IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: October 30, 2018
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show before Crown Jewel and there isn’t much to talk about with this show. I’d expect a lot of build towards the World Cup of Wrestling with a tag match between the four participants already announced. I guess that since we’re already done with Money in the Bank this year we need another form of the same lazy booking style. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s AJ Styles to open things up. With no time wasted, AJ calls out Daniel Bryan for a chat. After last week, AJ feels that he needs to apologize so he does just that. Bryan accepts the apology and says AJ knows there’s respect between the two of them. He wants the WWE Championship back though and AJ is the only thing in between himself and being champion again.

Bryan is going to take the title on Friday and there’s nothing AJ can do about it. AJ admits that he hit Bryan on purpose a few weeks ago so Bryan says he feels like hitting AJ on purpose right now. AJ: “So what’s stopping you?” The fight is almost on but here’s Shane McMahon to cut them off. Shane says he’s back and says we can have the title match tonight right here in Atlanta. Actually we can do it RIGHT NOW.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

AJ is defending. Bryan takes him to the mat by the wrist to start and stomps on the arm. They get back up with AJ wrestling him to the mat before getting taken into the corner. That means an exchange of shoves until Bryan goes back to the arm. Bryan does the moonsault out of the corner and tries the running clothesline but walks into the dropdown into the dropkick instead. Nice sequence. Bryan bails to the floor and avoids a slingshot dive, setting up the suicide dive as we take a break.

Back with Styles working on the knee with a DDT and some kicks. A little cranking on the knee is countered with an armbar but AJ rams the knee into the mat for a break. Bryan is right back by countering the middle rope moonsault with a cravate and uses the good knee for some shots to the face. The YES Kicks have AJ in trouble with the big one actually connecting. Bryan’s knee slows him down though and the running knee is blocked. The Phenomenal Forearm is broken up as well so Bryan tries a superplex but AJ turns it into a crossbody in midair. AJ lands on his arm and Bryan is holding his neck as we take a break.

Back again with Bryan slapping on the YES Lock but AJ is right in front of the rope. AJ heads to the apron and suplexes Bryan outside where the knee gets banged up again. Bryan is fine enough to send him into the steps and takes it back inside for the limping dropkicks in the corner. A super hurricanrana doesn’t work as AJ tries a super Styles Clash, only to be reversed into the hurricanrana for the double knockdown.

It’s Bryan up first and wrapping the arm around the top rope, setting up some kicks to the ribs and chest. A running kick is countered into a dragon screw legwhip onto the rope. Back in and Bryan grabs a double underhook and spins him over into a cross armbreaker, which he transitions into the YES Lock in the middle of the ring. AJ slips out but Bryan switches into a triangle choke. That’s lifted up into a one armed Styles Clash and AJ goes with the Calf Crusher instead of covering as Bryan taps at 22:07.

Rating: B+. This was the technical spectacle that they should have had with the knee playing a role throughout the match. In theory this is the way they switch Bryan out of the title match and put someone else in there instead. It’s nice of WWE to actually give us the match with a definitive ending instead of doing a five minute version that means nothing, as I think even they realized they couldn’t do one more annoying thing with Crown Jewel.

Post match they hug but Samoa Joe runs in and lays AJ out. The Koquina Clutch goes on Styles so Bryan tries to make a save, only to get choked out as well. Joe holds up the title.

Jeff Hardy talks about being an artist and adding one more stroke to his world.

The Miz talks about waking up next to his perfect wife and then looking over at his beautiful daughter, who thinks he’s the best father in the world. That’s all true, but he’s also the best superstar in the world.

Paige names Charlotte as the captain of the Smackdown women’s team at Survivor Series. Charlotte seems flattered but says she’s not the right woman for the job. Paige brings up what Charlotte said about failure not defining her and tells her to think about it.

Video on D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction.

Here’s New Day for a street fight….and they’re dressed as the Brood, complete with the still incredible theme song and the properly colored shirts (two white and one black). They even have people holding up fake flames to mock the circle of fire. The Bar comes out with Sheamus having a bunch of pale paint on his face which is apparently something from Irish folklore.

Big E. vs. Cesaro

Street fight with a bunch of Halloween style weapons around the ring and joined in progress with Cesaro candy corn caning Big E. That gets taken away and broken over Cesaro’s back but everyone else comes in, including Big Show to clean house. Big E. takes a pie to the face and Woods is put into a bucket of apples.

Back in and Cesaro slams Big E. into a pile of Jack-O-Lanterns but Big E suplexes him right back onto them as well. Sheamus comes in but get sent through a table, leaving Big Show to grab Woods and Kofi by the throat. That means RED MIST for Show, followed by Big E. misting Cesaro as well. The Big Ending is good for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: A+. For the Brood entrance alone. The match was exactly what you would expect from a comedy street fight with a Halloween theme and there’s nothing wrong with that. New Day is perfect to play a fun role like this and the Brood stuff was great. Big Show teaming with the Bar is still a little weird, but at least they’ve done it for a few weeks now.

Miz, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio are ready to do whatever it takes to win the World Cup and Orton says he’ll do it again tonight. Trash is talked to set up the first round matches on Friday. Miz says Halloween has come early because Rey is a Power Ranger, Jeff is the forgotten member of Insane Clown Posse and Randy is (Randy glares at Miz)…“….cool.” Shane says that he doesn’t want Stephanie to brag about a Raw superstar winning, so if any of them lose in the finals, they’re fired from Smackdown.

AJ demands Joe at Crown Jewel and Paige makes the match. Makes as much sense as anything else.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. R-Truth

Non-title and Truth is substituting for an injured Tye Dillinger. An early headscissors takes Nakamura down and Truth starts his dancing. Truth clotheslines him out to the floor and it’s time for a dance break. Back from a regular break with Nakamura holding a seated abdominal stretch. That doesn’t last long as Truth is back up with the leg lariats and the Lie Detector for two. Nakamura will have none of that though and hits the running knee to the ribs in the corner for two of his own. Kinshasa finishes Truth at 6:49.

Rating: D+. This was the same match these two have had a few times and that’s not meant to be a compliment. Truth did his dancing but wasn’t exactly energetic otherwise and the dance break in the middle didn’t help anything. Nakamura needs an actual story as his longest title reign in two and a half years (seriously) has gone nowhere in a few weeks already.

Here’s Becky Lynch to brag about being the Last Woman Standing. She’s ready to face Ronda Rousey and doesn’t like the WE WANT RONDA chants. Sure Rousey is the baddest woman on the planet, but what planet is that? Everyone Ronda has fought has been beaten before the bell rang but that’s not the case with her. Becky is coming to Survivor Series to rip Rousey’s arm off. Good stuff from Becky here and they might have something special if they do that match right.

Video on Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar.

Samoa Joe says he isn’t done with AJ and asks how his family is doing. When Shane made the title match earlier tonight, he knew that it was time to write the final chapter. The story ends with AJ out cold on the mat and Joe finally raising the title above his head. The end.

The Miz/Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy/Rey Mysterio

Jeff and Miz start things off with Jeff picking up the pace, only to have Orton come in for a distraction. Rey comes in as well but gets sent to the apron, allowing Miz to shove Hardy off the top to take over. The running kick to Hardy’s face gets two and it’s off to a quickly broken chinlock. More stomping sets up Orton’s standing dropkick for two but he charges into a boot in the corner.

The Whisper in the Wind puts Orton down and it’s off to Rey with a springboard crossbody. A running DDT plants Miz for two but he’s right back with the Reality Check for two of his own. Rey rolls out of the Skull Crushing Finale attempt and brings Hardy back in for a little Poetry in Motion. Orton gets sent outside and it’s a 619 into the Swanton to finish Miz at 8:36.

Rating: C-. This was a Coliseum Video style main event and I can go for that almost every time. They kept it short and just sent the fans home happy (or at least sent them into Mixed Match Challenge) without doing anything out of the ordinary. The World Cup can be over and done with on Friday so the match was all it could and shove have been.

Post match, Orton hits an RKO on all three of them to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The opener more than carried this show and I had a much easier time watching it than last night’s show. This was much more about the World Cup, which isn’t interesting in the first place, but at least they gave it some attention. Crown Jewel’s main event being changed was somewhat expected and I can give them big points for at least delivering the match at some point. Very easy show to watch as usual, though I’ll have the Brood theme in my head for days.

Results

AJ Styles b. Daniel Bryan – Styles Clash

Big E. b. Cesaro – Big Ending

Shinsuke Nakamura b. R-Truth – Kinshasa

Jeff Hardy/Rey Mysterio b. The Miz/Randy Orton – Swanton Bomb to Miz

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: October 23, 2018
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Evolution and one of the last shows before Crown Jewel, which may or may not still take place in Saudi Arabia. The big match this week is a rematch of last week’s 1000^th episode as AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan team up to face the Usos. Other than that, expect a lot of not saying where next week’s show will be taking place. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s New Day to open things up, with Big E. saying “don’t you dare be shower.” I guess Newark is a bathtub town. New Day talks about losing their Tag Team Titles and that lowered the bar. What Kofi doesn’t get is the Big Show involvement though. He helped them, so is he the Bar tender? Big Show has flipped more times than a flapjack so tonight Kofi wants some payback. Well here we go.

Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus

Show and Cesaro are at ringside too….and hang on a second as we have a change of pace.

Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro

Or not again.

Kofi Kingston vs. Big Show

Show throws him around to start and hits a trio of chokeslams. The fourth is loaded up but New Day and the Bar come in for the no contest at 1:30.

Post match New Day gets wrecked with a chokeslam to Big E. and a KO to Woods.

We see the Roman Reigns announcement from last night.

The fans give him a THANK YOU ROMAN chant.

Usos vs. AJ Styles/Daniel Bryan

Rematch from last week. Bryan headlocks Jimmy to start but a blind tag brings in Jey, who is clotheslined to the floor. AJ knocks Jimmy out and there are the stereo dives to drop the Usos again. Back from a break with Bryan fighting out of a chinlock until they both hit crossbodies for a double knockdown. The hot tag brings in AJ and everything breaks down. Jey gets caught in the Calf Crusher but Jimmy makes a save. The Phenomenal Forearm almost hits Bryan but AJ pulls up at the last second. Instead though, the Pele hits Bryan, allowing Jey to hit a superkick into the Superfly Splash to finish AJ at 7:46.

Rating: C. I’m liking the story they have here and it’s about as good of an idea as you can have to set up the title match in Saudi Arabia. They don’t have anything personal between them so building something up makes as much sense as anything else. Also, it’s not like they’re losing to some thrown together team as the Usos are one of the best and most successful teams of this era. Now just let us get something new for the Usos.

Video on the Bella Twins turning on Ronda Rousey.

Post break AJ says it was an accident but Bryan accuses his nose of growing. Eventually it turns into the Too Sweet sign.

On Saturday, Charlotte was giving a speech at the Performance Center, talking about respect. She talked about how she’s grown up in the last few months and being ready for the first Last Woman Standing match when Becky Lynch came in. Becky is the one they should really be listening to and the fight was on. The rookies break it up.

Backstage, Charlotte is near tears as she talks about Becky going over the line at the Performance Center. At Evolution, she’ll win the title back and be standing over both an opponent and a friend who lost her way.

Rusev vs. Aiden English

Aiden sings about how Lana could have had a long Aiden Night instead of a Rusev Day. The chase is on and Aiden is thrown into a variety of things. Back in and Aiden hits a swinging neckbreaker but stops to yell at Lana. That means a Machka Kick and the Accolade for the tap at 1:24.

Here’s Miz for MizTV. Miz talks about the World Cup and how he’s ready to become the best in the world. That brings him to his guest this week: the man who defeated Shinsuke Nakamura last week, Rey Mysterio. Miz accuses him of being stuck in the 90s because people are no longer interested in the plucky underdog. It’s all about the bigger stars like him, who has been here becoming a must see man while Mysterio has been on hiatus.

Miz will be winning the Smackdown bracket and then the rest of the tournament while Mysterio is disappointed. Mysterio already is disappointed because he was supposed to be on TruthTV. Miz talks about how that show was canceled but Mysterio wants to fight now. That earns him a cheap shot but Rey fights back and almost hits the 619.

The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio

Joined in progress with Rey speeding things up and running Miz over without much effort. A missed charge in the corner lets Miz get in a few shots of his own but he has to avoid the 619. Miz gets two off the short DDT and we take a break. Back with Miz hitting the YES Kicks and taking Rey up for a super Skull Crushing Finale. That’s reversed into a super victory roll and the springboard seated senton has Miz in more trouble. The Reality Check gives Miz two but the Skull Crushing Finale is broken up. Rey hits a quick 619 into the springboard splash for the pin at 9:05.

Rating: C. Mysterio was looking better here and while I’m not interested at all in the World Cup, it’s nice to have the field be as stacked as it currently is. Let us see what these people can do when they’re given the chance, which will hopefully be in front of a crowd that actually cares this time around.

Asuka/Naomi vs. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville

Actually hang on as here are the Iiconics to say Newark sucks and they’ll win. Lana comes out to say something similar but Carmella cuts her off. It’s time for a dance break but Zelina Vega comes in to throw her inside. The fight is on with Vega clearing the ring…expect for Asuka, who kicks her in the head. No match.

Evolution rundown.

Here’s Shane McMahon for a chat about the World Cup. He applauds everyone at Evolution before moving on to the World Cup. On the words Best in the World, the CM Punk chants begin with Shane saying he’s not in the tournament. Shane thinks someone from Smackdown will win and we hear the entrants involved. With that said, it’s main event time. Were they running two minutes short or something?

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

This is billed as their first match in a month. Jeff kicks away to start but gets sent outside for a ram into the steps. Back in and a chinlock sets up one of the weakest chinlocks I can ever remember to keep Jeff down. Orton ties him in the Tree of Woe for some kicks to the chest and the pulling of the ear, followed by a drop onto the announcers’ table.

Jeff fights up and hits the legdrop between the legs for two, followed by the Whisper in the Wind for the same. The Twisting Stunner connects but Orton rolls away before the Swanton. Instead Hardy misses one to the floor and gets brought back inside for the RKO to give Orton the pin at 8:48.

Rating: D+. I just can’t get into this whole World Cup thing. Maybe it’s the leftover feelings from how worthless the Greatest Royal Rumble was, but these things just feel so unimportant and so boring that it’s crippling any show it’s on. At least with Raw there’s the slightly amusing Angle vs. Corbin feud, but on here it’s just two guys having a match that isn’t likely to have anything to do with the tournament itself. That’s a very Money in the Bank style feeling and I could go without it.

Overall Rating: D. This show wasn’t bad, but it was lifeless and that’s even worse. There’s no hiding the fact that Crown Jewel isn’t something people want to see and while the build for Evolution has been better, it’s still not exactly an interesting show. Hopefully once Crown Jewel is over, they cut out this promoting multiple shows at the same time nonsense. It hasn’t worked, but there’s a chance that it’s just trying to promote these specific shows more than anything else.

Results

Kofi Kingston vs. Big Show went to a no contest when New Day and the Bar interfered

Usos b. AJ Styles/Daniel Bryan – Superfly Splash to Styles

Rusev b. Aiden English – Accolade

Rey Mysterio b. The Miz – Springboard splash

Randy Orton b. Jeff Hardy – RKO

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 28, 2018
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

Things continue to chug along around here as we have the continuing stories of AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe and The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan, plus a title match between new Women’s Champion Charlotte and Carmella. The latter could be the most interesting as it seems WWE has already pulled the plug on Becky Lynch’s heel turn and might be giving the spot to Charlotte instead. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s New Day to open the show, complete with Big E. carrying a Stanley Cup full of pancakes. Last week, they won the SmackDown Tag Team Titles and that’s worthy of some hip swiveling. Big E. is now very happy to announce that they are FIVE TIME…and here’s King (yes KING) Booker to cut them off. Woods: “Doth our eyes deceive us?” New Day kneels before him and he’s going to knight them.

They are now Lord Xavier the Wise, Sir Kofi the Brave and Big E. Hang on though as Big E. wants a cool name too. Booker says he already has it though. Big E.: “You just went FULL SAXTON ON ME!” Booker: “Tell me you didn’t just say that.” Booker officially welcomes them to the Five Time Champions Club and the celebration is on, including the Spinarooni. Woods and Kofi do one of their own (Woods’ was better) and Big E. does one, albeit with some help from his partners. The Booker cameo was fun and this was all it needed to be without going long.

The Bar vs. The Colons vs. Good Brothers

The winners face the winners of another triple threat for the right to face New Day at the pay per view. New Day has their own commentary table again as Anderson and Sheamus hit the mat to start. Sheamus can’t do much with him so it’s off to Cesaro, who gets taken into the wrong corner for some double teaming. Primo tags himself in so Anderson sunset flips him, only to have Epico come in for the save.

New Day is busy trading pancakes as the regular announcers talk about World Records. Anderson hits a running kick to the head in the corner but Epico shoves him to the floor. Back from a break with Anderson fighting out of an over the shoulder backbreaker and finally bringing Gallows back in. A pumphandle slam and running splash get two on Cesaro. Everything breaks down and it’s a belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination to drop Cesaro. Epico saves Primo from the Magic Killer and it’s a double Backstabber to Gallows. Cesaro breaks up the cover though and steals the pin at 10:04.

Rating: C-. New Day didn’t add a thing here as their commentary was only played for about ten seconds combined. We’re likely looking at New Day vs. the Bar at the pay per view and while that’s a good match, it’s not something that I need to ever see again. Get some fresh blood in there already.

In the back, Rusev Day comes in to see Paige, who says they’ll be in the other triple threat match along with Sanity and the Usos. Rusev thanks Lana for getting the opportunity but it was actually Aiden English.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte, with Becky’s edited promo which makes her sound like she’s been ripped off instead of snapping.

Here’s Jeff Hardy, with RKO painted on his face, to talk about Randy Orton getting inside his head. Orton has messed with his mind and made him believe that he can fly. We see a clip of last week with Hardy Swanton Bombing Orton through a table. That made Jeff feel rebroken by fate so Orton needs to get out here and finish what he started.

Orton is glad to see Hardy being back to what he truly is but he’s not finished working on Jeff yet. This version is the one that Orton is going to take away. You can call him whatever you want, but all that matters is RK….Jeff: “NO!”. They’re going to be inside the Cell. Egads Jeff is going to die. Orton doesn’t say yes but that seemed official.

Carmella laughs about how she’s beaten Charlotte twice and tonight she completes the trifecta because Charlotte didn’t beat her at Summerslam. She leaves and R-Truth comes in asking which way she went. Tye Dillinger comes in to try and talk him down but Truth thinks that’s good planning. Tye is rather confused and says this is his life.

Naomi vs. Billie Kay

Before the match, Billie says she’s clairvoyant and sees Naomi losing again, just like she lost to Peyton Royce last week. Naomi knocks her down and stands on the hair while dragging Billie around. That seems to annoy Billie more than anything else and she yells a lot, only to get kicked in the head. Naomi bulldogs her into the corner and gets two off a rollup. The kickout sends Naomi’s head through the ropes, where she waits on Peyton to hit her spot and kick her in the head, allowing Billie to get a rollup pin at 1:53.

Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella look at Brie punching the Miz last week and seem rather proud.

Here are Bryan and Brie for a chat. Bryan is tired of Miz acting like he’s not a coward and bragging about his punching. That’s why it was so nice to see Brie come in last week and punch him in the face. Brie talks about how great it was and Bryan says it was also really hot. He can’t wait to see her in the mixed tag but here are Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega to interrupt.

Vega brags about Almas and thinks that since Miz has already outsmarted Bryan, it’s time for Almas to outwrestle him. Almas says he’s the only star in this ring so let’s do this right now. Bryan can’t do that, but does ask for someone to come make it for them. Paige eventually does come out and, after catching her breath, makes the match.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Daniel Bryan

Feeling out process to start with Bryan sending him into the ropes, allowing Almas to hit the tranquilo pose. With Miz and Maryse, in matching AWESOME jerseys, watching in the back, Almas grabs an inverted Gory Stretch before hitting one of the loudest chops I can remember in a long time. Bryan avoids the running knee in the corner though and Almas falls to the floor. The running knee from the apron doesn’t miss and Miz and Maryse walk away from the monitor as we take a break.

Back with Almas holding Bryan in a triangle choke over the ropes because Smackdown knows how to do something other than a chinlock. Bryan catches him on top but here’s Miz (no Maryse) for a distraction. A suicide dive takes him out but the distraction lets Almas hit a springboard corkscrew dive. Almas hits an inverted tornado DDT for a close two but the moonsault hits raised boots. The YES Lock has Almas in trouble but Brie has to deal with Vega. Maryse runs in and posts Brie so the hold is broken, allowing Miz to run in for the DQ at 9:25.

Rating: C+. We’ll call the ending a pleasant surprise as I was fully expecting Almas to tap there. Almas doesn’t need to be losing big matches like that over and over again so protecting him is a good sign. Now just give him a win or two and maybe we’ll see someone get elevated towards the top of the card.

Post match Almas hits the Hammerlock DDT and Miz Crossfaces Bryan. With Bryan helpless, Brie takes the running knees from Vega and a DDT from Maryse. The Skull Crushing Finale plants Bryan and Miz kisses Maryse.

Charlotte is sick of being blamed for Becky not being able to win the big one. She’s worked hard to get here and Becky can have the spotlight, after Charlotte takes care of Carmella.

Here’s AJ Styles to discuss Samoa Joe attacking him again last week. The rematch is official for Hell in a Cell (not announced as being inside the Cell) and AJ admits that Joe is great with the mind games. Why can’t Joe just come face him like a man though? It’s because Joe isn’t a man and the mind games are going to end right here, right now. AJ doesn’t have to wait for their match so Joe can get out here right now.

Joe pops up on the screen and is standing in the parking lot. He calls AJ’s wife and asks how “our” little Annie (AJ’s daughter) is. He knows why Wendy is angry and says he’ll keep the promise that AJ never kept. Make sure to save him a plate at the back to school barbecue next Sunday and maybe he’ll stop by next Tuesday. More good stuff here, as you had to expect.

Hardy vs. Orton is confirmed in the Cell.

AJ is running through the back to find Joe and nearly knocks out a production guy.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Carmella

Charlotte is defending and they have a lot of time. Carmella gets two off a rollup as the fans are already asking for Becky. A headlock keeps Charlotte in trouble so she suplexes Carmella down, which at least quiets the BECKY chants for now. The moonsault takes too long to set up though and Charlotte gets shoved into the barricade. Carmella hits the suicide dive for two and we take a break.

Back with Carmella hitting a headscissors and shouting a lot, as is her custom. Charlotte gets kicked in the chest but rolls through a high crossbody for one. The champ goes up but gets pulled back down in a pretty good looking super hurricanrana. Carmella slaps her in the back and screams a lot, followed by a pair of not very superkicks for two. Charlotte shrugs it off and hits a spear, followed by Natural Selection. The Figure Eight goes on and Carmella finally taps at 13:02.

Rating: D+. As usual, I have no reason to buy Carmella getting in any kind of offense on Charlotte but that’s what we’re stuck with. Thankfully Carmella lost clean here and we can get away from her for a bit. She’s fine as a short term champion but the four month title reign and seeing her ruin Asuka was WAY too much from here. Now we can move on to the better stuff and I think you know what’s coming.

Post match here’s Becky to jump Charlotte (to some loud cheers) and says she’s getting the title back at Hell in a Cell, “you b****”. Becky leaves and we get a bunch of replays to fill in the show as it feels like they went home way too early. That was more full on heel from Becky (and it went about as well as the other stuff) so I’m not sure what was up with that edited promo last week.

Overall Rating: B. Smackdown is just a fun show and that was the case here. They kept things moving with nothing really dragging and advanced some stories that I want to see. I’m curious about why Joe vs. AJ isn’t worthy of the Cell but Orton vs. Hardy is. They could do a bit better with their pay per view choices but at least the TV is good and they’re setting up stuff that could go in some interesting directions. Nice work this week.

Results

The Bar b. The Colons and Good Brothers – Double Backstabber to Gallows

Billie Kay b. Naomi – Rollup

Daniel Bryan b. Andrade Cien Almas via DQ when Miz interfered

Charlotte b. Carmella – Figure Eight

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 21, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s the final night in Brooklyn and things have gone rather well so far. Summerslam was a lot of fun and now we can move forward towards Hell in a Cell. It’s pretty clear that AJ Styles will be facing Samoa Joe again and that’s something that I can look forward to. Other than that, we’ll be seeing Miz bragging about beating Daniel Bryan. Let’s get to it.

Here are Sunday’s results if you need a recap.

Miz and Maryse open things up with Miz looking rather serious until the Daniel Bryan chants start up. Miz says he was able to close his eyes and feel that in a way he never could before. Two nights ago, something happened at Summerslam and now he has a family to think about. Maryse is hugging Miz as he looks near tears and says that with a heavy heart….hang on as he needs to cry some more. He announces his retirement and there’s a YES chant.

Actually it’s his retirement of ever facing Daniel Bryan again because Sunday was a satisfying conclusion. Miz did exactly what he promised to do when he beat Bryan in front of a sold out Barclays Center. The 100 punches from Bryan didn’t equal one Miz punch because he has the hardest punch in this entire arena. Bryan promised to punch him but when Miz did it, he got the pin. Miz praises Maryse and plugs Miz and Mrs. but here’s Bryan to interrupt.

Bryan calls Miz a coward over and over again as Miz hides behind Maryse. It doesn’t matter what Bryan calls him because the record books will always say that Miz got the win at Summerslam. Bryan asks him to shut up for once because Miz is just hiding behind things, like the makeup he’s wearing right now. On Sunday, Bryan got to do what he wanted: expose Miz as a wannabe Hollywood star cosplaying as a wrestler.

Maryse tells Bryan to change his name to Daniel Bella but here’s Brie to punch Miz in the face. Miz and Maryse bail and Bryan announces a mixed tag for Hell in a Cell. Good thing Maryse chose now to bring Brie into it. I can go with this as A, Brie was always less annoying than Nikki and B, this isn’t the kind of match that should be in the Cell so having it move forward in another way is the right idea.

Post break Miz yells at Paige, calling her a worse GM than Bryan. Paige: “Well you got punched in the face by Brie Bella.” The tag match stays.

Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton

Orton shoves him into the corner but Hardy will have none of that and comes out with right hands of his own. Jeff gets caught on top though as Orton hits him in the back, sending him into the post and then onto the steps for a nasty crash. Back from a break with Jeff getting out of a chinlock and hitting Whisper in the Wind. The legdrop between the legs and a basement dropkick set up the Twisting Stunner but Orton is ready for the Swanton. Jeff gets crotched. It’s the finger through the ear again but Hardy is fine enough to block the hanging DDT. An intentional low blow is enough to disqualify Hardy at 7:11.

Rating: D+. This was about the storyline instead of the action and that’s perfectly fine. The ending (as well as the ads from the arena) would suggest a rematch inside the Cell, because Hardy hasn’t been banged up enough yet. Still though, this can be a good first big win for the new Orton character and if everything goes well, they can beat the heck out of each other in style.

Post match Hardy throws him over the announcers’ table and into the crowd. They fight towards the production area where Hardy blasts him with a few chair shots. A camera to the head knocks Orton silly and there’s the Swanton through Orton through a table in a scene very similar to Kofi Kingston’s big boom drop from about nine years ago.

The Bar challenges the winners of tonight’s title match to a future title shot but here are the Good Brothers (with Gallows in a suit and speaking in a weird accent and Anderson in big glasses) to say they should get a shot. Anderson: “Now back to Karen in the studio.” They’ll meet next week.

Naomi vs. Peyton Royce

Corey says he’s followed Peyton and Billie since NXT and they’ve never looked better. He’s quite the observer. Before the match, Billie insults Brooklyn and Naomi as only she can. Joined in progress with Naomi hitting a splits legdrop for two and baseball sliding Royce down. A Billie distraction lets Peyton kick Naomi down as Corey says some people on social media can’t take a joke and read too much into everything. Back in and the long legged boot choke sets up the chinlock as Naomi is in trouble. That doesn’t last long but Naomi has to go after Billie, allowing Peyton to hit a quick fisherman’s suplex for the pin at 3:32.

Rating: D. This felt like a match to build Peyton back up after a pretty ridiculous week. It’s not like Naomi is doing anything anyway and a win over her still means something. Billie and Peyton can play some nice roles in the division and if they get over with their annoying characters, good for them. Graves was hilarious ripping on Meltzer here too, which you had to know was coming.

Big E. has taped up ribs so he’s eating some fresh ones. Xavier Woods talks about this being the birthplace of Francesca and about how this is where they’ll become five time Tag Team Champions.

Video on Charlotte winning the Women’s Title and getting laid out by Becky Lynch after the fact.

Here’s Becky to say that she should be Women’s Champion but Charlotte stole it. The night was supposed to be about her and no one else. The fans chant for Becky but she talks over them, saying it was her time to get out of Charlotte’s shadow. Sure the people are acting like they’re with her now but where were they all along? There was no Becky hashtag but there was no boycott when Charlotte was added to the match.

Then the people applauded Charlotte when she won the title so they weren’t really that upset. For some reason Becky isn’t considered the best of all time and is now seen as the afterthought. A few nights of praise doesn’t work because this is a generation of all talk and no action. The third count on Sunday was like bringing her out of a trance. It was then that she knew Charlotte was holding her back and now it’s her time. Not because the people say it is but because it’s her time, period.

No one can tell her differently but here’s Charlotte to interrupt. The fight is on with Becky trying to get out through the crowd but Charlotte drags her back. Paige sends in the women’s locker room and they’re finally broken up. That lasts all of a few seconds until they’re dragged apart again, only to have Charlotte dive off the apron to get in a few more shots. Heck of a segment here and Becky sold the heck out of the promo, but it wasn’t going to work in front of this crowd. Their Cell match should rock.

Andrade Cien Almas/Zelina Vega vs. Rusev/Lana

Rematch from the Kickoff Show. The guys start with Rusev hitting a hard clothesline to take over earlier on. A quick armbar over the ropes doesn’t do much good on Rusev as he kicks Almas away and brings in Lana. Another kick puts Vega on the floor and the double scream takes us to a break.

Back with Vega choking Lana on the ropes and putting on a crucifix hold. Lana kicks her away and brings in Rusev….who is quickly taken into the corner for the running knees. The hammerlock DDT is broken up and there’s a clothesline to send Almas outside. Vega goes after Rusev and gets speared down as Aiden English appears to take a chair away from Almas. The Machka Kick sets up the Accolade to make Almas tap at 7:28.

Rating: D+. There’s your 50/50 booking in 48 hours as they trade wins, leaving everyone right back where they started. I wouldn’t have Almas taking a fall at the moment but odds are this leads to him beating Rusev at HIAC. You would think Lana beating Vega would have made more sense but sometimes WWE does these things without the most thought going into them.

Shinsuke Nakamura talks about the poem on the Statue of Liberty and says this is now the United States of Nakamerica.

Video on AJ Style vs. Samoa Joe at Summerslam.

Renee Young brings out AJ for an interview on the platform. AJ isn’t happy with what happened at Summerslam but he wouldn’t change a thing. He has a promise for Joe: the next time Joe mentions his family’s name, he’ll rip Joe’s heart out. Joe trips AJ from behind and pulls him down off the platform for the Koquina Clutch knockout. Joe: “OH WENDY!” AJ can’t come home and tuck in the kids because he’s already gone to sleep.

We recap the opening sequence.

Carmella comes in to see Paige, who says Carmella has lost ten pounds. A rematch is demanded but here’s R-Truth to say she’s been dodging him for weeks. All he has to do is pin her to get a title match. Paige says no (Truth: “You got lucky this time.”) and Carmella gets her rematch next week. Moon walking ensues but Truth picks Carmella up despite Paige’s protests.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Bludgeon Brothers

The Brothers are defending and this is No DQ with no Big E. at ringside due to his rib injury. Rowan certainly has a lot of padding around his arm. The fight is on to start with Woods and Kofi both being taken to the floor. Woods dropkicks Harper over the announcers’ desk but gets a chair thrown at him as we take a break.

Back with Woods sending Harper face first into the announcers’ table and Kofi kicking Rowan in the face. It’s time for a ladder but the delay lets Harper take them both out with a suicide dive. Some chairs are thrown inside and Woods gets whipped hard into the steps. A big boot gets two on Kofi but he kicks the chair back into Harper’s face. Kofi gets a tornado DDT near a chair for two as Rowan pulls him to the floor.

Woods is dropped face first onto the apron as the announcers talk about how New Day just can’t win here no matter what they do. Back inside and a ladder is bridges between two chairs. Kofi dives in to save Woods but it’s the double spinebuster onto the ladder…for two? It’s table time, which Graves equates to giving Godzilla a chainsaw. So it’s a downgrade?

Rowan headbutts Kofi against the post before grabbing the mallet. Harper hits him three times in a row but misses a charge (Why did he need a mallet for a charge?) through the barricade. Back in and a mallet to Harper’s ribs sets up the rope walk elbow through the table to give Woods the pin and the titles at 15:23.

Rating: B. It’s not exactly a surprise given Rowan’s injury but they did it in a good match. Sunday’s ending left this as an option so it’s not like it came out of nowhere. New Day can keep the titles warm until someone can take them away and that’s a perfectly fine place to be. The mallet was a nice callback to the previous match and it made for a good ending with Woods getting the win.

Big E. comes out to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. It’s full speed ahead to the Cell and that’s perfectly fine. This show was much more about moving forward with everything and they did a pretty decent job with that. It was no secret that some of the matches would be set up for next month and WWE didn’t hide that. I liked the straightforward storytelling and the good main event helped a lot. Not a great show as the bad wrestling in the first half hurt things, but the angle advancement made up for a lot of it.

Results

Randy Orton b. Jeff Hardy via DQ when Hardy kicked him low

Peyton Royce b. Naomi – Fisherman’s suplex

Rusev/Lana b. Andrade Cien Almas/Zelina Vega – Accolade to Almas

New Day b. Bludgeon Brothers – Rode walk elbow to Harper

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 14, 2018
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the final show before Summerslam and there isn’t much to do this time around. Sunday is set up and unless they add one more match to the card, which is entirely possible around here, I wouldn’t get my hopes up on much happening tonight. Hopefully the promos are good enough to carry things. Let’s get to it.

Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Carmella all come to the ring to open things up. Carmella isn’t happy with having to defend the title in the triple threat match but she’s so awesome that it doesn’t matter. Becky doesn’t have a chance now and should probably go back to being a clown, because it’s the one thing she does better than Charlotte.

It’s true that Becky doesn’t want Charlotte in the match because she’s going to make it harder to win. Becky was losing sleep over the idea of beating up Carmella one on one but now she’s dreaming of beating them both. Carmella laughs off the idea of Becky beating Charlotte because it’s really hard to do. I mean, Carmella did it twice (and beat Asuka twice) but Becky isn’t doing it.

Charlotte points out all the cheating and thinks it’s why no one respects her. Or is it because Carmella is a Diva living in a women’s era? Are we really going back to that again? It must be Total Divas season again. Anyway, Carmella is proud of being a Diva because neither of them have her looks, body or career. Cue Paige to thank Carmella for losing to Charlotte so the match can be a triple threat. It’s Paige’s job to give us good competition so let’s have a tag match right now with Carmella on commentary.

Becky Lynch/Carmella vs. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville

Carmella is on commentary as Charlotte avoids some early kicks from Sonya. That means a strut, which is of course crazy over here in Flair Country. A few chops put Sonya in the corner and it’s Becky coming in for the running legdrop after what looked like some confusion (it looked like Becky wasn’t sure what to do, maybe due to Sonya not being in the right place).

Mandy comes in and has some better luck, including posing a lot. It takes a bit too long though and Becky scores with a dropkick, allowing the tag off to Charlotte. Sonya comes back in and misses a sliding knee, allowing Charlotte to throw her down with a fall away slam to send Sonya outside.

Becky adds a forearm from the apron as Corey and Carmella take shots at Saxton. A cheap shot from the apron knocks Carmella down though and we take a break. Back with Sonya choking Becky until an enziguri gets Lynch out of trouble. Mandy breaks up the hot tag but Becky kicks her in the face. There’s the Bexploder to Mandy and a baseball slide to Sonya, setting up the Disarm-Her to make Mandy tap at 10:56.

Rating: C-. The story they were telling here was fine with Becky not wanting to share the spotlight, but egads Carmella and Graves were annoying on commentary. The ripping on Byron stopped being entertaining a lot time ago, which is why WWE is hammering it into the ground even more. To make it even worse, it wouldn’t shock me to see Carmella retain the title, because four months of “HAHA I’M STILL CHAMPION” hasn’t been enough.

Miz and Maryse are at home and have some huge news: there will be a second season of Miz and Mrs.!

Charlotte asks why Becky didn’t tag her in but Becky doesn’t quite answer. They agree that the best woman should win on Sunday and Becky says she will.

Triple Threat vs. Bludgeon Brothers

No names for the jobbers. The Brothers jump them to start and knock the trio to the floor. Rowan slams Harper onto one of them as I don’t think the bell ever rang. The crushed one gets slammed onto the member on the apron, followed by a powerbomb/middle rope clothesline combination. No match.

We get part one of a three part series on Miz vs. Daniel Bryan. It starts with Bryan debuting in NXT, back in the competition days with Bryan as a rookie and Miz as his pro. Bryan was new to WWE, even though he had been wrestling for over ten years. Miz had a reputation of a reality TV star and we see some clips of Miz yelling at Bryan and talking down to him.

Miz says all Bryan had to do was shut up and listen, which is why the whole thing failed. Then Bryan was eliminated fairly on in the competition, partially due to going 0-10. Bryan got a match on Raw against Miz and beat him, so maybe Miz needed Bryan instead of vice versa. More on this later.

Sanity vs. New Day

Kofi has a Birthday Boy sign and celebrates by throwing out some pancakes. Big E. and Young start things off as we have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY chant. A belly to belly suplex puts Young down and it’s off to Kofi, who jumps over Big E. for a backsplash. Wolfe low bridges Kofi to the floor though and a big crash puts Kingston in trouble. We go split screen for a Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar video and come back with Dain dropkicking Kofi into the corner.

Wolfe’s top rope forearm gets two and we take a break. Back with Kofi hitting a DDT on Wolfe and bringing in Woods to speed things up. The numbers game gets the better of Woods though as Young slams him onto Wolfe’s raised knees and brings Dain back in for more stomping. That doesn’t last long though as Kofi comes back in with Trouble in Paradise to Wolfe. Kofi hits the big dive off the top onto Wolfe and Young, leaving Big E. to tag himself in and scoop Dain up (with ease) for UpUpDownDown and the pin (including Big E. hip swiveling on the count) at 10:14.

Rating: C+. The ending was the right call here but egads Sanity coming up to the main roster feels like a big waste of time. I don’t think they’ve won an important match yet and they’re just around to put over teams like New Day and the Usos at the moment. Maybe they can get a story after Summerslam, but for now it’s not working.

Here’s part two of Miz vs. Bryan. We start with Bryan’s retirement in 2016 but Bryan said he wasn’t ready to leave yet. Miz says it’s Bryan’s fault for wrestling such a reckless style. Bryan couldn’t wrestle like the coward that Miz is, but before that could go anywhere he got the chance to be General Manager of Smackdown.

That led us to the famous Talking Smack segment where Bryan called Miz a coward, sending Miz into the rant of a lifetime against Bryan for being the real coward. Bryan said he had to leave without doing something he would have regretted. Miz thinks Bryan would have been fired for being a man but left instead. Then Miz started stealing Miz’s moves but Bryan started training for a comeback. Miz thinks Bryan is the coward, and he’s ready to prove it.

Paige knocks on Samoa Joe’s door and asks why he doesn’t want to address the WWE Universe separately from AJ Styles. She needs Joe to be professional, but Joe doesn’t think that’s what Paige was looking for when she made the match in the first place. Joe isn’t saying what he’s going to do and Paige can deal with the consequences. Paige can enjoy her night, just like Joe is going to enjoy his.

We recap the Lana/Rusev vs. Zelina Vega/Andrade Cien Almas issues.

Aiden English vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Before the match, Aiden sings about fighting for Rusev Day. Joined in progress with English hitting a clothesline and adding a frog splash (with an Eddie Guerrero chest slap) for two. Almas elbows him in the face though and the running knees in the corner set up the hammerlock DDT to finish Aiden at 1:26 shown.

Post match Vega and Almas say Sunday is the end of Rusev Day. Vega accuses Lana of being the dead weight that drags down Rusev, but here are Rusev and Lana to interrupt. Rusev promises to end Vega’s luck and Lana, with the accent coming in and out, promises to crush them because Summerslam is on Rusev Day. These four can’t get on the main show but Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor can?

Paige begs AJ to keep it together out there with Samoa Joe. AJ says he’s keeping his promise.

Part three of Miz vs. Bryan focuses on Bryan’s return to in-ring competition, which he never thought would happen. Miz didn’t care that Bryan came out of retirement because they were on different shows. Bryan stepped down as Smackdown GM, but before he left he insisted that Miz move over to Smackdown. Miz says Bryan has embarrassed himself over and over again because Miz has carried him all these years. After Summerslam, Bryan will have to admit that Miz is the better man.

Bryan admits that Miz has a bunch of things that he’ll never have, but that’s not why Bryan came back. He’s not back to have a big house and celebrity friends. He’s back because he loves wrestling and wants to do nothing more than prove that he’s the better man. These were all great videos and while there’s no chance it’s going to happen (and I understand why not), there’s a case to be made for this closing Summerslam.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy

Joined in progress with Shelton putting on a chinlock. The BROTHER NERO chants bring Jeff up and let’s go split screen for a Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss ad less than a minute after we’re back to the show. Jeff….I guess hits Whisper in the Wind as he jumped for it while we were still in split screen but the contact was cut off by a full screen Summerslam graphic. Thankfully the replay shows it connecting for the subsequent two count, followed by the basement dropkick for the same.

The kick to the chest puts Benjamin down and it’s the reverse Twist of Fate to make things even worse. Benjamin is too far away for the Swanton so he pulls Hardy down with a superplex for two. That’s it for Shelton though as the Twisting Stunner (stop calling it the Twist of Fate) is good for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: C-. Well what we could see in full was fine but the inset promos strike again. As usual they have nothing better to do that fill a show with ads, even though WWE TV tends to mostly be ads for their bigger shows in the first place. Hardy vs. Nakamura could be anywhere between interesting and a mess but it should be fun to watch either way.

Post match Shinsuke Nakamura comes out and knees Hardy in the back but Kinshasa is reversed into a Twisting Stunner. The Swanton leaves Nakamura laying as Randy Orton is shown watching from the shadows.

Summerslam rundown.

Here’s AJ Styles for the big closing segment. He talks about his time in this business, which has allowed him to travel the world and face the best in the world. Sure there’s pressure to being WWE Champion, but Samoa Joe hit his pressure points. We see a clip of Joe attacking AJ and signing the contract, followed by Joe talking about AJ’s family cheering for Joe at Summerslam. That was too far for AJ, who was ready to take Joe out until he saw his family. AJ’s wife told him to not lose his cool and AJ is ready….to be cut off by Joe.

With a piece of paper in his hand, Joe says AJ knows that’s not true. The paper is a letter from a fan which AJ needs to hear. The letter says that Joe’s comments a few weeks ago made the person physically ill. Not because he was wrong, but because what Joe said was true. Now it’s clear that AJ never wanted kids or a wife, which is why AJ is such a great champion: he’ll do anything to stay away from his family. The fan hopes Joe wins because he lost AJ a long time ago. Signed Wendy Styles (AJ’s wife). Well that worked. Very well actually.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s kind of amazing what a lack of Roman Reigns will do for a show. When that isn’t being focused on all night long, the show is that much easier to watch. The difference between Raw and Smackdown continues to be about how many things get a focus. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar dominated last night’s show, along with the other bad match that Raw focuses on. Bryan vs. Miz got a lot of time tonight, but it’s the right kind of focus. Smackdown doesn’t have that annoying stretch that Raw tends to go through every week and it makes a world of difference.

Results

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville – Disarm-Her to Rose

New Day b. Sanity – UpUpDownDown to Dain

Andrade Cien Almas b. Aiden English – Hammerlock DDT

Jeff Hardy b. Shelton Benjamin – Twisting Stunner

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 7, 2018
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

We’re in the final stages of the Summerslam build and that means there isn’t much left to do. The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan match was confirmed earlier today so, aside from setting up the Tag Team Title match, everything is going to be ready pretty soon. That means we only have to get through the rest of the build, which can make for some fun television. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Randy Orton to a heck of a face reaction to open things up. Orton talks about Jeff Hardy calling him out last week and we see the beatdown that ensued, including Orton wiping away Hardy’s face paint. He liked feeling Hardy squirm last week because he’s here to take out everyone that the fans have put on a pedestal. Orton is going to become so violent that he’s going to make people want to change the channel.

You can believe in your superheros like Hardy but Orton is here to destroy them all. When he started his career here, he was the youngest guy in that locker room. Since then he’s become a thirteen time World Champion and won everything that there is to win. The fans have made their choice and Orton has chosen to erase everyone the fans believe in. You can call him the Legend Killer, the Viper, the Apex Predator or whatever else you want, but all that matters is RKO.

I’m digging this Orton character change. He’s someone who has a long history and has done almost everything he can do in WWE. Changing things up like this is a great idea and one of the only ways you can get him booed as a heel. Orton is so good at what he does but he needs to be freshened up a bit. Having him go after the popular guys is a good idea, but he’s going to be turned into a face again by the end of it because of how well he pulls the thing off.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte are in the back to discuss Charlotte being added to the Women’s Title match. Lynch was really looking forward to getting a shot at the title, but now there’s a big blonde boulder in the way. Charlotte did what she had to do and Lynch is cool with that. They’re fine for their tag match tonight because they’re not like Sasha and Bayley.

Charlotte/Becky Lynch vs. Iconics

Carmella is on commentary. Before the match, the Iconics play a word association game about how sad this place is and how Carmella is going to win. Becky is going to stay in Charlotte’s shadow because she’s always a bridesmaid and never a bride. As usual, history isn’t WWE’s strong suit. The fans dub this boring, though it’s hardly that bad. Charlotte starts in on Billie’s arm to start and a pair of double hiptosses have both Aussies down. It’s too early for the Disarm-Her though and they bail to the floor. Charlotte dives onto both of them as we take a break.

Back with Billie and Charlotte hitting stereo big boots because Smackdown isn’t the kind of show that has to comeback from a commercial with a chinlock. Becky gets the tag and starts cleaning house but Billie breaks up the Disarm-Her. Charlotte tags herself back in and moonsaults onto both of them, setting up the Figure Eight to make Peyton tap at 6:18. Way too little shown to rate but the idea here was Charlotte stealing the spotlight.

New Day is proud of their commentary last week but now it’s time to try their hand at backstage interviewing, with Kofi in a blue suit and blond wig. They’re not worried about facing the Bar or the Bludgeon Brothers because both teams will bow down to the power of positivity. New Day cracks up and says they can do that too. Even Renee Young is smiling.

Earlier today, Miz accepted Daniel Bryan’s challenge for Summerslam.

Byron Saxton will have an interview with Miz later tonight and Corey Graves is stunned.

Becky and Charlotte are excited about their win but things will be different at Summerslam. They’ll have to be great against each other instead of with each other.

Video on AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, set to Joe’s great promo from last week about how Styles has sacrificed everything to be WWE Champion, including his family. AJ’s family will be cheering for Joe at Summerslam so daddy will finally be home.

Here’s AJ for a chat. AJ talks about how a lot of things go on between these ropes, including a lot of trash talking. That can get personal and Samoa Joe did that last week. AJ is doing this for his family, just like a lot of people do. That’s what he’s supposed to do as a father and as a man. He misses his kids’ little league game and birthdays. Two days ago, he celebrated 18 years with his wife, but she’s basically a single parent because he can’t be there. We’re supposed to give our families what they need and occasionally you can give them what they want.

AJ wants to be there to pick his kids up when they fall and Joe knows all of this. Joe knows AJ’s wife and kids and AJ isn’t going to let Joe get his hands on this title. At Summerslam, Joe isn’t walking out the WWE Champion because he’ll be lucky to walk out period. Very intense stuff from AJ here, which is a place he doesn’t go to very often. It’s also nice to have these promos not be interrupted by something or someone. Just let them talk and see what they can do.

Lana is getting ready for her rematch with Zelina Vega when Rusev comes up. He’ll be in her corner tonight to make sure it’s a Happy Lana Day. That makes Lana happy but here’s Aiden English to apologize to her again. Rusev accepts, but thinks English should stay in the back tonight. English looks disappointed.

Lana vs. Zelina Vega

Rematch from last week with Rusev and Andrade Cien Almas as the seconds. Vega slaps her in the face to start and gets kicked to the floor. That lasts all of two seconds as Lana throws her back in to start the brawling. Zelina’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Lana suplexes her down and drops some elbows. Almas jumps onto the apron and the distraction lets Vega score with a jawbreaker. Rusev throws Almas around but Vega kicks him in the back of the head. That earns Rusev a posting but Lana kicks Vega in the head. Cue English to save Rusev, knocking Lana down again. The running knees in the corner finish Lana at 3:36.

Rating: D+. Much like last week, the match wasn’t great but Lana didn’t embarrass herself out there, which means she’s making actual progress. She already has the charisma and the association with an act like Rusev Day could allow her to go pretty far. As is the case with so many people, she just needs ring time so having matches like this is the best thing for her.

Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t going to be facing Jeff Hardy at Summerslam because Hardy was erased. He’ll face what’s left of Hardy, but here’s R-Truth to challenge Nakamura for the US Title instead. Nakamura: “How are you going to do that?” R-Truth: “The same way everyone else does: I’m going to pin Carmella.” Nakamura speaks Japanese and Truth is horrified, because he can’t repeat that in public. It’s bad enough that the match with Carmella is off and he wants Nakamura tonight. Truth continues to be one of the funniest guys in WWE, just by following WWE logic.

Byron is in the ring to interview Miz, who pops up on screen instead of coming to the ring. He calls Byron a bad announcer and plugs the success of Miz and Mrs., which doesn’t have a single bad review on Rotten Tomatoes. Byron keeps asking about the match with Bryan but Miz ignores him to plug the show. Tonight he learns CPR, which would be a good idea for Bryan because he needs to resuscitate his career. Miz finally mentions it, saying he’s become a star while Bryan has been working in a garden.

Bryan needs this match while Miz needs to be recognized as WWE Champion. Miz is here night after night while Bryan has been off in bed crying. He’s not hiding from anyone and at Summerslam, Bryan is getting exposed as being beneath Miz. Go talk to Bryan about it because he’s probably off eating kale and talking about his wife. Bryan runs into the room, beats up security and punches Miz a few times until a potted plant to the back of the head lets Miz escape. The string of good promos continues tonight, but that kind of goes without saying for these two.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. R-Truth

Non-title. Corey says he can understand more of Nakamura’s song than Truth’s. Nakamura chokes him in the corner and says COME ON so Truth charges at him with a rollup. Now it’s Truth shouting COME ON before taking him down with a hurricanrana. Nakamura gets in a kick to the back of the head and hooks a triangle choke but Truth gets over to a rope. A reverse exploder puts Truth down and Kinshasa is good for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: D. Exactly what you would expect here with Truth getting in some entertaining stuff but falling short against the bigger name. It’s rather impressive that Truth is still completely watchable at 46 years old, which is far beyond the end a lot of careers. If nothing else just let him do his funny cameos in the back and he’ll be around forever.

You know how the Bludgeon Brothers haven’t cared who they fight at Summerslam? It’s still true as they promise to break whoever faces them both physically and mentally. They’re going to have fun.

Bludgeon Brothers vs. 3SK

Non-title as this is a 3-2 handicap match. The Brothers dropkick two of the guys off the apron (Roman Reigns Starter Kit and Tazz Jr. according to Graves) and Rowan crossbodies them. The other guy gets kicked in the face and Harper is slammed onto the other two. A powerbomb/middle rope clothesline combination gives Harper the pin at 1:27. That’s the kind of squash that makes these two look great.

Summerslam rundown.

Tag Team Title Tournament Finals: New Day vs. The Bar

The winners get a shot at Summerslam. The fans want pancakes so Xavier Woods, on the floor for this one, throws some into the crowd. Big E. and Cesaro actually grapple a bit to start but it’s time to swivel the hips. Kofi comes in and sticks the landing on a monkey flip to frustrate Cesaro even more. It’s off to Sheamus, who knocks Kofi to the floor in a heap so New Day stops to check on him. A hard uppercut keeps Kofi down and Cesaro grabs a chinlock back inside.

Back from a break with Kofi still in trouble (but not in a chinlock) but avoiding a charge so Big E. can come in for the belly to belly suplexes. More hip swiveling (it’s his gimmick) looks to set up the Warrior Splash but Big E. has to knock Cesaro off the apron instead. A Rock Bottom out of the corner gives Big E. two on Sheamus and it’s back to Kofi vs. Cesaro. The SOS gives Kofi two but Big E. makes a hot tag, only to miss the apron splash. He seems to have banged up his arm and the distracted Kofi takes the Regal Roll on the floor.

A double implant DDT gets two on Big E., with the fans sounding very relieved on the kickout. We settle back down with Big E. in trouble and take a second break. Back again with Big E. still in trouble, including Sheamus kicking him in the face to set up Cesaro’s superplex into a top rope knee from Sheamus. That’s only good for two though so Sheamus tries a Texas Cloverleaf.

Big E. uses the leg strength to kick him to the floor though and the hot tag brings in Kofi. A springboard shot to the head drops Sheamus and the Boom Drop has him in even more trouble. Air Kofi hits both Sheamus and Cesaro, followed by a top rope double stomp for two on Cesaro. Big E. is sent outside again and a double backbreaker gets two on Kofi. The Brogue Kick misses and Kofi’s dropkick is enough to bring Big E. back in.

The Midnight Hour is quickly broken up though and a spike White Noise gets….two again as Kofi makes a very last second save. Cesaro swings Big E. into the Sharpshooter as Kofi hits a tornado DDT to plant Sheamus on the floor. Big E. can’t get to the ropes as Cesaro rolls over into a Crossface. That’s powered out as well, with Big E. muscling him up (that’s just scary strength) into the Midnight Hour for the pin on Cesaro at 25:10.

Rating: A-. Now that’s more like it with two great teams getting to show off for a long time in an entertaining match. New Day winning wasn’t the biggest surprise in the world and it’s VERY nice to not go to another triple threat match, which I was expecting for a long time during the match. The Bar not being able to make TV for months is absurd given how awesome they were here, but you can’t expect something like that to matter in wrestling.

The Bludgeon Brothers look on to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was an excellent show with great promos and an outstanding main event with everyone working hard and getting ready for Summerslam. It’s amazing how much better this was than Monday Night Raw, which was downright unwatchable last night. Just go with a build that works and isn’t full of rematches, bad promos and Roman Reigns overload. Is that really too much to ask?

Results

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Iconics – Figure Eight to Royce

Zelina Vega b. Lana – Running knees in the corner

Shinsuke Nakamura b. R-Truth – Kinshasa

Bludgeon Brothers b. 3SK – Powerbomb/Middle rope combination to ???

New Day b. The Bar – Midnight Hour to Cesaro

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: July 12, 2018
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

It’s the go home week for Extreme Rules and my goodness that doesn’t exactly bode well for the things they’ll be recapping here. This show has been one of the weakest builds in recent memory and while Smackdown was better this week, Raw was its usual horrid self. How often do I have to say something like this anymore? Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Titus Worldwide vs. Authors of Pain

Crews does what he can with Akam but gets tossed into the corner, followed by Rezar tossing him right back out of said corner. It’s back to Akam for a cobra clutch and a t-bone suplex but Crews sends him into the corner as well. The hot tag brings in Titus to show off some power, including a powerslam for two on Akam. Not that it matters as the Last Chapter is good for the pin at 4:22.

Rating: D+. Actually not too bad here as they kept it moving and the Authors got to look good. The important thing here is to have the Authors establish themselves on the main roster and beating up teams like this is a great way to start that process. It’s nothing great and it won’t mean anything, but at least they’re getting the idea right.

Video on Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns.

From Raw.

Lashley and Reigns are in the back, arguing about Reigns going to the ring. Lashley wants Reigns to call him out as a DANIEL BRYAN chant drowns out some of whatever they’re saying. Lashley steps to the side and tells Reigns to carry on.

Here’s Reigns in the ring for a chat and he wastes no time in calling Lashley out. Before anything can happen though, here’s Kurt Angle, flanked by Baron Corbin, to interrupt. Angle wants them to save it for Sunday but the brawl is on anyway. A bunch of midcarders can’t break it up and the fight breaks out over and over again. Reigns is finally taken to the floor as Finn Balor gets in a shot on Corbin for a nice bit of continuity.

The fight keeps breaking out with even more people coming out and failing to separate them. Lashley keeps punching and throws Reigns inside but is finally pushed to the back. Reigns isn’t done though and hits the BIG dive over the top to take out about twenty people at the same time. Reigns’ music plays but he comes back AGAIN and dives at Lashley. Really, really solid segment here but it’s going to be annoying when this headlines again over the World Title. Also, they need to bring this intensity to the match instead of the boring match Reigns and Samoa Joe had at Backlash.

Again from Raw.

Nia Jax/Natalya vs. Mickie James/Alexa Bliss

Natalya wastes no time in trying a Sharpshooter on James but gets kicked away, allowing the tag to Bliss. The same Sharpshooter attempt sends Bliss bailing to the floor so Natalya baseball slides both villains down. Back from an early break with Natalya being sent into the corner so Bliss can hit her running slap. We hit the chinlock so IT’S TIME FOR AN INSET PROMO FOR SUNDAY! Sweet, I was worried that we wouldn’t get these stupid things again. Back to full screen with Natalya getting over for the hot tag to Nia, who starts wrecking Mickie. The splash in the corner sets up the big leg to give Nia the pin at 8:09.

Rating: D. Well what we saw was decent, but the inset promo felt like a second commercial. That and Nia just running over everyone has been done, especially since it’s a near guarantee that she loses on Sunday, allowing Bliss to go to Summerslam and hang with Ronda Rousey for a long match. Just not enough content here to make it work.

Immediately after the pin, Bliss hits Jax in the back with a kendo stick. The stick is quickly taken away and broken as Bliss runs away in a hurry.

Video on Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman.

Curt Hawkins vs. Chad Gable

Hawkins takes him down with a wristlock and actually gets a LET’S GO HAWKINS chant. Gable easily wins the second wristlock battle and armdrags him into an armbar. A monkey flip sends Hawkins flying but he rams Gable throat first into the rope. Back from a break with Hawkins getting two off a Michinoku Driver in a near fall. A powerbomb is loaded up but Gable slips out and sends him into the corner for Rolling Chaos Theory and the pin at 8:30.

Rating: C-. I know it’s not likely to go anywhere anytime soon but Hawkins is getting closer to actually winning a match. I’m not sure if they’ll ever actually pull the trigger and have him win something but at least they’re not having it be squash after squash. Hawkins can put on a good enough match and that’s what he did here, with Gable getting to look good in the end.

We see the big brawl that opened Smackdown and set up the main event.

New Day/HELL NO vs. Bludgeon Brothers/Sanity

Bryan goes after Young to start and we take a break less than a minute in. Just ring the bell when we get back then. Back with New Day rapid firing the elbows to set up Big E.’s Warrior Splash for two on Wolfe. Woods gets caught in the wrong corner though and Harper kicks him in the face a few times, setting up the Gator Roll…and an inset ad for Lashley vs. Reigns.

In kayfabe, that’s some pretty awesome timing for the production staff to know when the match is going to grind to a halt so these videos can air. Back to full screen with Dain hitting a backsplash, just in time to go to a commercial. We’re not even nine minutes into this match and we’ve had two commercials and an inset promo. I know this is crazy for a fan to say, but I’d actually like to watch the match instead of an ad every three minutes.

Back with Woods still in trouble and Harper’s Michinoku Driver getting two. New Day makes the save, allowing Woods to hit his springboard tornado DDT on Harper. The hot tag brings in Bryan to hammer on Young as everything breaks down. We hit a parade of secondary finishers until Big E. spears Dain off the apron. Back in and Bryan knees Young down for the pin at 16:41.

Rating: C+. Well what we saw of it was good. A match that isn’t even eighteen minutes long doesn’t need two breaks and an inset promo as a mini break, but WWE has too much stuff to advertise to do a match like this uninterrupted. If nothing else Sanity getting this kind of push (two months after being announced) out of the shoot is nice, and odds are they win on Sunday.

And from Raw one more time.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

If Rollins wins, Drew is banned from ringside on Sunday. McIntyre powers him into the corner with ease to start, allowing McIntyre to do his kneeling pose. A dropkick has almost no effect and McIntyre runs him over with a shoulder. It’s off to an armbar with McIntyre in full control so far. A chinlock keeps Rollins in trouble and McIntyre chops him back down to set up another armbar.

McIntyre drives him back first into the apron and we take a break. Back with Rollins flying off an overhead belly to belly and some stomps to the arm setting up yet another armbar. Rollins fights up and finally gets a breather by sending McIntyre face first into the middle buckle. McIntyre heads to the floor for back to back suicide dives, followed by the middle rope Blockbuster for a near fall of his own.

A charge in the corner goes badly for Rollins though as McIntyre grabs a reverse Alabama Slam, sending Rollins face first into the mat on a nasty looking landing. A sitout powerbomb gets two more but McIntyre gets caught up top, allowing Rollins to kick him into the Tree of Woe. That’s fine with Drew, who sits up and superplexes Rollins back down.

The Claymore is blocked with a superkick into the Falcon Arrow to rock McIntyre. It doesn’t rock him enough though as McIntyre scores with a headbutt, which seems to fire McIntyre up all over again. Rollins is fine enough to hit a Buckle Bomb and low superkick, followed by a curb stomp to an invading Ziggler. The distraction is enough for McIntyre to hit the Claymore for the pin at 21:06.

Rating: B. Now that’s more like it as this show was needing a long, good match to really boost things up. Thankfully they seem to have started planting the seeds for McIntyre to split from Ziggler but that needs to happen around Summerslam or so because Ziggler is already getting way too much focus by comparison. At least McIntyre won here though, as a loss would have been a rather bad idea.

Overall Rating: D+. Holy sweet merciful goodness what has happened to Smackdown? I mean I know it’s just Smackdown being Smackdown but egads this was basically the Raw highlight show with Smackdown being thrown in at the end. That was the case with Extreme Rules as well and it’s becoming more of a problem every week. Just pretend it matters. Is that too much to ask.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: July 10, 2018
Location: SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the other go home show for Extreme Rules and the big match tonight is AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura VI, though in a rare non-title version. You could probably pencil in Rusev for some interference to slow Styles down and give Nakamura some momentum heading into the US Title match. Other than that, normally I would expect a few more gimmicks being added to Sunday’s card but that doesn’t seem to interest them with this year’s Extreme Rules. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Miz to open things up with MizTV. After promising to win an Emmy for Miz and Mrs. in two weeks, he brings out Kane and Daniel Bryan as his guests. Before we can get to that though, Miz needs some assurance that Bryan won’t punch him in the face. Bryan agrees to be professional so Miz says this is like Justin Timberlake reuniting with N’Sync. Kane: “N’SYNC WILL NEVER REUNITE! J.T. is just too big of a star now.” Miz gives us a highlight package on the team’s history, interspersed with their fights and issues. Actually that’s not the footage Miz meant to show but we’ll address it anyway.

Bryan doesn’t buy it and says Miz is terrible at everything, especially wrestling. Miz finally snaps, saying he knows Bryan is going to fall for this all over again. Ever since Bryan came back, Miz has been hoping he gets to end his career for good. Kane plays peacemaker but Miz goes one step too far, accusing him of hiding behind his broken down demon. The chokeslam is loaded up but the Bludgeon Brothers arrive to break it up. Cue Sanity for the same but New Day runs out and it’s a huge brawl. The bad guys get the better of it and you can book the ten man tag for later.

Post break, ten man tag, booked.

AJ Style vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title. Hang on though as here are Rusev and Aiden English with the former promising to tear down the house that AJ Styles built on Rusev Day. A dropkick puts Nakamura on the floor and we take a break. Back with Rusev on commentary, saying that he’s already told his mother he won the title. AJ is sent to the apron but the Phenomenal Forearm is broken up. A kick to the back of the head and a gordbuster look to set up Kinshasa.

That’s reversed into a rollup for two and an enziguri rocks Nakamura. He’s fine enough to hit the running knee in the corner as Rusev promises four different counters for the Calf Crusher. We take a second break and come back again with Nakamura telling him to COME ON. That earns him a fireman’s carry backbreaker but the Styles Clash attempt is countered into a triangle choke.

That’s reversed as well and Styles tells him to COME ON. Nakamura misses a charge to the floor so AJ hits the slingshot forearm to the floor. AJ goes after English (Rusev: “WAS THIS REALLY NECESSARY???”), who takes Kinshasa by mistake. That’s enough for Rusev, who pulls AJ off the apron for the DQ at 15:55.

Rating: C+. These two are good together as usual but WWE has somehow managed to run what should have been a dream match into the ground by having them fight six times in about three months. The ending was the right call as you don’t want either of them taking a clean loss and Rusev gets to be a jerk at the same time.

Post match Jeff Hardy makes the save so here’s Paige to make the tag match. That would be the second tag match made after a brawl in the first 45 minutes.

AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy vs. Rusev/Shinsuke Nakamura

Rusev throws AJ down to start and we hit a bearhug, meaning it’s a split screen promo about Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax. Back to full screen with AJ grabbing a sleeper before diving over for the tag to Hardy. Jeff speeds things up in a hurry and a basement dropkick gets two on Rusev. Everything breaks down and the Twisting Stunner looks to st up the Swanton, only to have Jeff get crotched by Nakamura. The Machka Kick ends Hardy at 5:18.

Rating: D+. Not enough time to be any good here but the ending was the right call. Rusev isn’t likely to win the title but at least we can get a good match out of it. Nakamura winning however is the only real option and exactly what needs to happen. I liked the booking here, but the execution wasn’t great, at least partially due to the long promo in the middle.

James Ellsworth is warming up when Carmella comes in to tell him he better win. Ellsworth says he’s ready and winks at her, which isn’t the right move.

Asuka vs. James Ellsworth

Lumberjack match with the women’s division around the ring. I still say Ellsworth should be Curt Hawkins in an attempt to save his job. If you want to really make Carmella seem more impressive, have her get a second, more successful person under her thumb. Plus you don’t bring in another name when there are so many people with nothing to do. Before the match, Ellsworth says he’s ready for Asuka, but does ask that no one try to kiss him.

The threat of an early spinning backfist puts Ellsworth on the floor where Becky Lynch and Naomi toss him back inside. Ellsworth gets knocked outside again but the lumberjacks get in a fight. That’s enough for Ellsworth who tries to run but Becky and Naomi catch him again. Everyone else goes after them so Asuka dives onto the pile. In the melee, Carmella hands Ellsworth mace but Asuka kicks it out of his hand. Ellsworth gets kicked into Carmella so the Asuka Lock can finish him at 3:20.

Rating: D-. What does it say about Asuka when she goes from dream match at Wrestlemania to a relief that they didn’t have James Ellsworth beat her? The worst part is you can probably pencil Asuka in for another loss on Sunday, as Becky Lynch seems poised to be the next challenger. I’m glad that Becky is getting the chance, but Asuka has been lost in the shuffle so hard.

Post match Carmella goes after Asuka so Ellsworth can mace him, setting up Carmella’s superkick.

We look back at the opening brawl.

New Day and HELL NO talk strategy for tonight. New Day wants to gang up on them. Bryan suggests taking out their knees. Kane wants to set them on fire and send them to hell. Bryan: “Do you think we can just summon Satan and send open a portal?” Kane: “Technically it’s a gateway but YES! THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WANT!”

Kane and Bryan get into a YES/NO argument but Big E. takes charge and tells Woods to come up with a plan, Kofi to be like the Flash, Bryan to become the Goat Faced Killer, and for Kane to get with them. Kane quotes N’Sync’s This I Promise You. Bryan: “Was that N’Sync?” Kane: “IT STILL APPLIES!” Why does Daniel Bryan know N’Sync lyrics? As usual, Kane and Bryan have great chemistry and timing together.

Post break Ellsworth and Carmella are in the back when Paige comes up. On Sunday, Ellsworth is going to be suspended above the ring in a shark cage.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Sin Cara

It’s about time. Almas speeds things up to start and sends him outside for a suicide dive. Back in and Almas takes him down to send us to a break. We come back with Almas slamming him down but hitting knees on a top rope splash attempt. An Alberto Del Rio top rope double stomp puts Cara on the apron and the running knees in the corner are good for the pin at 5:57. Too much took place during the break but this wasn’t quite worth the wait.

Pay per view rundown.

Sanity promises to bring the chaos. The Bludgeon Brothers come in and seem pleased with that mindset.

New Day/HELL NO vs. Bludgeon Brothers/Sanity

Bryan goes after Young to start and we take a break less than a minute in. Just ring the bell when we get back then. Back with New Day rapid firing the elbows to set up Big E.’s Warrior Splash for two on Wolfe. Woods gets caught in the wrong corner though and Harper kicks him in the face a few times, setting up the Gator Roll…and an inset ad for Lashley vs. Reigns.

In kayfabe, that’s some pretty awesome timing for the production staff to know when the match is going to grind to a halt so these videos can air. Back to full screen with Dain hitting a backsplash, just in time to go to a commercial. We’re not even nine minutes into this match and we’ve had two commercials and an inset promo. I know this is crazy for a fan to say, but I’d actually like to watch the match instead of an ad every three minutes.

Back with Woods still in trouble and Harper’s Michinoku Driver getting two. New Day makes the save, allowing Woods to hit his springboard tornado DDT on Harper. The hot tag brings in Bryan to hammer on Young as everything breaks down. We hit a parade of secondary finishers until Big E. spears Dain off the apron. Back in and Bryan knees Young down for the pin at 16:41.

Rating: C+. Well what we saw of it was good. A match that isn’t even eighteen minutes long doesn’t need two breaks and an inset promo as a mini break, but WWE has too much stuff to advertise to do a match like this uninterrupted. If nothing else Sanity getting this kind of push (two months after being announced) out of the shoot is nice, and odds are they win on Sunday.

Post match Kane does a YES chant but Bryan tries to do the Kane fire deal. It three attempts but the fire comes out, sending Bryan into a cheer to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a rather up and down show with some stuff (Kane/Bryan, Styles vs. Nakamura and Rusev) working very well but the bad stuff (Ellsworth, the inset promos and two matches being made on the fly with a similar setup) really bringing it back down. I’m more interested in the Tag Team Title match, but it’s pretty sad that that’s being treated as the Smackdown main event over the World Title match. There’s a great opening to have AJ vs. Rusev main event on Sunday but it’s likely going to be the third biggest match on the card at best. Is there any wonder why fans get frustrated with this company?

Results

AJ Styles b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Rusev interfered

Rusev/Shinsuke Nakamura b. AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy – Machka Kick to Hardy

Asuka b. James Ellsworth – Asuka Lock

Andrade Cien Almas b. Sin Cara – Running knees in the corner

HELL NO/New Day b. Sanity/Bludgeon Brothers – Running knee to Young

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 7, 2018
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

I’m actually more interested than usual in this show based on how different this week’s television shows went. Monday Night Raw was such a disaster while Smackdown was a perfectly watchable wrestling show. I’m not sure how they’re going to pull off a highlight show when almost nothing interesting was going on Monday but they’ve pulled off something similar before. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Mike Kanellis

Kanellis is still alive. Who knew? They fight over a lockup to start and Jose scores with a hiptoss. Some forearms in the corner have Jose in trouble and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Kanellis takes way too much time yelling at the conga line and Jose is back up with a clothesline. A superkick gives Kanellis too (with a blown kiss as he’s dedicated to this ridiculous gimmick) but Jose’s pop up right hand is good for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: D. There’s only so much you can do here and while Kanellis isn’t anything special, it’s nice to see some fresh blood on the show. As long as Maria gets back in the next few months (or whenever she’s ready to be back), Kanellis might have a fighting chance. Jose’s presence here makes more sense as he’s almost destined to be a house show opener at best, even if he has some potential to do more than that.

Now we’re often told what’s coming up next, but in this case we’re being told that two different matches are up next. A mystery is afoot and we have some actual drama! I mean, it’s as low level drama as you can possibly have and it’s likely going to be done by the time I’m done typing this but what else am I supposed to talk about on this thing?

From Raw.

Natalya vs. Nia Jax

Non-title with Ronda Rousey on commentary. Nia runs her over and knocks Natalya to the floor as we take a break. Back with Natalya fighting out of a chinlock and scoring with a jawbreaker. A discus clothesline puts Nia down for two but Natalya hurts her knee on the step over into the dropkick. The Samoan drop ends Natalya in short order at 7:22.

Rating: D. I’m still not sure why I’m supposed to be interested in seeing if Ronda can armbar Nia when she’s already armbarred HHH but you can’t expect them to keep continuity for a full two months. Nia’s rather abrupt heel turn and Rousey suddenly being friends with Natalya are both stretches but I’ve seen worse from this company before. Just keep the match at Money in the Bank short and they should survive.

Post match Nia checks on the downed Natalya and Rousey comes in to keep things safe. Natalya is all frustrated as Rousey helps her out. Nia didn’t get physical after the match and looked concerned.

And from Smackdown.

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

The threat of a Disarm-Her sends Charlotte outside so Becky settles for a headlock back inside. That’s escaped as well and it’s a standoff until they both catch kicks to the ribs. A double knockdown sends us to a break. Back with Becky going for the arm again but getting caught in a backbreaker for two instead. Lynch drops her one more time and gets two off a top rope legdrop but gets sent into the corner. The moonsault hits raised knees and the Figure Eight is countered twice in a row. The second counter is pulled into the Disarm-Her for the tap at 8:11.

Rating: C+. I’d love to believe that this is going to lead towards Becky getting into the title picture again as I have no idea why she hasn’t been a long reigning champion already. She has the look, the talking ability, the skill and whatever else might be needed to make a long reign work. Unfortunately since it’s Money in the Bank season, this win isn’t going to move her up the rankings but rather just be a momentum builder, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Lynch helps her up and everything is cool.

From Raw again.

Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

Owens easily takes him down to start and asks if that was too sweet. A headlock has Balor slowed down and we switch to a chinlock to really mix things up. Balor fights up into an armbar but Owens whips him hard into the corner to cut him off again. Back from a break with Owens holding another chinlock and Balor fighting up in short order. The kick to the head looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Owens rolls outside.

A snap of the arm over the rope puts Balor in more trouble and it’s off to an armbar. Balor fights up with an elbow to the face but gets superkicked back down. The shotgun dropkick knocks Owens into the corner, only to have him pop back up to crotch Balor. Owens stomps away and that’s a DQ at 18:34.

Rating: D-. So yes, after this horrible show, we’re really supposed to be interested in a DQ finish to a long and really boring match. These two are capable of so much more but since it’s Money in the Bank season, it’s time to sit around and do the boring matches for the sake of building momentum or whatever nonsense we’re supposed to care about this week.

Post match Owens hits the frog splash and climbs the really big ladder. He takes forever teasing the big splash off the ladder but Balor gets up and pulls him down. A Coup de Grace off the ladder crushes Owens and Balor pulls down a briefcase to end the show.

Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak

Feeling out process to start before Tozawa hits him in the face a few times. We take an abrupt break and come back with Gulak hitting a backbreaker and cranking on the arm. Gulak mixes it up with a second chinlock before just stomping away. That doesn’t sound like submission based wrestling, meaning I doubt it’s going to go anywhere.

Tozawa fights back so let’s cut to the crowd, then back to the ring, then back to the crowd in about ten seconds. A missile dropkick gives Tozawa two and he grabs something like AJ’s Black Widow. That doesn’t last long (of course) and Tozawa misses a charge into the corner, setting up the Gulock for the tap at 10:13.

Rating: C-. They need to do something with Gulak sooner rather than later as he’s getting this submission stuff over and could be a great foil for a variety of people, mainly the Cruiserweight Champion. I mean, we’ve established that he couldn’t go onto the other shows and do his submission stuff there because he’s just a cruiserweight and that would never work.

We’ll wrap it up on Smackdown.

New Day vs. Miz/Rusev/Samoa Joe

Woods wastes no time in forearming Miz down for an early two and it’s New Day alternating with elbows and splashes for two more. Joe tags himself in to face Big E. and this is already feeling bigger. Big E. suplexes him down and it’s off to Woods to try his luck. That would be bad luck as an enziguri puts him down and we take a break. Back with Woods fighting out of Miz’s chinlock but getting pulled down by the hair.

Joe comes in and gets kneed in the head, allowing the double tags to Miz and Kofi. Everyone else fights to the floor and the Boom Drop has Miz in trouble. Joe breaks up Trouble in Paradise and the DDT gives Miz two. Big E. comes back in and gets whipped into the Rock Bottom out of the corner. Rusev gets low bridged to the floor and Woods hits a big flip dive over the top.

Joe gets sent outside as well and Kofi hits a springboard trust fall to drop him again. Big E. spears Miz to the floor (that’s going to be a bad injury one day) and the Midnight Hour is broken up as Joe pulls Woods into the Koquina Clutch on the floor. Kofi dives into the Machka Kick and Miz posts Big E. The villains come back in….and Miz grabs the pancakes, which he throws at Joe and Rusev by mistake. One Machka Kick and a backsplash later and Miz is left down and alone. Kofi comes back in and the Midnight Hour is good for the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C+. I liked this one though it wasn’t as good as the New Day’s match from a week or so ago. They’ve certainly lost some steam but they’re still one of the best trios around. That Trust Fall alone, which looked like a springboard to Miz, was enough of a cool visual to make this work. The pancakes….not so much but that’s their thing and it’s not going away at the moment.

Overall Rating: D+. Yeah this show didn’t do much good after what we had this week. It’s not interesting TV and that’s been the case for a long time now. If they want to make people more interested, give us something more worthwhile to watch. Mike Kanellis was one of the highlights of this week’s show and that should tell you everything you need to know about what’s going on in WWE right now.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

These guys really are awesome, but who deserves something special?

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-e-pluribus-new-day/