NXT UK
Date: December 26, 2019
Hosts: Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips

It’s the end of the year and that means we get to look back at some of the better things to go down in 2019. I wouldn’t have believed it when the year started but NXT UK has become one of the better wrestling shows on television and they could have some great offerings on a show like this. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The hosts welcome us to the show and preview Takeover: Blackpool II.

From Takeover: Blackpool.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending. Storm goes after her to start and starts firing off the forearms until a faceplant cuts her off. That’s fine with Storm who hammers away even more, setting up a suicide dive onto a bailing Ripley. They don’t head inside just yet though and Ripley kicks her back first into the barricade. Back in and Ripley stomps away as the loud fans continue to be split.

The bodyscissors stays on the weakened ribs and a delayed vertical suplex gets two. A pair of legdrops gives the champ two but the trash talking lets Storm headbutt her for a double knockdown. The slugout goes to Storm and she rolls some German suplexes but Storm Zero is countered. So is Riptide and they go into a pinfall reversal sequence for two each.

Ripley gets the standing Texas Cloverleaf but gets reversed into the hip attack in the corner. Storm gets frustrated at the kickout and gets caught with Riptide for two, giving us Ripley’s great stunned face. A headbutt lets Storm Zero connect for two and they’re both down again. Storm slugs away with forearms and another Storm Zero gives her the pin and the title at 14:49.

Rating: B-. Kind of a flat and out of nowhere finish as they didn’t really build off the near fall from the first Storm Zero. Storm winning the title so soon after Ripley won it for the first time is a bit of a surprise but you can’t go wrong with either of them as the champion. Tyler Bate winning the inaugural title and dropping it to Dunne has gone just fine and Storm is going to be perfectly fine with the title, as is Ripley without it.

Video on Toni Storm.

Video on Kay Lee Ray.

From Takeover: Cardiff.

Women’s Title: Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm

Toni is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. Ray bails straight to the floor so Storm dives onto her, setting up a big forearm to the face back inside. Ray knocks her right back down though and we hit a seated abdominal stretch. Toni goes off with shots to the face and a superkick to put Ray down. A running clothesline can’t set up Storm Zero so its’ a Code Red for two instead.

Now Storm Zero connects for two so Ray is right back with her own superkick. The Gory Bomb gives Ray her own two so they head up top. Neither can hit a super version of their finisher so Toni grabs a release German suplex for two more. Storm gets sent outside so Ray hits a top rope flip dive for a nasty landing, sending the referee down to check on them. Back in and the Gory Bomb onto the top rope sets up a regular Gory Bomb to give Ray the title at 9:58.

Rating: C. This felt sloppy and rushed, the latter of which is probably true due to it not getting that much time. Storm didn’t have a lot of life or fire here and it was causing some issues. Ray winning is a good thing as Storm had held the thing long enough but I was hoping it was in a better, or at least bigger feeling, match.

Video on Piper Niven.

Video on Travis Banks vs. Jordan Devlin.

We see the end of the Grizzled Young Veterans becoming the inaugural Tag Team Champions.

From Takeover: Cardiff.

Tag Team Titles: Flash Morgan Webster/Mark Andrews vs. Gallus vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

The Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake) are defending and it’s Andrews sunset flipping Gibson for two to start. Drake comes in for a double hiptoss into a standing moonsault/standing flip dive from Andrews and Webster. We settle down to Webster not being able to sunset flip Wolfgang so it’s a six man staredown. The champs are knocked to the floor and a hurricanrana/moonsault takes down Gibson and Coffey.

Back in and a moonsault press gets two on Gibson as the champs are in trouble. He’s right back up with a backbreaker on Webster on the floor with Drake slingshotting down into a forearm to Webster’s chest. Back in again and everything breaks down again with Andrews cleaning house, only to get jumped by Gallus. That means stereo flip dives from the Welsh guys to both other teams and the fans are rather pleased.

Back in and Andrews’ assisted 450 gets two on Gibson, only to have Gallus come back in to start cleaning house. A catapult into a Samoan drop gets two on Andrews but it’s a reverse hurricanrana/running knee strike (cool) for two on Wolfgang. Andrews is back up with a shooting star to take out Gallus and Gibson. As the fans again ask about Vince’s viewing habits, it’s Stundog Millionaire into a Swanton from Webster for two on Gibson. Helter Skelter into the 450 gets two on Andrews, with the crowd literally getting to their feet on the kickout.

The champs and the Welsh guys are all knocked down but it’s Gallus coming back in to clean house. Coffey hits his own big dive to take everyone out, followed by the enziguri into the powerslam for a delayed two on Andrews. Everyone gets back in and Gallus gets beaten down until Webster is catapulted into a Canadian Destroyer on Coffey. Gibson takes Wolfgang to the floor for an electric chair, with Drake adding the suicide clothesline for a Doomsday Device.

That means the big showdown between the champs and Andrews/Morgan with the Welsh guys getting the better of it. Webster hits a 630 on Drake with Gibson making the save. Andrews tries to dive on him but gets hit in the throat on the way down. Back in and Ticket to Mayhem hits Webster but Drake goes to deal with Gallus. That lets Andrews come in with Fall to Pieces to Gibson to give Webster the pin and the titles at 20:10.

Rating: B. This was WAY too long and felt like it just kept going and going. That being said, there were some very good near falls and some awesome near falls before the perfectly done feel good moment at the end. If you cut off five minutes, it’s even better, but the length held it back a lot. Andrews and Webster winning is completely the right call though and it felt like a special moment.

Video on Dave Mastiff.

Video on Dave Mastiff vs. Jordan Devlin in their Falls Count Anywhere match.

Devlin promises a bigger 2020 because he’s the MVP of 2019.

The announcers talk about Devlin.

Video on Ilja Dragunov vs. Cesaro.

We look at some of the rising stars.

From October 24.

Noam Dar vs. Trent Seven

They’ve been annoying each other for weeks. Dar’s towel says RIP STRONG STYLE. Dar jumps him on the floor during Seven’s long entrance and uses the towel to tie Seven to the post. That means a dropkick to drive the arm into the post as we’re still waiting on the opening bell. Seven gets in and insists that he can go so Dar charges at him, right into a hard lariat for two. A legdrop gives Seven two but Dar slips out of a Burning Hammer and snaps Seven’s bad arm across the top rope.

The arm is fine enough to snap off a Rock Bottom out of the corner but Dar kicks him off the top. The crash makes Seven scream in pain and a fisherman’s suplex gives Dar two. A snapmare into the ropes gives Dar two and it’s time to start stomping at the leg. With the fans chanting something about Alicia Fox, Dar grabs something like an STF with a bend of the fingers and a shout about how much he loves Pete Dunne.

Back up and Seven blocks a Tyler Driver 97 but gets his leg kicked out again. Something close to a snap dragon suplex sends Dar outside for a change and Seven nails the suicide dive. The spinning moonsault misses though (partially due to the knee being banged up) but Seven’s Michinoku Driver gets two instead. Dar is right back with the ankle lock, sending Seven rolling over to the rope.

They fight to the apron with Seven getting in a DDT to drop Dar on his head. That’s only good for two as well so Seven dedicates this one to Tyler, setting up the Seven Star Lariat for two more. Seven is fired up but Dar kicks the knee out and hits a top rope double stomp to the leg.

The ankle lock with the grapevine goes on so Seven has to flail a lot, eventually making it over to the rope. Dar grabs the towel before kicking Seven in the head, ala Pete Dunne, for two more. The trash talk goes on so Seven bends the finger back, gets in the punch to the face and hits the Birminghammer (if that’s not what Tom said, it should be) for the pin at 13:10.

Rating: B. Yeah that worked. This is the kind of match that Seven hasn’t had very often so giving him the fighting from behind win, which also tying in the stuff with the rest of British Strong Style, worked very well. Dar is very easy to dislike and it’s even better watching Seven literally hit him in the face and drop him on his head for the win. This felt like a definitive win and a statement win for Trent, which was exactly what he needed to do.

Video on Pete Dunne vs. Walter.

Video on Tyler Bate vs. Walter. That’s still my Match of the Year.

Joe Coffey is ready to take the title from Walter at Takeover.

One more Blackpool rundown wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B. This is the kind of show that works very well in this spot. Takeover is coming up soon and WWE needs to promote it as well as they can. Giving us a look at the show and looking at everything else while saying “here’s what you can expect” is a smart move and I liked this show rather well. Good stuff here from a very good promotion.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

NXT
Date: December 18, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a double title night here with both the NXT Title and Women’s Title on the line. First up Adam Cole will defend against Finn Balor and odds are the main event will see Rhea Ripley challenging Shayna Baszler. NXT knows how to do these big shows so it should be interesting to see how things go. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at last week’s show.

NXT Title: Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending. They go to the mat to start with Balor getting the better of things off a headlock. Back up and Cole takes over on the arm, only to get caught with a basement dropkick for one. This time it’s Balor working on the arm instead before stomping away. Cole gets knocked outside but he’s fine enough to superkick the leg before Balor can kick him from the apron.

Back in and we hit the chinlock to keep Balor in trouble as the announcers talk about Cole’s mind games. Another kick to the leg takes Balor down again and a neckbreaker gets two. Balor bridges out of a Figure Four necklock and the Eye of the Hurricane gets two on the champ. Cole is right back with a Backstabber, only to have Balor grab a Sling Blade. The superkick cuts off a running Balor for two but Cole is slow to get up. He walks into a Pele kick but Balor falls down as well, allowing Cole to get his own two.

The Panama Sunrise and 1916 are both countered so Cole grabs the brainbuster onto the knee for two more. We get the dueling UNDISPUTED/LET’S GO FINN chants as Balor fights up, only to get knocked off the top. The Panama Sunrise to the floor is countered with a backdrop though and Balor hits the John Woo dropkick against the barricade.

Back in and the Coup de Grace misses, allowing Cole to hit the Last Shot….for two, giving us an outstanding ARE YOU SERIOUS face. Balor clotheslines him down though and now the Coup de Grace connects. 1916 is loaded up….but here’s Johnny Gargano for the first time in nearly two months. The distraction lets Cole hit a low blow and the Last Shot retains the title at 15:17.

Rating: A-. This was another great match for Cole and another instance of him beating a big name to further solidify himself as one of the best in the world today. Gargano vs. Balor is going to be a huge deal and I’m curious to see where they go with Cole now. It would seem that it’s time for either Tommaso Ciampa or Keith Lee, but dang they could go a lot of different ways.

Post match Cole leaves and Gargano grabs a chair. Balor tries to get out but Gargano is right there with some chair shots to the back to send him outside. More shots send Balor bailing through the crowd to escape.

Video on Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest vs. Killian Dain from Takeover: WarGames.

Killian Dain vs. Damien Priest

Priest has taped up ribs coming in. Dain shoves him into the corner to start so Priest comes out slugging. That just earns Priest the running crossbody and Dain grabs a waistlock. Priest gets sent into the corner so Dain hits a baseball slide to the ribs to put him on the floor. Back in and we hit the second waistlock with Dain quickly switching into a reverse chinlock with a knee in the spine.

Dain adds a backsplash and the tape is pulled off to make the ribs even more vulnerable. There’s a fisherman’s suplex for two more and a running dropkick puts Priest on the floor as we take a break. Back with Priest managing to hit a Flatliner for a breather. A jumping back elbow and some rapid strikes make it even worse for Dain, with a clothesline putting him down.

Priest somehow manages a suplex and the fans bring him back to his feet. Dain tries to bail so Priest is right there with a step up flip dive. Back in and South of Heaven gives Priest two in a great near fall. Dain manages a kick to the ribs and a powerbomb though, plus a big elbow for two. The Ulster Plantation is countered so Priest hits the spinning kick to the head but a powerbomb is too much for the ribs. Dain’s Vader Bomb hits raised knees though and the Reckoning finishes Dain at 14:18.

Rating: B-. This was all about two big, strong men hitting each other very hard with Priest’s ribs being the focal point of the match. Dain tried once too often though and Priest used the opening to get the win. Priest is someone who could go a long way around here (Say after the NXT Title?) and I’m for it, provided I can stop calling him Punishment Martinez.

Vote for the Year End Awards!

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is back, with things getting started on January 1.

Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes

Kushida still has Grimes’ hat. They go to the mat for some grappling and Kushida gets the better of it to a rather nice reaction. Kushida pulls him down into a cross armbreaker before twisting both arms around at the same time. Grimes bails to the floor so Kushida hits him with a baseball slide and throws him back inside.

The Octopus Hold has Grimes in more trouble until he flips out, only to get caught in the same thing again. Back from a break with Kushida in trouble after Grimes hit his running belly to belly. There’s a big throw and Kushida is in even more trouble. Grimes stays on the back with a backbreaker and even bends Kushida over the knee for a bonus.

The back is fine enough for a handspring elbow to drop Grimes and it’s a cartwheel into the basement dropkick. Kushida goes after the arm again with a dropkick but the attempted Hoverboard Lock is countered into a sitout Rock Bottom for two. Kushida snaps off a German suplex so Grimes one ups him with a bridging version for two more. Grimes heads to the apron and that means a handspring kick to the face to put him on the floor.

The big flip dive to the floor nearly misses Grimes but they’re both down. Back in and Kushida goes for the Hoverboard Lock in the corner but gets shoved down. That just means another handspring kick and a super victory roll gives Kushida his own two. Grimes hits the enziguri but misses the Cave In. Kushida misses a kick of his own though and the Cave In connects to give Grimes the pin at 13:58.

Rating: B. The matches on this shove have been awesome at this point and this was another great one. Grimes just got a heck of a win as Kushida is a much more established name at this (or likely any) point. It’s clear that they’re giving Grimes something and that is an a big treat as he has been a HUGE surprise for me and someone I’m liking more every time I see him.

Grimes gets his hat back.

Video on Io Shirai.

Io Shirai vs. Santana Garrett

Shirai backflips to start and runs her over, only to get wristdragged out of the corner. That doesn’t sit well with Shirai so Garrett superkicks her instead. A flapjack works a bit better for Shirai but she misses some running knees in the corner. Garrett’s Russian legsweep gets two and a forearm rocks her again. There’s the handspring elbow in the corner and a floatover suplex gets two more on Shirai. The Last Chancery has Shirai in more trouble but she sends Garrett throat first into the top rope. Running knees in the corner set up the moonsault to finish Garrett at 4:01.

Rating: C. This was a step above a squash for Shirai as Garrett is someone who can have a good match with just about anyone but she hasn’t had the strongest career in NXT so far. She seems like someone who is biding her time though as she is too talented to be left on the sidelines for long. It’s Shirai’s town though and she should be moving higher up the card soon.

When Worlds Collide is coming.

Pete Dunne vs. Travis Banks

Dunne starts on the arm to start, as is his custom. Some rollups give Dunne two and it’s a standoff. Dunne tries to drop down but Banks is right there with a dropkick to the side of the head. They strike it out next to the rope and Dunne easily gets the better of things to put Banks down. A double stomp to the hands sets up the X Plex onto the apron and we take a break.

Back with Banks hitting a pair of running dropkicks in the corner to set up the Cannonball. Dunne bails to the floor and it’s the suicide dive to send him into the barricade. A missile dropkick sends Dunne back into the corner and there’s a middle rope double stomp for two. Dunne flips over him out of the corner and just sidesteps Slice of Heaven for a crash. Another X Plex gets two but Banks is right back with an enziguri.

Banks goes up top for a super sunset flip but Dunne lands on his feet. The Bitter End is countered so Banks tries the Slice of Heaven, which is countered into a leg tied stomp. Banks counters the Bitter End again and hits the Kiwi Crusher for two more. Dunne powerbombs him out of the corner and busts out a super X Plex. Now the Bitter End is good for the pin on Banks at 10:54.

Rating: B. This was the hard hitting, back and forth style that you expect from the NXT UK wrestlers. They beat each other up here and Dunne gets a win to get himself back on track. Banks is someone who looks good every time he’s out there and if he wants it, I’m sure he could be a big star in the regular NXT as well.

Post match Dunne shows some respect.

Dakota Kai isn’t worried about Mia Yim and wants the Women’s Title.

Next week: Lio Rush/Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest/Tony Nese and Roderick Strong issues an open challenge.

Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler

Ripley is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros again. They go with the grappling to start and Baszler takes her to the mat by the arm. The stomp to the arm is blocked though and Ripley gets back up. The threat of Ripley’s big right hands sends Baszler running into the corner and there’s a hard whip into the corner to send Baszler to the floor. Back from a break with Ripley hitting some clotheslines and knees to the head to put Baszler down.

A running dropkick sends Baszler into the corner again, meaning it’s the top rope superplex to make Baszler bounce off the mat. Rhea sends her outside so here are the Horsewomen, only to have them taken down by a Cannonball off the apron. Baszler uses the distraction to stomp the arm into the steps and it’s time to twist the arm around back inside. The arm gets twisted around again and we take another break.

Back again with Baszler stomping on the arm again, though this time with the Horsewomen having been ejected for working on Ripley’s arm again. She even had to get checked by the doctor during the break but was ruled able to continue. Baszler starts kicking at the ribs but Ripley hits the running dropkick to send her into the referee in the corner. Riptide connects for no count so Baszler rolls outside again.

This time the Cannonball off the apron misses but Rhea is able to slip out of a Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler throws in a chair and a DDT onto said chair gets two more. The fans believe all over again and Rhea flips out of another Kirifuda Clutch. The standing Cloverleaf is broken up and now the Clutch goes on for a VERY long time with Ripley not being able to get out.

We go old school with the referee checking the arm but she grabs the referee’s shirt to say she’s not done. She flips out again and stomps Baszler in the head, setting up the standing Cloverleaf (now dubbed the Prism Trap). Baszler kicks that away too and hits a running knee in the corner. They go up top but Baszler talks too much trash, allowing Ripley to get in a headbutt. The super Riptide gives Rhea the pin and the title at 20:50. Ripley nearly loses it on the celebration for a great moment.

Rating: A-. Above all else, this felt like a big changing of the guard. Baszler has been champion for the better part of a year and a half (save for Kairi Sane’s short reign) and she had beaten so many people that it was going to take a monumental effort to finally stop her. That’s what Ripley had and you could feel the energy in the whole thing. I had a great time watching this and they gave some awesome false finishes where I wasn’t sure they were going to pull the trigger. This should have been Ripley’s win and it feels like she had to earn every bit of it. Awesome main event and a better moment.

After all the replays, we come back to the locker room filling the ring (and I mean completely filling the ring) to celebrate with Ripley to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. Dang that was an awesome show with two great bookends and some very good stuff in the middle. The worst part of the show was Shirai vs. Garrett and even that was perfectly watchable. This show felt just shy of Takeover levels and they even have stuff to look forward to later. It’s one of the better weeks of TV they’ve ever done and it nailed just about everything. Great show and worth checking out in full.

Results

Adam Cole b. Finn Balor – Last Shot

Damien Priest b. Killian Dain – Reckoning

Cameron Grimes b. Kushida – Cave In

Io Shirai b. Santana Garrett – Moonsault

Pete Dunne b. Travis Banks – Bitter End

Rhea Ripley b. Shayna Baszler – Super Riptide

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

NXT
Date: December 4, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things got more interesting last week with Finn Balor going after Adam Cole, though it isn’t clear if they’re going to be alone, as Tommaso Ciampa was in the mix too. They have something interesting with the NXT Title picture and that is going to make for some fun shows as we get ready for Portland. Granted that’s a long way off though and a lot could change by then. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Mauro Ranallo previews the show.

Killian Dain is in the ring to call out an opponent to replace the injured Damian Priest.

Killian Dain vs. Pete Dunne

They go straight to the fight with Dunne kicking him down and working on the arm. The fingers are bent back but a clothesline doesn’t put Dunne on the floor. Instead Dain hits a crossbody and crushes Dunne for two. The reverse chinlock goes on, followed by a running elbow to give Dain two more.

The second chinlock goes on, this time with Dain hammering away at the chest at the same time. Dunne fights up and hits a German suplex, only to get caught going up top. Dain pulls him to the apron, only to get stomped on the hand. A moonsault jams Dunne’s knee though and Dain hits a dive, with the camera missing most of it.

Back from a break with Dunne hitting a tornado DDT and stomping on the fingers again. A kick to the head gives Dunne two and now the moonsault to the floor connects. Dain drops him onto the apron though and a Cannonball against the steps makes it even worse. Back in and Dunne tries to catch him on top, only to get dropped backwards for the big crash to give Dain the pin at 14:46 (the same thing Dain did to Dunne at Takeover to accidentally give Dunne the pin on Priest).

Rating: B-. Nice match here with a good callback to the previous match at Takeover. Dunne losing is still something I’m not used to after watching him destroy people for so long but it’s what happens when you move up in competition. He jumped into NXT when the talent pool was crazy deep and it’s going to take some time for him to adjust himself.

Dakota Kai thinks Tegan Nox isn’t worth her time and now Rhea Ripley wants to play hero. Tonight, Dakota is taking her out, just like she did to Mia Yim.

Here’s the Undisputed Era, minus Bobby Fish, for a chat. They’ve been on a roll lately and the greatness is just beginning. However, they don’t like the way they were treated last week, as NXT allowed Bobby Fish to get hurt and then Keith Lee knocked Adam Cole around like a rag doll. Cole is NOT a rag doll and wants Lee out here right now for an explanation. Cole dubs him Mr. Moment Maker so the fans sing about basking in his glory.

Strong brings up Roman Reigns beating Lee at Survivor Series, because he’s a loser you see. Lee gets to the point and looks at all the gold. Cole: “My eyes are up here.” Lee: “I’m just deciding which of these championships I should take first.” The fight is on with Lee cleaning house. Tommaso Ciampa runs down to send Cole back in, but Strong saves him from the Spirit Bomb.

Xia Li wants revenge on Shayna Baszler.

Kushida is back from his broken wrist.

Xia Li vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Li wins an early strike off and Baszler isn’t sure what to do. They go to the mat with Baszler not being able to hang in the striking. Instead she flips Li over, only to get kicked in the head. Baszler takes her down by the arm though and hits the big stomp to put Li in trouble. More strikes give Li a breather but she can only do so much with one arm. Li heads up top and strikes her way out of a superplex attempt. A powerbomb out of the corner gets two but Baszler pulls her into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 4:06.

Rating: C+. Li was giving it everything she had here and got in some big shots that made her look good. It wasn’t like the ending was ever in doubt here as Baszler just won the main event of Survivor Series and isn’t going to lose something like this. Li got to show off a lot and I could see her being something in a few months.

Kassius Ohno is back from the UK and wants to be ready for Worlds Collide, when NXT meets NXT UK. That could be good if they treat it like something special, and it seems that they might.

Forgotten Sons vs. Adrian Alanis/Leon Ruff

Ruff and Alanis are from Evolve. Blake wastes no time in clotheslining Ruff in the back of the head and there’s the buckle bomb to make it worse. Alanis comes in and gets taken down by a running knee to the head. A release German suplex sets up the reverse DDT/middle rope stomp finishes Alanis at 1:21.

Post match Jaxson Ryker chokeslams Ruff onto the apron for a heck of a nasty crash.

Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley

Kai’s new Titantron is the attack on Tegan Nox for an outstanding addition. Hold on though as Ripley has a mic and says not so fast. It was a great setup at Takeover, and now we have another one. Cue Mia Yim to run Kai over and the fight is on. Yim destroys Kai, sending her into the barricade over and over again. They eventually go into the crowd with Kai crawling away. No match of course.

With Ripley still at ringside, cue the Horsewomen for the other brawl. Ripley fights them off as well as she can but the numbers game eventually gets the better of her, allowing Baszler to choke her out. Ripley is out so Baszler talks trash about how Ripley can’t win when anything is on the line. Now Ripley wants a title shot, and so does Baszler. They’ll fight for the title in two weeks. Best thing about this: flowing from one story into another without having to go to the back and set things up. It feels MUCH more natural and that is the best thing that they could have done here.

Ciampa and Lee are ready to face the Undisputed Era. Dominick Dijakovic shows up and seems to be joining them tonight.

Video on Finn Balor, who wants the NXT Title back. He’s playing chess while Cole is playing checkers, so checkmate.

Video on Isaiah Scott.

Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno

The fans chant for Riddle in the Goldberg cadence for a fun moment. They go with the grappling to start until Riddle takes him down by the (right) arm. The cravate has Riddle in more trouble but he’s back out with a German suplex as the eyes get a bit more serious. Ohno gets sent outside for a kick to the chest and we take a break.

Back with Riddle kicking at the chest as the announcers keep hyping up When Worlds Collide. Ohno gets in a shot to the throat and a big boot to drop Riddle as he is willing to cheat to finally beat him. Or he’s just a villain in general. The cravate goes back on and is switched into a crossarm choke to keep Riddle in trouble.

That’s broken up as well and Riddle hits a Broton but has to bail out of a standing moonsault. The Bro To Sleep sets up a powerbomb to plant Ohno, and the Final Flash knocks him silly. Riddle’s Floating Bro gets two but Ohno is right back with a suplex. Ohno tries a cradle piledriver but gets reversed into a knee to the face and the Bro Derek to give Riddle the pin at 12:33.

Rating: B-. Yeah of course these two have good matches against each other because they work well together and have similar styles. At the end of the day though, Ohno exists to put Riddle over and that’s a great role for him. What matters more than anything else here though is the hype for When Worlds Collide, meaning it might actually be important for once. They have been watchable before, but it would be great to see the show have some meaning.

We look back at Baszler beating Ripley down. The title match is official for the 18^th.

Kushida vs. Raul Mendoza

Or not as here’s Cameron Grimes to jump Mendoza and take his place. This stuns Kushida for some reason.

Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes

As stunned as he is, Kushida is fine enough to hit a handspring kick to the face to put Grimes on the floor to start, setting up a big flip dive off the top to take Grimes down again. Back in and Kushida grabs something like the Black Widow and bends the arm WAY back for a nearly terrifying visual. Another handspring is countered into a German suplex to put Kushida down for the first time and the Superman forearm connects. Grimes tries his backflip into a German suplex but Kushida reverses into a rollup for the pin at 4:16.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as Grimes has been getting a pretty big push in recent weeks but then loses here to the returning Kushida. I get why Kushida gets the win to put himself back on track but why have him beat Grimes and not, say, Mendoza like you had planned? Just a weird moment but it came at the end of a fine match.

We recap Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza. They meet for Rush’s Cruiserweight Title next week.

Also next week: Yim vs. Kai.

Undisputed Era vs. Dominick Dijakovic/Tommaso Ciampa/Keith Lee

Strong gets taken into the corner for the early beating and Ciampa already has to give himself some applause. O’Reilly comes in for a standing guillotine on Dijakovic and is quickly tossed out of a suplex. A middle rope splash gives Dijakovic two and the standing knees to the back make it even worse. The Era is sent outside and we take a break. Back with Dijakovic fighting out of O’Reilly’s abdominal stretch and hitting one heck of a clothesline.

That’s not enough to get over for the tag though as O’Reilly grabs the leg. It takes all three members of the Era to pull Dijakovic back into the corner for a unique visual. Dijakovic fights up and makes the tag off to Ciampa so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee to the back of O’Reilly’s head sets up Project Ciampa for two.

The Fairy Tale Ending is broken up and it’s High/Low to give Strong two with Lee and Dijakovic making a double save. Strong drops Ciampa again as things settle into the normal structure again. Cole and Lee get the hot tags and it’s time for the real house cleaning. The threat of a big dive sends the Era scattering so Lee runs over O’Reilly and Strong.

Dijakovic hits a spinning springboard dive but Cole breaks up a superplex to put O’Reilly on the pile outside. Cue Finn Balor to dropkick Cole into the referee in the corner. 1916 plants Ciampa but Lee rises up behind Balor for a great visual. Lee hits the Spirit Bomb on Balor and, after avoiding the Last Shot, hits the Limit Breaker for the pin on Cole at 11:48.

Rating: B. This was the kind of match that NXT knows how to do very well as they had the interference but then gave us the big moment to end things as well. These guys beat the heck out of each other and had the big spots in there, with Lee continuing to get the rocket push. That being said, there are other people involved who could get the title shot as well, which makes for a lot of great possibilities.

Post match here’s William Regal to make Keith Lee vs. Finn Balor vs. Tommaso Ciampa for next week with the winner getting a title shot the following week. That really could go any of the three ways and that’s not something you see every day.

Overall Rating: B. Another night with the wrestling being good throughout, as well as setting up multiple things that I want to see later on. You don’t get that very often and they made it work here, which almost no one else can do. The future is crazy bright with Lee and Ripley getting the monster pushes, but what makes it so much better is you could see them winning, which is almost unthinkable. More good stuff here though, as NXT’s roll continues (for years now).

Results

Killian Dain b. Pete Dunne – Middle rope belly to back slam

Shayna Baszler b. Xia Li – Kirifuda Clutch

Forgotten Sons b. Adrian Alanis/Leon Ruff – Reverse DDT/middle rope stomp to Alanis

Matt Riddle b. Kassius Ohno – Bro Derek

Kushida b. Cameron Grimes – Cradle

Keith Lee/Tommaso Ciampa/Dominick Dijakovic b. Undisputed Era – Limit Breaker to Cole

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

We have finally arrived. After several weeks of Raw, Smackdown and NXT invading each others’ shows, it is time to see which show is best and that could be interesting. Raw has won the competition three years in a row, though this is NXT’s first time being included. The card looks good, albeit huge. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck end zone, looking straight at the Titantron.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

Raw: OC, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

Smackdown: Revival, Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

When one member is out, both of them are out and that’s quite the advantage for Smackdown. Vic on Hawkins and Ryder: “Here are two guys who are just happy they’re still here.” Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik for the House Party and Fabian Aichner/Marcel Barthel for Imperium, with Walter on the outside. It’s a big brawl to start with Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat (he finds new ways to look stupid every day) and it’s the Sons being out in a hurry.

The House Party quickly follow them with Hawkins and Ryder going as well to really start clearing the ring out. We get the standard Ziggler save because he does these things in every battle royal but never wins the things. Aichner and Ziggler slug it out on the apron with Roode knocking Aichner out for the elimination. Otis gives Ziggler the spinning slam and takes off the shirt to set up the Caterpillar, only to get tossed by the OC and the Revival.

Fandango gets sent through the ropes so he’s able to catch Breeze as he’s thrown out, only to have the Revival get rid of them anyway. That’s it for NXT and the Profits dropkick Revival out to get us down to the OC, the Profits and Ziggler/Roode. Ziggler breaks up the Magic Killer to Roode and superkicks Gallows out and we’re down to two. Roode gets knocked through the ropes and it’s the spinebuster to Ziggler but Roode knocks Ford off the top. Ford is right back up with a frog splash to Ziggler, only to have Roode throw him out for the win at 8:21.

Rating: D. What a great way to start the show: eliminate all of the popular teams and go with the least interesting team from Smackdown instead of the popular Heavy Machinery. It’s not like it matters one way or another in the grand scheme of things, but that’s what we get anyway because WWE loves itself some Roode and Ziggler. The match was your usual battle royal and that’s not exactly interesting.

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto (Smackdown) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Lio Rush (NXT)

Rush is defending and we’ve got armbands for the brands. It really is amazing how much effort they put into trying to get this Brand Supremacy thing over but it’s better than the stupid shirts. Tozawa and Kalisto knock him to the floor to start so Tozawa can roll Kalisto up for two, setting off the issues in a hurry. Rush comes back in and starts the dodging but gets pulled to the floor. Kalisto’s kick to the head cuts off Tozawa’s dive and everyone gets back in.

It’s Rush dodging Kalisto’s shots to the head and hitting a double handspring elbow to put both of them down. A left hand to the face puts Rush down and Tozawa plants him with a fireman’s carry faceplant. Everyone heads to the same corner and it’s Rush with a super double armdrag so all three can be down at once again. The three way slugout goes to Rush until Tozawa snaps off a German suplex for two.

Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two more and they’re down for the fourth time. There’s the Salida Del Sol to Rush with Tozawa breaking it up with a Shining Wizard. The top rope backsplash gets the same as Kalisto gets to make a save this time. Kalisto and Tozawa slug it out for a bit until it’s another Salida Del Sol to plant Tozawa. Rush dives in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain at 8:28.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be: three talented guys going out there and doing a bunch of fast paced offense for a few minutes. The crowd was into it too, which makes me feel a little bit better for these guys. The cruiserweights have been treated terribly on 205 Live and it’s nice to see them getting a chance to actually shine on the big stage for once.

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the Tag Team Champions. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off and the early beating sends O’Reilly over for the tag to Fish. The fans are behind the Era to start so Big E. and Ivar run both of them over, leaving us with the big power showdown. Big E. can’t slam him but he can shoulder the heck out of him instead, only to have O’Reilly come back in for some knees to Big E.’s ribs.

Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s Ivar slamming Erik onto Fish. Kofi comes in to hammer on Erik before jumping over Big E. for a backsplash to O’Reilly. The Era is sent to the floor so it’s New Day slugging it out with the Vikings. That doesn’t last long as Erik and Big E. head to the floor, allowing the Era to come back in and double team Kofi. The knee gets taken out with O’Reilly hitting the top rope knee to said knee, setting up a kneebar.

Ivar comes back in to break that up with a splash as everything breaks down again. The knee is fine enough to kick away at O’Reilly on the apron as Big E. misses the spear to the floor. With everyone else on the floor, Erik slams Ivar from the apron onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Fish kicks Erik in the face before O’Reilly starts in on the knee at the slower pace.

That’s broken up and it’s back to Ivar to clean house. O’Reilly kicks Fish in the face by mistake and it’s Jeff Cobb’s Tour of the Islands to Kyle. It’s back Erik, who gets caught by Kofi’s double stomp out of the corner. That’s not it though as it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp for two with Ivar making the save. Big E. hits the spear on Erik this time and everyone is down on the floor at once.

Back in and the knee to Big E.’s face sets up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination. Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise on the floor and takes the High/Low, leaving the Era vs. the Vikings. Ivar shrugs off the kicks and cartwheels away from High/Low to take both of them down. The Viking Experience sends O’Reilly into Fish for the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but once they hit their stride, this was a pretty crazy set of spots with a bunch of different styles on display. It was a lot of fun and Raw gets on the board, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. However, they did enough of a job of making you believe that any team could win to get around thing. None of the teams looked bad here either so they even protected the champions. Really fun match that had just the right amount of time too.

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

The opening video is your big recap of the NXT Invasion, which goes exactly as you would have guessed. They’re doing a good job of making NXT look like an equal here and that is what matters most out of the whole thing. All of the individual matches get some attention as well.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Sarah Logan

Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross

NXT: Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair

For the sake of sanity, they do team entrances instead of having fifteen individual entrances. Everyone but Toni on Team NXT was in WarGames last night so they’re a bit banged up. There will be three in at once but you can only tag your own partners so it won’t be completely insane. Lacey, Logan and Toni start things off with Logan getting knocked down early on.

Cross comes in to clean house until Toni takes her down as well, leaving Logan to hit some cartwheel knees to the back. Logan drops Cross onto Toni for two on each but Storm is up with a double German suplex. It’s off to Shirai vs. Sane vs. Carmella with Carmella just kind of being annoying as they have their staredown. Brooke comes in and lets them fight in the smarter move. Sane rolls her up for two so Brooke steals her own rollup to Sane for two more.

Brooke’s Swanton gets two on Sane and it’s off to Lacey for a kick to the face and her own two. Lacey talks trash to Candice and gets beaten up in the corner with Asuka getting dropped as well. A middle rope Downward Spiral gets two on Lacey and it’s Rhea coming in to dropkick Lacey to the floor. Everyone starts coming in for the parade of secondary finishers until Sasha is left alone in the ring. Hold on though as Candice and Shirai are both down on the floor and the match just kind of stops. They’re taken out and we’ll call that a double elimination at about 7:30.

We settle down to Ripley vs. Banks vs. Charlotte in the battle of the captains….but it’s Belair, Logan and Cross coming in before anything happens. Cross dives onto Ripley and then hammers on Storm for a bonus but Belair rolls Cross up for the pin at 9:39. Belair hits the KOD on Carmella, who rolls straight over to the ropes to save herself. Logan jumps Belair to the floor and dives onto Ripley and Storm on the floor. Back in and Belair punches Logan down, setting up a gorgeous 450 for the pin at 12:12.

Charlotte comes in and clotheslines Belair down but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte in the ribs. Carmella’s super hurricanrana sends Charlotte into Belair for a pair of twos each, plus a lot of Carmella’s screaming. Some low superkicks give Carmella two more on Belair but it’s Charlotte hitting Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38.

That leaves us with Charlotte/Asuka/Sane/Natalya vs. Ripley/Storm/Belair vs. Banks/Brooke/Lacey. Storm comes in and beats up Shirai and Banks until Shirai’s spinning backfist takes her down. The Insane Elbow gets two on Storm but Banks breaks it up with a Meteora to Sane for the elimination at 16:48. It’s three apiece now with Asuka coming in and kicking away to take over, including a big spinning kick to the head to get rid of Brooke at 17:22.

Charlotte and Asuka get in a fight though with Charlotte pulling her down by the hair. Lacey comes in and gets suplexed into the corner, only to take Asuka’s mist to the face. That’s it for Asuka, who walks out at about 19:00. The Woman’s Right finishes Charlotte at 19:08 and Natalya is the only one left for Raw. Natalya’s discus lariat drops Storm and a rollup gets rid of Lacey at 19:52.

NXT has a pretty commanding leave now so Natalya puts Toni in the Sharpshooter. Banks adds the Bank Statement and Storm is done at 20:42. Banks and Natalya get together for a Hart Attack and the pin on Belair at 21:17, leaving us with Ripley vs. Banks vs. Natalya. Banks and Natalya smirk at Ripley but Banks punches Natalya out for the win at 22:01.

Ripley slams Banks down for an early two and blocks a tornado DDT attempt. Banks sends her into the corner for a crash and there are the running knees in the corner. The Meteora gets two on Ripley but she’s back up in time to kick Banks out of the air for trying it again. The standing Cloverleaf comes on but Banks reverses into the Bank Statement. Cue LeRae and Shirai (never officially eliminated) to pulls Ripley to the floor so Banks takes both of them down. LeRae offers a distraction though and it’s Shirai hitting a springboard missile dropkick. Riptide finishes Banks at 27:53.

Rating: B-. Well there’s your star making performance. It might have been a little bit of a dirty finish but Ripley looked like a star of the highest order out there, which is exactly what they were going for here. The match worked rather well, but there were a few too many people in there and it got messy at times. Still though, seeing NXT pull off the huge upset and actually getting somewhere in this whole thing more than made up for it.

We look at Kevin Owens joining Team Ciampa to help defeat the Undisputed Era at WarGames.

Seth Rollins comes in to see Owens and accuses him of wanting to turn on Raw tonight. Owens says last night was about getting even with the Undisputed Era and yes he loves NXT, but he’s Raw. Rollins doesn’t seem convinced.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. AJ Styles (Raw) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn (an awesome hype man) is here with Nakamura. They go straight into the exchange of strikes to start and it’s Strong getting the better of it off the backbreakers. Nakamura gets dropped on the apron but AJ knees Strong in the face. Back in and Nakamura starts striking away, including the running knee to the ribs to knock Styles right back to the floor.

Strong’s fireman’s carry into the double knees to the chest get two on Nakamura and Strong bends him over his back. AJ is back in with a sleeper on Strong before throwing him into Nakamura for the break. He can’t follow up though and Strong hits AJ with a clothesline, followed by the running forearms to make it even worse. The belly to back faceplant gets two and Strong monkey flips AJ into a running knee from Nakamura.

Strong gets knocked down and Nakamura’s sliding knee to the head gets two more. AJ’s reverse DDT is good for another two and some frustration is setting in. The fireman’s carry backbreaker gives AJ two more with Strong not being able to make the save. Strong can break up the Styles Clash, but the crash means Nakamura lands on his face anyway. The Angle Slam gives Strong two on AJ as Sami is helping Nakamura with his breathing on the floor.

The coaching works though as Nakamura goes up and hits a doomsday kick to the chest for two on Strong, who grabs his knee and screams. Cole: “You’ve got to wonder if Strong is hurt.” Does Vince go out of his way to make Cole say these stupid things? Sami posts AJ as Strong hits a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Just to egg the crowd on a bit, Nakamura hits a Go To Sleep on Strong but AJ breaks up Kinshasa. A spinning backfist staggers Strong and Nakamura suplexes him onto AJ.

There’s Kinshasa to Strong and AJ dives in for a save. That puts Strong on the floor so Nakamura tells AJ to COME ON. The striking exchange is on with Nakamura hitting a middle rope knee to the face. Nakamura’s Landslide gets two but AJ hits a forearm out of the corner. The Phenomenal Forearm connects but Strong comes in and steals the pin at 16:44.

Rating: B. Much like the previous one, this was all about action with all three guys looking like they could pull it off. Strong stealing the pin is fine enough and again, the bigger name taking the fall is protected. They were beating the fire out of each other here and we have our second good match in a row, though a little better than the first due to less chaos.

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

Therefore, NXT can only be tied and can’t lose.

The Miz tries to give Daniel Bryan a pep talk but get glared away.

Cole explains the Mauro Ranallo is missing due to blowing his voice out. Right.

NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Dunne is challenging after winning a triple threat match last night. They’re both very banged up after Takeover but Cole should be in far worse shape of the two. Dunne spins out of a wristlock to start and Cole’s headlock works just as badly. A shot to the ribs puts the injured Cole down but Dunne’s knee is bothering him as well. Cole’s arm gets twisted around and Dunne takes him to the floor to stomp on it again.

Back in and Cole gets smart by going after the bad knee with some cranking and a dropkick to the leg to make it worse. Dunne’s leg is good enough for the X Plex and you can see the shock of pain going through Cole as his ribs hit the mat. An enziguri in the corner lets Dunne stomp on Cole’s fingers and a sitout powerbomb gets two. Cole tries to bail to the floor so Dunne takes him out with a moonsault.

Back in and Dunne kicks him in the head but a moonsault hits raised knees. The Shining Wizard gets two as Cole was too banged up to hit it at full strength. Dunne shrugs off a pump kick to the face but can’t shrug off the brainbuster onto the knee. Back up and Dunne grabs a quick Bitter End before going for a moonsault out of the corner. Cole is right there with a superkick to the upside down Dunne (still awesome and incredible timing) for two more.

A big forearm puts Cole on the floor but he gets in a kick to the knee. They fight on the apron and Dunne’s knee gives out, allowing Dunne to hit a crazy looking Panama Sunrise onto the apron. They barely beat the count back in and Cole superkicks his head off for two more. Dunne tells him to come on and snaps the fingers but the Bitter End is countered into another Panama Sunrise. The Last Shot retains the title at 14:04.

Rating: A-. This is a case where the televised version worked a lot better than the live version as commentary and the better camera angles focused on Dunne’s knee injury that much better. You couldn’t get much out of that in the arena (or at least from the upper deck) and commentary sold the story very well. This was a heck of a back and forth match with both guys working very hard and selling their damage from the previous night.

Some wrestlers visited an elementary school.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend. Bray Wyatt won the title earlier in the month at Crown Jewel and started taunting Bryan to make him his first victim. Bryan has teased bringing back the YES Movement to fight Wyatt but won’t go all the way with it. Therefore, he might not be ready to face the Fiend.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan is challenging and we get the full Fiend entrance, complete with severed head lantern. The crowd goes almost silent as the red lights come on and that’s an impressive reaction. Bryan hits a running dropkick into the corner to start but tries another and gets blasted by a clothesline. An uppercut puts Bryan on the floor and Bray plants him in the ring for a bonus.

There’s the toss suplex and Bray starts writhing around before grabbing the neck crank. With that broken up, they head outside where Bray misses a charge into the steps. He’s right back up though and Bryan has to break up Sister Abigail, meaning it’s a posting to stagger Bray again. A big dive off the top drops Fiend and he’s taking a little more time to get up.

Back in and Daniel hits the missile dropkick, followed by the YES Kicks to….just bring Bray back up. Fiend laughs at him and seems to say bring it on so Bryan hits the big kick to the head. More stomps have Fiend in trouble and the running knee (with YES chants from Bryan) gets two. Bray charges into a boot in the corner but grabs the Mandible Claw anyway. That’s reversed into an armbar over the top rope but dives into a right hand. Bryan tries the running knee again and charges straight into the Mandible Claw for the pin at 10:01.

Rating: B. They were getting somewhere with this one but it never hit that next level. It’s like Bryan needs one more gear, like the YES Movement, to get all the way over the hump. The Fiend comes off like a movie monster and it is going to take someone special to beat him. Having Bray beat a star like Bryan is a good move for him, but it’s hard not to imagine Roman Reigns getting the nod at this point. Anyway, this was a good match but it needed one more level to make it great.

Rey Mysterio says he first faced Brock Lesnar almost fifteen years ago. He’s a new man now and pulls out the pipe to prove it. Normally Rey would want his son Dominick to turn away but tonight he wants his son to watch and see what happens when Rey takes out Brock’s legs.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens

Smackdown: Roman Reigns, Shorty G., Mustafa Ali, King Corbin, Braun Strowman

NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Matt Riddle, Damian Priest

Same rules as the women’s match: triple threat and you can only tag your team members. Ali is rather happy to be in his hometown, as he should be. The fans are behind Walter, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Rollins and Ciampa slug away at Strowman to start so he dropkicks both of them down at the same time. McIntyre and Walter come in for the big three way hoss showdown and it’s Strowman being hammered down in the corner. Walter and McIntyre chop it out with Walter kicking him down but getting run over by Strowman.

A heck of a Rolling Chaos Theory hits Ricochet and it’s Riddle coming in to a big reaction. Gable gets the ankle lock on Riddle but it’s broken up in a hurry for the staredown. Another Chaos Theory doesn’t work on Riddle as Ciampa tags himself in, only to get kicked in the head by Gable. Ricochet kicks both of them down and it’s Owens going up top. He thinks about splashing Gable or Ciampa before going with the frog splash to get rid of Gable at 6:29.

Corbin comes in and bails from the threat of a Stunner so Owens follows him with the Cannonball. The Stunner connects on the floor but Ciampa catches Owens with Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:41. Orton is behind Ciampa but Ciampa is smart enough to turn around without walking into the RKO. Ciampa hammers away and tries another Willow’s Bell but gets dropped onto the apron instead. Back in and it’s the Garvin Stomp but Ciampa gets over for the tag to Priest, only to walk into the RKO. Another RKO gets rid of Priest at 10:16 but Riddle rolls Orton up for the pin at 10:26.

Orton RKOs Riddle as well and it’s stealing the pin at 10:54 to some great heel heat. That’s how you use Corbin and it worked great here. Lee and Strowman come in so the fans are already singing. McIntyre breaks up the staredown with a forearm to Lee but gets run over by Strowman. That means the big running train around the ring, which works so well that Strowman does it again. This time though, Lee runs him over for a change and McIntyre adds a Claymore to count Strowman out at 13:17.

We’re down to Lee/Ciampa vs. Ricochet/McIntyre/Rollins vs. Ali/Corbin/Reigns. Ricochet springboards in with a clothesline to Corbin and there’s the big running flip dive to Reigns. The 450 misses Lee though and Corbin hits the End of Days to finish Ricochet at 14:31. Ali tags himself in and starts cleaning house with some kicks to the face.

Rollins counters the rolling X Factor by launching Ali over his head, only to have Ali X Factor Ciampa instead. The tornado DDT hits Rollins and it’s Ali hitting a suicide dive onto a bunch of people. Corbin won’t let Ali get a cover though and the distraction lets Rollins hit the Stomp to get rid of Ali at 16:10.

Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor until McIntyre and Rollins break it up. Back in and McIntyre’s reverse Alabama slam gets two on Ciampa but the spear cuts McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39. Rollins, the only member left of Team Raw, kicks Reigns to the floor but the suicide dive is blocked with a right hand. Willow’s Bell cuts Reigns off but he reverses the Fairy Tale Ending into the Superman Punch.

Corbin pulls Reigns over to the corner for the tag, only to yell at Reigns instead of going after Ciampa. Eventually Ciampa escapes the chokeslam, leaving Reigns to spear and Superman Punch Corbin to give Ciampa the pin at 19:57. It’s Reigns for Smackdown, Rollins for Raw and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Reigns, Rollins and Ciampa slug it out with Lee coming in for a failed save attempt.

That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins because we need to get the Shield stuff in. They decide to work together again but can’t hit a DoubleBomb. Instead Ciampa catches Rollins with Project Ciampa for a VERY close two but it’s a Superman Punch to Ciampa. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:02 and we’re down to one apiece.

Lee is ready to go and slingshots in with a double crossbody to put them both down. The Limit Breaker is countered by Rollins and a superkick sets up the frog splash for two as the fans are behind Lee. Rollins goes after Lee again but walks into the Limit Breaker for the completely clean pin at 26:32 to get rid of Raw. The roof goes off the place as Lee is instantly a legit contender to pull off the major upset.

Reigns starts fast with a Superman Punch for a very quick two and Graves is DEMANDING a replay. The spear is loaded up but Lee cuts it off with a Spirit Bomb for a very, very close two. Lee misses the moonsault though and gets speared down for the pin at 29:18 as the air doesn’t go all the way out of the place.

Rating: B+. The ending sequence was the reason I’ve always wanted to see one of these shows in person: they hit the drama out of the park and had you believing that Lee could pull off the impossible. Lee got the big pin on Rollins so he’s a made man as a result, along with Ciampa for pinning Owens and Corbin. Just like in the women’s match, the NXT men felt like they belonged here and that was the point of the whole thing. Very fun match here with a lot of people (including Gable) getting to show off for a long time. Lee got the big rub here though, and they nailed every bit of what they wanted to do with him.

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Post match Reigns and Lee show respect.

Becky Lynch talks about being the man seven days a week while Shayna Baszler has been training every day. Shayna is going to have to destroy her completely and no one can do that to her. Then there’s Bayley, who thinks Becky has been ducking her. Becky even broke her own rule and came looking for Bayley. Tonight, Becky is taking them out and showing that she is the Man.

We recap Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar. Brock attacked Rey and his son so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez to help him fight. Once Lesnar got rid of Cain in less than three minutes, Rey fought for himself and took out Lesnar’s knee with a steel pipe. Tonight it’s No DQ so Rey can have a chance.

Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and anything goes. Rey is dressed as the Joker (again) and that might not be the best visual for a match that is supposed to be rather serious. Paul Heyman introduces Brock as weighing about two and a half Rey Mysterios for his funny line of the night. Rey goes straight to the floor and pulls out the pipe so Lesnar bails to the floor in a smart move.

Brock gets Rey to chase him and the big clothesline makes him drop the pipe. The beating begins as Rey is sent outside and over the announcers’ table in a crash. The announcers’ table is loaded up and Brock throws him into the cover. Rey is beaten down so badly that Brock can even stop to tie his boot. It takes so long that Rey can get in a posting but Brock won’t let him grab the pipe. A release German suplex drops Rey onto the pipe (geez) and another (no pipe) makes it even worse.

There’s a third suplex so here’s Dominick with a towel. Brock takes that away and throws it out (maybe in a shot at the ending to Cody vs. Chris Jericho at Full Gear). Brock grabs Dominick so Rey hits him low and even Dominick gets in his own shot. Some pipe shots set up a double 619 (sweet) and Dominick adds a frog splash (in a nice tribute to his dad). Rey adds his own frog splash for two and the fans know it isn’t happening. Dominick gets suplexed down and the F5 retains the title at 6:54.

We recap the women’s triple threat match. Becky Lynch knows she is the best but Shayna Baszler came in and said she’d beat Becky just like the rest. Bayley has been fighting to make people think she matters in this whole thing other than to take the fall.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the Women’s Champions. Ignore how Bayley’s shirt with BAY over LEY with the belt around her waist spells AEW of course. The announcers mention Ronda Rousey quite a few times during the entrances and I can’t imagine that’s a coincidence. Bayley knocks Baszler into Becky to start and the fans aren’t exactly interested early on. Baszler and Bayley hammer away at each other on the mat and fight to the floor.

Becky takes both of them down before throwing Bayley back inside. The spinning legdrop misses but Becky is right back up with a slingshot dropkick through the ropes to keep Baszler down. Bayley hits (or close to it) a sunset bomb into the corner as the silence is notable here. With Becky down, Baszler starts working on the arm but Becky cuts off a charge into the corner. Bayley stomps Becky down and slams her face into the mat a few times as the fans try to get a weak Becky chant going.

Baszler is back in to break it up but Bayley knocks her down as well. Becky gets back up this time with a DDT to Baszler and a reverse DDT to Bayley at the same time, though it isn’t enough to get the crowd going. The guillotine legdrop gets two on Bayley and Baszler has to break up the Disarm-Her. The Bayley to Belly gets two on Baszler but she’s back up with a suplex of her own. Becky comes back in with a missile dropkick to make Baszler drop Bayley.

We get the CM PUNK chants as Baszler and Becky slug it out until Bayley sends Becky outside. The charge on the apron is cut off with a Kirifuda Clutch but Becky comes back in with a sitout powerbomb for two on Baszler. Now it’s Becky getting Clutched inside until Bayley makes the save, only to get sent outside again. They all wind up on the floor with Becky being sent into various steel objects. Bayley takes Baszler back inside and has to suplex her way out of a quick Clutch attempt. The top rope elbow is countered into the Clutch though and Bayley taps at 18:05.

Rating: D+. They were trying here but the match didn’t have much of a flow and wasn’t the most thrilling. You can also see the amount of influence that the crowd can have as they weren’t interested here. However, there were some rather negative chants in the arena and they didn’t get picked up by audio here, which is a rather good thing. The match wasn’t good but it also wasn’t a nightmare and the heavily negative chants weren’t deserved. It didn’t help when the best Bayley could have done was tie the score and Becky had no chance to win anything for Raw, but there were other issues going on.

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Post match Shayna celebrates on the announcers’ table but Becky jumps her from behind. A legdrop off the apron lets Becky pose to end the show. That doesn’t get the best reaction either.

Overall Rating: B+. Aside from a not great main event, this was a heck of a show with one good to great match after another. They would have been better off having a tie coming into the main event but WWE hasn’t seemed interested in drama around here for the last few shows. NXT got the rub it was looking for though and that is the best thing that could happen. I’m sure it’ll be enough to fight off AEW, which is one of the major points of this whole thing so well done? In theory? Anyway what we got was borderline great though and I got what I was wanting out of the show so I’ll call it a major positive.

Results

Team NXT b. Team Raw and Team Smackdown last eliminating Sasha Banks

Roderick Strong b. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura – Phenomenal Forearm to Nakamura

Adam Cole b. Pete Dunne – Last Shot

The Fiend b. Daniel Bryan – Mandible Claw

Team Smackdown b. Team Raw and Team NXT – Spear to Lee

Brock Lesnar b. Rey Mysterio – F5

Shayna Baszler b. Bayley and Becky Lynch – Kirifuda Clutch to Bayley

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Takeover: WarGames III
Date: November 23, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a big night around here as we have not one but two WarGames matches on the same show, which I’m pretty sure has never happened before in a major company. The card is a little bit shorter than your usual Takeover but I have a feeling the quality is going to be just fine. The big question for tonight is who is the final member of Team Ciampa, which could be a lot of people. Let’s get to it.

During the Kickoff Show, it was announced that Mia Yim has been injured and is out of WarGames. No word on the attacker, yet.

Kickoff Show: Angel Garza vs. Isaiah Scott

The first ever Kickoff Show match in NXT history. The entrance features the production area for the Kickoff Show panel, including a video screen for a weird behind the scenes/in front of the scenes hybrid. Hold on as Garza needs to take off his pants but Scott grabs them, only to give us a series of escapes into a standoff.

A headscissors puts Garza on the floor for a handspring hurricanrana (which wasn’t the smoothest thing in the world). Back in and Scott hits a gordbuster into a….I guess cartwheel splash onto the legs? A high crossbody connects but Garza rolls through and sends him into the corner. With Scott down, GARZA HAS TO TAKE OFF HIS PANTS! Scott is so distracted that it’s a superkick into a slingshot reverse suplex into another superkick for two.

The Lionsault misses so Scott is right back with a clothesline. Something close to a side slam gives Scott his own two as commentary keeps swooning over Garza. Scott tries a backdrop into the ropes but Garza flips back into a sitout powerbomb (cool) for two. With Scott on the apron, Garza dives at him but lands in a Death Valley Driver, followed by the double stomp to the floor. Fans: “YOU GOT SWERVED!” The House Call gets two back inside and Scott is shocked. Garza drives him into the corner but can’t use the distraction to hit a low blow. Instead he blocks Scott’s kick and hits the Wing Clipper for the pin at 7:34.

Rating: C. The missed execution hurt both of them but they have been good enough as of late to write that one off as a bad night. Scott continues to be someone with all the potential in the world but WWE keeps having him lose like this. I’m not sure if Garza has that much potential, though the amount of charisma he has is going to take him wherever he wants to go.

Shawn Michaels narrates the opening video, talking about how war is inevitable. The two WarGames matches get the focus, with the two regular matches being mentioned as well, as it should be.

Team Ripley vs. Team Baszler

Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai

Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray

Kai is Yim’s replacement in WarGames. The first two will face off for five minutes, followed by Team Baszler sending in a second member for a three minute advantage. After that, Team Ripley gets to tie it up for three minutes. The teams alternate entrances every three minutes until everyone is in, and then it’s first pinfall or submission wins. If you leave the cage, you forfeit the match for your entire team. Rhea and Io get huge reactions while Kai is seen as a big of a disappointment.

Shirai and LeRae get things going and they hit the right hands early on. Candice’s headscissors is rolled through as the fans are entirely behind Io. Shirai gets sent to the other ring but is fine enough to block a dive, setting up a 619 from both directions. A rope walk missile dropkick puts Candice down again and she gets sent head first into the metal board between the rings. LeRae’s face gets raked across the cage but she scores with some right hands as Bianca Belair is in to make it 2-1.

The release Glam Slam into the running shooting star have Candice down again but she scores with a reverse hurricanrana. Belair’s charge hits Shirai in the corner so she makes up for it with a triple powerbomb, with the third being a buckle bomb into the cage (Cage bomb?). Belair grabs a camel clutch so Shirai can run the ropes several times into a dropkick to a huge reaction (it’s not that hard to work a crowd up you know).

Rhea Ripley ties things up and it’s already time to bring in the weapons. Hold on though as Rhea pauses to slam the cage door onto Belair’s head before grabbing even more weapons. The fans want tables but have to settle for EVERYTHING else as Rhea goes under the ring at least six times to get weapon after weapon. A belly to back faceplant onto the trashcan makes it even worse for Belair and it’s time to set up some chairs.

Shirai saves Belair from a double suplex through the chairs to prevent a bad case of death as Kay Lee Ray makes it 3-2. She pulls out her own weapons, including a pile of chairs, before pulling out a table….which she slides back under the ring in a good heel move. Chair shots abound, including a tornado DDT to plant Rhea on one of the chairs. A lot of people head over to the corner above the open chairs so Ray folds them down, setting up the HUGE Tower of Doom to crush everyone save for Belair onto the chairs. That’s fine for Belair, who snaps off the gorgeous 450 onto Ripley.

Everyone is down so it’s Dakota Kai to tie things up….but she turns around and kicks Nox in the face before slamming her into the small cage so hard that the cage is actually rocking back and forth. The cage door is slammed onto Nox’s head (you could hear that one all over the arena) and then the knees over and over. Kai takes the brace off so here’s William Regal for the save. Kai shoves HIM and swears a lot as Regal orders her to the back. She comes back though and pulls on the leg again before shouting at a furious Ripley, who is watching from the cage (yeah the cage, which we haven’t seen in a few minutes now).

With Kai finally taken to the back, Baszler finally gets to come out to complete her team and doesn’t exactly seem in a hurry. Ripley is being held back but she breaks free to slug it out with Baszler, only to have the numbers get the better of her. Kai and Nox are officially out so pins and submissions are open. Candice gets in a shot to knock down Shirai and Ray but she has to save Ripley from being handcuffed to the ropes (something I couldn’t see at all watching live). The stereo two on one fights are on with Belair being sent into a trashcan in the corner.

Ripley blocks Ray’s DDT and suplexes her into the cage, setting up the Cloverleaf to Shirai on the top. Not to be outdone, Baszler grabs the Kirifuda Clutch on LeRae across the ring. LeRae slips out though and Ray makes a save with a kick to the head, followed by LeRae’s moonsault for two on Baszler. Belair gorilla presses LeRae over the top onto Ripley and it’s the Gory Bomb to leave LeRae laying. The moonsault gives Shirai two and there are the hair whips to Ripley.

LeRae is back with the kendo stick shots for the save but Shirai takes her down. Shirai goes all the way to the top but LeRae catches her, followed by the super reverse hurricanrana to Ray for the huge crash. LeRae and Belair stand up, only to have Shirai moonsault onto both of them (Mauro: “MAMA F’ING MIA!”) for an even bigger crash. Ripley loads up a trashcan onto two open chairs but stops to knock a trashcan into Ray’s face. That lets Baszler grab the Kirifuda Clutch but Ripley escapes and cuffs them together. Baszler’s big kick misses and it’s Riptide through the chairs to pin Baszler at 27:26.

Rating: B. This was definitely better on a second watch with the additional camera angles showing me a lot that I didn’t see before (including the handcuffs all together). Ripley continues to look like the star of stars and I don’t see how they can’t put the title on her soon. At the same time though, it’s going to take a long time for me to get my head around two women, including one who started the match, beating four, including two champions, at the same time. That’s a lot, and some of the villains just disappeared for long stretches. It’s not some horrible idea or completely unacceptable, but it’s going to take some time.

Ripley and LeRae pose as Baszler knows she’s in big trouble.

We recap the triple threat #1 contenders match. Damian Priest and Pete Dunne were having a match when Killian Dain stared Dunne down. Dain would attack both of them and a three way feud broke out. The match was turned into a #1 contenders match with the winner getting an NXT Title shot at Survivor Series.

Imperium is here.

Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dain vs. Damian Priest

The winner gets Adam Cole tomorrow night. Priest is in Outsiders inspired gear for a nice (and rather random) touch. They all miss some shots to the head to start and stare each other down until Priest sends Dunne outside. With Dain down in the corner, Dunne comes back in to kick away at Priest’s legs. Dunne stomps on Dain’s arm but gets hit in the face by Priest for his efforts. Priest’s big step up flip dive is cut off by Dunne and Dain crossbodies Priest down.

For a bonus, Dain Michinoku Drivers Dunne and sits on Priest’s face at the same time. They head outside with Dain Samoan dropping Priest and Dunne hitting a fall away slam on Dunne at the same time, just to show off a bit. Back in and Dain gets double teamed as Dunne and Priest get smart for a change. A suplex puts Dain down and Dunne steps on the fingers to some well received applause. Dunne goes for a triangle on Priest but Dain grabs the fingers, setting up a double powerbomb to plant Dunne hard.

The monsters slug it out so Dunne comes back in to hammer on both of them as he just likes to fight. A double stomp onto a hand of both sends everyone into a series of strikes until all three go down. As the other two fight, Priest heads up top for a flip dive and it’s the South of Heaven chokeslam for two on Dunne. Priest isn’t done though and drops Dunn onto the announcers’ table, only to get taken down by Dain’s dive. A Cannonball sends Priest through part of the barricade and everyone is down again.

Dain is back in with a backsplash to Priest but the Vader Bomb is broken up with a kick to the head. A Razor’s Edge (impressive one too) drops Dain with Dunne having to dive back in for the save. Dain is sent outside again so Priest hits the big dive over the top. Dunne isn’t about to be outdone and hits a moonsault off the top onto both of them. It’s Dunne and Priest heading back inside to slug it out but Dunne can’t hit the Reckoning. The chokeslam is countered into a cross armbreaker and Priest certainly appears to be tapping.

Dain makes the save and hits a One Winged Angel for two on Priest. Dunne somehow gets Dain up for the Bitter End so Priest has to kick him in the head for the save. It’s Priest back up for a kick to the head for two on Dunne though, with Dain literally falling onto them for the break. A chop block sends Priest to the floor, leaving Dunne to superplex Dain. The Bitter End hits Priest with Dain’s backsplash making another save. Dunne grabs the choke on Dain, who backsplashes onto Priest, only to have Dunne shove Dain away to pin Priest at 19:57.

Rating: B+. I had a great time with this one as they were working hard the entire way and hitting one big spot after another. This didn’t feel anywhere close to twenty minutes and that made for an entertaining match. Dunne was the pretty obvious winner as the monsters split the difference, but that doesn’t mean it was any less entertaining. Heck of a fight here and Dunne vs. Cole should be even better.

Takeover: Portland is on Sunday (that’s a new one) February 16.

We recap Finn Balor vs. Matt Riddle. Balor returned to the promotion a few weeks back and turned on Johnny Gargano. The big explanation was that NXT isn’t as tough as it used to be. Gargano was hurt, so Riddle is taking his place to fight for the modern NXT’s honor.

Matt Riddle vs. Finn Balor

To keep up as a heel, Balor has to avoid the pose in time with his song. Feeling out process to start with Riddle taking him down by the arm but getting stacked up for two. That means a standoff and we reset early on. They head to the mat and with Riddle pretty clearly more dominant, Balor dives over to grab a headlock. Riddle rolls the northern lights suplexes but gets pulled straight down into the chinlock. Seemingly tired of the holds, Balor stomps away in the corner….before grabbing the chinlock again.

Riddle gets sent outside for the baseball slide, with one boot NAILING him in the jaw for a great visual, made even better by slow motion. That just seems to wake him up as he hits a kick to the face into a Broton for two. The running forearms are blocked by a raised boot in the corner though and a forearm keeps Riddle in trouble. Riddle is right back with the ankle lock so Balor finally gets over to the rope for the break.

Balor’s German suplex doesn’t really work so Riddle knees him in the head and gets two off his own German suplex. There’s the ripcord knee but Balor shrugs it off again and hits the double stomp to stay on Riddle’s ribs. A spear cuts Balor down though and it’s a Jackhammer for two and the GOLDBERG chants are on in full.

Balor is right back up with an inverted 1916 for his own two but Riddle Bro to Sleeps him right back. The Floating Bro misses though and Balor dropkicks him into the corner. The Coup de Grace is pulled straight down into the Bromission (that was sweet) but Balor rolls out. Riddle goes for the knee again but gets pulled into 1916 for the pin at 14:24.

Rating: B-. This was good but not quite as awesome as I was expecting. They never hit that next gear which you would expect them to be able to reach. Riddle losing here makes sense as he’ll likely get his big moment at Survivor Series. Balor needs the win more as he’s freshly back in NXT and can move way up the ladder, but he needed to win here to start him on the right path. Good match, but not great.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. The Undisputed Era holds all of the titles but Ciampa is back to get the NXT Championship that he never lost. Lee and Keith Lee and Dominick Dijakovic are as hot as anyone in WWE at the moment so they’re joining in, but they still don’t have a fourth man. Ciampa telling the title that it has to wait because Daddy’s going to war was outstanding and made Ciampa seem even stronger than he was coming in.

Team Ciampa vs. Undisputed Era

There is no fourth man for Team Ciampa to start as the waiting continues. The Era has the advantage because they’re the villains and NXT knows its WarGames history. Ciampa, sporting the war paint, and Strong are starting things off with Ciampa holding his crutch before the bell. Fans: “DADDY’S HOME!” Desperate to fight, Ciampa throws him the crutch and the war is on in a hurry. Ciampa stomps away in the corner and sends him into the cage, only to have Strong come back with a backbreaker.

They head over to the other ring with Strong being dropped ribs first over the top rope. Ciampa unloads with right hands in the corner and there’s a running knee to the face to make it worse. A hard knee knocks Strong silly again but he’s able to break up Willow’s Bell. Back in the other ring, Strong has to fight out of the Fairy Tale Ending and hits double knees to the chest. They slug it out some more until O’Reilly comes in to make it 2-1.

The knees and kicks to the chest drop Ciampa as the fans are ready to bask in some glory. O’Reilly holds Ciampa on the ropes for the running forearms from O’Reilly. The beating continues until Dijakovic ties things up and starts hitting people rather hard. Dijakovic throws O’Reilly onto Strong but it’s too early for Feast Your Eyes. Therefore, Strong gets thrown into the cage over and over for a consolation prize. O’Reilly gets the same and Ciampa is back up to hammer away even more. Some right hands put O’Reilly down between the rings but it’s Bobby Fish to give the advantage back.

Fish gets to take over and it’s a High/Low to Dijakovic. Ciampa is knocked down as well and Fish insists that “WE GOT THIS COLE!” A lot of strikes have the good guys in trouble until it’s Lee coming in to wreck people in a hurry. Lee leapfrogs Fish and O’Reilly before crossbodying both of them to show off a bit. O’Reilly has to save Fish from a powerbomb and it’s time to triple team Lee as the Era has to get rid of him as long as possible. Ciampa is back up and makes the fired up comeback until the numbers get the better of him too.

Dijakovic slams O’Reilly into the other ring and it’s time for everyone but Ciampa to join them. Things slow down a bit until Cole completes the Era. He isn’t ready to come in just yet though as he pulls out a table, then another, then another, then another, then another, the another, with one of them being laid against the barricade and FIVE being sent inside. Cole still can’t get inside though as Ciampa shoves him through the table against the barricade.

Ciampa goes out to get him, which should have meant he left the cage and forfeited the match but maybe that only counts once everyone is in. Everyone gets into one ring for the cool visual and the fight is on. A low blow cuts Lee down but the time is up and it’s…..no one at first, as we wait on the Era to turn around so they can be shocked. It’s Kevin Owens (with his old Titantron and first NXT shirt) to complete the team to a huge hero’s welcome. Owens starts wrecking people, including a release sleeper suplex to O’Reilly.

Strong gets powerbombed onto O’Reilly’s back and it’s the big staredown with Cole. Owens tells Cole to suck it and hits the Stunner for two as Lee and Dijakovic are back up. They launch Strong over the ropes and into the other ring onto Strong. Willow’s Bell plants O’Reilly and it’s time to set up the tables. Lee hits the big dive onto almost everyone but O’Reilly comes in off the top with a knee to Lee’s knee, setting up a kneebar. That’s broken up by Dijakovic but Fish comes in with a moonsault.

The Fairy Tale Ending to Strong sets up the Swanton from Owens for two, meaning Cole has to make his own save. Lee heads up again but gets pulled down with a super Angle Slam. Ax and Smash gets two and there’s the High/Low to Dijakovic. Owens and Lee fight in between the rings with Owens not being able to hit the package piledriver. Cole however can hit a superkick and a (slightly delayed) Panama Sunrise for the huge knockdown. Fish and O’Reilly are up first and set up the tables but it’s Ciampa with Project Ciampa to O’Reilly.

Running knees to the face have the rest of the Era in trouble, including several to send Cole’s head into the cage. They head to the top and there is no way this can end well. Ciampa can’t hit White Noise but he can block the Panama Sunrise through the tables. It’s Cole heading all the way to the top of the cage and Ciampa joins him, drawing the PLEASE DON’T DIE chants.

Dijakovic sends Strong through a table but gets triangled by O’Reilly. They head to the table with Owens hitting a frog splash to drive O’Reilly through, leaving Lee to superbomb Strong through another. Cole and Ciampa stand up on top of the cage and it’s a SUPER WHITE NOISE OFF THE CAGE THROUGH THE TABLES to END Cole at 38:28.

Rating: A. This felt like the war that it was supposed to be and my goodness that finish. I don’t remember being that nervous since I saw Shane McMahon dive off the Cell. That was the big finish that the match needed and the whole thing was a great showcase of all eight guys. Awesome stuff and I got WAY more into it on the second watch than the first time around. Ciampa pinning Cole was the way to go here as it gives us a nearly guaranteed title match while also giving us the big finish. Great stuff here and it felt like war, which is hard to pull off.

Post match, Britt Baker, identified by name and as Cole’s girlfriend, is shown looking terrified as everyone is done. Team Ciampa pulls themselves up and poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. This one was a little shorter than most recent Takeovers and in a way, that is the best thing that could have happened. They had everything making sense and went hard the entire way, leaving us with four rather awesome matches. Survivor Series is NXT’s chance to shine on the big stage but this was their big show where they had to take care of things on their own. Another awesome show and more than worth seeing, especially with the somewhat shorter run time.

Results

Team Ripley b. Team Baszler – Riptide onto a chair to Baszler

Pete Dunne b. Damian Priest and Killian Dain – Backsplash to Priest

Finn Balor b. Matt Riddle – 1916

Team Ciampa b. Undisputed Era – Super White Noise through tables to Cole

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Back in 2017, NXT shocked a lot of wrestling fans by announcing the WarGames was making its WWE debut at the November Takeover, which happened to be called Takeover: WarGames. Then they had the match….and it wasn’t exactly WarGames with a weird three way format that only kind of worked. The problem was fixed the following year with a much more traditional format, but since WWE can’t keep things the same, we are up for a different format this year with TWO WarGames, including the first women’s WarGames match. The card is shorter than the usual Takeover, but that makes sense. Let’s get to it.

Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dain vs. Damien Priest

This, which was originally announced for this week’s TV, is now taking place here with the winner moving on to Survivor Series for a shot against NXT Champion Adam Cole. That could go multiple ways, but with Cole in WarGames and having wrestled in a ladder match on Wednesday, it would be a big stretch to have him lose to anyone (barring some form of interference from the Undisputed Era, which would be pretty lame).

I’ll take Dunne to win here and go on to become NXT Champion. Yeah that sounds like the easy way to go, but at the same time, Dunne is someone that could easily become a top guy. The Undisputed Era holding all four titles is not something that can last forever and after having them exposed to the main roster with so much success, how much longer can you really keep them together down in NXT? If Cole can beat Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan, it’s a bit much to believe that he belongs in the third brand. So yeah, Dunne wins and becomes champion in my prediction almost guaranteed to go wrong.

Matt Riddle vs. Finn Balor

Riddle is taking the place of Johnny Gargano, who was injured at Balor’s hands. That’s such a major perk of NXT: they have the kind of roster where one star is out so they can just pop another one in like it’s nothing. That kind of thing is so valuable to them and almost no one can come close to doing that. There isn’t much of a personal issue here, but it’s Balor’s first major match since his heel turn and you know what that means.

On paper, this should be Balor’s all day, but you never know what you might get. My guess is Balor, but Riddle getting one of the biggest wins of his career isn’t out of the question either. I would go with Balor winning to establish him as something bigger though, especially with the big showdown with Gargano coming sooner or later. If you have Balor lose here, what is the point in having Gargano beat him later? Balor wins here, and likely by cheating to show how he’s fully evil now.

Women’s WarGames

So this is a first and we even have the lineups set in advance for this one (Rhea Ripley/Mia Yim/Tegan Nox/Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler/Io Shirai/Bianca Belair/Kay Lee Ray). This match has been built up well enough, though I’m not sure how much sense it makes to put them inside of WarGames. It would seem more suited for something like a street fight, but I’ll take what I can get. Letting them have weapons would make sense, as Shirai can certainly swing a kendo stick. I’m curious to see how this goes, but I’m not sure how well it is going to work.

I’ll take Team Ripley to win as Ripley seems primed to be the next person to go after Baszler. She doesn’t have to beat Baszler herself, but that swinging Cloverleaf is one of the coolest looking finishers going today. Have her slap that on Belair for the win and then move on to FINALLY (and I do mean FINALLY) take the title off of Baszler. Just let everyone get some time to shine and everything should be fine.

Men’s WarGames

This one is about who will be the final member of Team Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa/Keith Lee/Dominik Dijakovic/???) as they face the Undisputed Era. Triple H has hyped up the final member of the team being a big deal but I don’t think it’s going to be Triple H himself. The question now is who gets the big spot, which is more intriguing to me than who wins. I’m not sure who it is going to be, but that is the more fun part.

I’ll certainly take Team Ciampa to win as there is little point in having the all champions team go over here. That brings up the big question of the mystery partner and I’ll take….let’s go with Sami Zayn. It would be a surprise, the place would be rather pleased and it would fit well. Either him or Isaiah Scott, who has been treated as a big deal. Or maybe they have a fresh name coming in, though that isn’t something NXT does very often. And no, it won’t be CM Punk, even in Chicago.

Overall Thoughts

The car has one fewer match than usual but come on. It’s TWO WARGAMES matches, which has never actually happened before in any major company. They have title implications plus the question of the mystery entrant, which really could be quite a number of people. I’m excited to see the show and the fact that I’ll be in the arena has nothing to do with that, I assure you.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

NXT
Date: November 6, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things have changed in a hurry with this show as it is suddenly a show being treated like it belongs on the main roster. NXT has invaded Monday Night Raw and Smackdown and the question now is will those shows wind up here. It’s a nice feeling to not know what’s coming, though we also have to set up this month’s Takeover. Let’s get to it.

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

We open in the back with the OC attacking the Undisputed Era.

The OC comes into the arena with AJ Styles not being so impressed with NXT. They’re taking over NXT tonight and that is undisputed. Cue Tommaso Ciampa (Fans: “DADDY’S HOME!”) to say he’s been asked about being promoted tot he main roster for years. Instead, he welcomes the OC to the main roster. Ciampa doesn’t like them being in his ring but AJ points out that he’s here all alone. Cue Matt Riddle and Keith Lee with the challenge being made and accepted. Nigel says we could have a cracking main event. Yes cracking.

Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest

Rematch from two weeks ago when Priest cheated to win. Neither can hit their finisher or a kick to the face to start and we take a break. Back with Priest striking away and hitting a Falcon Arrow for two. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Dunne fights up with the X Plex. Dunne starts striking away including a dropkick to the knees but he can’t hit a German suplex.

Neither can Priest though as Dunne flips out and kicks him in the head. The moonsault to the floor hits Priest as well and they’re both down. Priest is back up with a chokeslam onto the apron, though Dunne is fine enough to hit a sitout powerbomb for two back inside. The Bitter End is broken up though and Priest kicks him in the head.

Dunne heads outside and it’s a big flip dive from Priest as we take another break. Back again with stereo kicks to the head giving us a double knockdown. South of Heaven is broken up so Priest settles for a Razor’s Edge toss powerbomb for two more. Dunne gets tired of getting beaten up though and cranks on the fingers, setting up a cross armbreaker with more finger cranking for the pin at 15:11.

Rating: B-. The two commercials hurt things a bit here though having both of them getting to show off made up for a lot of it. Dunne evens things up and there is a good chance that we’ll be seeing a third match. Priest has already gotten his big win out of the thing and that is what matters most here. Dunne is going to be a big deal so giving him the win to at least even it up for now gives me a good reason to believe his time is coming.

Post match Killian Dain runs out and beats up Dunne, including knocking Priest to the floor. Priest goes after Dain as well but gets sent into the steps, setting up the Cannonball to crush him again.

We look at the WarGames teams, with Rhea Ripley picking Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae and Shayna Baszler picking Bianca Belair and Io Shirai.

Dakota Kai is ready to stand up to Shayna Baszler tonight because she isn’t scared anymore. She’s going to prove why she belongs in WarGames.

Santana Garrett vs. Taynara

This is something of an audition for the final WarGames spots. Taynara takes her down by the arm to start but Garrett is right back with some armdrags into a Russian legsweep for two. A hard running knee to the face gives Taynara two and it’s time to kick Garrett in the face. Taynara starts cranking on the arm but Garrett gets up and hits a few forearms. Garrett misses the handspring moonsault and it’s a hard kick to the face to put her away at 4:07.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go very far but it was the standard veteran gets to beat a plucky rookie, which is an acceptable way to go. Taynara is someone who has enough capital that you can buy her winning and it’s not like Garrett got squashed in any way. Good enough debut from Garrett here, who has the experience and look to keep her relevant for a long time.

Video on Tony Nese.

Video on Angel Garza.

Survivor Series rundown, which looks pretty decent.

Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title and the rest of the Horsewomen are here with Baszler. Kai shoves her in the face and teases a kick before stopping for a quick mocking. Now the kick to the face sets up an armdrag and a flying mare of all things. A running kick to the face puts Baszler outside but she catches a charge to send Kai crashing into the post.

Back in and Baszler starts in on the braced knee, including a bunch of stomps to send us to a break. We come back with Kai hitting a double stomp to the chest out for he corner but hurting her leg again. A pump kick rocks Baszler again and a running knee to the face gets two. Kai goes up top but gets gutwrench superplexed back down for a crash and near fall.

A headbutt rocks Baszler and the running kick in the corner puts them both down. The Kawada kicks put Baszler in more trouble but she’s fine enough to hit a good looking jumping knee to the face. The Kirifuda Clutch is broken up but the second attempt goes on and the arm is trapped to make Kai tap at 11:14.

Rating: B-. Kai looked completely different than her earlier matches with Baszler here and that’s what they were going for. The history here is something that played well into the rebuilt Kai, who I wanted to be the one to come back and take the title from Baszler. Either way, Kai has a good future going at this point and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Post match the Horsewomen are in for the beatdown but it’s Team Ripley for the save. Io Shirai cuts off Candice LeRae though and the rest of Team Baszler is down for the beatdown. Cue Mia Yim with the kendo stick for the save though, including some shots to Baszler.

We recap NXT invading Smackdown and Raw.

Tommaso Ciampa isn’t worried about finding a fourth member for his WarGames team (I don’t remember that being confirmed before) against the Undisputed Era. As for tonight, if anyone wants to come after them, the front door is open.

Video on Isaiah Swerve Scott, who says Swerve is confidence.

Tony Nese vs. Angel Garza

The winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at some point in the future. Garza goes after the arm to start but it’s an early standoff. With that not working it’s time to start on the leg but Nese manages to get on top for a fast two and it’s another standoff. This time Nese takes him down by the arm for all of a few seconds, meaning it’s Garza snapping off a running hurricanrana.

That means it’s time for GARZA TO TAKE….a chop to the chest to prevent his disrobing. Garza puts him on the top and hits an enziguri, only to have Nese try a sunset bomb. That’s blocked and NESE TAKES OFF GARZA’S PANTS! Garza gets in a kick to the face and we take a break. Back with Garza hitting another kick to set up the moonsault to the floor. Nigel: “A thing of beauty from the most beautiful man in the world!”

Nese’s sitout pumphandle powerslam gives him his own two but Garza is back up with a reverse Project Ciampa. It’s Nese’s turn to knock him down and this time it’s a 450 for two with Garza getting a foot on the rope. They chop it out again until Garza flips around into a sitout powerbomb for his own near fall. A double underhook drop down (think a Bubba Bomb but with Nese turned the other way and with a butterfly instead of a full nelson) called the Wing Clipper finishes Nese at 11:19.

Rating: C. Garza winning is the right call and it makes more sense to push the NXT guys over the 205 Live guys. Point blank, most of the people on 205 Live are there for a reason and while Nese is good, he doesn’t feel like someone who would be a star around here. I’m still not sure how much longer 205 Live can last, but I’ve been saying that for two years now so what do I know.

Post match Lio Rush comes out and Garza slaps him in the face. Their title match is next week.

Rhea Ripley picks Mia Yim for the fourth spot on her team. She tells Dakota Kai that she just didn’t make the cut. Kai walks away in near tears.

Takeover rundown, which is just WarGames at the moment. Both Baszler and Ciampa’s teams still need fourths, and that previous segment seems like a clue.

Dominick Dijakovic vs. Isaiah Scott

This could be interesting. Scott starts dodging early on but jumps into a fireman’s carry. It’s too early for Feast Your Eyes so Dijakovic hits some standing knees to the back before tossing him to the side. The toss suplex gets two on Scott and a backbreaker lets Dijakovic hit a falling middle rope splash for two more. Scott gets in a quick Downward Spiral and a Release German suplex offers a surprise power display.

A DDT out of the corner gives Scott his own two and it’s time to go up, only to have Dijakovic nail a superkick. Feast Your Eyes is broken up though and Scott hits an enziguri to a kneeling Dijakovic. The cyclone boot staggers Scott though and a chokebomb gets two. Scott is fine enough to come back with a reverse hurricanrana to send Dijakovic to the apron for the big top rope double stomp. A big kick to the face gives Scott two more so he tries the rolling cutter but Dijakovic counters into Feast Your Eyes for the pin at 7:16.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and a great way to showcase the different styles. Scott can work with anyone and Dijakovic is such a freak that he can as well, despite his huge size. Really good stuff here and Dijakovic seems ready to move up to the next level at any given time. Scott needs to win a bigger match at some point, but he’s far from losing steam otherwise.

Next week: the Cruiserweight Title match plus Yim vs. Shirai in a ladder match for the WarGames advantage.

OC vs. Tommaso Ciampa/Matt Riddle/Keith Lee

The brawl is on before the bell until it’s AJ vs. Ciampa to get us going. Ciampa is knocked outside early on and the slingshot forearm hits Riddle on the floor. Back in and Willow’s Bell gives Ciampa two and it’s off to Lee vs. Gallows. A hard shoulder rocks Gallows and a pretty slow motion Pounce puts him on the floor.

Back in and Gallows kicks him in the ribs, as does the now legal Anderson. Lee goes simple with a crossbody and we take a break. We come back to Ciampa in AJ’s chinlock and Gallows driving in elbows to the neck. Ciampa fights up but Gallows is smart enough to knock Lee off the apron in advance. Anderson dives into a jumping knee to the face and the hot tag brings in Riddle.

Jumping knees and shoulders abound, followed by the string of Brotons. The Final Flash into the Bro To Sleep into a bridging German suplex gets two with Anderson making the save. Ciampa breaks up the Magic Killer to Lee, who curls Gallows just to show off. AJ’s tornado DDT plants Lee (Mauro: “Like a palm tree!”) and a brainbuster gets two on Riddle. There’s the Pounce to AJ but it takes out the referee at the same time.

Riddle tries a running flip dive but gets caught in the ropes and nearly lands on the apron for a bad crash. Ciampa loads up the Fairy Tale Ending but here’s Finn Balor. That’s enough for AJ to hit the Pele on Ciampa and 1916 plants Riddle on the floor. AJ throws up Too Sweet to Balor, who points the finger guns back at him. Cue Adam Cole to break up the Styles Clash to Ciampa and hit the Last Shot on Ciampa. Cole stares Balor down to end the show, meaning we’ll say it was a no contest at 13:25.

Rating: B. I’m not sure where this is going but it was enough good action and more importantly, the NXT guys were going step for step with the WWE talent and no one took a fall at the end. The match was entertaining and they gave enough of an ending to make me want to watch next week. I’m not sure where they’re going with WarGames and that makes for an interesting ending, especially when you tie in the invasion stuff.

Overall Rating: B. Heck of a show here again as they set up/advanced the big matches at Takeover and tied in the Survivor Series invasion stuff at the same time. I’m not sure what else they are going to have for the rest of the card, but we could be in for a shorter show due to two matches taking up sixteen people. There is still room for a lot of stuff though and under the right circumstances, we could be in for another classic, depending on how the WarGames matches go.

Results

Pete Dunne b. Damian Priest – Cross armbreaker

Taynara b. Santana Garrett – Kick to the face

Shayna Baszler b. Dakota Kai – Kirifuda Clutch

Angel Garza b. Tony Nese – Wing Clipper

Dominick Dijakovic b. Isaiah Scott – Feast Your Eyes

OC vs. Tommaso Ciampa/Keith Lee/Matt Riddle went to a no contest

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

NXT
Date: October 16, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s a big night as we have the return of Tommaso Ciampa to in ring action. That’s quite the get for NXT, as they are in for a fight against Dynamite. There are only so many people you can throw out there and Ciampa is already a legend around here. Speaking of legends, the advertisements for the show have featured Finn Balor so we could be in for another major appearance. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Angel Garza

Ciampa gets the hero’s return welcome. They start fast with Ciampa running him over but they both miss kicks to the ribs, allowing Garza to kneel for a handshake over. Ciampa kicks that away but gets enziguried for his efforts. Back in and the Fairy Tale Ending is blocked and Garza dropkicks him in the corner for a trip to the floor.

That means a big flip dive but hang on, because GARZA HAS TO TAKE OFF HIS PANTS. Ever the pants fan, Ciampa snaps and stomps away in the corner, before stomping on the Mexican flag in the corner, including a kneeing knee. He even loads up the Fairy Tale Ending on the flag but stops to hit the Willow’s Bell (hanging DDT) to finish Garza at 3:17.

Rating: C. The stuff with the flag was a little weird but at least they didn’t go into anything too strange and it didn’t become a mess. It’s good to have Ciampa back and there was no reason to have him break a major sweat in his first match back. I’m a bit surprised by having Garza be the one to take the fall here, but Ciampa is what matters the most.

Post match here’s the Undisputed Era to stare Ciampa down. Ciampa grabs his chair and crutch but hang on a second as Kyle O’Reilly goes over to the announcers’ table and throws Mauro a USB drive. The Era walks out without saying or doing anything else.

Post break we see what is on the USB, which shows the Era in the back, having laid out the Velveteen Dream and Strong BREAKING HIS SUNGLASSES.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Imperium

Marcel Barthel/Fabian Aichner for Imperium and they have Alexander Wolfe as a bonus. Aichner literally throws Burch into the corner to start so Burch runs him over with a shoulder. It’s off to Lorcan for a double elbow so Barthel comes in, only to dive into a headbutt from Burch.

It seems to mess with Burch even more though as Barthel hits a sliding dropkick in the corner as we take a break. Back with Burch hitting Aichner in the face and bringing Burch in for the house cleaning. Uppercuts into a slingshot dive to the floor sets up a big dive onto both of them. Back in and Burch German suplexes Aichner, followed by a powerbomb into a jackknife cover for two.

The assisted elevated DDT is broken up by Barthel so it’s Lorcan and Aichner chopping it out. Barthel dives on Burch on the floor, leaving Aichner to hit a double springboard moonsault for a close two on Lorcan. That leaves Lorcan to get beaten up with a series of strikes and the European Bomb gives Barthel the pin at 8:32.

Rating: B-. This was about four people beating the heck out of each other and that’s exactly what we got. Lorcan and Burch are not looking like a team who will ever win the titles, though that tends to make them guaranteed champions around here. Imperium being on both NXT and NXT UK adds a fresh change of pace around here and it’s an interesting twist.

Video on Johnny Gargano. He has wanted to wrestle forever and is living his dream by staying in NXT.

Gargano isn’t sure what to think about Ciampa being back and won’t know what to think until they see each other face to face.

Io Shirai vs. Kayden Carter

Carter starts fast but flips around once too often and gets shouldered down. Something like a sunset flip gives Carter two and Shirai bails to the floor. That doesn’t go well for Carter as Shirai hits her in the face, setting up a springboard missile dropkick for two back inside. Carter sweeps the leg though and a kick to Shirai’s chest staggers her a bit. A low superkick gets two on Shirai but she’s right back with a hard release German suplex. The moonsault finishes Carter at 2:37. That was a rather entertaining match for so little time.

Post match, Shirai says she only wants Shayna Baszler and not Rhea Ripley or Bianca Belair. Cue Ripley and Shirai is looking a bit nervous. Rhea is ready for Belair next week but she’ll shut Shirai up too. Shirai teases a fight but bails instead.

We look back at Killian Dain distracting Boa so Cameron Grimes could beat him in about five seconds. Dain destroyed Boa after the match for a bonus.

Boa wants revenge on Dain.

William Regal says Velveteen Dream is out of action for the time being due to the attack. Therefore, Strong needs a new #1 contender so Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic is now for a title shot.

Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic

The winner gets Strong for the North American Title next week. The exchange of shoulders goes nowhere to start so they try it again for the same result. They try a test of strength with Lee going to one arm and lifting him into the air in a nice power display. Lee shoulders him down and stays on the arm with a splash for two.

Back up and Dijakovic gets in a clothesline with the good arm and we take a break. We come back with Lee hammering away in the corner before tossing him across the ring. The Pounce gives Lee two and Dijakovic’s sitout chokeslam gets the same. Dijakovic can’t hit a superplex though as Lee shoves him down and hits a middle rope splash onto the arm. The Spirit Bomb sends Dijakovic rolling out to the floor but he’s right back with the cyclone boot for two back inside.

That means it’s Lee’s turn so he muscles Dijakovic up (on the third time in a crazy strength display) for a suplex and the big crash. Lee loads up what looked to be a Vader Bomb so Dijakovic gets him in an electric chair, which is countered into a reverse hurricanrana for the big knockdown. They get to the corner with Lee loading up a super powerbomb, only to have Strong come out and hit both of them at the same time for the no contest at 15:23.

Rating: B. It was good, but they were under the pressure of their previous outstanding matches and it didn’t hold up as well as they were shooting for. What we got was good, though the ending is the same heel idea that has never worked before and hopefully they get to the point and do the triple threat. We don’t need to see these two again in another singles match for a long time though, because the impact isn’t as strong anymore.

Hold on though as Regal wastes no time in saying that isn’t going to work and next week it’s a triple threat match for the title.

Matt Riddle vs. Bronson Reed

Riddle’s shoe flip misfires this time for a somewhat funny moment. We get a quick bit of respect before Riddle hits him in the face. The Final Flash sets up the running forearms in the corner and a t-bone suplex makes it even worse. Reed runs him over though and drops a backsplash for a fast two.

Riddle is right back with a powerbomb and the second Final Flash for two of his own. The Floating Bro is countered into a sitout powerbomb to knock Riddle silly and the straps come down. Reed tries a suplex but Riddle reverses into a sleeper. That’s escaped as well and Reed tries to jump over Riddle in the corner, only to get caught on Riddle’s shoulder in a rather nice power display. The Bro Derek finishes Reed at 3:04.

Rating: C. This was a fired up Riddle, who threw everything he had at Reed and took the big guy down. Reed looked good as well though as you can always use a monster who can move. It was more about Riddle here though and this should get him back on tract after the loss to Cole.

Video on Bianca Belair, who is ready to beat Shayna and is tired of people jumping in front of her.

Kushida has a fractured wrist and will be out for a month.

Taynara vs. Tegan Nox

Nox starts fast with a kick to the face for two but a bicycle kick puts her on the floor in a heap. Back in and Taynara gets in some rolling judo throws into some running knees in the corner for two. Nox is right back up and a running knee and a chokeslam, followed by a Willie Mack style reverse Cannonball. The Shiniest Wizard finishes Taynara at 2:55. Mauro:” Tegan Nox it out of the park!” She did look good here and just seeing her getting to wrestle again without having her knee explode is a good sign.

Post match Dakota Kai comes out to hug Nox but here are the Horsewomen to interrupt. Baszler doesn’t like the idea of Nox jumping into the title picture because she’s running out of limbs to rehab. When she does something important, come see the champ.

Finn Balor talks about needing a new path to take so he’s taking the one he took before. He’s in the ring next week.

Boa vs. Killian Dain

Rating: D+. Just a squash here for the most part with Dain dominating, as he should. Boa is someone with a good look though he is just one of the warm bodies around to take beating at the moment. That can change in the future though and he looked good for the first thirty seconds or so.

Pete Dunne comes out for his match but gets in a staredown with Dain. For some reason Dain thinks it’s a good idea to point his finger at Dunne, who snaps it to send Dain running.

Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest

Priest goes with an elbow to the face to start before winning a battle of the kicks. With that not working for Dunne, he grabs the finger and gets in the stomp to the arm to take over. They head outside with Dunne working on the arm even more, including another stomp on the steps. Priest kicks him off the apron though and a right hand puts Dunne down again as we take a break.

Back with Dunne hitting a superplex and striking away with lefts and rights. An enziguri sets up a middle rope dropkick to the knee and Priest heads outside again. That doesn’t go well either as Dunne hits the middle rope moonsault for another knockdown. Back in and a Liger Bomb gives Dunne two more so he loads up the stomps, only to get kicked in the head.

Dunne can’t get a cross armbreaker so he tries a triangle, which Priest counters into a rollup with feet on the ropes for two. Priest sends him shoulder first into the post and gets two of his own off a Razor’s Edge (somehow without a Razor Ramon reference from Mauro). Dunne is sent outside for a crazy running flip dive from Priest, followed by the South of Heaven chokeslam for another near fall.

They slug it out with Priest turning him inside out with a clothesline. The Reckoning is blocked but Dunne can’t hit the Bitter End. Another chokeslam is countered with an enziguri so Priest hits a spinning kick to the head. They’re both down but Dunne gets up first, only to have his moonsault hit knees. Dunne slips out of a powerbomb though and cranks on the finger, with the referee getting between them. That’s enough for a low blow from Priest and the Reckoning gives Priest the pin at 14:20.

Rating: B. This worked very well with two guys beating the heck out of each other and one of them taking the shortcut to win in the end. Dunne doesn’t lose anything here and you can almost guarantee a rematch here, perhaps in the form of a tag match with Dain joining Priest against Dunne and….Riddle maybe? If that’s still a thing?

Overall Rating: B-. The main event helped a lot here but the show hasn’t felt quite as special since the show moved up to two hours. The shows are still quite good though and we are getting some big stuff in the future, though it doesn’t have exactly the same spark that it had for all those years. Good show here, though it was missing a little something.

Overall, AEW wins this week but as usual it’s just by a hair. They had a tighter show with better matches up and down the card. The big tag match on Dynamite was the best thing all night and I liked how they were setting up Full Gear. NXT worked rather well too, though it lagged a few times and it hurt things just enough to give Dynamite the win.

Results

Tommaso Ciampa b. Angel Garza – Willow’s Bell

Imperium b. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan – European Bomb to Lorcan

Io Shirai b. Kayden Carter – Moonsault

Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic went to a no contest when Roderick Strong interfered

Matt Riddle b. Bronson Reed – Bro Derek

Tegan Nox b. Taynara – Shiniest Wizard

Killian Dain b. Boa – Seated abdominal stretch

Damien Priest b. Pete Dunne – Reckoning

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

NXT
Date: October 2, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuiness

As big of a night as it is on the other show, this one is huge in its own right with the first full two hour broadcast on USA. The card is completely stacked with three title matches for a new Takeover level show. I’m not sure what to expect from this show but NXT knows how to bring it on the big nights. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video talks about how this is the exclusive brand of wrestling and if that’s what you’re looking for, welcome home (nice touch).

NXT Title: Matt Riddle vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending and has a broken bone in his wrist. Riddle goes straight for the armbar to start in a smart move but Cole is straight over to the rope. Some rolling gutwrench suplexes give Riddle one and he kicks Cole outside without much effort. Cole is fine enough to hit a jumping kick to the head to stagger Riddle though and Cole sends him into the steps for a bonus.

Back in and the fireman’s carry backbreaker gives Cole two and we hit the figure four necklock. Riddle fights up and hits some running forearms in the corner, setting up the standing moonsault. That doesn’t connect so Riddle hits a Broton into a running kick to the chest for two. The Final Flash into the fisherman’s buster gets the same and a dead lift German suplex gets the third two.

Riddle puts him in a fireman’s carry but Cole slips down into a Backstabber for the double knockdown. Cole gets smart by stomping on Riddle’s bare feet before superkicking him in the face. Riddle is fine enough to hit a knee before tossing Cole onto the back of his head with a release German suplex. Cole is right back up with the brainbuster onto the knee for two more and they’re both down to a huge NXT chant.

Back up and Riddle kicks him in the face but can’t hit something on the apron. Instead Cole kicks him to the floor but dives into a knee to the face. Back in and the Floating Bro hits knees, setting up Cole’s Panama Sunrise for two more. Another Panama Sunrise is countered into a Bro To Sleep and a powerbomb. Another Floating Bro connects for a very hot two and Riddle is stunned at the kickout.

Riddle tries a flip over the ropes but gets superkicked, setting up the second Panama Sunrise. The Last Shot misses and the Bromission goes on in the middle of the ring. Cole flips back and stacks him up for two, only to get pulled into the Fujiwara armbar. That’s escaped as well and Cole gets in a cast shot, setting up the Last Shot to retain at 13:49.

Rating: B. Good match here, even if some of the submission escapes were a bit of a stretch. What we got was some high enough quality stuff though and the always hot Full Sail crowd helped make it even better. I’m a bit surprised Riddle lost, though I’m certainly not surprised that Cole cheated to win, which protects Riddle enough.

Post match Cole poses….and here’s Finn Balor. He soaks in the cheers and stares Cole down before declaring that as of now, he is NXT.

Shayna Baszler watched Candice LeRae’s match at a house show last week and LeRae isn’t surprised. LeRae is ready to win the title.

Here’s Velveteen Dream, surrounded by an army of women, for a chat on the stage. Dream talks about the experience and how the Undisputed Era tried to steal it. He’s never had a problem with taking on more than one man at a time so he has a challenge for Roderick Strong. If he accepts, the next thing he knows it’s going to be dream over, and a snap takes the lights off.

Next week: Drew Gulak defends the Cruiserweight Title against Lio Rush. The title is officially the NXT Cruiserweight Title.

Video on Lio Rush.

Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim

Shirai starts fast and takes it to the floor with a kick to the face staggering Mia. We go picture in picture for a break and come back with Shirai hitting a running dropkick to the side of the head for two, meaning it’s time for some frustration. A flapjack into a handstand double knees to the chest gets two more but Mia is back with a suplex. Some shots to the face and a clothesline give Yim two but some kicks to the chest cut her off.

A 619 into a springboard missile dropkick get two more on Yim, who is right back with Code Blue. Shirai bails to the floor for a suicide dive and we go picture in picture again….which switches to a full commercial and then back to picture in picture again. Anyway we’re back with Yim hitting a superplex for two. Shirai is done with this though and kicks her in the face, setting up the moonsault for the pin at 14:43.

Rating: C+. It was a good, hard hitting match but I still cannot bring myself to care about Mia. I don’t know if it’s the bad nicknames or the character but it’s really not clicking at all. Hopefully this loss seems to indicate that she is going down the card, which almost feels like a relief at this point. She’s not terrible, but I can’t get into anything she does.

The Outsiders are here.

The Street Profits arrived earlier today. Of note: Bianca Belair is mentioned as Montez Ford’s wife, I believe for the first time on television.

Video on Tegan Nox’s injury and long time recovery.

Shane Thorne vs. Johnny Gargano

Johnny teases a kick to the face so Shane goes to the safety of the mat instead. Gargano rolls him up for two and tries the Gargano Escape to send Throne to the ropes. Back from a break with Johnny hitting the rolling kick to the head before sending Thorne outside. The suicide dive is blocked so Johnny tries it again and knocks Throne down in a crash.

The slingshot spear gets two but the slingshot DDT is countered. A Cannonball into a heck of a powerbomb gives Thorne two so he kicks Gargano in the head. That’s fine with Johnny, who snaps off a reverse hurricanrana. The low superkick (ala his half of Meet in the Middle) gives Johnny the pin at 8:53.

Rating: C. Just a match here as it’s almost strange to see Gargano winning a short match instead of some epic. I don’t think anyone was really expecting Thorne to take off as the next big thing so a short match with Gargano was about as good as he was going to get. What we got here was fine enough, though I’m not sure what Gargano can do next.

Women’s Title: Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler

Baszler is defending. Feeling out process to start with Candice knocking her to the floor. The slingshot dive takes us to an early break and we come back with Candice being knocked off the top. Baszler crushes the arm in the steps and it’s time to crank away back inside. Candice is right back up and hits a DDT onto the apron, setting up the suicide dive to drop Baszler again.

A second and third dive connect as well and Candice heads up top, only to get superplexed right back down as we take another break. Back again with Candice snapping off a German suplex and grabbing her own Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler is out of that in a hurry and grabs her own clutch out of the corner, which is reversed into Ms. LeRae’s Wild Ride for two more. The Lionsault misses though and now the real Kirifuda Clutch goes on. Candice flips around a bit and almost breaks it but has to tap at 14:50.

Rating: B-. I am genuinely at a loss for who is supposed to take the title from Baszler. They’re going to have to import some names at this point with Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai being too fresh off of injuries to go to so soon. Rhea Ripley has already had her match so maybe….Toni Storm? Perhaps? I mean is there anyone other than someone from NXT UK?

Stephanie McMahon, Mark Henry and Alundra Blayze are here.

Video on Kushida vs. Walter, which takes place next week.

Pete Dunne vs. Danny Burch

Dunne nips out of a wristlock to start as they fight over early arm control. Burch avoids having his fingers stomped and reverses an armbar into a quickly broken Crossface attempt. A missed right hand gives us a staredown until Dunne blasts him with a clothesline. Back from a break with Burch getting the better of a slugout as someone is bleeding from somewhere. Dunne hits a Batista Bomb for two but Burch headbutts him into a powerbomb of his own. The top rope hanging DDT gets two but Dunne has had it and snaps the fingers. Dunne grabs the Bitter End for the pin at 7:13.

Rating: C. Good, hard hitting brawl here as I’m still trying to get my head around the idea of Dunne as a regular wrestler instead of the big specialty star. Burch is very good for a spot like this as he can wrestle against anyone and has good enough matches to keep himself solid despite almost never winning anything.

Post match Dunne poses but Damian Priest runs in and lays him out.

Cole tells the Undisputed Era to forget about Balor and go keep the Tag Team Titles.

We look at the Street Profits winning and losing the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Titles: Undisputed Era vs. Street Profits

The Profits are challenging and Wale raps them to the ring. Dawkins wrestles O’Reilly down to start before running him over with a shoulder. That means an early standoff and the champs bail to the floor. We take a break and come back with Ford getting taken into the champs’ corner. Ford get knocked down so O’Reilly dances a bit, allowing Ford to nip up. That earns him another beating though, including a slingshot hilo to give Fish two.

Some forearms to the face keep Ford down as the heat segment rolls on. Three Amigos give Fish two and it’s a double kick to the chest for two more. We take another break and come back again with Fish kicking Ford down again. Ford finally gets in a Rock Bottom but Fish is right there to pull Dawkins off the apron. Some rolling butterfly suplexes keep Ford in trouble and we hit the abdominal stretch.

Ford finally gets out and dives over for the hot tag to Dawkins, who runs through a double kick to the chest. A clothesline drops Fish and Dawkins bulldogs O’Reilly onto him for a cool spot. Everything breaks down and Dawkins’ spear is blocked with a knee to the face, allowing O’Reilly to come off the top onto Dawkins’ knee. The kneebar goes on and Fish adds a guillotine to Ford.

That’s broken up as Ford drives forward for the double escape and everyone is staggered. Ford hits a splash onto Fish’s back but an electric chair is broken up. The champs tease leaving so Ford hits a running flip dive over the post onto all three. Cue Roderick Strong to grab Ford’s foot so Dawkins spears him down. The distraction is enough for the High/Low to retain the titles at 20:06.

Rating: B. These four have chemistry together but it was pretty clear that the Profits were going to be the short term, one time champions. There’s nothing wrong with that and it makes sense to have them lose here. I’m not sure who is next to go after the titles, though Breezango would seem like a logical way to go.

Post match the Era celebrates with Cole coming out to the stage to pose….and here’s Tommaso Ciampa to circle Cole and look at the title. The place goes nuts and singes along with Ciampa’s song as the staredown ends the show. Well he’s the biggest face in the company now. Maybe? Dang it’s cool to have two huge names appear on one night like that.

Overall Rating: B+. Yeah they brought the big time atmosphere as they always do and had the wrestling to back it up. What matters most here though is the two major returns as NXT’s main event scene is instantly energized again, which is a place where WWE has a major advantage: with so much talent on all of their rosters, they can swap people in and have fresh matches and moments for years. “Hey here’s a former World Champion who is a god in NXT. Oh and to close out the show, one of the most popular stars NXT has ever seen.” Not bad for two hours and there happened to be an awesome show in between.

Having seen both shows, NXT was a better (though not much better) show but this really isn’t a fair comparison. NXT has a long history, established stories and a far deeper roster with WWE support. Coming into tonight, AEW has about as much total time on air as WWE produces in about two weeks. The comparisons can come in a few months when AEW has gotten its footing, but NXT won by a bit tonight, though you can’t go wrong watching either show.

Results

Adam Cole b. Matt Riddle – Last Shot

Io Shirai b. Mia Yim – Moonsault

Johnny Gargano b. Shane Thorne – Low superkick

Shayna Baszler b. Candice LeRae – Kirifuda Clutch

Pete Dunne b. Danny Burch – Bitter End

Undisputed Era b. Street Profits – High/Low to Ford

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

NXT
Date: September 18, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time to make this show live and double the length as well because of course it is. This is the first episode of the anti-AEW defense system and that means we’re in for a stacked show. That would include Velveteen Dream defending the North American Title against Roderick Strong and a street fight between Matt Riddle and Killian Dain. Let’s get to it.

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

An extreme closeup of HHH opens the show, with the boss talking about how this is the present and the future. He’s ready to show us what this is and we get a first person trip through the curtain to see the arena.

Mauro welcomes us to the show and the arena looks more vibrant than usual, though it may be the difference between a laptop and a TV.

Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair vs. Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae

One fall to a finish and the winner gets a shot at Shayna Baszler at some point in the future. Candice goes right after Shirai to start but Io gets sent outside. Belair’s handspring moonsault gets two on Candice with Mia making the save. Shirai’s springboard missile dropkick gets the same on Belair with no one making a save. Belair slams Candice on the floor so Mia dives onto both of them, setting up the huge top rope moonsault from Shirai to send us to a break (that’s going to take some getting used to).

Back with Belair getting the worst of a Tower of Doom, followed by Candice grabbing a Black Widow on Belair until Shirai makes the save. Candice suplexes Shirai to the floor but walks into a reverse Alabama Slam into the buckle. Mia breaks up the KOD and hits Code Blue for two on Belair with Shirai making a save.

Belair spears Shirai and Yim down, setting up the KOD for two on LeRae. Protect Ya Neck sends Belair outside but Shirai sends Candice to the floor as well. Running knees in the corner rock Candice but Mia sends Shirai outside. Candice spikes Mia with a reverse hurricanrana and adds a Lionsault for the pin and the title shot at 9:59.

Rating: B-. This worked well with everyone working hard and some good near falls throughout. Candice winning is the absolute right call as she hasn’t gotten a shot at the champ yet and is the better of the two faces in the whole match. It would be a great underdog story to see Candice win the title and that’s how you want to present things from here. Great way to open things and show what NXT is about too.

Post match Shayna Baszler and her cronies come out to stare Candice down.

Quick Adam Cole video.

Video on Dominick Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee and their instant classic last month. They meet again next week.

Video on Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain to set up tonight’s street fight.

Sean Maluta vs. Cameron Grimes

Standing double stomp finishes Maluta at nine seconds.

Video on Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong.

Video on Damien Priest.

North American Title: Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong

Strong is challenging. Dream takes him into the corner so Strong shoves him away, meaning it’s time to grapple to the mat. A clothesline puts Strong on the floor but Dream is ready for a springboard, sending Strong outside for some ranting and a break. Back with Dream hitting a dropkick for one and hitting an ax handle to put Strong on the floor. That means another ax handle but Strong is right back with a suplex onto the barricade.

Back in and we hit the chinlock, followed by another backbreaker for two. Dream is back up and tries the Sharpshooter but get knocked to the floor instead. A right hand sends Strong into the steps and we take another break. Back again with Dream slugging his way out of the top rope superplex and hitting another ax handle. The Dream Valley Driver gets two but Strong pulls him to the apron. A kick to the face has Dream hanging over the middle rope and Strong ties the arms in the ropes.

Strong hits a series of running shots to the face and it’s another backbreaker into a tiger bomb for two. The Strong Hold goes on so Dream makes the slow crawl to the ropes. Cue the Undisputed Era and of course the ref gets bumped. There’s another Dream Valley Driver but Dream has to knock the Era off the apron. End of Heartache gets a great near fall and Dream hits another Dream Valley Driver. Cole superkicks Dream off the top though and it’s another End of Heartache to give the Era all the titles at 22:30.

Rating: B. I know it’s all about the moment but the match never hit that other gear that Dream matches can get to. Maybe it was the obvious ending but other than that near fall off the first End of Heartache, there wasn’t much here to get excited about. You can see where they’re going with WarGames, but this Undisputed Era Holds All The Titles deal isn’t all that interesting.

We move to the WWE Network and recap the title change.

We recap the four way. Baszler vs. LeRae is in two weeks.

Pete Dunne vs. Arturo Ruas

They trade arm holds to start and it’s an early standoff. With the wrestling out of the way, it’s time for a slugout with Dunne nailing a clothesline. Dunne misses the stomp to the arm and Ruas cartwheels over for a kick to the face. Ruas is back with more kicks to the chest and another to the knee keeps Dunne down.

Another kick is blocked by a grab of the knee for some toe manipulation. The dragon screw legwhip sets up more strikes to Ruas, followed by the stomp to the fingers. The X Plex gets two on Ruas, who is right back with more strikes to the face. Dunne enziguris him and grabs the triangle, meaning it’s time to bend the fingers back for the tap at 6:41.

Rating: C+. The technical stuff was good here though I’m still having issues getting used to seeing Dunne having regular matches. The fact that he is around regularly now is a great sign for the future as Dunne has seemed ready to break through every ceiling there is in WWE and having him presented more often is a great thing.

Xia Li vs. Aliyah

Li goes straight to the kicking to start and Aliyah gets knocked down in a variety of ways. A kick to the leg sets up a spinning kick to the back of the head to finish Aliyah at 1:50. That was quite the surprise as I was expecting Aliyah to get beaten up until she won with a cheating rollup or something. Well done on going with a surprise.

Denzel DeJournette vs. Kushida

Hold on though as here’s Imperium, minus Walter, to beat down Denzel. The fans want Walter and here he is to a MONSTER pop. Walter introduces the team and promises to make anyone who disrespects them pay the price to the ring general. Cue Kushida, who says this is his time. The rest of the team is cleared out but Walter rips off Kushida’s vest. That earns him a kick to the face but Kushida is smart enough to bail. This is where NXT can shine: take two stars you wouldn’t expect to see go at it and then pair them together. It helps when you have several all star teams worth of talent at your disposal.

Lio Rush vs. Oney Lorcan

The winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at some point in the future and hokey smoke Rush is allowed to exist again. Lorcan hits some running elbows in the corner and gets two off a Blockbuster. As the announcers explain that Lorcan is angry that Rush is getting this spot (explaining things we wouldn’t otherwise know as commentary should do), the half and half is blocked and Lorcan is sent outside. Three straight suicide dives hit Lorcan but he’s fine enough to whip Rush hard into the corner. Another shot to the face puts Rush on the floor but he’s right back in, allowing Lorcan to hit a gutwrench powerbomb for two.

The half crab works on Rush some more and a chop sends Rush to his knees. Rush is right back with a bottom rope springboard into a Stunner for a VERY close two but he tweaks his knee on a frog splash attempt. Lorcan is right on the leg and powerbombs him into another half crab. Lorcan switches into an STF but somehow Rush makes it over to the rope for another break. For some reason Rush slaps him in the face and Lorcan is all fired up, only to run into a standing Spanish Fly. The Dragon’s Call finishes Lorcan at 10:15.

Rating: C. It’s hard to imagine Rush not winning the title to kick the title’s run on NXT off in a hurry, though I’m not sure how wise it is to have Rush go away for six months and then hand him a title as soon as he gets back. Maybe that won’t be the case, but it’s hard to imagine Gulak retaining the title again.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain

Street fight. Dain goes right at him to start and the fight is on with Riddle not being able to get much in. The Broton hits knees and it’s time for the weapons in a hurry. They fight into the crowd with Dain hitting his own backsplash and they brawl into the back. Riddle gets thrown into the side of a production truck but knees Dain. They fight over to Walter, who jumps Riddle despite not being touched.

Imperium, the Street Profits and the Forgotten Sons (who we saw during the brawl) all get in on it and it’s time to head into the arena again. Pete Dunne and maybe Danny Burch are in there as well with security breaking up Riddle and Dain. Security gets beaten up as well and more wrestlers get involved until Dain is left alone in the ring. That means a suicide dive onto a bunch of people to end the show. I won’t bother rating the match as it was just a few minutes before everyone else got involved, but that was certainly a hot angle.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a hard one to grade as it felt like two big episodes put together with some interesting stuff throughout. The problem though is the double length takes away a lot of what made NXT feel so special. It always had this feeling of getting a little taste and leaving you wanting more. Maybe it’s having so much content on Wednesdays but a lot of that feeling was missing here. I’m sure I’ll get used to it and they’ll get the hang of the feeling, but this felt long instead of special, which makes the show more like every other wrestling program around rather than the special one it became. It’s sad, but that’s wrestling.

Results

Candice LeRae b. Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and Mia Yim – Lionsault to Belair

Cameron Grimes b. Sean Maluta – Standing double stomp

Roderick Strong b. Velveteen Dream – End of Heartache

Pete Dunne b. Arturo Ruas – Bent fingers

Xia Li b. Aliyah – Spinning kick to the head

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain went to a no contest

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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