

More Reigns vs. Rollins history, this time looking at Rollins turning on the Shield.

Michael Cole brings out Lita (looking rather orange) for the first time on Smackdown in nearly 20 years. Lita is glad to be home and is proud of her career. She never got to be in the Royal Rumble in her day though and now she is going to win the match and headline Wrestlemania. Cue Charlotte to interrupt, saying she will handle this interview. Charlotte says this run that Lita is on will be over, with the Wrestlemania dreams being over.

Lita has heard about Charlotte and doesn’t get the flashback Friday Tonya Harding thing. She doesn’t get how Charlotte doesn’t tip over with that giant head. The fans chant GIANT HEAD but Charlotte says she can’t hear it. Charlotte talks about beating Trish Stratus at Summerslam 2019, sending her back into retirement. Maybe Charlotte can do that to Lita too, which causes things to get physical. Lita leaves her laying with a Twist of Fate.

We look at Ricochet breaking Ridge Holland’s nose at Day One.

Sheamus is ready to get some revenge for Holland’s sake.

Ricochet vs. Sheamus

Ricochet headlock takeovers him to start but Sheamus fights up and hits a hard shoulder. Back up and Ricochet knocks him to the floor with a running shoulder of his own. Sheamus heads around the ring and sweeps the leg to drop Ricochet onto the apron. A catapult sends Ricochet face first into the bottom of the ring as we take a break.

Back with Ricochet fighting up from a double arm crank and striking away. The Brogue Kick misses and Sheamus is sent to the apron, where Ricochet gets him tied up in the ropes. A springboard moonsault hits Sheamus’ back for two but the shooting star misses. Sheamus hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and gets rather annoyed. The ten forearms to the chest rock Ricochet so Sheamus goes up, only to get sent face first into the post. A springboard sunset bomb gives Ricochet two and a regular sunset flip gets the same. Then the Brogue Kick knocks Ricochet silly for the pin at 9:57.

Rating: C+. This was getting good near the end and then finished pretty fast. I tried not to convince myself to believe that Ricochet had a chance but he managed to make it work again. He’s so easy to turn into an underdog but for some reason he is never allowed to win anything and it gets a little tiring.

We look back at Aliyah’s record setting win, which is an official record.

Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce are still complaining about the heat so Pearce goes to see maintenance. Sonya takes the jacket off so here’s Naomi to say it’s time for a fight. Pearce comes back in to say not so fast and Sonya puts the jacket back on. To calm things down, Pearce makes Naomi vs. Charlotte again for next week.

We look at Seth Rollins cashing in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania XXXI.

Kofi Kingston vs. Madcap Moss

Before the match, Kingston reads a proclamation that King Woods is injured and out of the Royal Rumble, but Kingston will be taking his place. Cue Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss to say Corbin will be in the Rumble, which makes them as happy as they have been since they injured Drew McIntyre. We see a clip of the attack on McIntyre, before Moss makes a joke about Kingston being scared of him. Kofi laughs so hysterically that he falls to the mat before knocking Moss to the floor. The big dive connects on Corbin and Moss as we take an early break.

Back with Kingston fighting out of a chinlock but getting planted with a powerslam. Kofi fires off some clotheslines and kicks Moss in the face in the corner. Moss rolls through a high crossbody though, only to have Kofi load up the SOS. That’s countered with a rake to the face though and the Punchline finishes Kingston at 5:40. Not enough shown to rate but this was a short way to build Moss up, because the world needs more Moss.

Here are Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for their face to face showdown. Reigns tells Omaha to acknowledge him but Rollins throws out the Shield fist. Reigns says that’s beneath him but Rollins brings up that Reigns has never beaten him in a title match. That makes Reigns laugh because while Rollins is still in the past, he is the best ever. Rollins says he was climbing the ladder while Reigns was on the bench in the Canadian Football League. Then Rollins turned on him in the Shield and Reigns STILL needed help getting to the top.

Rollins created him and he can destroy him, but Reigns says if he wanted to face a star, Rollins wouldn’t even be his pick out of his house. He would have faced Rollins’ wife, so here are the Usos to chase Rollins off. Rollins says he’ll destroy Reigns to end the show. There were some good lines here but I don’t think we need much to hype up a Rollins vs. Reigns title match.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling most of this one as it didn’t exactly seem like much happened. The Lita appearance was nice and they added a few people to the Rumble, but other than that it was kind of a show that came and went. Naomi vs. Sonya continues to just kind of sit there, and I’m almost scared to imagine them dragging that all the way to Wrestlemania. The good thing is they have most of the important stuff set for the pay per view, but another match or two might be a good idea. Not their best show here, as it felt like a bit of an off week.

Results
Viking Raiders b. Los Lotharios, Cesaro/Mansoor and Jinder Mahal/Shanky – Viking Experience to Humberto
Aliyah b. Natalya – Rollup
Sheamus b. Ricochet – Brogue Kick
Madcap Moss b. Kofi Kingston – Punchline

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

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Smackdown
Date: December 24, 2021
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s Christmas Eve and thankfully we are taped instead of running a live show. We have a stacked card this week too, with a 12 man gauntlet match for to crown a new #1 contender to the Intercontinental Title, along with a showdown for the SmackDown Women’s Title as Charlotte defends against Toni Storm. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of last year’s show, with Roman Reigns hugging Paul Heyman, then firing him and laying him out with the Superman Punch. Then it was Brock Lesnar coming out and attacking Reigns to wrap things up.

Earlier today, Kayla Braxton sat down with a disheveled Paul Heyman (he needs to shave) so he can tell his side of the story. What happened was he was publicly fired, publicly attacked and publicly shamed. He told Roman Reigns the truth and he paid the price for it, publicly. Heyman doesn’t regret telling the truth because he was doing his job as special counsel.

Last week, his things had been thrown out of the locker room, but he had done his job. Reigns is the greatest Universal Champion of all time, but he needs to be protected from Brock Lesnar. Maybe now he needs to go to NXT and cherry pick a top talent and start over. But no, not at this stage. He put everything into Roman Reigns, but without him, maybe it’s time to acknowledge that his career is most likely over. Sweet goodness this man is talented.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Toni Storm

Charlotte is defending. They fight over a lockup to start with Storm not being able to get very far. Charlotte kicks her in the ribs but gets crossbodied down for an early one. The champ needs a breather on the floor before coming back in to stomp/chop away in the corner. We hit the figure four necklock for a bit until Charlotte flips her over, setting up the nipup. Back up and Storm scores with a headbutt, only to get kicked out to the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Charlotte slapping her in the face and shouting about how much better she is than Storm. That’s enough to get Storm back up, so Charlotte blasts her with a clothesline. Storm finally hits a snap suplex but Charlotte forearms her in the corner. The Downward Spiral into the middle buckle cuts Storm off yet again, setting up the double moonsault for a double two.

Natural Selection is blocked though and Storm hits a quick German suplex. Not that it matters as Charlotte pulls her into the Figure Four (it takes a bit but she gets there), forcing Toni to roll into the ropes for the break. Back up and a big boot sends Storm out to the floor to keep up the near dominance. Some rollups give Storm two but Charlotte reverses into a small package of her own to retain at 14:35.

Rating: B-. Charlotte dominated the majority of the match until it felt like she caught Storm in the end. This was a feud that saw Charlotte get the better of things far more often than not and then beat Storm up in the title match. I’m not sure how this helped Storm in almost any way, but it wasn’t exactly a great look for her. I’m almost scared to see what is next for Charlotte, as she is running out of people to beat.

We look back at Drew McIntyre pulling Angela out of the desk after Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss couldn’t make it work.

Drew McIntyre and New Day are ready for the Usos and Madcap Moss tonight. It might even be time for some SEASONS BEATINGS!

Xia Li doesn’t like women like Natalya, who crush other women’s spirits. Violence/vengeance is promised.

Gauntlet Match

It’s a 12 Days Of Christmas Gauntlet Match with the winner getting an Intercontinental Title shot against Shinsuke Nakamura (ringside with Rick Boogs). Angel is in at #1 and Mansoor is in at #2 with the latter being pulled off the top for an early and nasty crash. An enziguri doesn’t get Mansoor very far as Angel hits the Wing Clipper for the pin at 1:36.

Erik is in at #3 and gets kicked off the apron before the bell. Angel tries a moonsault to the floor but gets pulled out of the air. Erik slams him hard on the floor and we take a break. Back with Erik kneeing him in the face for two but missing the running knees in the corner. Another Wing Clipper ends Erik at 6:59 and it’s Shanky in at #4.

A dropkick has no effect on Shanky, who knocks Angel hard into the corner. Wade Barrett’s old Wasteland ends Angel at 8:31 and it’s Ivar in at #5. A big boot drops Ivar but he’s right back up with some corner clotheslines to put Shanky down for a change. The Viking Splash ends Shanky at 9:51 so here is Sheamus in at #6. Sheamus hammers away but gets punched out to the floor as we take another break. Back again with Sheamus grabbing the chinlock to keep Ivar in trouble. That’s broken up with viking power but Sheamus Brogue Kicks him for the pin at 15:50.

Drew Gulak is in at #7 and gets Brogue Kicked for the pin at 16:31. Cesaro is in at #8 with bad ribs but hits a high crossbody for two anyway. That’s a Regal roll onto the ribs and we hit an armbar of all things to keep Cesaro down. Cesaro fights up but it’s a Ridge Holland distraction so Sheamus can hit another Brogue Kick for the pin at 21:18. Ricochet is in at #9 and kicks Sheamus outside for a heck of a top rope Asai moonsault to send us to another break.

Back again with Sheamus hitting the Irish Curse and grabbing a chinlock. Sheamus powerslams him to cut off a comeback attempt, setting up the ten forearms to the chest. A top rope clothesline misses though and Ricochet grabs a tornado DDT for two more. Ricochet’s Lionsault hits knees so Sheamus grabs a small package for a very near fall. Sheamus gets knocked off the top to set up a standing moonsault for two more. Holland offers another distraction though, allowing Sheamus to knee Ricochet off the apron. Cue Cesaro to take out Holland to distract Sheamus, with Ricochet getting the rollup pin at 30:52.

Humberto is in at #10 but first, Sheamus gets to knock Ricochet silly again. Humberto’s moonsault hits raised knees though and it’s the Recoil for the pin at 32.21. Jinder Mahal is in at #11 and drops Ricochet onto the apron toput him in trouble. The Khallas is countered into a cradle to give rid of Mahal at 33:01 though and it’s Sami Zayn in at #12. We take another break and come back with Sami pounding him in the corner and hitting a clothesline for two.

Sami goes up and talks trash, with the delay being enough for Ricochet to snap off a super hurricanrana for two of his own. Ricochet blocks the Blue Thunder Bomb and hits a crossbody for two more. The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Sami a rather near fall but he can’t hit an exploder into the corner. Another attempt does connect but the Helluva Kick is cut off with a superkick. The Benedriller gives Ricochet a very close two so Ricochet heads up top. The shooting star press only hits knees though and it’s a second exploder into the corner. Now Sami can hit the Helluva Kick for the pin and the win at 42:16.

Rating: B-. This was rather long and that’s a good idea on a show like this one. Sami winning wasn’t quite a huge surprise, as he has been quite the focal point of Smackdown for the last few weeks. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him getting the title in the end. Nakamura has done well as champion, but Sami has more of a story going and it would make sense to see him win. The rest of the match had its moments, especially from Ricochet and Sheamus, but a lot of people were in and out without much going on. You have to do something like that in this kind of a match, though it does mean things go rather fast.

We look back at Roman Reigns firing Paul Heyman again.

We get a long, detailed look at Paul Heyman’s career, including a good bit of WCW and ECW footage. After a look at everything that happened to him with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, we wrap it up with the ending of the show’s opening segment, with Heyman saying his career is probably over. This was pretty cool and showed you just how far Heyman has come in his career.

Madcap Moss/Usos vs. Drew McIntyre/New Day

Miracle on 34th Street Fight with Happy Corbin in Moss/Usos’ corner. Woods headlocks Jey to start and then decks him with a forearm. It’s off to Kofi for the slingshot Vader Bomb but he gets taken into the wrong corner. That doesn’t last long though as McIntyre gets the tag so he can hammer on Moss for a bit. Everything breaks down and it’s Corbin coming in with a candy cane kendo stick to drop McIntyre. The other four fight on the stage, with New Day being thrown through boxes and trees.

We take a break and come back with everyone at ringside, including the Usos still using the boxes on New Day. Kofi gets crushed between two trees (Cole: “The old Christmas tree sandwich!”) as Moss stops McIntyre with some raised boots in the corner. McIntyre is back with a suplex as Woods finds a chair in one of the boxes. We go ECW with a Van Daminator to Jimmy but some egg nog seems to slow him down.

That leaves Kofi to Boom Drop Jimmy, followed by a top rope spinning hurricanrana (cool). It’s time to bring in the cookies, which Kofi slams onto the Usos’ heads, because it’s a theme thing. Moss yells at McIntyre so it’s some snap belly to belly suplexes into a neckbreaker for Moss’ troubles. Corbin breaks up the Claymore though so Kofi egg nogs him. McIntyre does the same to Corbin and Moss at the same time, leaving Woods to kick Corbin into the announcers’ table. The Claymore finishes Moss at 12:30.

Rating: C. This is a match where your tolerance for goofy themed comedy will decide everything. Ignoring all that though, this was mainly a not that great six man, with the good guys fighting from underneath to win in the end. That’s not the most thrilling way to wrap it up, but at least McIntyre got to kick Moss in the face. For a fun main event on a less than serious show, not too shabby though.

Post match McIntyre and New Day throw presents into the crowd (McIntyre seems rather proud of one of his throws) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The Heyman stuff was excellent and makes me wonder where the story is going. Throw in a good and rather long gauntlet match, a somewhat depressing Women’s Title match and a fun enough main event and we’ll call this a goodish show. It’s definitely a week that seems like they were taking the night off, but at least they did enough good things to carry us to the last week of the year.

Results
Charlotte b. Toni Storm- Small package
Sami Zayn won a gauntlet match last eliminating Ricochet
New Day/Drew McIntyre b. Madcap Moss/Usos – Claymore to Moss

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

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AND

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Smackdown
Date: November 5, 2021
Location: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re just over two weeks away from Survivor Series and it might be time to start talking about the show. Since it absolutely has to be Raw vs. Smackdown, it shouldn’t be that hard to get things going. The show almost has to be better than last week’s so at least they have a clear bar to clear. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is the Bloodline to get things going. Roman Reigns talks about taking last week off after smashing Brock Lesnar, but now he’s back so this tiny little no name town can acknowledge him. He was on a private island running around sans clothes last week (his wife loved it), but not everyone had a good time. Brock Lesnar got fined a million bucks, but there was one more thing.

Reigns asks Paul Heyman what happened to the Usos, with Heyman talking about how it was a non-title match. When flat out asked though, Heyman has to admit that the New Day won the match. Reigns likes the New Day, even though the Bloodline is better. He wants to know what happened, with both Usos blaming the other for taking the pin. Eventually it’s Jimmy who admits he lost, so Reigns wants to know how he’s going to fix it.

Jimmy promises to make everyone acknowledge the head of the title and the Universal Champion, but here is New Day to interrupt. Woods thinks the King is supposed to be at the head of the table, but Reigns hasn’t stopped talking about sitting there for a long time now. Kofi thinks the table has been forgotten on Reigns’ island of relevancy. As for tonight, Woods has an idea: Woods vs. Jimmy, and when Jey loses, he has to bend the knee to the King. Jimmy says the Bloodline bows to no one but Reigns accepts for him, with Woods having to bend the knee if he loses.

We look at Sonya Deville cheating Naomi out of a match with Shayna Baszler last week.

Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler

In the back, Sonya Deville insists that it has been tough love on Naomi. They start fast with Naomi hitting a Thesz press and then kicking Baszler in the face. Baszler snaps off a German suplex though and they fight outside, with Naomi sending her into the apron. Back in and a good high crossbody gets two on Baszler but she drops Naomi onto the apron.

We take a break and come back with Naomi hitting a Heatseeker onto the apron. A sunset flip gets two but Baszler switches into the Kirifuda Clutch. That’s broken up with a rope break so Naomi grabs a rollup for the pin at 6:33. Hold on though because here’s Sonya Deville to say that should have been a rope break, so restart the match. Cole: “WHERE’S JACK TUNNEY???” The Kirifuda Clutch finishes Naomi at 7:30.

Rating: C-. Yeah we know. It’s the kind of story that we have seen over and over again: a corrupt authority figure does something to mess with a wrestler. The good thing here though is that it could bring Sonya back into the ring and that is certainly a positive. It has been a while since we’ve seen this so it’s far from the worst thing, but they might as well have had a big NOPE sign as soon as Naomi got the pin.

Roman Reigns is ranting to the Usos about what happened last week, saying he took a week off and this place is almost as bad as Raw. Jimmy laughs so Reigns gets in his face, saying they don’t lose.

Remember how Xia Li was coming? She still is.

Ridge Holland is here to meet his idol, Sheamus, because he would fight right in back home. He and his friends were all big fans and everything he knows he learned from watching Sheamus. That is bad news for everyone around here. Quite the interesting backstory.

We look back at Shotzi attacking Sasha Banks.

Shotzi talks about how she has lost everything, from matches to the support of the WWE Universe. That was her breaking point and she is going to run over everyone, even without the tank. This was a good example of someone writing a promo for a wrestler, even if it is not something that fits with their personality. Someone like Shotzi would never say “the support of the WWE Universe” but that’s how WWE people talk so here we are.

Los Lotharios vs. Mansoor/Cesaro

Mansoor takes Garza down by the arm to start but gets caught in a spinebuster as we get an inset interview from some bragging Lotharios. Carrillo comes in to punch Mansoor into the corner and a backdrop allows Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS. The half crab goes on but Mansoor escapes and brings in Cesaro to start cleaning house. The springboard corkscrew elbow sets up the Swing but Carrillo makes the save. Mansoor breaks up the near fall and Cesaro gets knocked into Mansoor. Something like a Muta Lock from Carrillo sets up a basement dropkick from Garza (The Cero de la Silla?) for the pin at 4:59.

Rating: C. You can always use a team like Los Lotharios and they were doing their thing well enough here. The tag divisions have been dying for new talent so this is a perfectly fine addition. Now just let them win some matches and go somewhere with it and they might be on to something.

Aliyah hits on Jeff Hardy but leaves so Jeff can have his interview. Hold on though as Jeff goes over to Aliyah, who runs into Sami Zayn. Sami wants to help her out, so he has one suggestion: pants suit.

Here’s Drew McIntyre for this week’s open challenge.

Drew McIntyre vs. Ricochet

Ricochet says Drew needs to watch his mouth or someone is going to come out here and slap him in the face. That’s what Ricochet does so Drew starts fast, including a heck of an overhead belly to belly. Drew is knocked outside but he catches a running hurricanrana and drops Ricochet onto the apron. Back in and another belly to belly has Ricochet sprawling into the corner.

We cut to Mustafa Ali, who seems interested because he and Ricochet have a lot in common. Back to full screen with Ricochet dropkicking McIntyre out of the air. A standing shooting star press is blocked though and a brainbuster gives Drew two. Ricochet hits some superkicks but a middle rope moonsault press is Claymored out of the air (DANG) for the pin at 3:41.

Rating: B-. WWE is getting the hang of these awesome short matches as of late, as they packed in so much stuff that I thought they had gone twice as long. I’m glad to see Ricochet on the show again and that finish looked great. Then there’s the Ali stuff and while I’m still nervous, they might have shifted away from what it seemed to be in the first place.

New Day is ready for the main event and dancing ensues.

Mustafa Ali comes up tor Ricochet and proposes a team. Ricochet turns him down though, because Ali complains all the time, was mean to his last partner, and is just a jerk. Ali isn’t pleased.

It’s time for Happy Talk, with Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss laughing about how they have no competition. That brings them to their guests this week, the Viking Raiders, who seem to impress McAfee. The Raiders say they aren’t here to be guests but to raid this corny show. Corbin laughs at the idea of two guys in their Halloween costumes. Moss tells them a joke about how bad vikings smell so the set is wrecked.

Viking Raiders vs. Happy Corbin/Madcap Moss

Erik powers Corbin around to start so it’s off to Ivar to work on Moss’ arm. A Corbin distraction lets Moss come back with a spinebuster to Erik though and it’s time to stomp away in the corner. Ivar has to make a save of his own but Moss shoves him through the ropes for something you don’t see very often.

Deep Six gets two on Erik but he knocks Corbin away and brings in Ivar to start breaking people. A crossbody hits Moss for two and there’s the seated senton in the corner. Ivar cartwheels away from Corbin (McAfee: “A VIKING DID A CARTWHEEL!”) and drives Erik into the corner. Corbin is sent outside and Erik powerbombs Moss (after almost dropping him at first) but Corbin pulls Moss to the floor. The threat of an Ivar dive sends Moss and Corbin away for the countout at 5:41.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have much time to go anywhere but they followed the formula so it wasn’t that bad. The Raiders getting pushed again is a good idea and I could go for seeing them face the Usos for the titles. Corbin and Moss are more likely to get the push though, which isn’t surprising and also not the most exciting. Odds are the rematch is next week and a Nakamura/Boogs cameo wouldn’t surprise me.

Raw Rebound.

Hit Row runs into Sami Zayn, who is giving them some advice as the locker room leader. Zayn thought their entrance a few weeks ago sucked, but with some work, they could be stars. Top Dolla asks him to demonstrate a big entrance and the team is rather excited to see this.

Here is Sami Zayn, who is rather fired up during his entrance. With that out of the way, here is Hit Row, who seems to get a bit of a more positive reaction, to send Sami away in some shame.

The Usos ask if Roman Reigns is coming to the ring with them. Reigns asks how many of their mistakes does he have to fix.

King Woods vs. Jimmy Uso

Kofi Kingston and Jey Uso are here too and the loser has to bend the knee. Woods starts fast by knocking Jimmy outside to start. Back in and Woods dropkicks him out of the air for two but Jimmy drops him on the top. We take a break and come back with Jimmy stomping away in the corner before grabbing the chinlock.

Woods fights back up and knocks Jimmy down for a change, setting up a heck of a top rope legdrop for two. Jey offers a distraction though and it’s a super Samoan drop to give Jimmy his own near fall. The Superfly Splash hits raised boots so Jey offers a hand but the referee catches the cheating. Woods grabs a rollup (and pants) for the pin at 9:21.

Rating: B-. I was getting into this one by the end and they had me on a few of the near falls. Woods winning is the right call as he is getting some energy out of the crown, so you don’t want him losing so soon. The match was good action with solid drama and that’s not bad for a total midcard main event.

Post match Jimmy reluctantly starts to bend the knee but here is Roman Reigns to jump Woods and set up the beatdown. Woods’ leg gets taken out and Reigns promises violence next week. New Day is going to need some backup, perhaps in the form of the WWE Champion, who is probably going to be facing Reigns at Survivor Series later this month anyway. That’s some amazing timing.

Overall Rating: C+. Yeah last week was a one off as this was definitely a return to course after last week’s near train wreck. This week had better matches and some good story advancement, so well done on getting things closer to Survivor Series. I want to see what happens when a serious Big E. comes after Reigns and Naomi get to beat up Sonya, plus wherever they are going with Drew McIntyre’s open challenges. Good show here, and that’s nice to see again.

Results
Shayna Baszler b. Naomi – Kirifuda Clutch
Los Lotharios b. Cesaro/Mansoor – Assisted basement dropkick to Cesaro
Drew McIntyre b. Ricochet – Claymore
Viking Raiders b. Madcap Moss/Happy Corbin via countout
Xavier Woods b. Jimmy Uso – Rollup with a handful of pants

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Smackdown
Date: October 22, 2021
Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re done with Crown Jewel and that means it is time to start getting ready for Survivor Series. The big story coming out of the show is Roman Reigns retaining the Universal Title as Paul Heyman managed to stay in the middle while still interfering in the match. That could mean more than a few things going forward so let’s get to it.

Here is Crown Jewel if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Roman Reigns retaining the Universal Title over Brock Lesnar, albeit with an assist from the Usos and a title belt shot.

Here are Reigns and Paul Heyman for a chat to get things going. Reigns isn’t happy with Heyman, as he doesn’t get why the title was thrown into the middle of the ring last night. Reigns: “Shall we work on this?” He demonstrates how to put the title in his hand and says that Heyman isn’t good as his job. We hear Reigns’ various monikers, including the greatest Universal Champion of all time (that has been a long five years). Reigns lists off all of the people he has smashed while champion, including Brock Lesnar.

Speaking of Lesnar, wasn’t he supposed to be here tonight? Reigns has Heyman pull out his phone to read Lesnar’s promise to beat up Reigns as soon as he arrives tonight. Reigns: “He’s tweeting now!” That makes Reigns laugh and he wants Lesnar out here for his second beating in a row. He faces the Titantron but no one shows up, so Reigns thinks Lesnar must be scared. Reigns makes it clear: he isn’t leaving the ring until Lesnar gets here.

We take a break and come back with Reigns and Heyman still in the ring, with the former talking about how great he is. The fans want Lesnar but Reigns says Lesnar is scared of him, just like everyone else. Reigns is ready to leave but here is Lesnar to cut him off. The fight is on with Lesnar knocking him to the floor but stopping to look at Heyman. One heck of a steps shot knocks Reigns silly and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table.

Cue the Usos for the save so Lesnar beats them up, allowing Reigns to get back up. Lesnar drives Reigns into the post and then steals a camera, which he throws at the post to break it into pieces. Someone gets sent over the announcers’ table so Adam Pearce sends out various wrestlers to calm Lesnar down but they’re beaten down as well. Cesaro, Jeff Hardy and the Viking Raiders finally calm things down, leaving Lesnar to hold up the Universal Title. Now that was a hot angle and it felt like Reigns was running scared for the first time.

Post break, and post a bunch of replays, Adam Pearce gets in the ring to say Lesnar’s actions were unacceptable. Therefore, Lesnar is suspended indefinitely. Cue Lesnar again and Pearce knows he messed up. Lesnar grabs him by the shirt and wants Pearce to say it again. Pearce, while struggling to breathe, repeats the suspension. Lesnar: “Is that right?” Lesnar hits an F5, hears his music start, and hits another F5, with Pearce’s pants being ripped in the process. That’s not enough for Lesnar, who grabs the mic and tells Pearce to say it again. Since Pearce can’t move, Lesnar hits him in the face with the microphone to some rather strong praise from the crowd.

The locker room is worried about what happened and here is Naomi to get in Sonya Deville’s face. Sonya yells at her and since Naomi is a face on the WWE roster, she calmly walks away without any rebuttal. Drew McIntyre pops in to say he’s here to make a difference so it’s open challenge time.

Here is Drew McIntyre in the ring and it is still open challenge time.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn

Sami has a new theme and says he’s used to being forgotten around here. He is actually the longest tenured member of the Smackdown roster and he is kind of a locker room leader. McIntyre may be a former WWE Champion, but he’s a newbie around here. Sami will accept the challenge and drops to the floor at the opening bell. McIntyre follows him outside and sends Zayn into the barricade for a big crash.

We take a break and come back with Zayn hammering away in the corner but McIntyre snaps off an overhead belly to belly. Sami snaps Drew’s throat across the top rope but the Glasgow Kiss gets McIntyre out of trouble. A charge hits post to put him back in trouble though and Sami sends him into said post again. The Helluva Kick, complete with the countdown, is cut off with the Claymore to finish Zayn at 6:50.

Rating: C-. It wasn’t a great match or anything but they kept it short as they should have. I was expecting this to be bell, Claymore, bell and it was only just a little bit more than that. It was a good way to debut McIntyre on his new show and it worked out well enough. Zayn can lose over and over and talk his way right back into being fine so this worked out in a short span.

It’s time for the official coronation of King Xavier Woods, with Kofi Kingston making the presentation. Woods comes to the ring and Kofi puts the cloak onto him, allowing the fans to hit a YOU DESERVE IT chant. Woods: “ME???” The scepter is presented, and that just leaves the crown. Kingston gives Woods a huge over the top introduction and puts the crown on his head to a rather positive reception. Woods promises it will be a fair and fun reign, with Kofi reading a proclamation and waving the robe behind him. Goofy fun here and it’s great to see Woods getting the chance to do something on his own.

Becky Lynch isn’t interested in trading titles with Charlotte, so maybe she should be Becky Two Belts again.

Xia Li is coming soon.

Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

Rematch from Crown Jewel where Mansoor won. Ali misses a charge in the corner and walks into a backdrop. There’s a clothesline to the floor and Mansoor backdrops him from the apron to the floor. Back in and a high crossbody gives Mansoor two but Ali is back in with a Batista Bomb for two. A tiger suplex of all things drops Ali but he is back up with a sunset flip. That’s fine with Mansoor, who sits down on it for the pin at 2:37. Mansoor was certainly energetic here.

Ridge Holland isn’t surprise he made it here.

Aliyah is ready to give Smackdown a makeover.

Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo say that winning is easy when you look this good.

Sheamus delivers nothing but bangers. These were short and to the point and a lot better than what I would have expected from introductions.

Here is Hit Row to rhyme about how great they are and now they need a big bag for all of their nice things.

Hit Row vs. Dustin Lawyer/Daniel Williams

Swerve takes Lawyer down in a hurry and hits a running elbow to the back. The backsplash gives Dolla two and it’s a Wasteland/World’s Strongest Slam to Williams and Lawyer at the same time. A side slam/running kick to the head finishes Lawyer at 1:12. Simple, to the point, get the idea over, wrap it up before you overstay your welcome. Not a thing wrong with that.

We recap Lesnar’s destruction earlier, including that of Adam Pearce.

Sonya Deville says Pearce is going to be ok eventually and she told him what would happen. For now though, we have to keep going and she’ll take care of things on her own.

Happy Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title Champions Contenders match and Corbin thanks Nakamura for sending him into the downward spiral that eventually made him happy. Madcap Moss and Rick Boogs are here too as Corbin powers Nakamura into trouble to start. Nakamura is back up with some shots in the face to take over and Good Vibrations (with Boogs accompanying on guitar) makes it worse. Back up and Corbin shoves Nakamura to the apron before dropping him face first…well close enough to the apron as we take a break.

Back with Corbin hammering away on the mat until Nakamura fights up and hits a running knee. Nakamura strikes away and hits the running knee in the corner for two. End of Days is broken up but the Deep Six gives Corbin two of his own. Boogs guitars Nakamura back to life and he knees Corbin down. Kinshasa is loaded up but Moss goes after the guitar, drawing Nakamura out for the save. Corbin sends Nakamura into the steps though and End of Days finishes Nakamura at 9:38.

Rating: C. Sweet goodness I can’t stand that finish and it’s the kind of thing that WWE loves to do. Not only did they not hide how the match was going to end, but a champ takes a fall to set up a title match which could have been set up any of about a dozen other ways. That’s not how WWE likes to do things though, because why put in the work when you can be lazy instead?

Charlotte says Becky Lynch can hand over the title really easily. Just pretend it’s Charlotte’s suitcase that Becky carried for years. We aren’t even done with the first “THE ROSTERS ARE FINALIZED” show and we already have a guest star from Raw.

Here are Becky Lynch and Charlotte, in their gear, to exchange titles. Sonya Deville tells them to hand it over but Becky drops hers. They trade the titles but Charlotte issues the challenge for winner take all. Cue Sasha Banks to call Charlotte a b**** so Becky leaves, saying she’ll see one of them at Survivor Series. Sasha and Charlotte insult each other and Banks wins a quick brawl to end the show. Just like it was last year, this was hardly anything that helped the titles, but that is long past the point of mattering.

Overall Rating: C+. This felt like a new era and that appears to be what they were going for here. There were new people introduced doing new things and it made for a good way to set things off. I liked how they introduced a lot of new people and set things in motion, with a hot opening segment making it that much better. This might not have been a classic, but it was a good way to make things interesting for the future.

Results
Drew McIntyre b. Sami Zayn – Claymore
Mansoor b. Mustafa Ali – Cradle
Hit Row b. Dustin Lawler/Daniel Williams – Side slam/running kick to the head combination to Lawyer
Happy Corbin b. Shinsuke Nakamura – End of Days

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

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Crown Jewel 2021
Date: October 21, 2021
Location: Mohammed Abdu Arena On The Boulevard, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Michael Cole

After a year and a half away, WWE is returning to Saudi Arabia and the show is actually looking huge. For the first time in a very long while, we are seeing what looks to be a massive show with a lot going on. The main event is Roman Reigns defending the Universal Title against Brock Lesnar and that should be enough to carry just about anything. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin/Cedric Alexander

Non-title and the fans are WAY behind the Usos to start. Jey and Alexander start things off with Jey grabbing a belly to back suplex for two. It’s off to Shelton, who powers Jey into the corner and then hands it straight back to Alexander for a knee to the face. The arm work begins, including a shoulder breaker on Jey, setting up an armbar. A superplex sends Jey crashing down for two and it’s back to Alexander for a Tequila Sunrise.

With that broken up, the cross armbreaker goes back to the arm but Jey slips out. Jey gets in a shot of his own and gets over to Jimmy for the hot tag to clean house. What looked to be a mistimed Samoan drop gets two on Alexander, who is right back with a neckbreaker for the same. Benjamin is back in with a running knee in the corner as everything breaks down. The Angle Slam gives Benjamin two and Paydirt connects for the same. Jey is back up though and it’s a series of superkicks to send Benjamin outside. More superkicks set up the Superfly Splash to finish Alexander at 10:40.

Rating: C. Totally fine tag match here, which shouldn’t be a surprise given who was involved. The Usos are one of the best tag teams the company has ever seen and Benjamin/Alexander work well together. The fans were WAY into the Usos too, making this a nice mixture. Good start to the night here, with the match being exactly what it needed to be.

The opening video talks about how huge this show is and goes into the standard look at the major matches.

There are camels by the stage.

We recap Edge vs. Seth Rollins inside the Cell. Rollins attacked Edge, who referred to Rollins as Edge-Lite. This set up a series of back and forth mental games between the two until Edge beat him at Summerslam. Then Rollins broke into Edge’s house (which was unlocked, so it wasn’t hard) and beat him in the rematch, attacking Edge’s neck in the process. Now it’s time for the big finale, inside the Cell, as Edge wants a lot of revenge.

The Cell is lowered.

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

Inside the Cell to start big. Edge slugs away in the corner to start as the fans declare this awesome in a hurry. Rollins gets kicked in the face to send him outside but comes back in with the springboard knee to the face to take over. A suicide dive only hits Cell though and Edge sends him hard into the steps. Edge throws in the steps and hits the Edgecution for two but already seems to be limping a bit. It’s already time to go for the chair bar but Rollins is back up with the Sling Blade.

They head outside again with Edge sending him into the Cell to regain control. Edge tries the Crossface but Rollins grabs the chair bar to hit him in the eye and escape. Rollins knocks the chair into Edge’s face and hits a frog splash for two. It’s already time for the table at ringside but first Rollins has to plant Edge with the Unprettier (which is suddenly Edge’s move) for two more.

Rollins takes his sweet time going up top, allowing Edge to shove him into the Cell and through the table for the big crash to the floor. The steps are thrown in, with Edge busting on the Edge-O-Matic to plant Rollins again. Edge leaves Rollins on the steps and goes up top to drive a chair into him for the big crash and a delayed near fall. Rollins is back up with a superkick into the Pedigree for two of his own and they’re both down. The Stomp is loaded up but Edge counters into a Buckle Bomb to set up the spear for the VERY near fall.

With nothing else working, it’s time for a ladder, which knocks Rollins right back down. Rollins is able to whip Edge into the ladder in the corner and let’s get another table for a bonus. The ladder is set up as well but Edge fights up to meet him on top. That’s not the best idea though as Rollins busts out a sunset bomb through the table for another near fall. Some superkicks drop Edge to his knees and a basement superkick puts him down.

Since that isn’t enough, Rollins wraps a chain around his boot for another low superkick. The Stomp onto the chair is countered with a crotching using the chair, allowing Edge to kick him down for a change. There’s a low superkick to Rollins and Edge grabs a Crossface, complete with a wrench in Rollins’ mouth. That’s not enough either though as Edge puts Rollins’ head onto the chair, setting up the Stomp for the pin at 27:40.

Rating: B. It was a heck of a fight and they beat each other up rather well, but this is what modern Cell matches have become: TLC matches with a big cage on top, which can leave things feeling a little cramped. There’s so much stuff around and inside of the ring that it almost feels messy, which isn’t what I would like to see in a Cell match. Going back and forth with the moves and spots that brought them here (including what is apparently now Edge’s Unprettier) worked, though it never hit that next level. In other words, most modern Cell matches.

Video on Bianca Belair.

We recap Mustafa Ali vs. Mansoor. Ali mentored Mansoor but then turned on him when the team didn’t work. It’s time for revenge.

Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

Ali is in his hometown and gets a huge reaction. They fight over wrist control to start with Mansoor grabbing a quickly broken armbar. Back up and a dropkick puts Ali on the floor as Cole mocks Ali for setting up a hashtag about himself. Mansoor dropkicks him to the floor but Ali sweeps the leg to drop him back first onto the apron. Back in and Ali grabs a camel clutch, followed by a tornado DDT for two.

Some trash talk lets Mansoor fight back up and an atomic drop has Ali begging off. Ali is sent outside but comes back with a kick to the face. The 450 misses though and Mansoor suplexes him into the corner. A moonsault gives Mansoor a delayed near fall (with the camera on a young girl in the crowd) due to a banged up neck, allowing Ali to grab a Koji Clutch. The rope gets Mansoor out of trouble and he avoids another 450 attempt. Mansoor hits the slingshot neckbreaker for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. This was exactly what you would have expected and that means it worked out just fine. They had a simple feud and Mansoor gets his revenge in front of his hometown/country fans. It was a good example of a match where they didn’t make things too complicated and it was a success as a result.

Post match Ali jumps Mansoor but here is a man with a his face and head covered to slowly walk down the ramp. The covering comes off to reveal….a silver medalist in karate from Saudi Arabia (“a karate player” according to Cole, making me want to bust out some Karate Fighters). Ali gets kicked in the head and posing with Mansoor ensues. Nice moment for the live crowd there.

Some women who have beaten breast cancer are given WWE Title belts with Natalya and Titus O’Neil talking about how great they are. Nothing wrong with that.

Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro vs. AJ Styles/Omos

RKBro is defending, but hang on as Riddle goes backstage during the entrance. As you might have guessed, Riddle comes out on a camel to head to the ring (Orton’s stunned look is great). Styles and Riddle start things off and the fans are rather into this. Riddle scores with an early kick to the chest and it’s off to Orton, to a heck of an RKO chant. Orton sends Styles into the corner and it’s right back to Riddle for the gutwrench spin into the suplex.

The problem is Riddle suplexes Styles into the corner so Omos can come in. Riddle tags Orton in almost immediately and the beating is on in a hurry, with Omos dragging Orton over to the corner. Styles comes in to stomp away and hit the dropkick, but Styles wants Omos to finish him off. That means a nerve hold (which looks like Omos is just putting his hand on Orton’s shoulder) but Orton is up in a hurry, allowing the tag back to Riddle.

Styles scores with the Phenomenal Blitz, only to get caught with a Pele. Orton comes in again and hits a powerslam but Omos’ distraction breaks up the hanging DDT. Orton snaps Omos’ throat across the top and then counters the Phenomenal Forearm into the RKO. The Floating Bro retains the titles at 8:43.

Rating: C. Total Raw level match here with a cool looking spot with the RKO. I get why the feud continued here but it feels like they have just run out of things to do in the ring or to build towards a match. RKBro needs some new competition because we have been doing this for several months now and it isn’t interesting anymore.

Becky Lynch isn’t happy with Kevin Patrick asking her about momentum (Becky: “We go all the way back to the old country!”). She isn’t worried about being in a triple threat match, which she explains in a hurry.

Video on Charlotte, who isn’t on this show.

Queen’s Crown: Doudrop vs. Zelina Vega

Vega gets powered around to start but a neck snap across the top gets her out of trouble. For some reason Vega tries a sunset flip and is quickly pulled up. Doudrop hits some ax handles to the chest and drops an elbow but gets pulled off the ropes. A tornado DDT gives Vega two and she sends Doudrop into the corner for a running shot to the face. Doudrop is back to her feet for a swinging side slam for two, setting up a running backsplash for the same. Back up and Vega avoids a splash, setting up a Code Red to give Vega the crown at 5:50.

Rating: C-. The match was about as good as you were going to get given the size difference and by comparison, this actually got time. The fact that a match which wasn’t even six minutes long was nearly double the second longest match in the tournament is not a good sign, but at least they went with someone who could use the push. All in all, the tournament felt thrown together, but I’ll take Vega finally winning something.

We recap Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg. Lashley beat him via referee stoppage at Summerslam but then accidentally (perhaps) beat up Goldberg’s son after the match. Goldberg wants revenge and it’s falls count anywhere and no holds barred.

Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley

No holds barred and falls count anywhere. Lashley wraps a chain around his fist and hammers Goldberg down to start before sending him shoulder first into the post. Since Lashley can’t find a table, he beats Goldberg up with a chair and sends him into the corner again. Now the table is slid inside and Lashley stomps him down in the corner. The table is set up in the corner and Lashley takes out the leg (which caused the stoppage at Summerslam).

A chair is wrapped around the leg and a bottom rope Pillmanizing has Goldberg….well just kind of laying there. The leg is fine enough for Goldberg to get up and avoid the spear, sending Lashley through the table in the corner. Goldberg hits a spear into the Jackhammer but doesn’t cover. Instead, Goldberg takes his gloves off and throws Lashley outside for the spear into the timekeeper’s area.

Goldberg loads up the steps and then sends Lashley into various objects at ringside. Lashley is put on the steps but avoids being crushed by the rest of the steps. They go up the ramp and here are Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, armed with kendo sticks. Goldberg beats the two of them up in a hurry and takes away Lashley’s kendo stick. Said stick is broken over Goldberg’s knee and a spear off the ramp through some tables finishes Lashley at 11:27.

Rating: C+. That could have been a lot worse. I still have absolutely no interest in seeing Goldberg and I do not care about his bored kid, but that could have been a lot worse. They used all of the smoke and mirrors here and that is the best idea. Goldberg was never exactly versatile to start and now he’s twenty years past his prime, so this is about as good as it was going to be.

King of the Ring: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods

Of note: there was a Survivor Series ad before the match, hyping it up as the only night of the year where Raw and Smackdown go head to head. This is the seventh match of the night and the third Raw vs. Smackdown match. They go with the technical stuff to start with Woods rolling his way out of a headlock. An armbar has Balor in some trouble for all of about five seconds before he takes Woods down. The basement dropkick gives Balor two and we’re off to the chinlock.

Woods tries to fight up but gets taken down for the double stomp. A Nightmare on Helm Street gives Balor two but he charges into a superkick to give Woods the same. They strike it out for a bit until Woods grabs a small package for two. Balor goes up but gets superplexed back down, allowing Woods to load up the Limit Breaker. That only hits knees though and Balor hits the shotgun dropkick in the corner. The Coup de Grace misses though and Woods la majistrals him for two. Woods hits a gordbuster into double knees to the chest and now the Limit Breaker is enough to give Woods the pin and the crown at 9:37.

Rating: C+. What matters the most here is that it was a nice moment. WWE set up a story here and then paid it off, with Woods talking about always wanting to be king and the fans getting behind him. It’s an underdog story and WWE actually went the right way with the whole thing, which is not something you ever see around here. Nice job for once.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Big E. for the WWE Title. Big E. cashed in Money in the Bank to win the title last month and that means McIntyre is allowed to challenge for the title again. They don’t seem to get along and are both hyped up for this match.

WWE Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Big E.

McIntyre is challenging and is told to hit the ropes to start. Big E. isn’t going anywhere off the shoulder but McIntyre jumps over him in the corner and drops Big E. with another shoulder. They head outside with McIntyre hitting the overhead belly to belly, followed by a Russian legsweep for two back inside. McIntyre hits a spinebuster for two and there’s another overhead belly to belly to cut off Big E.’s comeback.

The Futureshock is countered and Big E. runs him over, setting up the Warrior Splash for two. The Michinoku Driver drops Big E. for two more but he’s back with the Rock Bottom out of the corner for another near fall of his own. Now McIntyre can hit Futureshock for two more but the Claymore is countered into a powerbomb. That means a Stretch Muffler can work on McIntyre’s knee until McIntyre rolls out.

Big E. doesn’t seem to mind as he comes back with the Big Ending for a very close two. With that not working, Big E. loads up a super Big Ending but gets reversed into a super bulldog for the next near fall. The Claymore is countered and Big E. loads up the spear through the ropes but McIntyre runs back in for the Claymore and a VERY close two. To mix things up a bit, McIntyre loads up his own Big Ending, which is reversed into the real thing to retain the title at 13:22.

Rating: B. Take two big, heavy hitters and let them beat each other up for a little while. That’s all we had here and it was a good one as a result. What matters here is giving Big E. another big win, as he hasn’t been champion that long and needs to establish himself as a top guy a little bit more. This worked out rather well and was one of the best things on the card, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

There was a Be A Star event earlier today.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair

Lynch is defending. No recap for this, but Lynch returned to beat Belair for the title at Summerslam, where she replaced Banks, who returned and attacked both of them. Belair picks Lynch up for an early suplex before gorilla pressing Banks (with one hand, because of course she can do that). Lynch is back in to send Belair outside and roll Banks up for two. The Backstabber is blocked so Banks settle for Stratusfaction (while kicking Belair off the apron at the same time).

Belair is right back in to beat on Banks in the corner but Lynch elbows her into the face. Lynch monkey flips Banks at Belair, who gets taken down with a hurricanrana. Belair pulls Banks up into a torture rack but Lynch hits a missile dropkick, sending Belair flying on the impact. With Banks on the floor, Lynch picks Belair’s leg and gets two off a bulldog. Banks comes back in so Lynch Bexploders both of them for a double two.

Lynch goes up top but gets pulled out of the air and double planted down. That leaves Banks and Belair to fight over a backslide until Belair blasts her with a clothesline. Banks is back up with a knockdown of her own and goes up, only to have to bail out of the frog splash. After Belair sends Banks outside, a powerbomb gets two on Lynch. Everyone gets back in, with Belair grabbing a delayed vertical suplex on Lynch. While Lynch is still in the air, Banks tries a sunset flip but Belair kicks her away and THEN suplexes Lynch (that’s scary).

Belair misses a moonsault though and it’s a Bank Statement/Disarm-Her at the same time. That’s let go because Belair should be mostly done so banks puts Lynch in the Bank Statement. Rather than just kicking her for the break, Belair hits a handspring moonsault, which does not exactly seem that wise. Back up and Banks sends Lynch outside, allowing her to grab Belair by the braid. Belair breaks that up and grabs a European Clutch for two, with Lynch breaking it up (sans handspring moonsault).

The Manhandle Slam gets two on Banks with Belair making another save. Belair slips out of another Manhandle Slam but gets sent out to the apron. Banks tries to powerbomb her off the apron but Belair backflips her way to freedom. Lynch is right back up with a double clothesline off the barricade and it’s the Disarm-Her on Belair back inside.

Banks tries to make the save so she Disarm-Hers both of them at the same time. That’s broken up with Belair trying a double KOD but Lynch falls off. Belair is knocked down again but Banks reverses the Manhandle Slam. That just leave Belair to come back in with the KOD on Lynch. Banks tries to steal the pin but Lynch rolls her up and grabs the ropes to retain at 19:33.

Rating: B+. This was the action packed match that I was hoping it would be and there were times where I believed all three of them could win. It felt like the big time match that it needed to be and one of the biggest things on the card. I liked this a good bit and while I could go for them figuring out the title situation on each show, this was what the match needed to be. Pretty awesome stuff here and the match of the night.

We recap Edge beating Seth Rollins inside the Cell.

Long recap of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title. Reigns has been champion since last August with Paul Heyman at his side. Now Lesnar is back though and suggesting that Heyman is really in his corner. It has become a question of whose side Heyman is on, which has become much bigger than the match itself.

Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Reigns, with Paul Heyman, is defending. They go with the grappling to start and no one gets anywhere. Lesnar hammers away in the corner but it’s too early for a suplex. Instead Reigns hammers away, only to have to block another German suplex attempt. Lesnar powers him into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs. The German suplex finally connects and it’s more shoulders into the ribs in the corner. They head to the floor with Lesnar getting posted.

Reigns gets thrown back in but manages a Superman Punch, setting up the HUGE dive over the top to take him out (good grief). Back in and the spear gets two, setting up another Superman Punch. Lesnar leapfrogs another spear to send Reigns into the corner (ala Goldberg at Wrestlemania XXXIII) and it’s time for Suplex City, complete with Lesnar mocking Reigns’ roar. The F5 gets two (on a great near fall) but another one is countered into the guillotine.

Lesnar breaks it up with a spinebuster and hits another F5, which in this case means throwing Reigns at the referee. The referee gets thrown outside and Reigns is back up with a spear for no cover. Heyman is conflicted and throws in the title….right between the two of them. Heyman: “YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT!” They fight over the title with Brock pulling it away but the Usos come in for a double superkick. Reigns hits him in the face with the title and another referee comes in to count the pin at 12:22.

Rating: B. Good match here, mainly because it felt like a match. This wasn’t about a bunch of finishers spammed together as they actually built something up for a change. That makes the match so much better and a lot more fun to watch, which is more than I would have bet on otherwise. The ending leaves the door open for more later on and doesn’t give us a definitive answer to the Heyman deal. It’s the best story in wrestling today and it would be a shame if they just cut it of.

The Bloodline celebrates as Lesnar wakes up to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was actually a heck of a show with the big matches delivering and nothing bad throughout. The crowd was way into it as well and that is always going to boost things up. Above all else, there were some nice feel good moments here and the show felt like it was designed to make the fans happy rather than screwing them over time after time. Easily the best Saudi Arabia show to date and one of the best WWE shows of the year.

Results
Edge b. Seth Rollins – Stomp onto a chair
Mansoor b. Mustafa Ali – Slingshot neckbreaker
RKBro b. AJ Styles/Omos – Floating Bro to Styles
Zelina Vega b. Doudrop – Code Red
Goldberg b. Bobby Lashley – Spear off the ramp
Xavier Woods b. Finn Balor – Limit Breaker
Big E. b. Drew McIntyre – Big Ending
Becky Lynch b. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks – Rollup while grabbing the ropes to Banks
Roman Reigns b. Brock Lesnar – Belt shot

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

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

We are on the way to Crown Jewel and this time around that means we are going to be seeing quite the stacked card. There are some rather big matches set for the show and this time around, something might actually happen. For once it feels like a major show that just happens to be taking place in Saudi Arabia, which has certainly not been the case for most of the shows over there. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Usos vs. Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin

Are they still the Hurt Business? Anyway, this was added the day before the show as a way to give us something to get the crowd going. That should be enough to warm up the crowd, though you never know what this kind of crowd is going to be at these things. If nothing else, this is a way to have the Usos around for the main event, as Roman Reigns might need some bodies to throw at Brock Lesnar.

I’ll go with the Usos winning here, as they are one of the best WWE teams in a long time now. Alexander and Benjamin are back together, but it isn’t like they would have been a serious threat to the Usos on their best day. The action should be good, but this is all about the Usos, because they are a mixture of good and more important, making them the easy winners here.

King of the Ring: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods

We’ll get one of the more important matches out of the way here, along with one where I’m not sure who is winning. You have the much bigger star in Balor, who already has the Prince name and would be an easy step up to the King deal, but on the other hand you have Woods, who seems to be obsessed with winning the thing. That’s a nice story to throw in and WWE has actually done it well for a change.

As great as it would be to see Woods finally win something, I think it’ll be Balor winning, as he could us something to boost him back up. Balor is a much bigger star and it makes sense to give him the rub, even if Woods could do a lot more with the idea. This is a case where there isn’t a bad option for the win, and as long as they get to actually do something here, we should be in for a good one.

Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley

Let’s get this one out of the way so I don’t have to think about it again. This is the rematch from Summerslam, where fans were not exactly interested in seeing it in the first place. Then Goldberg, known for his sensitive emotions, got all serious because Bobby Lashley attacked Goldberg’s son Gage, meaning it’s time to get old man serious. That’s totally what this match needed, right?

As stupid as it is, I’m going with Goldberg winning here, because it seems like the kind of thing that WWE would do for the sake of some kind of feel good moment. Since Gage will be at the show (!!!), you can picture the big deal at the end, which is going to be one of those things that isn’t as interesting as WWE thinks it is but will run with it anyway, all at Lashley’s expense. Yay.

Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro(c) vs. AJ Styles/Omos

I know they haven’t been feuding for very long but this feud has worn out its welcome in a hurry. There are a few other teams on Monday Night Raw but these two have been the exclusive title feud since before Summerslam, meaning I really never need to see them fight again. Both are still good pairings but at some point, you just need to see them fight someone else.

It seems way too early to have RKBro drop the titles just yet so I’ll go with the champs retaining their titles. Styles and Omos seem like a team who could be split up to go their separate ways a bit more easily, so maybe that is being set up by another loss. Omos is going to be given a chance on his own, even if he isn’t ready for the it yet. For now though, it should be RKBro retaining, which I think it will be.

Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

This is the easiest pick on the show and I don’t think that is any kind of a secret. WWE understands what they have in Mansoor and there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with giving a lower midcard wrestler a win in a match that is going to mean a lot to the live fans, no matter what WWE seems to think at any other point in the year for whatever reason.

Of course Mansoor wins here, because even WWE isn’t crazy enough to think there is any reason to do something else. Mansoor is likely going to be the most over star on the show and now he gets another win in his home country. Ali is a very talented guy in his own right and I could go for seeing him on such a big stage. I know it isn’t the best place for him, but it’s not like he was doing anything else beforehand (or likely after). Mansoor wins here, in as sure of a pick as you can have.

Queen’s Crown: Zelina Vega vs. Doudrop

I can’t help but sigh when I think about this match. The tournament has had six matches so far and those matches have totaled less than fourteen minutes of action. WWE has not exactly treated this tournament like anything that matters and what says honor than a match between someone who hadn’t won a match Vega, who hadn’t won a thing until the tournament started and Doudrop, who is turning into little more than a comedy character?

There seems to be more upside in Vega than Doudrop at the moment, so I’ll take her to win here. Vega is someone who feels ready to become a star as soon as she is given a chance, though it would not shock me whatsoever to see Vega lose something else. At least she is getting on the show this time, which is more than she can say most of the time. Vega wins here, though it really could go either way. Now can they at least get five minutes? Please?

WWE Title: Big E.(c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Now this one actually gets my interest up a bit, as these two could have a solid match against each other. Big E. has shown that he can hang with the bigger stars and McIntyre had a very nice main event level run as champion. Above all else, this feels like a title match these days, though comparing it to Reigns vs. Lesnar hardly does the WWE Title any favors.

I’ll go with Big E. retaining here, as McIntyre is on his way to SmackDown and there is no need to have him be like Charlotte and take the title over to the other show. Big E. can get a nice win, McIntyre doesn’t really get hurt by the loss and everyone gets to move on to whatever they are doing next. In other words, WWE has actually done something well for a change. I’m as shocked as you are.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch(c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

I’m not even going to try and keep track of what is going on with the title and who is on which show as of Crown Jewel and then as of Friday, because WWE is probably going to have some wacky idea to get them out of this. What matters here is we have three women who all could be a legitimate threat to leave with the title, which is always a nice situation to be in.

As for a winner, I think I’ll go with Lynch retaining, as she is fresh off of a loss to Banks and could use the pickup again. That would leave the door open for Lynch and Charlotte to swap titles ala Street Profits and New Day (because that’s such a great idea that doesn’t devalue the titles in any way), meaning we can have the Horsewomen back on top again at Survivor Series! Lynch retains here, leaving us with more room for the same stuff we’ve seen before.

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

The build for this match has been up and down to put it mildly, but what matters here is the fact that they set up the Cell in a way that actually fits. These two have been incredibly angry and violent with each other and it makes sense to do something like this as a result. It was also great to not have something as annoying as the calendar deciding that the match would take place, so again, WWE has actually done this right.

Give me Rollins to win though, as he is likely to be sticking around full time rather than having Edge pop in and out every few months. I wasn’t thrilled with having Edge win the first match, but at least Rollins tied it up a few weeks back. Rollins wins here and could easily be slotted in as Big E.’s next challenger, but don’t bet against WWE going the other way for the old guy getting his moment (to go along with winning the Royal Rumble and headlining WrestleMania of course).

Universal Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Brock Lesnar

Now this feels like a main event and that is not something you get to say very often these days. Reigns has taken everything to a different level, but Lesnar is the kind of monster that you do not get to see very often. You also don’t get to see Lesnar as the good guy (or at close as he can get to being one) so they have something special here. By that I mean Paul Heyman being caught in the middle, because WOW he has been an amazing force in this whole thing.

I’m completely lost here, but for the life of me I can’t picture Reigns dropping the title yet, nor should he. Above all else, Lesnar being the absentee champion again does not interest me in the slightest and I’m almost scared to think of WWE doing it again. Reigns should retain here, though I’m not completely sure he is getting the win. You know you’re going to see this match again, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it at a big stadium in Texas next year.

Overall Thoughts

Above all else, this show is lacking that one dumb or less than great sounding match that so many of the Saudi Arabia shows have had. There is no gauntlet match or multi person tag match, so we’re left with what feels like a pretty straightforward major pay per view level card. That should work out well, so for once I’m actually optimistic about this show. Still not great on the location, but at least the content should work.

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 18, 2021
Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Crown Jewel, though the audience is going to be decimated by a mixture of the MLB Playoffs and Monday Night Football. The card does include Charlotte defending the Raw Women’s Title against Bianca Belair, along with a rematch between Drew McIntyre/Big E. vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Charlotte to get things going but she isn’t sure why there are no champagne and balloons for her final night on Raw. There is a conspiracy against her because Bianca Belair isn’t even on the roster yet but has two title shots this week! Charlotte: “AND YOU PEOPLE THINK I’M ENTITLED???” After dealing with the crown and various chants, Charlotte says Belair needs to get over it already because Charlotte is the mountain that she can’t climb. Belair can deal with Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks…or she can interrupt right now.

Belair doesn’t think there is a conspiracy against Charlotte because this is just desserts. Belair has done everything she said she would and has earned this shot. She had Charlotte beaten until Becky Lynch had to save things. Now Charlotte is throwing a fit because she can’t get a celebration before she leaves? Belair promises to win the title and take it to Crown Jewel, where she can leave with both titles. Charlotte goes after her but has to avoid the KOD, allowing Belair to kick her off the apron.

We recap the Raw half of the King of the Ring.

Xavier Woods is ready to join the likes of King Shamrock, King Mabel and King Bookah. Kofi Kingston says Martin Luther King had a dream but Woods’ dream is to be king. Woods is ready to sit on that throne at Crown Jewel as King Woods I. Points on a King Shamrock reference as I wouldn’t have bet on that one.

Video on Seth Rollins.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Xavier Woods vs. Jinder Mahal

Veer and Shanky are here with Mahal while Woods has Kofi Kingston. Saxton actually brings up these two facing off in the semifinals of the US Title tournament for some history. Woods starts fast by knocking him into the ropes for a running crotch attack, setting up some right hands in the corner. Mahal runs him over with a shoulder though and it’s time to crank on a headlock. That’s broken up with a Russian legsweep and a running basement dropkick. Mahal isn’t having that and plants Woods with a side slam, setting up a shot to the face. Woods gets tossed outside and into the steps for a crash and we take a break.

Back with Mahal hitting a gutbuster for two and telling Woods to COME ON. The Khallas is blocked so Mahal settles for a side slam instead. Woods fights back up and knocks Shanky off the apron, setting up a top rope ax handle….only to dive into the Khallas. Somehow Woods grabs the rope for the break Mahal puts him on top but gets knocked down, setting up the rope walk elbow to send Woods to Crown Jewel at 9:57.

Rating: C. The action wasn’t great, but my goodness that was a relief to see Woods win. WWE has shown a tendency to be so obsessed with Mahal that it isn’t hard to imagine him getting the win here (or even the crown). Woods might not win the whole tournament, but they have done the right thing to set up the finals.

Post match Kofi gives Woods the cape and scepter for the big pose on the stage.

We look back at Austin Theory beating Jeff Hardy last week.

Earlier today, Theory said he did look up to Hardy, but last week he was looking down at him. Then the 24/7 goons run by, with Theory saving Reggie from R-Truth. Theory: “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???” Truth: “I have a theory!” The challenge is thrown out for later, but Truth wants Theory to make sure his mom says he can stay up that late.

Video on Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg.

Austin Theory vs. R-Truth

After Theory makes his entrance and the Lashley vs. Goldberg video, Truth comes out in street clothes. There was a misunderstanding: Truth didn’t answer the challenge for himself, but for his friend.

Austin Theory vs. Jeff Hardy

Theory runs him over to start and mocks Hardy’s dance, only to get small packaged for two. They head outside with Hardy being neckbreakered off the apron as we take a break. Back with Hardy getting in a few shots of his own and sending Theory outside for a dropkick through the ropes. Poetry in Motion off the steps sends Theory up against the barricade but the Swanton Bomb is countered. Theory TKO’s him onto the knee for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C. Another middle of the road match but Theory is looking like a star every step of the way. Giving him another win over a legend like Hardy is a great thing and it is so nice to see him do this without losing a fall so fast. Totally watchable match too, which is more than you usually get on Raw.

Post match Theory takes another selfie but Hardy pops up and gives him the Twist of Fate. Hardy takes his own selfie because he’s a sore loser.

We look back at Drew McIntyre and Big E. getting in a fight last week, causing them to lose their tag match.

Drew McIntyre and Big E. say they’ll work together tonight but then the best man will win on Thursday. Drew: “Don’t worry, I will.” Big E. does his full intro in McIntyre’s face, so McIntyre throws in some posing for a funny response.

Charlotte interrupts Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce and yells about how horribly she was treated earlier tonight. She thinks it’s a conspiracy, which is a word I’d love to see banned from wrestling. Deville says it isn’t, but Charlotte promises to win anyway.

Drew McIntyre/Big E. vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

Big E. powers Ziggler around to start but Roode comes in for a cheap shot. The referee misses a shot to the eye but Big E. gets in a leapfrog. A shot to the face puts Roode down and another takes Ziggler off the apron. There are the forearms to the chest on the apron, setting up the apron splash, with Ziggler breaking it up at the last minute. That’s fine with Big E., who counters the Fameasser by sending Ziggler into the timekeeper’s area. Roode sends Big E. into the steps though and we take a break.

Back with Ziggler stomping Big E. in the corner and getting two off a dropkick. The sleeper goes on but Big E. is up in a hurry, only to get raked in the eyes. Roode grabs a chinlock for a bit but Big E. runs Ziggler over and finally brings in McIntyre to clean house. The belly to belly puts Roode down and Ziggler gets Alabama Slammed onto him for a crash.

Roode fights out of a fireman’s carry but Ziggler pulls Big E. off the apron (and he grabs his knee on the landing), leaving Roode to grab a spinebuster for two. An assisted Fameasser drops McIntyre for two more but he gets in a shot for a breather. Big E. is back up for the reluctant tag and the Big Ending plants Roode for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: C+. There was a nice story in here as McIntyre and Big E. know they have to work together and wan to win, but then want to take the other’s head off on Thursday. I was glad they didn’t have McIntyre walk out or something instead of taking the big tag, but at least they went with something a little more original. Good enough stuff here, even if it was similar to what they did two weeks ago.

Post match McIntyre and Big E. yell at each other but it doesn’t get physical.

The Street Profits are hyped up for Crown Jewel, including the Raw Tag Team Title match. They think AJ Styles is the kid in school who doesn’t do any work in the group project but still gets an A. Ford: “I was that kid.” They want the smoke, but here are AJ Styles and Omos to say they’re winning the titles at Crown Jewel. That’s enough to make the Profits laugh because they want the smoke. Styles thinks Street Profits is a dumb name.

Video on Kevin Owens.

Mansoor vs. Cedric Alexander

Shelton Benjamin is here with Alexander, who goes right after Mansoor to start. Some right hands in the corner set up some right hands on the mat for two and we hit the waistlock. Back up and Mansoor manages to kick him down and spins into a reverse DDT to stagger Alexander. The slingshot neckbreaker finishes Alexander at 3:46.

Rating: C-. This would have been fine as the main event of any Main Event and that’s all it needed to be. Mansoor gets a win to heat him up a bit on the way to Crown Jewel, where he is likely to be the most popular star on the show. Mustafa Ali will make him look good, just like Cedric did here.

Post match, here is Mustafa Ali in a suit to promise to take the smile from Mansoor and everyone else at Crown Jewel. Mansoor tells him to shut up and promises to take him out on Thursday.

We get a sitdown interview between Goldberg and Bobby Lashley, with Goldberg saying that his threats are promises. Lashley says that’s criminal but he isn’t going to get the authorities involved. Goldberg doesn’t look interested as Lashley says it’s going to be like Summerslam. Lashley brings up Goldberg’s son, which is enough to get Goldberg’s attention.

Lashley talks about how he is going to have Goldberg begging for mercy at Crown Jewel. Goldberg: “Are you finished yet?” That’s enough for Lashley to walk out, with Goldberg threatening to kill him on Thursday. This was more of what we have had the whole time: old man Goldberg talking a lot and looking bored until he says his next line.

We look back at Omos taking out Riddle before Randy Orton took out AJ Styles.

Riddle thinks Randy deserves a Kids Choice Award for his acting last week. He knows it was a great plan, but Orton insists there was never a plan. As Orton seems like he’s trying not to break up, Riddle wants to know the plan for the Street Profits tonight. The plan tonight is the same as it is at Crown Jewel: win. Now let’s go get some smoke.

Video on Keith Lee.

RKBro vs. Street Profits

Non-title. Riddle starts with Ford and takes him straight down into a cross armbreaker. Ford manages to slip out in a hurry and grabs a headlock, followed by a dropkick to take Riddle down again. A double dropkick does it again and Dawkins backflips Ford onto Riddle for two. Everything breaks down and the Profits are sent outside, where Orton helps take Dawkins down. Riddle adds a penalty kick and springboard Floating Bro, only to have Ford flip dive onto both of them for the big crash.

We take a break and come back with Riddle gutwrenching Ford and swinging him around (that’s a new one) before hitting the gutwrench suplex. Ford is trying to count his fingers until Riddle covers him for two. The chinlock goes on but Ford fights up and kicks Riddle in the head for the breather. The diving tag brings in Dawkins for the house cleaning, including a t-bone slam to Riddle.

Dawkins hits the Silencer for two but Riddle gets in a shot of his own, allowing the hot tag to Orton. That means Ford gets powerslammed into the hanging DDT (with Ford staying still on his head on the landing for a cool visual)…and we have Omos. That’s enough for AJ Styles to come in with the Phenomenal Forearm to Orton for the DQ at 10:20.

Rating: C+. This was getting better near the end but they weren’t exactly hiding how this was going to wrap up. It’s kind of early to burn through a match like this, even if it didn’t have a clean finish. At least they didn’t have one of the teams lose, but egads RKBro vs. Omos/Styles needs to wrap up already, as the title picture really needs some fresh blood at the moment.

Post mach Orton and Omos beat RKBro down, including a chokeslam to Riddle and a kick to Orton’s side (as Omos couldn’t quite hit the head).

Video on Becky Lynch.

Queen’s Crown Tournament Semifinals: Shayna Baszler vs. Doudrop

Before the bell, here is Zelina Vega to watch, albeit with the crown and cape on. Baszler kicks away at the leg but gets caught with a quick Saito suplex. There’s the Cannonball in the corner and Doudrop loads up an over the shoulder piledriver, only to get reversed into the Kirifuda Clutch. That earns Baszler a ram into the corner and a toss gets Doudrop out of trouble. The basement crossbody misses though and the Kirifuda Clutch goes on for a good while….until Doudrop leans back and pins Baszler at 2:39. Somehow, one of the longer matches of the tournament so far.

Nikki Ash and Rhea Ripley welcome Bianca Belair to Raw, complete with a hat. They do know she was here last year right?

Finn Balor vs. Mace

Xavier Woods is here and Balor doesn’t look impressed. Mace starts fast and hammers away, including knocking Balor down in the corner. Balor avoids a charge in the corner but walks into a swinging Boss Man Slam for two. We hit the nerve hold but Balor is up in a hurry. Mace’s powerbomb is countered and Balor hits a quick double stomp for a breather. There’s the Sling Blade to drop Mace and the Coup de Grace finishes for Balor at 2:44.

Post match Balor goes up to Woods and shoves him away. Kofi Kingston comes out to hold them apart, with Woods saying Balor is going to remain a prince.

John Morrison is meditating to find his chi but the Viking Raiders don’t get it. Why search for chi if you can’t use it to raid?

Crown Jewel rundown.

Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start until they both try running dropkicks for an early standoff. Belair jumps over her in the corner and tells Charlotte what to kiss. They head outside with Belair being thrown over the announcers’ table as we take a break.

Back with Charlotte kicking Belair to break up a handspring and nipping up to try a handspring moonsault of her own. That only hits knees though, allowing Belair to show her how to do it right. A baseball slide dropkick hits Charlotte, who is right back up with a powerbomb. Charlotte hits the double jump moonsault for two and comes up to show off a bloody mouth. Belair is back with a spinebuster so Charlotte bails straight to the floor in a smart move.

That’s fine with Belair, who follows her out and tosses Charlotte onto the announcers’ table as we take another break. Back again with Belair getting two off a cradle but Charlotte kicks the air in front of Belair’s face to put her down again. Belair gets sent outside for the moonsault, with Charlotte again not quite making full contact. Back in and Belair counters Natural Selection and hits a release Glam Slam (that didn’t look quite right) for two of her own.

The KOD is countered and Charlotte is right back with she spear for two and the big shocked face kickout. Charlotte pulls her around by the braid and goes up top but misses the moonsault. Belair suplexes her over for two and goes up, where Charlotte kicks her in the leg. A sunset bomb off the top gives Belair two though and they’re both down. Then Charlotte hits her with a chair for the DQ at 22:42.

Rating: B-. They were having a good (albeit kind of sloppy at times) match here until the really weak ending. I’m not sure what happened with the finish but I’m almost sure they ran out of time and had to find something to wrap it up. Odds are we’ll see this one again, as both of them are going to be major players going forward. Also of note: Charlotte looked like something happened to her mouth, as it was banged up and the referee was checking on her quite a bit.

Post match Belair takes the chair and hits Charlotte with it to end the show. That absolutely felt like they were out of time and had to go home immediately.

Overall Rating: C. There were certainly parts that didn’t work, but above all else, this show benefited from having a focus. They were trying to set up Crown Jewel tonight and that worked out about as well as could be expected. Now that being said, the show they were building towards isn’t exactly interesting, but they did have something to shoot for here and it helped. Nothing was terrible and they got some stuff done, so we’ll call this one in the middle, as it still wasn’t good but it was better than normal for Raw as of late.

Results
Xavier Woods b. Jinder Mahal – Rope walk elbow
Austin Theory b. Jeff Hardy – TKO onto the knee
Big E./Drew McIntyre b. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler – Big Ending to Roode
Mansoor b. Cedric Alexander – Slingshot neckbreaker
RKBro b. Street Profits via DQ when AJ Styles interfered
Doudrop b. Shayna Baszler – Rollup
Finn Balor b. Mace – Coup de Grace
Bianca Belair b. Charlotte via DQ when Charlotte used a chair

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 11, 2021
Location: Chase Center, San Francisco, California
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re less than two weeks away from Crown Jewel and last week, Smackdown added a Hell in the Cell match to the card. That could mean Raw needs to add a huge match of its own, but you never can tell with these things. Hopefully this show can add a nice feeling to the Queen’s Crown Tournament, as the Smackdown matches were nearly insulting last week. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Drew McIntyre, with his sword, to get things going. He thinks it’s a fun idea that the Scottish Warrior is kicking it off in the home of the Warriors and welcomes us to the show. Drew runs down the Crown Jewel card and says he’ll be winning the WWE Title in the match everyone is going to be talking about. McIntyre has a story from earlier today but here is Big E. to interrupt.

Big E. talks about the sweet nectar of being champion dripping down his chin and between his nipples. While Drew may be a specimen, he is not going to take the title from him. Drew can get to moving, or stay on the tracks and get run over. That makes Drew chuckle and he talks about how Big E. remembers what it means to win the title because it wasn’t that long ago. Drew is a two time champion who held the title for over 300 days, but he is still looking for his moment. That moment is coming at Crown Jewel and there is nothing Big E. can do about it.

Cue the Usos to say they’re hyped up for the match and that the Bloodline is in their city. They know that Roman Reigns is going to beat Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel, but who is he facing at Survivor Series? Either way, they think that Reigns is going to take the WWE Title and add it to his trophy case. The Usos go to leave but Big E. calls them back, with the challenge being set for tonight. A double superkick drops McIntyre and Big E.

Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are in the back and have no comment about the idea of facing each other in the King of the Ring. Good thing they were there for that non-answer and not out there to help chase off their longtime rivals the Usos, who have titles they might want and just attacked their best friend.

King of the Ring First Round: Xavier Woods vs. Ricochet

Kofi Kingston is here with Woods and all three of them admire the crown. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get very far. Woods knocks him to the apron and breaks up a springboard to bring Ricochet right back down. That means Woods can go up top, with Ricochet walking over for a top rope superplex and a heck of a crash to leave both guys in trouble as we take a break.

Back with Ricochet dropping Woods again and getting two off a backsplash. Woods manages to send Ricochet ribs first into the ropes though, setting up a stomp to the back and a middle rope legdrop for two. Back up and Ricochet grabs a fireman’s carry for a rolling Death Valley Driver and a kick to the face. Woods is smart enough to roll outside, only to have Ricochet hit a huge flip dive over the post to take Woods down again. Back in and Ricochet nails a suicide shoulder. Make it an attempt at a pair but this time Woods sends him into the barricade two. Back in and the rope walk elbow finishes Ricochet at 10:45.

Rating: B-. As much as I don’t like seeing Ricochet lose, I do like seeing Woods getting a chance to do his own thing. Woods has been obsessed with winning the tournament over the last few months and it makes sense to go with that. If nothing else, Woods has never gotten any singles glory so even a nice run in the tournament would be more than he usually gets.

We recap RKBro fighting with AJ Styles/Omos last week.

Riddle comes up to Randy Orton and says he has challenged Omos to a match tonight. Riddle says he was following Orton’s example from last week because he thinks of Orton as a mentor. Orton says there is no plan because fighting Omos one on one isn’t a good idea. Tonight, Riddle is on his own. Riddle thinks “no plan” is the plan and knows he’ll see Orton out there later. With Riddle gone, Orton sighs a bit.

Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin vs. Mustafa Ali/Mansoor

Ali slips a bit while backflipping out of an atomic drop so it’s off to Mansoor, who kicks Alexander in the face. Everything breaks down and Alexander Michinoku Drivers Ali for the pin at 1:22.

Post match Mansoor goes to help Ali up but gets shoved back down.

We recap Shayna Baszler’s recent path of destruction, with Doudrop saving Dana Brooke’s arm last week.

Queen’s Crown Tournament First Round: Dana Brooke vs. Shayna Baszler

In case last week’s squash wasn’t enough. Brooke gets powered into the corner to start but fights back with some right hands in another corner. The Kirifuda Clutch is countered into some rollups for two on Baszler but she is back with a knee to the face for the pin at 1:25. So yeah, somehow after the complaints over the Smackdown matches not getting time, they managed to make this one even shorter.

Charlotte doesn’t care about the tournament because she only cares about herself. Tonight she is in a match with a bunch of women who can’t walk the walk, because Charlotte is the greatest ever. This was also longer than the tournament match.

Riddle vs. Omos

Before the match, Riddle talks about how he has been thinking lately, which is something he does a lot. He was the one with the idea of Brogurt, but it is clear Omos has been on the brotein. Riddle forgets what he is talking about, which probably happens to everyone at some point. Riddle: “OK RANDY NOW!” Singing Orton’s song doesn’t work either so AJ Styles says Riddle is just stalling, as everyone can see. Riddle: “RANDY! RANDY! RANDY!”

The bell rings so Riddle drops to the floor to kick away at AJ, leaving Omos to pull him back inside. A corner splash sets up the chokeslam to cover Riddle, but AJ says not so fast. AJ wants to see some of the martial arts Omos learned in second grade, so we see Omos kicking him in the head. AJ calls for two replays and then the chokebomb finishes Riddle at 2:29.

Post match Orton’s music hits but there is no Orton. AJ even turns around to see if Orton is running in and then sends Omos outside to watch. Somehow Orton gets inside anyway and hits the RKO on Styles.

We recap the opening segment.

Drew McIntyre comes up to Big E. to yell about what happened. Big E. thinks they need to get on the same page. For one night only, they’ll let bygones be bygones. Drew agrees, thinking that Roman Reigns is scared of them. Big E. talks about his nipples before we get a mock Mega Powers handshake. I have no idea why Drew waited 45 minutes to find Big E. and have this chat.

Here’s Bobby Lashley to look at a recap of his feud with Goldberg. Back in the arena, Lashley asks if fans saw Goldberg talking about ending Lashley’s life. Lashley talks about how that is a horrible thing to a father and how he is a man who defended the WWE Title for half a year. Or would you rather cheer for a guy in cutoff sleeves screaming about MURDER? Lashley talks about how the match at Crown Jewel has to be No Holds Barred because Goldberg is a bit crazy. Goldberg can’t beat him, and he certainly can’t kill the Almighty.

Bianca Belair doesn’t want to hear about Bianca Belair because she is the blueprint of greatness. Tonight she’s beating Charlotte and then winning the Smackdown Women’s Title at Crown Jewel.

Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Theory

Hardy sends him into the corner to start and scores with a middle rope ax handle. The Twisting Stunner is blocked early on and Theory hits a rolling dropkick. The armbar goes on….and it’s time for the 24/7 Title chase, because presenting a potential future star in Theory isn’t as important as a comedy title. With that waste of time out of the way, Hardy does his usual but misses the Swanton, allowing Theory to roll him up (with pants) for the pin at 2:06. That’s a huge relief after where it felt like they were going.

We recap the non-contract signing from Smackdown.

Bianca Belair remembers beating Sasha Banks at Wrestlemania and she is never forgetting what Becky Lynch did to her at Summerslam.

King of the Ring First Round: Jinder Mahal vs. Kofi Kingston

Before the match, Xavier Woods and Kofi still can’t talk about a potential match between the two of them. Veer, Shanky and Woods are here too. Mahal takes him down to start and stomps away in the corner but Kofi hurricanranas him to the floor. The middle rope trust fall drops Mahal again and we take a break.

Back with Kofi hitting the SOS but landing on the back of his own head for a scary landing. Kofi is good to continue so Mahal hits a gutbuster for two before taking Kofi up top. That’s broken up and Kofi’s top rope splash to the back gets two. Kofi loads up Trouble in Paradise but has to deal with everyone brawling outside. The top rope ax handle misses though, allowing Mahal to hit the Khallas for the pin at 9:00.

Rating: C. I can see both sides of this, as while it is annoying to have Mahal win anything, a battle between the New Day members should be something that matters. Throwing them out there on a week’s notice in a semifinal match would be a big waste so Mahal winning here was the right call. Assuming they don’t do something crazy like having Mahal advance to the finals, this was their best move.

Becky Lynch promises to leave Crown Jewel with the title.

Becky Lynch/Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks/Charlotte

Becky’s entrance now has a huge 3D image of herself looking over her sunglasses to send terror into your dreams. It’s a huge brawl before the bell and a bunch of referees come down to yell at everyone. Charlotte loads up the moonsault but gets broken up, with Belair tossing Banks onto the other two. Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville come out to yell as well and say the match is happening.

Back from a break and the bell rings so Charlotte and Banks can trade some standing switches. A wheelbarrow drops Banks but she kicks Charlotte in the face. Belair and Becky come in with Bianca working on the arm, but Banks doesn’t seem happy to be coming back in. Becky avoids Belair’s middle rope ax handle but Belair is right back with a suplex. Banks knocks Belair down but Charlotte tags herself in as Becky tries the Disarm-Her. Charlotte yells at Becky to get out so Banks gives Charlotte the Backstabber. Belair comes back in to clean house, including on her own partner, so the referee throws it out at 3:39.

Rating: C-. This existed for the sake of being able to say it existed, which isn’t quite what I had in mind when I saw it announced. That being said, it was looking like Charlotte was going to win a match over the three people fighting for a title next week so this could have been a lot more annoying. I’m over the partners who are about to fight each other trope, but we have another version of it for later tonight so I can’t get that annoyed yet.

Post match Belair can’t hit the KOD on Becky so Banks takes Belair down. The Manhandle Slam and Backstabber are both countered until Becky kicks Banks in the face and gets the Slam to leave her laying.

We recap the opening sequence.

The Usos are on the phone with Roman Reigns and tell him not to worry. Tonight, their job is to complete the mission.

Queen’s Crown Tournament First Round: Doudrop vs. Natalya

Natalya slaps her in the face to start but a headlock doesn’t get Natalya very far. Doudrop misses a backsplash though and gets caught in the abdominal stretch. That’s broken up as well and Doudrop misses the Cannonball. Natalya’s discus lariat gets two so she tries the Sharpshooter, which is countered into a small package to give Doudrop the pin at 3:04.

Rating: D+. It shouldn’t be a celebration when they break three minutes but that is where we are with this thing. Doudrop beating Natalya to set up the match with Shayna Baszler isn’t a bad idea, but it’s kind of sad seeing Doudrop as the dancing woman already. You knew it was coming, but it doesn’t make things that much better.

John Morrison is meditating when Nikki Ash and Rhea Ripley come up. He’s trying to get ready to expand his mind because there is a lot in there. They think that’s cool but once they leave, they admit they have no idea what he’s talking about. This is something WWE decided was worthy of time on this show.

Austin Theory photo bombs a warming up Big E.

Mustafa Ali yells at Mansoor, saying Mansoor only wants to dance and make friends. Ali has had his back but he should have told him the truth from day one: he is a loser and NOTHING. With Ali gone, Mansoor says he’ll talk to him later but Ali comes back in and jumps him from behind.

Big E./Drew McIntyre vs. Usos

Non-title. Big E. powers Jimmy into the corner without much effort to start and we get the non-New Day version of the Unicorn Stampede. Drew suplexes Jimmy for two but Big E. gets caught in the wrong corner so the Usos can make a wish. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Big E. makes the comeback. That’s broken up as well and Big E. is sent into the steps as we take a break.

Back with Big E. still in trouble but suplexing his way out of the corner. That’s enough for the hot tag to McIntyre for the house cleaning, including a spinebuster for two on Jimmy. The double superkick gets two on McIntyre but he’s right back up with the jumping neckbreaker.

The Claymore is loaded up but Big E. tags himself in (as McIntyre did last week), only to get superkicked down for two. Jey misses the Superfly Splash but counters the Big Ending as well. Drew gets knocked off the apron though and now the Big Ending connects, only to have Drew break up the pin. The fight is on and Big E. is counted out at 15:12 as the brawl continues.

Rating: C+. Better match than the tag match with a similar story and the Reigns factor looming over everything helps, but I’m so sick of this tag team deal. It’s one of WWE’s favorites and they run it so frequently, as the idea of diminishing returns continues to be lost on this company. That being said, there was good action and they went with the smart finish so it could have been much worse.

Post match the Usos jump Big E. and McIntyre and load up the announcers’ table. McIntyre (busted open) and Big E. fight back and get inside, where McIntyre hits the Claymore to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. There was some good stuff on here, but egads the bad things dragged it back down. I’m rarely a fan of setting up two shows at once, but they have already started on the main event of Survivor Series (which must be champion vs. champion, due to reasons of “well, that’s what we do”) without getting Crown Jewel out of the way first. They didn’t officially add anything to the card tonight, though I think you can pencil in Ali vs. Mansoor, as you have been able to do for a few months now.

The biggest problem here though is the Queen’s Crown. The four first round matches combined to be just over eight minutes combined, or less than any one of the men’s first round matches. There is no hiding the fact that WWE does not care about the tournament and it makes me wonder why I’m supposed to care about it either. Even if the semifinals and finals are better, and they almost have to be, WWE has sunk the thing before it can get started. It’s a shame that we waited this long for the thing and now have to see it take place under a regime that has such little interest.

There were some bright spots on the show (Ricochet vs. Woods was good, the Drew vs. Big E. build has gone as well as could be expected under the circumstances, and Theory looked like a star), but this was a rough sit as we move into one of the weaker times of the year. The show is trying to do a lot of things at once and since WWE can barely single task most of the time, multitasking is completely lost on them. Not the worst show, but a rather frustrating one in a trend that is likely to continue.

Results
Xavier Woods b. Ricochet – Rope walk elbow
Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin b. Mustafa Ali/Mansoor – Michinoku Driver to Ali
Shayna Baszler b. Dana Brooke – Knee to the face
Omos b. Riddle – Chokebomb
Austin Theory b. Jeff Hardy – Rollup with jeans
Jinder Mahal b. Kofi Kingston – Khallas
Charlotte/Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks/Bianca Belair went to a no contest
Doudrop b. Natalya – Small package
Usos b. Big E./Drew McIntyre via countout

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