Mixed Match Challenge – September 18, 2018 (Season 2 Premiere): Exactly What I Was Looking For
IMG Credit: WWE
Mixed Match Challenge Date: September 18, 2018 Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma Commentators: Michael Cole, Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness
We’re back with season two of this shindig, which should be a lot of fun. The first season saw some rather entertaining matches and moments as it turned out that some teams had some actual chemistry together. This season is a little different though as we have a round robin format this time around as opposed to a single elimination tournament. Let’s get to it.
Since the tournament is a round robin format, the Raw and Smackdown teams won’t cross over until the finals, hence the Raw/Smackdown division names.
The announcers teach us how to use Facebook, as in the way we’re watching the show in the first place. That always makes me chuckle.
Raw Division: Braun Strowman/Ember Moon vs. Kevin Owens/Natalya
Moon is replacing the injured Alexa Bliss, who will get her spot back once she’s healthy. The men start and Owens immediately begs off from Strowman before handing it off to Moon instead. That means the women take it to the mat as Renee tries to remember the Team Pawz thing. Hang on though as Alicia Fox and Jinder Mahal ARE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!
Back to the ring with Owens screaming that Natalya can’t let Moon tag. Moon cartwheels, with Owens praising her for being eight years old. A powerbomb sets up a Sharpshooter on Moon but Strowman makes a save and tags himself in. Panicking ensues in a hurry and the house cleaning comes just as quickly.
Owens gets knocked to the floor and Strowman does the run around the ring to knock Owens over. A second attempt runs into a superkick though and Owens throws him over the announcers’ table for a nine count. Back in and Natalya tags herself in to break up the powerslam, only to have Moon take her down in a hurry. Moon climbs onto Strowman’s shoulders for the Eclipse (dang) and the pin at 7:25.
Rating: C. Now this is the kind of thing I was hoping for from this show. It’s nothing great and was far from a mat classic, but the people were having fun and it played off the history that Owens and Strowman already have. Throw in the awesome looking finish and that’s really all you need to have. Good start to the season.
Sasha Banks and Bobby Lashley laugh off the idea of Alicia Fox and Jinder Mahal. Well yeah, as they should.
Mahal tries to teach Fox about inner peace with expected results.
Smackdown Division: Jimmy Uso/Naomi vs. AJ Styles/Charlotte
The guys start with AJ wrestling in a shirt for some reason. A feeling out process goes nowhere and it’s an early standoff. They catch kicks to the ribs at the same time and shake hands, which neither is willing to release. Naomi comes in and snaps her fingers at Charlotte which means….I have no idea actually. Charlotte kicks her down and struts a lot so Naomi grabs a springboard sunset flip for two.
They also do the caught kicks and handshake (at the same time in this case) until Naomi kicks her out to the floor. Naomi’s dive is caught by AJ and that’s not cool with Jimmy. Charlotte dives onto both of them but Naomi kicks her in the head to take over. Back in and the split legged moonsault misses, allowing Charlotte to hit the moonsault for two.
It’s back to the men with AJ cleaning house but the Styles Clash is reversed into a Samoan drop. Everything breaks down and Charlotte puts Jimmy in the Figure Eight, only to have Naomi dive in for the save. AJ breaks that up but takes the Rear View, leaving Naomi to get kicked in the face. The Figure Eight makes Naomi tap at 9:43.
Rating: C-. While not as fun as the previous match (there’s no reason to believe that AJ and Charlotte are going to lose for a LONG time), there was enough to keep things going here. Naomi has more charisma than she knows what to do with and having her out there with her husband is really all you can expect her to do. It’s certainly not bad and the match was perfectly watchable, which is perfectly fine.
Post match the winners celebrate, although with AJ tripping and taking Charlotte down with him.
Miz and Asuka are ready for next week.
R-Truth is ready to beat Carmella next week, though he eventually realizes they’re partners.
Overall Rating: C. This is exactly what made the previous season work: keeping the matches short, not having any real hatred or anger between the teams and being much more lighthearted. That’s the big draw of the show. So much of WWE is deadly serious and it’s nice to see these characters in a more laid back atmosphere. That offers a little change of pace, along with the show being in and out in a hurry. Nothing great, but it was exactly what it was billed as being.
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Main Event – May 24, 2018: What Sorcery Is THIS???
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event Date: May 24, 2018 Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson
I’m out of ways to say that this show is going to be all about Money in the Bank qualifying matches. Those things have dominated Monday Night Raw and Smackdown for the last few weeks now and it’s burned out a lot of my interest in the upcoming pay per view. It says a lot when the Main Event original content needs to bail us out. Let’s get to it.
Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher vs. Lince Dorado/Kalisto
Kendrick uses an early Gallagher distraction to take Kalisto down in the corner to start. A backbreaker keeps Kalisto in trouble and let’s talk about the Cruiserweight Title match. Eh it’s not like this match means anything anyway. Kendrick can’t get the Captain’s Hook so it’s off to Gallagher (no longer in Slytherin green), who is backdropped in a hurry. That’s not enough for a hot tag though as Gallagher runs over and pulls Lince off the apron in time.
Kendrick comes back in for a chinlock but Kalisto fights up with some kicks to the chest. That’s enough for the hot tag to Dorado so things can speed up, including a moonsault press. The Golden Rewind drops Kendrick again and Kalisto dives on Gallagher. Back in and Lince’s hurricanrana to Kendrick doesn’t count as Kendrick isn’t legal. The confusion lets Gallagher headbutt Lince down for the pin at 4:47.
Rating: C-. The heels…won??? I don’t remember the last time that happened in a cruiserweight match on this show, to the point where it was a running joke for a long time. Gallagher and Kendrick are fine for a low level heel team and Lucha House Party is going to be fine, at least until fans grab those noisemakers and bludgeon them half to death.
We get some highlights of the first three Women’s Money in the Bank qualifiers.
From Raw.
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dana Brooke vs. Natalya vs. Sarah Logan vs. Liv Morgan
It’s a brawl to start and Morgan gets two off a top rope faceplant to Natalya. Everyone gets in a running shot for two each until the Riott Squad double teams Natalya. Brooke comes back in for the save and breaks up Logan’s cover, only to be sent shoulder first into the post. Natalya is back up with the discus lariat and the Sharpshooter for the win at 4:28.
Rating: D. Another match where they had to rush the whole way, mainly because the first hour was the Roman Reigns Show. Natalya winning was the only pick here, mainly because she’s likely to cash in on her new friend Ronda Rousey and win the title. You know, because that’s how you make Rousey a bigger star: make her a former champion who couldn’t hold the title for five minutes.
From Smackdown.
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Naomi vs. Sonya Deville
Naomi starts fast with some rollups for two each as we see other qualifiers watching in the back. Sonya gets in some right hands and a shot to the back for two. A spinebuster gives Sonya two more but Naomi comes back with some kicks. They trade enough kicks for a double knockdown, only to have Naomi grab another rollup for the pin at 4:21.
Rating: D+. Naomi is the right call as she’s a bigger star and has the crazy athleticism needed to make something like the ladder match fun. I’m not sure what Sonya did to warrant getting a second chance at getting into the match but at least they got the winner right, which isn’t always the case.
From Raw again.
Here’s Stephanie to emcee the contract signing. Nia comes out first and Stephanie talks about the personal issues between Nia and Bliss. Rousey is out now and asks Stephanie how her arm is feeling. After Stephanie asks Rousey about how it feels to jump over the women that Rousey has called more deserving, we hear about Rousey not being used to wrestling singles matches.
Stephanie continues her monologue, talking about how Rousey might leave WWE if she loses and accusing Nia of being lazy for taking so long to beat Bliss (Way to treat one of your best homegrown stars there Steph.). She talks about the armbar and Nia finally snaps, saying that Rousey can’t get the armbar on her.
Nia is tired of being called lazy and promises to make a name for herself at Money in the Bank. She signs and picks up the title with Rousey signing next. Rousey moves the table to the side and promises to take the title as they do the long handshake. She promises to take the arm too and a staredown ends things. Not bad, especially once Stephanie shut up for a few seconds.
Apollo Crews vs. Mojo Rawley
Mojo powers him down to start as Nigel recaps Rawley’s last year or so. The always good looking dropkick puts Rawley down and a high crossbody gets two. A shot to the back puts Crews on the floor though and we take a break. Back with Rawley grabbing a chinlock for a good while before hitting a running shoulder in the corner. A second attempt hits a raised knee though and Crews starts his comeback to a nice reaction. The Pounce is cut off by an enziguri and a standing moonsault puts Rawley away at 8:34.
Rating: D+. That chinlock didn’t do them any favors, but at the same time it’s annoying to have Rawley win one week and lose the next. If they want to use this show to help people along (ok so that’s not likely the case), they might as well have some continuity to the thing. Rawley is someone they see something in so why is he losing clean like this?
Post match Titus O’Neil comes in to celebrate but Rawley jumps them both. Titus gets sent outside and Crews goes into the post for a big crash. My goodness, an angle on Main Event. What else could we possibly see?
From Smackdown.
Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan
The winner gets Samoa Joe, on commentary here, in a Money in the Bank qualifying match next week. Feeling out process to start until Bryan shoulders him down for two. The moonsault over Jeff into the running clothesline is countered with an atomic drop. Bryan rolls outside and we take a break. Back with stereo crossbodies putting both of them down again.
Its Bryan up first and kicking Jeff to the floor but missing the apron knee. Jeff scores with a running clothesline from the apron but takes too long going up top. The delay allows Bryan to tie him in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick. Jeff blocks a belly to back superplex though and scores with a Whisper in the Wind for two. The Twist of Fate is countered and Bryan kicks away, only to get caught with the Twist.
The Swanton hits knees (with a great bounce off the crash) so Bryan kicks him in the head for two more. Another Twist is countered into a dragon screw legwhip and Bryan slaps on a heel hook for the tap at 11:23. That would be the second time that the US Champion has lost clean in Money in the Bank matches.
Rating: B. Champion losing again aside, this was a fun match with both guys looking like stars who could have gotten the win. Bryan needed the win to get back on track after the Rusev loss, but I’m not sure I can picture him beating Joe next week. Then again I’m not sure I can picture Joe losing to Bryan either, and that makes for a much more interesting match.
And one more time from Smackdown.
Here are AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura o announce the stipulation for Money in the Bank. Nakamura doesn’t understand what a stipulation is but can show us a clip of him defeating Styles last week. He’s been thinking very carefully and wants to dishonor Styles at Money in the Bank. Nakamura picks a pillow fight, which AJ doesn’t think much about. Not that it matters as Nakamura wants to dishonor AJ at Money in the Bank.
The fight is on with AJ blocking the low blow and taking it outside. A chair shot misses as well and Nakamura gets sent into the crowd. AJ tries a springboard off the barricade but gets chaired down, allowing Nakamura to hit Kinshasa. Nakamura makes it a Last Man Standing match. Makes sense given most of their matches.
Overall Rating: D+. They were trying to do something better here but if I heat that MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY song one more time I’m not going to be held responsible for my actions. It’s been done to death for years and now we get to hear it all over again because the calendar says so. This was another run of the mill show, save for that surprising result to the tag match. Just get past the ladder matches already so we can move on though.
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Mixed Match Challenge – March 6, 2018: Adorably Scary
IMG Credit: WWE
Mixed Match Challenge Date: March 6, 2018 Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix
It’s time to set up a semifinals match as this tournament is starting to hit the home stretch. This week will see Raw vs. Smackdown as Braun Strowman/Alexa Bliss take on the real life husband and wife of Jimmy Uso/Naomi. The winners get Miz/Asuka in what might be the real tournament finals. Let’s get to it.
Here’s how to use the thing you’re using to watch this show. Bobby Roode, Charlotte, Rusev and Lana are all doing comments on the show.
Strowman says Glowish ends tonight.
Naomi promises to snatch Alexa bald and Jimmy isn’t afraid of Braun. Well at least Naomi says he isn’t.
Quarterfinals: Alexa Bliss/Braun Strowman vs. Naomi/Jimmy Uso
Naomi shoves Alexa before the match and Bliss tries to charge, only to have Strowman pick her up with one arm in one of those cute moments that only they can pull off. The guys start and Naomi looks scared when reality sets in. Strowman charges into a boot but runs Jimmy over like he’s not even there. With Jimmy nearly dead in short order, it’s off to the women for a fairer match.
Naomi takes her down but Jimmy distracts Braun to break up an early tag attempt. Instead it’s off to an armbar to keep Bliss down but she kicks Naomi away. Jimmy dives over to knock Strowman off the apron and a few superkicks stagger the monster. Twisted Bliss is countered with an enziguri but Braun catches her. He seems to like the idea (well duh) but sits Bliss on the apron instead. This time Bliss gets knocked onto Strowman and she seems a bit intrigued as well. Must be the beard.
Jimmy makes fun of Strowman for being knocked down so Strowman chases him down with way too much ease. Back in and Naomi kicks Bliss in the face but Jimmy doesn’t seem interested in making the tag. Believe it or not, there’s some actual psychology in this thing. Naomi hits her dancing kicks and drops a leg for two. Strowman has finally had enough and runs Jimmy over before powerslamming him through the table. Bliss takes advantage of the distraction and rolls Naomi up for the pin at 10:34.
Rating: C+. As fun as Bliss and Strowman are together (not to mention as adorable as they are together), I was having more fun with Jimmy being terrified of facing Strowman. It gave the match a story and that’s kind of hard to do on something like this. I can go for thinking in something this basic and it’s made the show that much better. Good little match here as Bliss and Strowman continue to look like the top team in the whole thing.
Roode says next week will be WOO Day.
Lana and Rusev are sick of the WOOing so Rusev sings the Lana Song.
Overall Rating: C. I’m only downgrading this slightly because of Rusev getting that infernal song stuck in my head. This was another fun episode and I’m actually starting to wonder who is going to win the whole thing. They have several options at this point and that makes for a fun tournament, especially down the stretch. Good show here, with only the song being stuck in my head holding it down.
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Mixed Match Challenge – February 6, 2018: It’s Growing On Me
Mixed Match Challenge Episode #4 Date: February 6, 2018 Location: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix
We’re getting closer to the end of the first round and we already have a substitution. This week Goldust will team with Mandy Rose, who is a replacement for the injured Alicia Fox. Granted it’s not like this is probably going to mean much, but you never can quite tell around here. Let’s get to it.
The announcers show us how to interact with the show.
Earlier today, Jimmy and Naomi promise to put Goldust and Mandy in the Uso Penitentiary.
Goldust and Mandy have a penitentiary of their own. They can’t come up with anything better than that?
This week’s interactive gimmick: voting on the guest referee. Daniel Bryan is chosen over Kurt Angle with a 68-32 margin.
First Round: Jimmy Uso/Naomi vs. Goldust/Mandy Rose
Jimmy and Naomi dance a bit before the match. The men get things going and that means an early dance off. Jimmy starts running the ropes and Goldust asks for a breather because he’s too old for this stuff. A hiptoss puts Jimmy down but he kicks Goldust away, only to have him go over and kiss Mandy’s hand.
The teams take turns hugging but Jimmy one ups it by kissing Naomi, much to Goldust’s shock. Goldust isn’t sure what to do so Bryan starts the YES chant and Mandy doesn’t seem opposed. He goes for the kiss but gets rolled up. Bryan won’t count because that’s not right so it’s off to the women instead. Mandy messes with Naomi’s hair and the fight is on, including a sliding slap for one.
We cut to Lana and Rusev snarking on the match and come back to Mandy stomping away. Beth accuses Corey of reducing Mandy to eye candy. Wasn’t that what she came in as? Is that really reducing? Mandy slaps Jimmy for some reason, allowing Naomi to get in a clothesline. The hot tag brings in Jimmy for his clotheslines on Goldust.
The husband and wife hit stereo enziguris but charge into stereo powerslams. Goldust grabs the Final Cut on Jimmy but Naomi makes the save, followed by a big dive onto Mandy. The distraction lets Jimmy hit the superkick and Superfly Splash for the pin at 10:01. Bryan was a complete non-factor here and I forgot he was guest referee until way after the show was over.
Rating: C-. I’m starting to dig this show more and more every week. At the end of the day, there’s no story to these matches so really, the only option you have is to set up something like this in short order. The whole husband/wife vs. two random people being paired together was fine enough and the match was fairly entertaining. It’s the definition of getting what you can out of nothing and that’s often more fun than some lame story.
Post match Rusev and Lana come out to say they’re the best married couple around here. Next week they won’t be singing, unless it’s a song about Lana being #1. Lana promises to crush Bayley and Elias next week in celebrating of the ravishing Rusev Day.
Bayley and Elias can’t seem to agree on singing or hugging.
Overall Rating: C. This is actually becoming one of my favorite shows to watch every week. It’s not because of the quality obviously but there’s something to be said about such a laid back show with what seems like almost no interference from Vince and company. These are just four people out there having a little bit of fun and filling in some time. That’s a very nice change of pace over THIS IS THE MOST SERIOUS AND IMPORTANT SHOW EVER. More of the same here and that’s nice for a change.
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Smackdown – September 19, 2017: Now You Might Hate This One
Smackdown Date: September 19, 2017 Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
I’m getting used to this idea of having title matches booked in advance of the TV shows. This time around we have the US Title on the line as AJ Styles defends against Baron Corbin, who said he was answering this week’s Open Challenge in advance. And there’s that whole Kevin Owens attempting to murder Vince McMahon deal. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the ending of last week’s show with Owens destroying Mr. McMahon in a heck of a beatdown.
Here’s Shane McMahon to open things up. He calls his father one salty SOB, which is really not a nice thing to say about your grandmother. Last week Shane sat with his kids and watched his father and their grandfather get the beating of a lifetime. Shane talks about the family’s toughness and condemns him to a beating of a lifetime inside the Cell.
Randy Orton vs. Aiden English
English sings about Orton hearing voices in his head because it’s full of lead. Orton wastes no time by hitting the powerslam in the first minute but Aiden slips out of the hanging DDT. They head outside with English dropping him onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. Back with Orton fighting out of a chinlock but getting dropkicked right back down. English goes to the second rope….and dives right into the RKO for the pin at 7:10.
Rating: C-. I could go for more of English getting in some offense as the singing character is something that could get him a nice little run. It’s not like they have anything else going on so give it a try. Orton is likely going to continue his “feud” with Rusev, which will hopefully last longer than fifteen seconds next time.
Post match here’s Rusev to talk about Orton turning his homecoming into a national disgrace. Rusev is going to change things right now….and let’s ring the bell.
Rusev vs. Randy Orton
English distracts Orton and it’s a superkick to end Orton at 11 seconds. I WAS KIDDING ABOUT THE FIFTEEN SECONDS THING!!! That sounds like payback for what happened at Summerslam, which is still a dumb idea, especially if Orton wins in a long match at the pay per view. Just give Rusev a win or two that matters and things will be better, not just having this stuff that means nothing more than a fluke.
Rusev is very excited with the win and says he’ll return home as a conquering hero.
Here are Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers to make fun of Shinsuke Nakamura’s face again, including his mad and artistic faces. Mahal makes fun of Nakamura’s voice and hair, followed by some Mr. Miyagi jokes. Fans: “THAT’S TOO FAR!” We get some Punjabi and that’s about it. Aside from probably being racist, this showed that these two have nothing to say to each other and are only fighting because one of them has the title.
Nakamura says it won’t be so funny when he wins the title.
Here’s AJ Styles for his title defense but before the match, AJ says Kevin has bitten off more than he can chew. He attacked the man who is responsible for all of us being here tonight. As for Corbin, AJ is tired of him trying to short cut his way everywhere. The big bad wolf can huff and puff but he’ll never blow down the house that AJ Styles built.
US Title: AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin
Styles is defending but Corbin jumps him during the Big Match Intros. Tye Dillinger runs in to jump Corbin though and hurts his ankle. AJ is up for a running forearm and the Calf Crusher on the bad leg. No match of course and we’ll just wait on the announcement for the match being moved to the pay per view.
Post break, Corbin isn’t happy.
Here’s Charlotte for the first time in a good while. She’s been gone for about six weeks while her father has been healing up and he is making a comeback. Since she’s been gone, Charlotte has learned how fragile life is and from now on she’s going to make the most of every moment she can.
Cue Natalya to says he’s here to host the first ever Celebration of Women. There’s a covered up picture put up behind Natalya as she talks about how important women have been to the world. The picture is unveiled and of course it’s of Natalya herself. Charlotte likes the picture and says she’s coming for the title. This brings out Becky Lynch to say the title is coming back to its proper owner.
Now it’s Naomi to call Natalya a crazy cat lady and throw her glowing hat into the title hunt. Hang on a second though as it’s Tamina and Lana interrupting because this company has no idea how to book a women’s division aside from just throwing everyone into one match. Natalya leaves and says she’s not a crazy cat lady but here’s Daniel Bryan to make the multi-woman match to crown a new #1 contender for later tonight.
New Day vs. Hype Bros
Non-title with the Usos on commentary. Mojo grabs an abdominal stretch on Big E. but gets sent outside for a break less than a minute in because we can’t break ten minutes of wrestling on this show. Back with Kofi in trouble in the corner until Mojo misses a charge into the post. The hot tag brings in Big E., who misses the hip swivel Warrior Splash. Ryder adds the middle rope dropkick and the Broski Boot for two. Kofi hits the running dive over the top onto Mojo, leaving Ryder to take the Midnight Hour for the pin at 6:26. Not enough shown to rate but this was entertaining while it lasted.
We look at the Vince beatdown again.
Owens joins us live via satellite and apologizes (fans aren’t cool with that) for what happened last week. He apologizes to the WWE Universe and to the McMahon Family, but Shane had this coming. This is all on Shane, who drove Owens to do what he did last week. Last week, Owens was looking at Shane when he attacked Vince. He has one more apology and it’s to anyone who watches the pay per view. What he did to Vince is nothing compared to what’s going to do to Shane. It’s good that they’re going to Hell because people like Owens don’t go to Heaven.
Mojo says he’s tired of losing and something has to change.
Here’s Dolph Ziggler for his usual stuff: he’s the best in-ring performer ever and entrances don’t mean anything. First up it’s HHH, which means he can run NXT now, even if he’s not wearing mom jeans. Ziggler looks upset and says stop the show. That means Heartbreak Ziggler with Dolph saying he can feel himself losing his smile. The last one is the DX entrance, complete with the glow sticks. Ziggler’s two words for you: WHO CARES? He wants to know who is supposed to care about two dads trying to sell you stuff. Ziggler is the best ever and the fans couldn’t care less.
Naomi vs. Charlotte vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch
The winner gets Natalya at the pay per view. It’s a brawl to start and we’re on a break less than a minute in. Back with Charlotte and Becky breaking up a near fall before fighting each other. Becky kicks her in the ribs but Naomi crossbodies both of them for two on Lynch. Naomi grabs a Stunner for two on Charlotte as Natalya is watching in the back.
The reverse Rings of Saturn is broken up and it’s Becky grabbing the Disarm-Her. Tamina breaks that up as well but gets sent into the post. Becky’s bouncing kick in the corner is broken up and Charlotte spears Tamina down. She plants Naomi too and the moonsault hits both of them for a double near fall.
The Figure Four goes on but Becky dives in with a legdrop for the save. Tamina is back in with a Samoan drop on Becky and the Superfly Splash for two with Naomi making the save this time. Lana pulls Naomi outside but the distraction lets Charlotte kick Tamina in the face for the pin and the title shot at 9:57.
Rating: B-. This was good while it lasted and would have been better if we didn’t miss about a fourth of it for the sake of a commercial. Charlotte or Becky winning was fine here and they would have been a bit nuts to not go with Charlotte, especially with the book coming out and her dad’s health. It was a fast paced match though and that’s what this show needed.
Overall Rating: D+. This one ENTIRELY depends on how you care for your show. The big problem on this show is very simple: there was less than twenty five minutes of wrestling in two hours with about ten of that taking place during commercials. That’s terribly low, even by WWE standards. Based on that, it’s a horrible show.
However, this show was much more about hyping up the pay per view and I could get behind the idea of a show that gives away less action on the unimportant shows and saves it for the pay per views. On top of that I’m more interested in the pay per view than I was coming into this week, which is quite the step up. This show certainly isn’t for everyone but I liked the change of direction and you can see a lot more stuff added to the pay per view from here. It had a lot of negatives (low in-ring time, the Mahal stuff, Rusev/Orton) but the change of pace was very nice for a little switch.
Results
Randy Orton b. Aiden English – RKO
Rusev b. Randy Orton – Superkick
New Day b. Hype Bros – Midnight Hour to Ryder
Charlotte b. Naomi, Tamina and Becky Lynch – Big boot to Tamina
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Smackdown – September 12, 2017: Beating Up An Old Man Is Bad
Smackdown Date: September 12, 2017 Location: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
I know I say it a lot but this week really is a major night for Smackdown as not only do we have three titles being defended on one show but the boss himself is in the house. Vince McMahon is making a rare TV appearance to deal with the Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens feud, which is slowly starting to get out of hand. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look back at Shane and Kevin’s issues with Owens getting beaten up again, meaning Vince has to come here for the intervention.
Here’s Owens to get things going. He welcomes us to the Kevin Owens Show by reminding us that he never fought back last week. Owens is going to own this whole place because he’s suing everyone around. Every week on the USA Network, it’s going to be Kevin Owens presenting the Kevin Owens Show starring Kevin Owens.
That means some changes around here, starting with Sami Zayn being fired. Then we’ll have Byron Saxton and Tom Phillips wearing the same suit. As in one suit for one person because they sound exactly the same on TV so there’s no point in having them separate. Oh and the Fashion Files are canceled because he doesn’t get it. Kevin wants to see Mr. McMahon right now but Here Comes the Money instead. Owens: “NO!!!!”
Never mind as it’s actually Dolph Ziggler trying out a new entrance. Kevin is relieved because it’s actually someone talented who works here so it couldn’t be Shane. Ziggler leaves and it’s Daniel Bryan taking his place. Daniel thinks Owens needs to chill so Owens offers him a job as a janitor. Bryan laughs it off because Mr. McMahon is going to be here very soon.
Donate to the Red Cross to help with natural disasters.
US Title: AJ Styles vs. Tye Dillinger
AJ is defending. Dillinger was trying to answer the US Open Challenge two weeks ago when Baron Corbin attacked him. Styles gave him a shot to make up for it. AJ sends him into the corner to start but gets rammed into the post and we take an early break. Back with Dillinger getting powerbombed out of the corner to put both guys down.
It’s AJ up first with a forearm to knock him backwards but Baron Corbin comes out for a distraction. AJ gets in the Phenomenal Forearm to drop Baron but gets caught in the Tyebreaker for a heck of a near fall. Of note: the announcers make sure to point out that Tye didn’t have time to get his knee pad taken down for the full impact, thereby protecting the move just a bit. The Calf Crusher retains AJ’s title at 7:21.
Rating: C. This wasn’t the biggest surprise as Dillinger isn’t ready to win a title and it’s pretty clear we’re heading towards Styles vs. Corbin at the pay per view. Styles defending the title in a good to very good match week to week is a perfectly good idea as he’ll give people their best match in months more often than not. Dillinger tried here but he was in over his head.
AJ shakes his hand post match but Corbin gets pulled to the floor. Dillinger gets taken down as well, followed by Corbin laying Styles out on the floor. Corbin is answering the Open Challenge next week.
Rusev went back to Bulgaria recently and the people greeted him with shame and embarrassment. He came back as a loser but that’s not what he is. To get it back, he must break a legend.
Here are Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers for a chat. Mahal talks about getting inside his opponents’ heads and puts up a picture of Nakamura with a bit of a grimace on his face. That makes Jinder think of constipation and where the bathroom is. Another picture makes Mahal think Nakamura is still trying to rip off Michael Jackson. Each of these jokes literally has the Brothers rolling on the mat in fits of laughter.
Finally, one of Nakamura looking angry makes Mahal think he’s screaming about Godzilla. Mahal mocks people who are laughing at this because it’s nonsense (that helps a bit). These Americans will mock you and say that you look like Pikachu having a seizure. Mahal promises to win in Punjabi and that’s that. This was certainly different and Mahal is starting to feel more like a champion but this really wasn’t funny (though he did acknowledge that).
Kevin Owens is going over new ideas for the show (limos, private jet, new entrance video etc.) when he runs into Sami Zayn. Owens talks about driving through a blizzard with Sami after wrestling in an armory in front of 42 people. They made a promise that night to never do this again and get to the WWE together.
Well now Owens is about to own the biggest wrestling company in the world and Sami is about to be out of a job. Based on that, Owens is giving Sami permission to break that promise when the armories start calling and he’s having trouble making rent. Sami says he’d rather wrestle in those armories than ever work for Owens.
Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Usos
The Usos are defending and this is a street fight. Kofi Kingston and Big E. (no Xavier here this week) go for a table to start but Big E. is posted as we take a break. Back with the Usos in control and Big E. getting stomped down in the corner. Something like a Van Daminator with a superkick gets two on Big E. as Kofi gets beaten down on the floor. It’s kendo stick time with Big E. taking another beating. Jimmy: “IT’S TOO EASY!”
Kofi finally gets back in to clean house and start swinging the stick. He beats Jimmy down so badly that the stick is broken in half for a cool visual. Jimmy’s running chair shot only hits post and a top rope double stomp with the chair gives Kofi two. The trust fall onto the Usos is caught with Kofi being sent into the barricade. Big E. is back up though and goes nuts, sending Jey into and then over the table.
The Rock Bottom plants Jimmy and a belly to belly drops Jey as well. A double Warrior Splash gets two but Jimmy gets in a superkick. That goes nowhere and it’s the Big Ending for a near fall. Now it’s a double superkick for the same but Kofi breaks up the double Superfly Splash with Jey being shoved through a table at ringside for a nasty crash. That’s enough to set up the Midnight Hour to give New Day the titles back at 11:22.
Rating: B-. See you in the Cell boys. It’s pretty clear that it’s the only thing left and that’s not the worst thing in the world at this point. I can get behind the idea of the Cell being the big blowoff match after a series of other matches far more easily than just throwing them in there and the fact that it would be a very good match helps too.
Ronda Rousey is here.
Women’s Title: Naomi vs. Natalya
Natalya is defending and they’re in the ring when we get back. Carmella is on commentary and has James Ellsworth on a (leopard print) leash. Naomi does the dancing kicks to start and we’re off to an early break. Back with both trying a crossbody for a double knockdown. It’s Naomi up first with a kick to the face but the split legged moonsault misses. The Sharpshooter is broken up as Natalya is kicked to the floor. Naomi dives onto everyone but gets sent into the post for her efforts. The Sharpshooter goes on with Natalya looking at Carmella as Naomi taps at 7:13.
Rating: D+. This didn’t do much for me and, as usual, I’m getting rather tired of the “IS SHE CASHING IN THIS WEEK” stuff. It also doesn’t help that we don’t have Charlotte or Becky Lynch anywhere near the title, which doesn’t do much for Natalya’s reign. They’re both bigger stars and much more interesting than Natalya, which makes her feel like a lame duck champion. The match was too quick to have much value either and Naomi tapping again should put her out of the title picture for the time being.
Aiden English auditions to sing the new theme song for the Kevin Owens Show.
Here’s Dolph Ziggler to talk about how he’s good enough to not need an elaborate entrance to be a star. He goes to the back and returns….as Bayley. Is that sweet enough for these people? Ziggler talks about someone who had no in-ring ability yet people idolized him, meaning it’s time for the Ultimate Warrior entrance. With that done, Ziggler rants about how anyone can do what he just did but no one can do what he does in this ring. He couldn’t care less about any of us and he walks off.
Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin vs. Hype Bros
Shelton takes Mojo down by the arm to start but gets forearmed in the face. It’s off to Ryder for a middle rope dropkick, only to charge into a spinebuster. A powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination ends Ryder at 2:24.
Mojo shakes hands post match but Ryder walks away.
Here’s Owens to wait for Vince’s appearance. The boss comes out and Owens says Vince looks intimidated. Vince laughs off the idea of Owens respecting authority. Vince: “Kevin, when you look in the mirror, how do you have any respect at all?” He brings up the lawsuits and sees it as Owens craving power. If Owens does file the suit, Vince will be on the phone immediately to Owens’ attorney and firing Owens on the spot.
Vince has been in his share of courtroom battles and hasn’t lost a single one (uh, right). The laws of this land were written for people like him because he’s a billionaire. By the time the lawsuit gets to court in several years, Owens will be bankrupt. As for last week though, Shane is suspended for not beating Owens up badly enough. Vince gets to the point: there won’t be a lawsuit because there’s going to be a match. Kevin Owens will face Shane McMahon inside Hell in a Cell.
That’s fine with Owens, but he needs permission to beat a McMahon senseless. They shake hands and Owens headbutts Vince, drawing some blood from Vince’s head. A right hand drops Vince again and Owens kicks him in the ribs. Referees come out and Owens adds a superkick.
Owens even adds a frog splash and Stephanie makes her first appearance since Wrestlemania to come out and check on her dad. Vince won’t get on the stretcher and nearly collapses to end the show. This was VERY well done and I love Stephanie making what felt like a natural return to check on her father instead of some grand entrance. Really good ending here and if they have Shane get mauled in the Cell, it’s even better.
Overall Rating: B. The ending brings this way up in quality but the whole show felt like a big deal. Owens is suddenly the best heel they’ve had on Smackdown in a long time and should be heading towards the World Title as soon as Nakamura takes it from Mahal. They’ve got a hot angle to go with some good action but Mahal feels in WAY over his head, which isn’t doing them any favors. That can be fixed, but they need to maintain their momentum elsewhere. Strong show tonight led by the Owens story.
Results
AJ Styles b. Tye Dillinger – Calf Crusher
New Day b. Usos – Midnight Hour to Jimmy
Natalya b. Naomi – Sharpshooter
Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin b. Hype Bros – Powerbomb/Top rope clothesline to Ryder
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Smackdown – August 15, 2017: They Might Have Just Saved Summerslam
Smackdown Date: August 15, 2017 Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s the last show before Summerslam and there’s a big main event to send us home. This week features Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena in a non-title match, which likely means that Baron Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura will be lurking around. Other than that we’ll be pushing some of Sunday’s lower card matches as well. Let’s get to it.
A narrated video talks about tonight’s main event.
Phillips says this might be the biggest match in Smackdown’s history. This isn’t even Cena’s biggest match on Smackdown this month.
Here’s Mahal to talk about today being Independence Day in India. An Indian band performs a quick dance and then a woman sings the Indian national anthem. Mahal takes credit for the success of the WWE Network and goes on about how awesome India is until Nakamura interrupts. Nakamura says today is India’s Independence Day but it’s also Veterans Day in Japan. On Sunday, he’s taking the title. This was long and accomplished absolutely nothing.
The announcers send their best wishes to Ric Flair.
Natalya vs. Becky Lynch
Naomi comes out for commentary. Becky grabs a rollup for one but gets the taste slapped out of her mouth. That earns her a slap right back, sending Natalya to the floor as we take a break. Back with Becky caught in an abdominal stretch until she makes her comeback with the clotheslines. The Bexploder looks to set up the Disarm-Her but Becky has to escape the Sharpshooter. A top rope legdrop misses though and the Sharpshooter makes Becky tap at 7:33.
Rating: D+. Natalya continues to be the same performer she’s been for years now: completely competent in the ring but mostly lacking charisma or anything interesting. I still don’t know why she’s getting the shot when you have Becky and Charlotte on the sidelines. In theory they’re saving that for a bigger stage, but there’s not much of a bigger stage than Summerslam. Unless they’re just setting up the Money in the Bank cash-in and don’t want to waste a big match, I really don’t get the point in a glorified midcard match for the title.
Post match Naomi chases Natalya off from another Sharpshooter attack. Carmella comes out and teases cashing in her briefcase at Summerslam.
Tamina wants to know why Lana hasn’t made her ravishing yet. Lana says Tamina isn’t ready, which doesn’t sit well.
The Usos come in to see Daniel Bryan, who thinks they want him to join their rap group. It turns out they want to know which New Day members they’ll be facing Sunday. That would be Big E. and Xavier Woods, but the Usos want Woods and Kofi tonight. That’s cool with Bryan, who dances a bit as they leave.
Rusev vs. Chad Gable
Gable wastes no time in suplexing him to the floor but Rusev sends him into the steps a few times. Rusev tosses Gable over the announcers’ table and it’s a double countout at 1:16.
Post match Rusev puts Gable in the Accolade on the announcers’ table. Rusev grabs a mic and gets in the ring, only to have Orton come in from out of nowhere with an RKO. How did he not see a 6’4 wrestler running right in front of him?
Here’s AJ Styles to talk about Sunday’s match where Shane McMahon will be guest referee. AJ calls Shane to the ring and apologizes for accidentally kicking him last week. Shane says no apology is necessary but AJ is worried that Shane will use what happened last week to screw him over on Sunday. The boss says that won’t happen, but if AJ puts his hands on him on Sunday, Shane will put his hands on AJ as well.
AJ asks if that’s a threat but here’s Kevin Owens to interrupt. Owens loves those rules for Sunday because he thinks AJ has something planned. Kevin thinks AJ is going to try to get him to get into a fight with Shane on Sunday and cause a DQ. Shane tells them to shake hands but the fight breaks out with Shane having to block an errant AJ right hand. The ensuing argument lets Owens superkick Shane by mistake.
New Day vs. Usos
Non-title. Before the match, New Day said they’ll be seeing the Usos at Summerslam and goes over a list of places the Usos can see them before then. Kofi and Woods take turns hitting a long string of elbows, legdrops and splashes (over ten of them total) on Jey in the first minute. Double baseball slides drop the Usos and we take a break after a very fast start. Back with Kofi making his comeback and bringing Woods in off the hot tag to chop away. A double superkick to the legs set up a double superkick to the jaw but Jimmy makes the save. Jey superkicks Kofi’s knee and a double superkick his jaw for the pin at 7:49.
Rating: C-. That was a great opening but MY GOODNESS I’m sick of superkicks. This match didn’t even go eight minutes and there were seven superkicks included. Remember back in the day when one superkick finished a match? Well now it takes seven times that and most of them don’t even come close to finishing a match. Cool it with those already, as I assure you there are multiple other options out there.
It’s time for the final episode of Fashion Peaks with Fandango recapping everything that’s gone on so far, including the alien probes, which went very deep. They were MENTAL probes of course. Here’s Breeze in a dress and blond wig because that’s what he does these days. Breeze says they need to figure this out because the last thing they need is people thinking they’re making it up as they go along.
Fandango has a space rock that the aliens gave them, which he says can predict the future. He throws the rock and hits Ascension, who were returning pie. There’s a hair in the pie, along with a used Band-Aid and….GLUTEN! Viktor panics because they live a gluten free lifestyle and gets dragged away. There’s also a note in the pie, saying “Two B”. Fandango says he senses danger for the whole tag division. A graphic says they’ll return in two weeks.
Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena
Non-title and Jinder’s entrance is joined in progress. They fight over a test of strength to start until Cena shoves him away. One of the Singh Brothers gets in a cheap shot from the floor though and Mahal slowly takes over. Jinder throws him outside and we take a break. Back with Cena initiating his finishing sequence.
The Singh Brothers pull Mahal to the floor before the AA but the referee catches them for an ejection. That means the STF but Mahal is over to the ropes. Mahal snaps his throat across the top and hits a knee to the face for two. The Khallas is broken up and the AA….gets two? Well I’m a bit surprised. That means a super AA but here’s Corbin for the DQ at 9:59.
Rating: D. And so much for Mahal meaning much. He’s one of the worst choices for a champion you can find and now he can’t even get a full entrance in “one of the biggest matches in Smackdown history”. The fact that he didn’t get pinned helps a bit but he was completely destroyed at the end. Mahal needs to lose the title on Sunday, but it wouldn’t shock me if they kept it on him as a swerve.
Post match Corbin knocks Cena out and leaves….before realizing how stupid he would be to not cash in right now. Corbin cashes in the briefcase and IT’S ON!
Smackdown World Title: Baron Corbin vs. Jinder Mahal
Cena offers a quick distraction and Mahal grabs a rollup to retain at 9 seconds. THANK GOODNESS as that means there’s no cash-in on Sunday and we’re done with one of the stupid briefcases for the next eleven months.
Corbin is livid and Mahal celebrates with the Singh Brothers to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. That ending alone saved this show as I couldn’t be happier about the briefcase being gone. One of the dumbest things they could have done was have Nakamura win and then have Corbin cash-in to win the title. Now we don’t have to worry about that and Nakamura can Kinshasa Mahal back to the midcard where he belongs. Other than that, this was a show similar to last night as the bigger stories were in deep freeze (until the main event of course) and not much really happened. It’s not much of a show but hokey smokes that ending was a great call.
Results
Natalya b. Becky Lynch – Sharpshooter
Rusev vs. Chad Gable went to a double countout
Usos b. New Day – Double superkick to Kingston
John Cena b. Jinder Mahal via DQ when Baron Corbin interfered
Jinder Mahal b. Baron Corbin – Rollup
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Smackdown – July 4, 2017: Johnny Cena And the News
Smackdown Date: July 4, 2017 Location: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
Welcome home Johnny! After weeks of hype, John Cena is making his return to WWE TV tonight. This is the first time Cena has been seen since Wrestlemania XXXIII and there’s no real indication of what he’ll be doing. Since Cena can appear on either show, this might be something of note or just a glorified one off appearance. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Cena.
There’s no time wasted as Cena is right here to open the show. The fans are all over him but he tells them to let him have it because he’s WAY too fired up to be rattled tonight. Cena talks about the importance of Independence Day and talks about the American Dream (no not Dusty).
The same idea holds true here: everyone has a chance to come out here and compete with the best. Lately, a lot of people have been out here running their mouths talking about Cena going Hollywood and becoming little more than a part time mascot. Cena is an all-timer because he’ll show up on Raw or Smackdown to face anyone from AJ Styles to Jinder Mahal to Seth Rollins to Roman Reigns and anyone in between.
Cue the returning Rusev to say he works just as hard in the ring as anyone but he hasn’t had any commercials hyping up his return. The American Dream, just like Cena’s return, is a joke. Rusev rips on the Fourth of July and gets drowned out with a USA chant. Cena issues a challenge for a Flag Match but Rusev says we do this on his time and his terms. Rusev walks away so Cena starts a USA chant/song. Cena beating up a foreigner on the Fourth of July is as much of a layup as you can have and that’s perfectly acceptable.
Chad Gable and AJ Styles come in to see Daniel Bryan, who says Kevin Owens doesn’t want either of them in the battle royal because he’s beaten both of them. Bryan kind of agrees so the two of them will be fighting each other for the right to be in the battle royal instead.
Chad Gable vs. AJ Styles
No Jason Jordan in sight. Feeling out process to start with AJ easily being taken down but popping up for his dropkick to send us to a break less than a minute and a half in. Back with AJ blocking a belly to belly superplex attempt. The Phenomenal Forearm is broken up but Gable misses a moonsault attempt. AJ gets the Calf Crusher for a bit but Gable twists out and plants him with a German suplex. Not that it matters as AJ is sent to the apron and hits the Phenomenal Forearm for the pin at 8:11.
Rating: C+. Better match than I was expecting here though I’m curious if Jordan is hurt or something. That’s two singles matches for Gable in a row and we haven’t seen American Alpha in the ring in at least a month. I hope they’re not being split up or anything as Raw is dying for face teams and Alpha would be a great fit.
AJ helps him up post match.
Mojo Rawley looks at a Hype Bros shirt and doesn’t seem pleased. Zack Ryder comes in and says it’s cool because they’re both in the battle royal. That seems to smooth things over a bit.
Here are Carmella and James Ellsworth to brag about winning Money in the Bank again. Carmella laughs off the idea of the fans having their wrongs righted last week and goes Rolling Stones with a little You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Cue Naomi and the BELT HAS LED LIGHTS. That’s up there with the spinner title on the dumb scale. Naomi says her eyes are always open so the cash-in won’t work.
This brings out Daniel Bryan who tells Ellsworth to shut up. Due to what he did last week, he’s banned from the arena again, but as a bonus he’s fined $10,000 and suspended for thirty days without pay. If he doesn’t leave RIGHT NOW, Carmella loses the contract. They immediately leave, as you might expect. Thank goodness they addressed Ellsworth coming back in last week. This should wrap it up too and that’s the best thing possible.
Women’s Title: Lana vs. Naomi
Naomi is defending and grabs her reverse Rings of Saturn for the tap out at 11 seconds.
Post match Tamina comes out to stare Naomi down and leaves with Lana. Nope. Don’t even try to give Lana some kind of story or angle now. Not after you spend two months building her up with vignettes and then have her lose twice in less than a minute combined. I have no idea what the point was in building her up like that but if this is some nonsense about how she didn’t work hard enough or whatever, screw off WWE and get your nonsense in order. Or, you know, WRITE HER OFF TV INSTEAD OF KILLING HER LIKE THIS.
Baron Corbin jumps Shinsuke Nakamura with the briefcase.
It’s time for the Rap Off with rapper Wale in charge. Both the Usos and New Day have groups of people with them and trade insults about size, fake Jamaican accents, staying in your lane and the Usos being nothing until Naomi put them on Total Divas. A fight almost breaks out so Wale disqualifies the Usos to give New Day the win after nearly twelve minutes of rapping/rhyming back and forth. I know that’s a short recap but there’s really nothing else that can be said when it’s just talking back and forth.
Randy Orton vs. Aiden English
Aiden gets annoyed at Randy for interrupting his song and jumps him from behind. Before he can sing again though, we hit a commercial. The match is joined in progress with Orton beating the heck out of English, including dropping him back first onto the announcers’ table. The hanging DDT to the floor makes things even worse and Orton hits him with the steps for the DQ at 2:19.
English takes a post match RKO and here are Mahal and company with something to say. He talks about how everyone disrespects him because of the color of his skin but before he can speak Punjabi, Orton cuts him off and threatens to RKO Mahal back to India. Nobody likes Mahal because he’s a jacka**…and that’s it.
Tye Dillinger is interviewed by Tyler Breeze in drag. Tyler, or Te-Nee Young asks what Tye is going to do to deal with the quadruple threat of Breezango. Dillinger gives a basic strategy and nearly runs into Fandango, who is wearing a fake mustache and dressed like a construction worker. Fandango and Breeze are of course bros forever, no matter how physical things get tonight. They’ve got something with this Breeze/Fandango things and that’s likely grounds for running them into the ground asap.
Renee Young (who says Te-Nee Young was filling out the dress) interviews Mike and Maria Kanellis about the power of love. A noise interrupts them and it’s Sami Zayn stretching. He talks about the Power of Love and goes into a discussion of Huey Louis and the News. As Sami wonders why you never hear about the News, his music hits and he has to run off. Maria is not pleased.
Battle Royal
Sami Zayn, Konnor, Viktor, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper, Mojo Rawley, Zack Ryder, Erick Rowan, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, AJ Styles, Tye Dillinger, Sin Cara
Winner gets a shot at Kevin Owens, on commentary here, and the US Title at Battleground. I think I have everyone in there but that’s always hard to pull off due to the constant camera cuts. Harper clotheslines Ziggler out before the vest can even come off. We take an early break and come back with Rowan eliminating Fandango.
Breeze is thrown to the apron and jumps into Fandango’s arms before being placed back inside. That’s fine with Rowan who dumps him a few seconds later. Harper knocks out Konnor but gets dumped by Rawley. We’re down to Ryder, Rawley, Rowan, Dillinger, Styles and Zayn. The Hype Bros nearly get into it but team up to dump Rowan. Rawley throws Ryder out and says it’s not personal. Ryder seems to take it personally though and doesn’t seem to mind when Sami kicks Rawley out.
So we’re down to three with Tye stomping on Styles and Sami, in increments of ten of course. Tye sends both of them to the apron but Sami backdrops Dillinger out to get us down to two. Sami grabs a quick exploder on Styles but misses the Helluva Kick and gets Pele Kicked out to give AJ the win at 11:18.
Rating: C. This was better than your average battle royal as they got rid of most of the nothing guys early and got down to people fans care about. Styles winning was obvious but they kept things moving and it was far from bad. The fans would have been happy with any of the final three so it was hardly torture.
Owens hits the ring and beats Styles down, only to have AJ knock him to the floor and hold up the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Tonight was a completely skippable show, as it should have been on the major holiday. Save for Cena, who wasn’t around after the first fifteen minutes, nothing of note happened here, assuming you count AJ getting the title shot as important. This was exactly what they should have done tonight though as no one was watching and it gives them a week to put some stuff together.
Results
AJ Styles b. Chad Gable – Phenomenal Forearm
Naomi b. Lana – Reverse Rings of Saturn
Aiden English b. Randy Orton via DQ when Orton used the steps
AJ Styles won a battle royal last eliminating Sami Zayn
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Smackdown – June 27, 2017: Now Why Would You Do That?
Smackdown Date: June 27, 2017 Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s ladies night with two major women’s matches on the card. First up we have the second ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match as the WWE tries to fix the mess they made out of the first one just nine days ago. After that we have Lana challenging Naomi for the Women’s Title in another Money in the Bank rematch. It’s almost like they’re just doing the same things twice for the sake of not having to come up with anything new. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap looks at the Money in the Bank ladder match from the pay per view and the build to tonight with the theme of seizing opportunity when you get the chance. This is also used on the rest of the major stories going on around here.
Here’s Daniel Bryan to hype up the ladder match and explain the concept, only to be cut off by Carmella. She goes on the same rant she went on last week, explaining the rules of the Money in the Bank match and saying she didn’t break any rules. Carmella: “How can you break a rule if there are no rules???” Other people have interfered in ladder matches and those results weren’t changed. Bryan says he’s heard this before and we’re having the ladder match.
James Ellsworth tells the people to shut up and calls Bryan pathetic. He looks at Bryan and sees a coward who is staying out of the ring because of some fake injury. Daniel smiles and says he should just fire Ellsworth but instead just bans him from the entire arena for the rest of the night. Security comes out and drags him away as this opening segment wraps up after nearly fifteen minutes with really nothing new being done.
Hype Bros vs. Usos
Non-title but if the Hype Bros win, they get a future title shot. Zack and Jimmy start things off with an armdrag sending Uso down. It’s off to both partners with Mojo clotheslining Jey to the floor for a dive from Ryder. Jey gets in a superkick though and we take a break. Back with Ryder missing a charge in the corner and Jimmy adding the Superfly splash for the pin at 5:42. Not enough to rate due to the break but the commercial seemed completely worthless as there was less than ten seconds of action after the break.
Post match the New Day comes out to challenge for the titles at Battleground. The Usos accept, in rhyme no less. Kofi rhymes a bit of his own and tromboning ensues.
It’s Fashion Vice time with Ascension sitting in an interrogation room to be grilled by Breezango. Fandango holds up the stick figure drawing, which Konnor says isn’t them. Fandango: “You expect me to believe that? Because I do.” He offers two tickets to paradise (as in Eddie Money tickets) in exchange for information but that goes nowhere.
Breeze pulls out the water guns….and offers them iced tea and a cheese platter. Konnor says it wasn’t them and they were just at Money in the Bank to get a match. Noise is heard elsewhere and they leave to find their office trashed again. Fandango: “Sweet Richard Simmons.” There must be someone else so Breezango starts thinking. As they do, Ascension takes the concert tickets. That’s better as Ascension was the lamest reveal they could have done.
Women’s Title: Naomi vs. Lana
Lana is challenging and jumps Naomi during the Big Match Intros. The bell rings and Lana’s sitout spinebuster gets two. So much for that as a finisher. Naomi kicks her in the head and hits the split legged moonsault to retain at 41 seconds.
Becky Lynch is ready to have a fair chance to win Money in the Bank.
Here’s Aiden English to sing about how awesome he is. Cue Randy Orton to cut him off and we take a break. Back with Orton sitting in a chair, having RKO’d English during the commercial. We look back at Orton taking out the Singh Brothers last week (because we haven’t had enough filler on this show yet) before Orton says he wants another shot at Mahal’s title.
If he doesn’t get it, he’s going to beat Mahal up in the back. Then he’ll beat Mahal up in the parking lot. Then he’ll beat Mahal up in the airport. Then he’ll beat Mahal up at next week’s show too. At what point does Mahal file a restraining order? Here’s Shane McMahon to keep Orton from going Mahal hunting by saying we can’t have this. Orton is willing to be fired and go from city to city and spend all his money beating Mahal up.
Shane points out that the Singh Brothers did things that Orton has done before but he can sympathize with these feelings. The rematch is set for Battleground but there will be a stipulation chosen by Mahal. That’s cool with Orton but here’s Mahal to interrupt as well. Mahal says this is what’s wrong with everything around here when Orton isn’t worthy of a rematch. He mentions Great Khali being an inspiration (who he hated back in the day) and makes it a Punjabi Prison match. As luck would have it, there’s a video all primed up and ready to go as soon as he says it.
AJ Styles and Kevin Owens come in to see Bryan with Owens saying AJ couldn’t answer last week’s Open Challenge because he’s already been beaten. Styles makes an Anchorman reference which Owens doesn’t get (I don’t either as I only saw that movie once and didn’t care for it. I’ll wait here for you to gather your pitchforks.). Bryan has an idea: next week on the Fourth of July, we’ll have a battle royal with the winner facing Owens for the title at Battleground.
Here are Mike and Maria Kanellis for their Smackdown debut, only to have Sami Zayn cut them off in just a few seconds.
Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
Sami goes right after him to start and sends Corbin to the floor, only to get tossed into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Corbin still in control and grabbing a bearhug. Sami slips out and hits that hard clothesline of his and avoids a charge, sending Corbin shoulder first into the post. Corbin misses another charge and gets rolled up for two before driving Sami right back into the same corner. A headbutt puts Corbin down but he catches a charging Sami with End of Days for the pin at 8:11.
Rating: C-. Just a quick win for Corbin here and that’s why Sami is around: he can lose several matches but the one or two wins he does get are enough to fuel him for a long time. Corbin needed this win to get him back on track for the sake of him being Mr. Money in the Bank, which should keep him going for a long time.
Shinsuke Nakamura says Corbin is scared of him and for good reason.
Charlotte vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella vs. Natalya
Money in the Bank. Everyone brawls on the floor to start, leaving Carmella to make the very early climb. Naturally it’s very slow, allowing the other four to come in and stop her without too much effort. We’re quickly down to Becky vs. Charlotte with Lynch being left alone, only to have Tamina come back to send her into the ladder. A not great looking Superfly Splash crushes Becky and we take a break.
Back with Natalya suplexing Charlotte but getting suplexed on the floor by Becky. Charlotte and Tamina fight over the ladder until Natalya makes a save and loads it up over Charlotte in the corner. Natalya starts to climb but Charlotte shoves her ladder up to make a ramp for the save. Carmella shoves the ladder over, only to take a pumphandle suplex from Becky.
Back from another break with Natalya climbing slowly enough that Charlotte can make a save. Everyone but Carmella gets shoved down but the other four are right back to lift the ladder up and carry it away from the case. Carmella dives onto Becky and Natalya, leaving Charlotte to drop Tamina again. Charlotte puts the ladder over Tamina and climbs but Carmella is back to grab her legs.
Tamina pushes the ladder up from the mat for another save and superkicks the air in front of Charlotte’s face. A double powerbomb brings Carmella down but Natalya tries a Sharpshooter on Carmella. The announcers say it’s to take the legs out, though HITTING HER WITH A LADDER might make more sense.
Natalya goes after Charlotte and fights her into the crowd…..and here’s Ellsworth to climb the ladder. Becky shoves him over and crotches him on the top. Carmella makes another save and Becky hurts her leg on the landing. Carmella gives her a really bad chair shot to the back and climbs up for the briefcase at 24:29.
Rating: B-. General issues with ladder matches aside (the Sharpshooter, fighting into the crowd, slow climbing until the very end etc.), completely acceptable stuff for the most part. This was more long than good but they got the ending right, which was by far the most important thing they could have done here. Of course this begs the question of why they didn’t just do this in the first place but you have to take what you can get from WWE most of the time. At least Carmella won and looks strong as she goes after the title now, which is what matters most.
Overall Rating: C. The ladder match saves a lot of this but it was clear they were filling in as much time as they could. I have no idea what the point of the Women’s Title match was and the Hype Bros match was a bit of a waste of time as well. The ending worked though and that’s the most important part, especially when next week changes everything as Cena is back. Not a bad show, but it’s all about the main event and nothing more.
Results
Usos b. Hype Bros – Superfly Splash to Ryder
Naomi b. Lana – Split legged moonsault
Baron Corbin b. Sami Zayn – End of Days
Carmella won Money in the Bank
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