Wrestlemania XXXVI Night Two
Date: April 5, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re back for more of the same and that might not be the worst thing in the world. Last night’s part one wasn’t half bad but they are going to have a hard time surpassing that main event. There are eight more matches, plus the required Kickoff Show match, tonight so hopefully they can have another good one. Let’s get to it.

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

Kickoff Show: Liv Morgan vs. Natalya

Morgan rolls her up for two to start so Natalya does the same for a standoff. Some more rollups get some more near falls until Morgan sends her into the corner. A running hip attack hits Natalya but she’s right back with her basement dropkick for two more. Natalya clotheslines her to the floor, followed by the surfboard back inside. Natalya: “ASK HER!!!!” That’s broken up and Liv’s Codebreaker gets two. The sitout wheelbarrow faceplant gives Natalya the same and they pinfall reversal sequence with Liv getting the pin at 6:33.

Rating: D+. Imagine that: a Natalya match being technically fine but completely emotionless. That’s been the definition of her career for years now and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Liv getting a win is fine but there is no way that she is getting anywhere near the top of the division, leaving this as little more than a way to fill time.

Stephanie McMahon welcomes us to the show in a new message.

Same opening video as last night.

Rob Gronkowski welcomes us to the show and throws us to the first match.

NXT Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending. The feel each other out to start with Charlotte going straight to the leg. That doesn’t work so Rhea gets in her face, earning some chops into the corner. Ripley is right back with Riptide for two and it’s time for a quick breather. They fight to the floor with Charlotte hitting a double chop but Rhea sends her into the steps. Back in and Rhea hits a dropkick before kicking away at the ribs.

A bodyscissors keeps Charlotte down but Rhea misses a running big boot and hurts her leg on the rope. Charlotte works on the leg, shrugs off a shot to the head, and bends the leg around on the mat. Rhea won’t quit so Charlotte works on the leg again. Back up and Rhea nails a basement dropkick, followed by some shouting at her own knee. The leg is fine enough for an electric chair faceplant for two, followed by a missile dropkick for the same, albeit after a delay because of the knee.

Charlotte chop blocks the knee though and Rhea is down again. The Figure Four doesn’t work again and Rhea reverses into the standing Cloverleaf. That’s broken up as well and Charlott knocks her down with another hard shot. The Figure Four is broken up again so Charlotte goes with a Boston crab instead.

Ripley gets out again and hits a quick big boot (thanks to some editing) for the double knockdown. Rhea takes her up top but gets slammed back down, though she’s able to raise her boots to block the moonsault. A horrible looking spear gives Charlotte two but the Figure Four finally goes on. The Figure Eight makes Ripley tap at 20:26.

Rating: C+. CHARLOTTE! WINS!! AGAIN!!! I have no idea why they needed to have her beat Rhea clean in their first match but I’m sure it has something to do with some kind of tribute to Ric Flair, who hasn’t had one in a while. I’m sick of seeing Charlotte with a title and it almost scares me to imagine how many titles she’s going to wind up with in the end.

We recap last night.

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Lana is here with Lashley. Black gets tossed around to start and Lashley hammers away, only to get low bridged to the floor. A running big boot puts Lashley on the floor but Black misses the moonsault. Lashley snaps off the overhead belly to belly but can’t get a suplex back inside. Instead Black kicks him in the chest, only to walk into a snap powerslam for two. Another suplex gets another two and Lashley loads up the Dominator, but Lana tells him to do the spear. That earns him Black Mass for the sudden pin at 7:14.

Rating: D+. This was a way to get Black on the show, and by that I mean a way for him to get beaten up until Lana and Lana alone cost Lashley the match. I’m glad Black won but if you want him to look good, just have him kick Lashley’s head off and win. It’s not like Lashley has anything going on at the moment, but now I’m sure we can get the big fallout with Lana now, because we need another part to that story.

Bayley complains about the elimination match and knows Sasha Banks won’t turn on her. With Bayley gone, Sasha is asked how much she wants to win the title. You’ll have to watch and see.

Money in the Bank ad.

Gronk would like to win the 24/7 Title.

We recap Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler. Otis was going to go on a Valentine’s Day date with Mandy Rose but Ziggler crashed it when Otis was late. Mandy wanted nothing else to do with Otis after that but it turns out that Sonya Deville stole Mandy’s phone and told Otis she would be late (and deleted the texts) so it would fall apart.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis

Sonya Deville is here with Ziggler. Otis misses a charge to start and gets superkicked outside in a hurry. That gets one back inside so Ziggler grabs a neckbreaker into the jumping elbow for two. The chinlock goes on but Otis is back up with a catapult. A hard whip sends Ziggler into the corner and a pop up World’s Strongest Slam plants him again. Sonya gets on the apron for a distraction though and Ziggler gets in a low blow. Cue Mandy to take out Sonya and hit Ziggler low, setting up the Caterpillar for the pin at 8:23.

Rating: D+. I was wrong on this one as I didn’t think they would let Otis pin Dolph. I’m rather please by the result and even though it wasn’t much of a match, at least they pulled the trigger on something. You can pencil in the mixed tag coming up and that’s all well and good, though I’m not sure where they can go after that.

Post match Otis picks Mandy up and they get the first kiss.

We recap Edge vs. Randy Orton. Edge came back at the Royal Rumble but Orton attacked him the next night and put him back on the shelf. Orton said Edge was an adrenaline junkie and he attacked him so Edge wouldn’t ruin his life like Orton did. To make it worse, Orton RKOed Edge’s wife (who is a Hall of Famer who wrestled earlier this year so we needed to act like he shot her). Now it’s a Last Man Standing match as this is very personal.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Last Man Standing. Edge comes out first and glares at the stage for Orton….who is disguised as a cameraman and runs in for an RKO before the bell. The bell rings and it’s another RKO but Edge falls to the floor at nine. They fight back backstage with Orton knocking Edge through some doors. It goes onto the gym with Orton knocking him down again, setting up some choking with a rope on a machine.

Edge gets out and hits a dropkick through some machines before choking away at Orton. Some forearms put Orton in a chair and Edge pulls himself up on a bar for a seated senton of all things. Back up and they slug it out into another room with a red light. Both guys are sent face first into a garage door and it’s back into the arena. Orton shoves him off a platform and into the barricade before they stumble backstage again.

Edge’s head gets bounced off of another wall for a six count and it’s time to go into the office area. This time it’s Orton being sent into a wall but Edge kicks him in the ribs at nine. Orton gets thrown onto the big table so Edge pulls himself up onto part of the ceiling to drop an elbow. The cameraman gets knocked down but another one catches them up in the big storage facility in the back.

Both of them bounce off of various things until Orton knocks him onto a storage crate. Edge gets sent into some steps and Orton starts looking around. That’s good for another nine so they wind up in what looks like the promo area. Edge throws something at Orton’s leg to take him down and some more shots to the face do it again. Orton is placed on a table and drops a huge elbow.

They go to a truck with a cover on the bed and Orton hits the hanging DDT for nine. Edge climbs onto some crates and then on top of an NXT semi truck. Orton and the referee follow them up and it’s a spear to drop Orton. That’s good for nine but another spear is countered into an RKO.

Edge is up at nine as well but Orton has dropped down to the floor next to the biggest ladder I’ve ever seen in WWE (it’s on the floor and is WAY higher than the top of the semi truck). Instead Orton takes some chairs up to the top of the truck to load up the Conchairto. Edge grabs a head and arm choke though and Orton is out. Hold on though as Edge waves off the count so he can hit the Conchairto. Orton is finally done at 36:39.

Rating: B. This one is going to be divisive and I can understand that. If my math is right, this was the longest non-Iron Man match in Wrestlemania history, though it didn’t feel that long. It felt like two guys who wanted to hurt each other and were doing whatever they could to accomplish that. I liked the unique atmosphere and some of the spot, with the Conchairto making for a good finish.

After a quick breather, here’s Mojo Rawley with the Mob chasing him. Gronk shows up and dives off a platform to take out the pile, allowing him to pin Rawley for the title.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Austin Theory/Angel Garza

The Profits are defending. Dawkins shoulders Theory down to start and the champs start working on the arm. That’s fine with Theory, who sends Dawkins to the floor, allowing Theory to mock the dancing. Garza gets in a superkick on the floor, TAKES OFF HIS PANTS, and misses a clothesline so Dawkins can tag Ford in.

A DDT gets two on Ford and Garza hits the moonsault onto both champs on the floor. The Lionsault gets two more on Ford back inside but Ford pops up with an enziguri. Dawkins comes in and runs Garza over, only to get caught in Theory’s TKO. Ford frog splashes his way in for the save though and Dawkins gets the cover to retain at 6:23.

Rating: D+. If ever there was a match to cut for the sake of time. This was a weird one as there was no reason to believe the title change was taking place and then the finish felt like something the heels would do to win. There are no teams to challenge the Profits at the moment and I don’t see Theory and Garza changing that anytime soon.

Post match Garza and Theory stay on Ford but Bianca Belair runs in for the save. That means a KOD on Zelina.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending and this is under elimination rules. Tamina shrugs off the gang attack to start so Lacey chop blocks her down. The other four slug it out with Bayley and Sasha double teaming Lacey. Naomi makes a quick save as a mini tag match breaks out. Tamina comes back in to run everyone over and we actually get a Team Bad reunion. That lasts for all of three seconds as everyone goes after Tamina, including something off the top each. A dog pile pin gets rid of Tamina at 6:23.

Naomi dives onto Sasha but Lacey misses a dive onto Bayley, earning a ram into the steps. A sunset flip gives Naomi two on Bayley and Sasha at the same time, followed by a sliding slip to both. The Rear View hits Sasha and a Bubba Bomb into the reverse Rings of Saturn….is broken up by Bayley. The Bank Statement gets rid of Naomi (Bayley: “DANCE TO THE BACK!”) at 10:36 and we’re down to three.

Bayley shouts about Lacey’s daughter though, allowing Lacey to avoid the running knee. Sasha is knocked silly instead so Lacey small packages Bayley for two. Back in and Sasha yells at Bayley, who shoves Sasha out of the way of the Woman’s Right. Lacey hits the second attempt though and Banks is done at 13:23.

After a replay where you can hear Cole shouting commentary, Bayley mocks Lacey with a salute and shoves her face against the rope. Lacey gets posted for two so Bayley ties her arm to the corner with the tag rope. Since that’s kind of a stupid plan, Lacey kicks her way out and hits the slingshot Bronco Busters in the corner. After a slow motion salute, Lacey’s double jump moonsault gets two. Cue Sasha with a Backstabber to Lacey though and Bayley’s weird bulldog driver retains at 19:15.

Rating: D. Well that was long and served little purpose. Bayley has held the title since last May (save for a four day Charlotte reign) and I’m not sure what else there is for her to do. Unless they do Bayley vs. Becky (unlikely), what is the point in keeping it on her much longer? I’m sure we’ll get to Bayley vs. Banks again eventually, but dang that sounds as appealing as watching this match all over again.

Titus O’Neil takes Gronk’s place as host.

Wrestlemania XXXVII is in Los Angeles.

We recap The Fiend vs. John Cena in the Firefly Fun House. After Cena said that he didn’t want to wrestle at this year’s show, Fiend popped up to challenge him. Cena accepted, and then Bray Wyatt went on to say that he blamed Cena for the rise of the Fiend. See, Cena beat him at Wrestlemania XXX and messed with Bray’s mind, leading to the creation of the Fiend. Therefore, tonight Cena goes to the Fun House.

John Cena vs. The Fiend

Cena makes his entrance but the Firefly Fun House pops up, with Bray saying that Cena is about to face himself. Then Cena is teleported to the Fun House (apparently the same way Seth Rollins got there back in October), where Ramblin Rabbit sends him through a door after the Fiend. Cena follows and finds the Vince puppet, asking if Cena has the ruthless aggression to make it in this company.

We see Wyatt copying the Kurt Angle promo to challenge Cena from 2002 and here’s 2020 Cena in 2002 Cena attire. Cena keeps saying RUTHLESS AGGRESSION but misses a bunch of shots. Bray: “You can look but you can’t touch!” And now it’s the Saturday Night’s Main Event opening, with Bray standing behind a cage and imitating Hulk Hogan. Cena (Johnny Largemeat) comes up and starts rapidly lifting weights, apparently destroying his arms in the process.

Vince and the Mercy the Buzzard are on commentary as Bray asks what happens when Cena realizes that Ego Mania has been running wild on him. Bray sends him off camera to the Smackdown Fist where Cena is the Dr. of Thugnomics, with Bray dancing to Basic Thuganomics. They’re back in the ring and Cena finds out that he can only speak in rhymes, including a Husky Harris reference.

Bray calls Cena a bully and a horrible person who takes the weaknesses of others and turns them into jokes. With that, Bray gives him the floor so Cena throws him Deez Nuts. Cena, in the Babe Ruth jersey from last year, misses a charge and gets knocked out by a chain. Now it’s Bray back in the Wyatt Family gear and sitting in the rocking chair as we see clips of Wrestlemania XXX.

The fans wanted and needed him that night and now it’s time to rewrite his own story. They’re back in the ring now with Bray dancing with the unconscious Cena and loading up Sister Abigail. He lets Cena go though and drops down, handing Cena a chair in a recreation of Wrestlemania XXX. Bray tells Cena to fix his mistake from last year but Bray disappears away from Cena’s swing.

And now it’s…..NWO MONDAY NITRO??? Bray is Eric Bischoff (with the jacket and a Wolfpac shirt) and introduces Cena as Hollywood Hogan. Cena takes Bray down and unloads as we see clips of Cena’s past. He wakes up as himself and sees that he’s beating up Huskus the Pig. The Fiend appears behind him and gives him the Mandible Claw to knock Cena out. We hear Cena’s promo about ending the most overrated overhyped superstar ever and the Claw goes back on with Bray counting the pin. Cena teleports away and the Fiend stands alone.

No rating as this wasn’t a match but I got into this. It’s a rather interesting character study of Cena and you can get what they’re going with in Fiend making him face his fears. Back in the day, CM Punk said that Cena had become the New York Yankees: the big bad who held people down and used money to get what he wants (or going from the Real American Hogan to Hollywood Hogan as they used here).

That’s what Fiend is showing Cena here and it scared Cena that he had changed so much and become what he fought against for so many years. Now granted, if you haven’t been glued to WWE for the last….oh eight years or so, this made no sense, but the effort and thought was ALL there and I got most of what they were going for, plus some of the complete insanity that went along with it. Not a match, but kind of a fascinating weird look into the WWE psyche.

We cut to Titus O’Neil. Titus: “I don’t know what I just saw.”

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre. Lesnar is World Champion but Drew eliminated him from the Royal Rumble and then won the whole thing, earning him this spot. Drew has kicked his head off a few times since then to show he can hang with Brock.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and gets Claymored for two after about ten seconds. Another Claymore misses and it’s time to go to Suplex City. The F5 gets one and Brock isn’t happy. Another F5 gets two and there’s the third for another two. Another F5 is countered and McIntyre hits two more Claymores. A fourth gives Drew the pin and the title at 4:28.

Rating: D. I’m happy that McIntyre won but GOOD GRIEF STOP DOING THAT SAME MATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER! It’s a cool idea one time and then don’t do it again for years. This is all Lesnar does anymore and now it’s creeping over into other main events too. It loses its impact when they keep doing it again and again and now you’ve grown to expect it every time. Anyway, great moment to end the show and McIntyre as champion is awesome, assuming they don’t have Lesnar win it back in two months again.

Overall Rating: C-. I didn’t like this one as much as last night’s but it still wasn’t terrible. This one definitely felt like the bigger show and had the more intriguing matches (for the most part). I’m not wild on some of the booking decisions but it felt more like a Wrestlemania and that’s what matters. The crowd being gone didn’t bother me as much either, but the wrestling itself just wasn’t as good. Overall, not bad but last night’s felt tighter and more enjoyable.

Overall Overall Rating: C. With something like this, it’s almost impossible to give the thing a fair rating. When you factor in the day in between and the weird atmosphere, the show was pretty much just ok. There were some very good matches but some that made me wonder why I was wasting my time. Overall it’s an enjoyable one off, but I’m still not behind the idea of a two night Wrestlemania going forward. Until WWE can cut these things WAY down and trim off so much of the unnecessary stuff, it needs to be one night and one night only, just for the sake of sanity if nothing else.

Results

Charlotte b. Rhea Ripley – Figure Eight

Aleister Black b. Bobby Lashley – Black Mass

Otis b. Dolph Ziggler – Caterpillar

Edge b. Randy Orton when Orton couldn’t answer the ten count

Street Profits b. Angel Garza/Austin Theory – Frog splash to Theory

Bayley b. Sasha Banks, Naomi, Tamina and Lacey Evans – Bulldog driver to Evans

Drew McIntyre b. Brock Lesnar – Claymore

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Not bad for a (second) debut.

I’m not sure how well the match is going to go, but the fact that Ripley is now on the main roster (and not having to deal with Charlotte) makes me smile. She is as potential of a main roster breakout star as you can get and I would love to see her become some kind of a huge deal. That very well may start here, and since Asuka feels like she has been champion for the better part of ever, this should be a layup.

In what I hope is the easiest move of the entire show, Ripley should win the title here and hold it for a good while. There is no reason whatsoever for Asuka to retain the title here by taking Ripley’s legs out from under her as she is just starting to get on the main roster. Asuka needs to lose the titles already and let Ripley become the new star, as it isn’t like Asuka is going to lose anything by putting her over.

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 5, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Wrestlemania and unfortunately about half of the show will be destroyed by the NCAA Championship game. Therefore you might expect a lot crammed into the first hour and a half or so, but we are going to be lucky enough to have the main event of Drew McIntyre vs. King Corbin, because you always need more Corbin. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Drew McIntyre for an opening chat. We see a clip of King Corbin and Bobby Lashley taking him out last week and, after the fire goes off, McIntyre talks about how we have five days until Wrestlemania. Things have changed so much in the last year and now McIntyre is ready for he and Lashley to tear each other to shreds.

Drew talks about how much he wanted to be WWE Champion, even when his mother was getting leukemia treatment. He wanted to go home so badly but his mom threatened to beat him up herself if he gave up. It took his this many years to get to the top of the mountain….and here are Lashley and MVP to cut him off.

Lashley says it took Drew sixteen years to get to the top but it took Lashley seventeen so he knows the feeling. Now he is on top of the mountain and everyone wants to take his title. Last week he felt Drew quiver and shake in the Hurt Lock, which Drew agrees is no joke. Drew is ready to fight right now but MVP says they’re waiting for Saturday. MVP promises Drew loses so Drew says maybe he can go be an Amazon driver instead. Or he can say screw that and come win the title back at Wrestlemania. King Corbin comes out to promise to beat up Drew tonight.

Riddle and New Day make jokes about Omos getting Kofi pretty high last week. Kofi Kingston hopes no one gets that high over the weekend but knows they’ll win. Oh and Riddle is ready for Sheamus, even though he smells bad.

AJ Styles vs. Xavier Woods

AJ has the Calf Crusher on in less than a minute so Kofi throws the microphone at Omos for a distraction. That makes AJ let go of the hold and Woods grabs a small package for the pin at 1:18. This has been your first example of “get them out of the ring before they can get hurt during Wrestlemania week”.

New Day goes into the stands to celebrate with the titles.

Bad Bunny and Damien Priest show up in a $3 million Bugatti.

Video on Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon, including the announcement of their cage match at Wrestlemania.

Here is Braun Strowman in a cage for a chat. Strowman is sick of being tired of being called stupid, even with Shane having his fake report card last week. At Wrestlemania, Strowman is fighting for everyone who has ever been called stupid. At Wrestlemania, it isn’t going to be here comes the money, but here comes the body bag. Cue Shane McMahon to say the decision to have a cage match is not that stupid. Shane promises to beat Strowman at Wrestlemania and that is going to make him feel stupid. This is still a horrible feud, but at least this was coherent and not something that made me want to lash out irrationally.

Braun Strowman vs. Elias/Jaxson Ryker

The double teaming puts Strowman down to start and Ryker hits a top rope headbutt. Elias hits a top rope splash called an elbow, but Strowman kicks both of them off at once. That makes Shane take off his jacket to come to the ring but Strowman knocks Elias and Ryker away, sending Shane backtracking. Strowman clubs them down and hits back to back powerslams for the pin at 2:36.

Miz and John Morrison have buckets of paint….and use it on the Bugatti, complete with HEY HEY, signatures and a painting of a bunny. Good thing it’s a white car.

Post break Bunny finds his car and panics a good bit, only to have Miz and Morrison jump him from behind. Agents and Priest make the save as Bunny seems more surprised than hurt.

We recap the contract signing between Rhea Ripley and Asuka from last week. It turned violent and led to a tag match this week.

Rhea Ripley says she and Asuka have to work together tonight or they’ll get destroyed. Asuka can wait for vengeance.

There will be a four team Tag Team Turmoil on Saturday, with the winners getting a Women’s Tag Team Title match on Sunday.

Asuka/Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Shayna and Asuka shove each other around to start with Asuka taking her down and stepping on her face. Ripley comes in and throws Baszler around so it’s off to Jax for the power showdown. Jax picks her up but Ripley slips out and….tags Asuka right in. Jax runs Asuka over for two but she is right back with a Codebreaker.

It’s back to Ripley, who is distracted by Reginald and sent into the apron as we take a break. Back with Jax dropping an elbow on Ripley to keep her in trouble. That’s broken up in a hurry and the hot tag brings in Asuka to clean some house. A knee to Baszler gets two but Ripley turns on Asuka, allowing Baszler to hit a running knee for the pin at 12:01.

Rating: C-. Makes as much sense as anything else, as it isn’t like there was any reason for Ripley and Asuka to work together. Ignoring that this is the fourth time in a month and a half that we have had people feuding for a title facing the Tag Team Champions between Raw/Smackdown/NXT, the match at least made a bit of sense this time around.

We look back at the Hurt Business splitting up last week.

Cedric Alexander, with Shelton Benjamin by his side, grabs MVP by the jacket and says Lashley is nothing without the two of them backing him up. Violence is teased but Cedric and Shelton let him go and leave. MVP says he isn’t worried about Lashley vs. Cedric tonight. He talks about how many great things he did for the two of them when Lashley comes up to ask what happened. Lashley promises pain for Cedric tonight.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are happy with their win when the women in the Tag Team Turmoil match on Saturday (for the shot at the Women’s Tag Team Titles on Sunday) and Billie Kay come in to say they’ll win. Jax’s “YOU DON’T EVEN GO HERE” to Natalya/Tamina was funny. Not as funny as when Bianca Belair said it in NXT last year, but still funny.

Video on Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre.

Cedric Alexander vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title. Hold on though as Shelton Benjamin comes in to help Cedric jump Lashley before the bell. Lashley knocks them away and we officially get going with Lashley sending Cedric into the corner. A neckbreaker gives Lashley two and they head outside with the beating continues. Cedric’s forearms to the back have no effect so Lashley sends him into the corner for the running shoulder to the ribs. Outside again with Alexander being sent ribs first into the post as we take a break.

Back with Alexander hammering away but being sent outside. Benjamin saves Alexander from going into the post again so it’s the Neuralizer to stagger Lashley back inside. A missile dropkick gives Alexander two but Lashley plants him with a spinebuster. The spinning Big Ending sets up a powerbomb/spinebuster (Lashley got him so high that it could have been either) and the Hurt Lock finishes Alexander at 10:20.

Rating: C. This was longer than I would have expected and it was nice to see Alexander get in some offense before going down as he should have. As stupid as it is to split up the Hurt Business before they could really become great, Lashley running through them has been effective. Granted he could have run through some other talented people to get here but leave it to WWE to mess up something good.

Post match Lashley won’t let go so Shelton comes in for the save, earning himself a beating of his own.

Video on Fiend vs. Randy Orton.

Here are Damien Priest and Bad Bunny to address what Miz and Morrison did earlier. Priest says it’s easy to jump Bunny 2-1 so let’s make this a tag match at Wrestlemania. Bunny talks about how he has been a huge fan for a long time and watched wrestling with his dad. He is only here to do his job and perform his song about Booker T., but now he has to deal with these two.

After switching to Spanish for a bit, Bunny says he doesn’t respect Miz anymore and at Wrestlemania it is time to give him a whipping. Miz and Morrison pop up on screen to mockingly applaud everything Bunny and Priest said. The tag match is on and they ride off in their limo.

Mustafa Ali talks to Sheamus about how Riddle cost him the US Title. Tonight, he’s taking care of Riddle, but that’s not cool with Sheamus. He’s rather serious about this but Riddle splits them up with his scooter.

Mustafa Ali vs. Riddle

Non-title….and a bunch of colorful birds come flying at the screen when Riddle jumps up to kick off his shoes. I know it happened last week and it’s still bizarre. Riddle takes him down for the early triangle choke attempt but Ali is out in a hurry. Ali gets in a chinlock of his own but Riddle breaks that up just as fast and sends him outside for a kick to the chest. A Sheamus distraction (thanks to the hat) lets Ali drop Riddle on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Ali hammering away in the corner and grabbing a bodyscissors to work on the ribs. Riddle gets him up and drops back for the break, meaning it’s time for some breathing. They get back up with Riddle hitting the running forearms in the face, only to have Ali go back to the ribs. A few kicks get two and Ali grabs a guillotine choke but Riddle isn’t having any more of this. The choke is quickly reversed into a Bro Derek for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C. This is another match that could have been something interesting if it meant anything other than softening Riddle up for Sheamus. That being said, I can go for Riddle activating Beast Mode and destroying someone, though I do wish it wasn’t Ali. They did what they needed to do here, even if it wasn’t something I wanted to see.

Drew McIntyre is ready to run through King Corbin and move on to the title match. He isn’t sure why Corbin thinks this is a good idea, but it’s a Claymore and the pin.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Drew McIntyre vs. King Corbin

Before the match, Bobby Lashley promises to put McIntyre to sleep at Wrestlemania. MVP is on commentary as they shove each other around to start. Drew grinds away on a headlock for a bit before running Corbin over for two. Corbin manages the slide underneath the corner into a clothesline for two of his own, followed by a hard whip into the corner to drop McIntyre again. A belly to back slam gives Corbin two more and they head outside.

This time Corbin is whipped into the steps though and McIntyre smiles as we take a break. Back with McIntyre getting two off of a bridging northern lights suplex and then hammering away. Corbin sends him to the apron and then into the post though, which has MVP rather pleased. Back in and Corbin gets two of his own off a suplex of his own before crucifixing the arms and elbowing McIntyre in the head.

Corbin cuts off a comeback attempt with a chokeslam for two. Another under the ropes clothesline is cut off with a spinebuster for a jackknife cover into a near fall. McIntyre grabs the Futureshock for two because THIS MATCH NEEDS TO KEEP GOING. Corbin catches him on top and gets two more off a superplex, followed by Deep Six for the same. That’s enough for MVP, who says that this is about taking out McIntyre, meaning it’s time to send in the cane. Of course it takes too long and McIntyre hits a (very leg slappy) Claymore for the pin at 18:00.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness they split up the Hurt Business because otherwise we could have had McIntyre fighting the two of them here instead of Corbin vs. McIntyre for the better part of twenty minutes. Gotta get that Corbin in there though, as he doesn’t have anything to do at Wrestlemania and it wouldn’t be right to not have him do the same power moves that he has done since he debuted. Throw in the “oh dang we need to wrap this up” finish and this was entertaining, but really frustrating at the same time.

Lashley comes out for the big showdown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show served one purpose and one purpose only: to get you fired up for Wrestlemania. What we got was good enough in that regard, but watching an eighteen minute Corbin match might not exactly light you up all that much. The rest of the show had some moments, but you could feel every minute of this three hour commercial, with only a few parts being noteworthy. It isn’t like there were expectations coming into this one, though I’m not sure how much more it made me want to see the shows.

Results

Xavier Woods b. AJ Styles – Small package

Braun Strowman b. Elias/Jaxson Ryker – Powerslam

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax b. Asuka/Rhea Ripley – Running knee to Asuka

Bobby Lashley b. Cedric Alexander – Hurt Lock

Riddle b. Mustafa Ali – Bro Derek

Drew McIntyre b. King Corbin – Claymore

 

 

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Main Event
Date: March 25, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton

You can feel how much bigger things are getting around here every single week and that is always great. I’m not sure how much of a difference that is going to make for Main Event because of the revolving door principle that this show lives by, but maybe they will throw in at least a minute change up. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak

Tozawa: “NINJA POWER!” Gulak kicks him in the ribs for his efforts but is knocked off the apron in a hurry. That means a running flip dive off the apron to take Gulak down again and a Tozawa nails a kick for two back inside. Gulak gets in his own kick but Tozawa strikes away at his face. Another takedown sets up a seated abdominal stretch to make Tozawa scream a lot, followed by a chinlock for the same. Tozawa breaks that up in a hurry and hits a pop up hurricanrana. A Shining Wizard sets up the top rope elbow to the face for two. The Octopus goes on but Gulak spins out, setting up the Cyclone Crash for the pin at 4:38.

Rating: C. Gulak continues to be one of the true hidden gems in WWE as he can have a perfectly watchable match against anyone. Tozawa is better than most but didn’t exactly shine in this one, which is kind of a shame. I could go for more of both of them, but it isn’t like this was the right place for a breakout performance.

From Raw.

Asuka vs. Peyton Royce

Non-title and this is the result of Royce venting on Raw Talk. Asuka goes for the arm to start but Royce reverses into a bridging leglock. That’s broken up with a kick to the ribs and Royce is sent to the apron for the spinning backfist. Royce avoids a running hip attack and hits a spinning kick to the back as we take a break.

Back with Asuka kicking her down again but getting caught in a Gory Stretch, with Royce dropping to her knees for two. A Codebreaker gives Asuka her own two but Royce shoves her off the top. Royce’s top rope double stomp to the back gets two but Asuka pulls her into the Asuka Lock for the tap at 11:12.

Rating: C+. Royce looked good here and there are far worse ideas than turning her into a more serious challenger. Asuka has cleared out the division and there is little reason to not give someone new a chance. I know Rhea Ripley is going to be sent to the top of the card but Royce as a potential future star could work rather well.

Post match here’s the debuting Rhea Ripley, instantly looking like a total star. Ripley wastes no time and challenges Asuka for the title at Wrestlemania. Asuka yells in Japanese but then says that Ripley is not ready for Asuka, meaning the match is on.

We see the Hurt Business attacking Sheamus on Raw, which gave Drew McIntyre an idea.

From Raw.

Drew McIntyre vs. Hurt Business

If Drew wins, Shelton and Cedric are banned from ringside at Wrestlemania. Drew throws Shelton around to start and hits an early suplex, followed by a heck of a backdrop to Alexander. We settle down to Drew stomping on Shelton’s hand but Alexander pulls Shelton to the floor to avoid the threat of the Claymore. McIntyre posts Shelton instead but a distraction lets Shelton knee him out to the floor.

Alexander hits a big flip dive and sends McIntyre into the barricade. We take a break and come back with McIntyre still in trouble with Shelton grabbing a chinlock. McIntyre fights up for the Dragon Whip, earning himself a Glasgow Kiss. Back up and McIntyre starts cleaning house, including the Claymore to both of them to finish Alexander at 13:06.

Rating: C. This was only there for the sake of giving Drew some more momentum on the way to Wrestlemania. Drew getting rid of the rest of the team works fine as they only need to have Lashley vs. McIntyre with MVP involved too. Not a bad match or anything, but the wrestling wasn’t the point here.

Post break, MVP yells at the team and Lashley says he is going to find someone who can get this done. Lashley goes up to the usual gang of losers and says anyone who takes McIntyre out before Wrestlemania will get a shot. MVP seems fine with this.

Wrestlemania rundown, including clips from Raw of Miz challenging Bad Bunny and the challenge being accepted.

Gran Metalik vs. Angel Garza

Lince Dorado is here with Metalik. Garza works on the arm to start but gets reversed into an armbar to change things up. That doesn’t go very far so Metalik hits a handspring elbow to send Garza outside instead. We take a break and come back with Garza hitting a pop up knee and TAKING OFF HIS PANTS.

A running kick to the face drops Metalik again and we hit the double arm crank. That’s broken up with a flying mare and a reverse Sling Blade to drop Garza. The rope walk dropkick gets two on Garza but he’s right back with a belly to back slam for two. Metalik hits a springboard back elbow for two of his own so Garza hits him in the face. The Wing Clipper finishes Metalik at 10:40.

Rating: C+. Not a bad match here, which shouldn’t be surprising given that Garza is one of the most talented wrestlers to fly under WWE’s radar. The ending gave me a bit of a chuckle as Garza shrugged off Metalik’s offense and just finished him off with ease. Nothing great here, but they did their thing rather well.

We look at Edge costing Daniel Bryan the Universal Title at Fastlane.

Recap of Randy Orton burning the Fiend alive and assorted magical curse issues that followed, including Alexa Bliss bringing the Fiend back at Fastlane.

From Raw.

Here is Randy Orton, with a bag, to summon the Fiend. Orton talks about watching the Fiend burn alive but last night was some kind of an abomination. Tonight, he is getting rid of Alexa Bliss and the Fiend once and for all. Cue Bliss, with a Jack in the box, which reveals something close to the Fiend inside.

Cue the real Fiend, so Orton opens the bag and pulls out a can of gasoline. Orton throws it on him and pulls out a match but goes with the RKO instead of burning Fiend up. Alexa gets in for a distraction so Orton stares at her as Fiend stands up. The Mandible Claw sets up Sister Abigail to knock Randy silly and Fiend points at the Wrestlemania sign. Fire goes off around the sign and I’m almost scared of what is coming there. The match is confirmed to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Just another Main Event, though it was nice to see some decent original stuff. That is one of the better things WWE can brag about: they have the talent to allow them to do just about anything they want to do, including having this show to bring in some international money. The recaps don’t mean anything, but at least you have a way to get fans into the show in a hurry.

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NXT
Date: January 6, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

It’s a huge night this week with the absolutely stacked New Year’s Evil card. The main event is Finn Balor defending the NXT Title against Kyle O’Reilly in a Takeover rematch, which should be a heck of a fight. Other than that, we have a hoss fight between Karrion Kross and Damian Priest, plus the Cruiserweight Title on the line. Let’s get to it.

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

Dexter Lumis, our host for the evening, is in the empty arena to start things off. He goes to the control and hits some buttons to mess with the lights before turning everything on. What a great way to draw in viewers! A guy pushing buttons in silence!

Damian Priest vs. Karrion Kross

Scarlett is here with Kross and this is a grudge match after Kross returned and Priest said he’s in if Kross wants a fight. They go with the hard lockup to start and fight out to the floor without breaking it up. Back in and Priest kicks him into the head and starts slugging away but Kross knocks him down as well. A running clothesline in the corner has Priest in trouble again and the t-bone suplex gets two.

We hit the double arm crank for a bit before they go out to the floor. Priest kicks the steps out of his hands and slugs away back inside, even managing to kick Kross down. A spinning suplex gets two on Kross and it’s time to crank on the arm, including a reverse cross armbreaker. They trade kicks to the head until Priest hits a springboard flip dive to take him down again.

That just earns him a running clothesline for two and Priest is put on the top. The super Doomsday Saito is broken up though and a Razor’s Edge out of the corner gets two. Kross breaks up the chokeslam onto the apron so Priest knocks him to the floor for the big dive. Back in and a kick to the face sets up South of Heaven for two on Kross.

That doesn’t really keep him down as it’s right back up for a powerbomb to Priest for two more. It’s back to the floor with Kross powerslamming him onto the steps to mess with the ribs even more. Back in and Priest tells him to bring it, earning himself the Doomsday Saito and a running forearm to the back of the head for the pin at 15:29.

Rating: B. They gave us what they advertised here by having two big, strong people beat each other up for fifteen minutes. Priest losing is fine as Kross seems destined for the title scene and it’s not like losing to a former NXT Champion is going to hurt him. Good opener here, with Priest looking good on his way down and Kross looking even better.

The Undisputed Era is ready for their first round Dusty Classic match against Breezango. They may be entertaining but the Undisputed Era is that much better.

Cruiserweight Title: Gran Metalik vs. Santos Escobar

Escobar, with Legado del Fantasma, is defending and Lince Dorado is here with Metalik. They start fast with Metalik snapping off a hurricanrana out to the floor. Back in and a double springboard hurricanrana takes Escobar down again, setting up the big dive to the floor. Escobar kicks him in the head but a rope walk hurricanrana is mostly botched and they fall to the floor.

Back from a break with Escobar dropping him ribs first onto the turnbuckle. The surfboard goes on for a bit, followed by a clothesline for two. Metalik gets in a superkick into a reverse Sling Blade to send Escobar outside again. That means another step up flip dive, followed by a top rope splash for two back inside.

Escobar knees him out of the air though and now it’s Metalik getting crushed by a dive for a change. Back in again and Escobar almost knocks the mask off but Dorado has to take out the rest of Legado. Metalik’s next hurricanrana gets two but the top rope elbow misses. The Phantom Driver retains the title at 12:26.

Rating: C. There wasn’t much drama here and that’s a good thing, as Escobar isn’t going to drop the title to someone coming down from Raw for a two match run. Metalik wasn’t great here either as some of his stuff wasn’t hitting and he used that hurricanrana quite a few times. Not bad, but it wasn’t quite memorable.

Mercedes Martinez doesn’t care that Io Shirai is the Competitor of the Year. She wants the Women’s Title and she’s waiting on the champ.

Xia Li vs. Katrina Cortez

This is Li’s, with a masked man, return after being trapped in a kung fu torture movie for a few weeks. Li kicks her down to start and hits some knees to the ribs. Cortez’s strikes are shrugged off and a big kick to the face finishes for Li at 1:27. Li, especially the finish, looked awesome here.

William Regal regrets to inform us that Timothy Thatcher is injured, meaning the Fight Pit against Tommaso Ciampa isn’t happening. The match will happen when Thatcher is healthy.

We get a special look at Bronson Reed, who promises a colossal 2021 and thinks Rhea Ripley wins tonight.

Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez

Last Woman Standing. Ripley dropkicks her into the corner to start and hammers away with right hands to the head. Back up and Gonzalez blasts her with a clothesline, followed by the fall away slam. Gonzalez cranks on the arm and kicks away but talks a bit too much trash about their matching tattoos. That means they go out to the floor with Ripley busting out the kendo sticks to put Gonzalez in some pain.

Gonzalez chairs her out of the air though and hits a hard whip into the barricade. The handcuffs are brought in but Ripley gets them away and attaches her to the barricade. That’s fine with Gonzalez, who rips them off and hits Ripley in the face. Ripley is sent face first into the bell and a backdrop onto the edge of the announcers’ table (geez) puts Ripley down again. Ripley makes it back in and we take a break.

Back with the Gonzalez hitting her in the face with the steps on the stage and then kicking Ripley down the steps. They fight to the back with Ripley spearing her through a glass door. Gonzalez is laid on a table and hits a Swanton off a box to drive her through it. Cue Dakota Kai with a kendo stick though and Ripley is in more trouble. That’s fine with Ripley, who kicks Kai into a locker and puts an anvil case in front of her for a nice trap.

Gonzalez and Ripley go back to the stage with Ripley grabbing the Prism Trap and choking with a chair. That’s broken up though with Gonzalez kicking her into the lighting structure. Ripley goes into the LED board (messing it up for a bit on the process) and it’s the one armed powerbomb to drive them both through the stage for the huge crash. Gonzalez is the only one to climb out for the win at 18:04.

Rating: B+. These two beat the fire out of each other and that’s all you could ask for here. The only thing that worries me is Ripley losing AGAIN because that seems to be the case almost all the time these days. The ending looked great though and Ripley locking Kai in a locker was funny so the whole thing was a success. Ripley almost has to be heading to the main roster now though right?

The Way, with a police escort, arrives for their latest celebration. They get in the ring, where something is under a sheet for them. Johnny Gargano talks about reversing the curse last week, just like the Cleveland Browns. Gargano: “YO CANDICE! I DID IT!” Candice is proud of him and has a plaque commemorating the curse being broken.

Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell offer their own praises and have a gift for him: a portrait of the Way as superheroes. Gargano is touched and announces that he and Theory are entering the Dusty Classic. Cue Shotzi Blackheart with the tank, which she fires at Theory’s crotch. As Theory is writhing in pain, here’s Kushida to go after Gargano. Lumis shows up to ring the bell.

Johnny Gargano/Candice LeRae vs. Kushida/Shotzi Blackheart

Gargano and Candice, in street clothes, rant on the floor before Shotzi kicks Candice in the head to start. We take an early break and come back with Shotzi getting kicked out of the corner as Lumis sits on commentary in silence. Blackheart snaps the arm down and it’s off to the men to pick up the pace.

Kushida goes for the cross armbreaker but Gargano gets his foot on the rope. Candice comes in for the save and offers to fight Kushida herself but Blackheart cuts her off in a hurry. Gargano and Candice are knocked outside so Shotzi can hit a big dive onto LeRae. A Theory cheap shot gets him pulled inside and kicked down, leaving Kushida to grab a rollup for the pin on Gargano at 9:05.

Rating: C. I’m still looking forward to both singles matches but this was just kind of there as a tag match. I love the Way’s wacky devotion to Gargano and Candice sells everything rather well, but the matches are only ok for the most part. Nothing too bad here, but not exactly must see stuff.

Takeover is back on Valentine’s Day.

The Dusty Classic is back next week, with the Undisputed Era vs. Breezango and the Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Ever-Rise.

William Regal announces the first ever women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. That could actually work.

NXT Title: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Finn Balor

Balor is defending and they’re both on their own. After the Big Match Intros, O’Reilly shoulders him down to start and Balor touches the previously broken jaw. A headscissors doesn’t go anywhere and it’s the threat of a kick to the head to shake Balor again. The second headscissors keeps Balor down and O’Reilly starts in on the arm. Balor tries to get up and grabs an abdominal stretch, sending O’Reilly to the ropes, which he bites for the break.

The trainer checks on O’Reilly’s mouth but Balor pulls O’Reilly into a headlock to stay on the jaw. O’Reilly fights up and starts in on the arm, including twisting it around the ropes. Balor goes back to the jaw and then stomps away, setting up a Crossface. That sends O’Reilly feet first to the rope for a change so Balor elbows him in the face and drives the forearm into the jaw.

Back up and O’Reilly kicks him down and goes for the arm, earning another shot tot he jaw for a breather. Balor hits the kick to the head to send O’Reilly outside and he has to beat the count. O’Reilly gets back in and it’s time to go after the leg, earning O’Reilly another kick to the face. Balor goes right back to the Crossface and hits the Sling Blade into a jumping stomp to the chest.

The shotgun dropkick puts O’Reilly in the corner but Balor gets crotched on top. A superplex into a brainbuster gets two and it’s back to the arm. A foot on the leg gets Balor out of trouble, even though his eye is cut. O’Reilly charges into a kick to the side and collapses, allowing Balor to put on something like the Rings of Saturn with a Crossface to make O’Reilly tap at 17:27.

Rating: A-. These guys were fighting an uphill battle as they had to live up to some unbelievable hype. Somehow they managed to have a heck of a match with Balor going after the jaw to mirror what happened last time. There wasn’t a lot of drama about the winner, but watching these guys beat the fire out of each other for about eighteen minutes was all you needed, and Balor looks all the more ready for Kross.

Medics and the Undisputed Era check on O’Reilly as Balor poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This lived up to the hype and that’s a heck of a trick given how much this show was built up. You could have passed this off as a slightly weaker than usual Takeover and it would have worked just fine. There are some very good matches up and down the card and a limited use of Dexter Lumis makes everything better. Check this one out as it was a great show, with the main event and Last Woman Standing being some hard hitting fights.

Results

Karrion Kross b. Damian Priest – Running forearm to the back of the head

Santos Escobar b. Gran Metalik – Phantom Driver

Xia Li b. Katrina Cortez – Spinning kick to the face

Raquel Gonzalez b. Rhea Ripley – Ripley could not answer the ten count

Kushida/Shotzi Blackheart b. Johnny Gargano/Candice LeRae – Rollup to Gargano

Finn Balor b. Kyle O’Reilly – Rings of Saturn with a Crossface

 

 

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NXT
Date: December 23, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

It’s the Christmas show as we have A Very Gargano Christmas. That’s special enough, but this show is also not up against Dynamite due to an NBA game so it should be interesting to see what they have on their own. We do have a title match tonight as the Tag Team Titles are on the line in a street fight. Let’s get to it.

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

Tag Team Titles: Killian Dain/Drake Maverick vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch

Lorcan and Burch are defending in a street fight but Dain and Maverick jump them from behind. The champs are in some early trouble but Maverick gets taken down so Dain can be double teamed. We settle down to Dain in trouble in the corner (BECAUSE THIS STREET FIGHT HAS TAGS TOO) but managing to backdrop Burch onto a pair of chairs.

Maverick comes in without a tag to trip Lorcan down and Dain slams him onto Lorcan for a bonus. Dain hits a running boot in the corner to Lorcan and takes him to the floor, leaving Burch to hit a clothesline on Maverick. Burch escapes a suplex through a table on the floor and avoids a charge to send Dain through it instead.

We take a break and come back with Dain down on the floor, leaving Maverick to be whipped by a belt. Dain fights up and starts cleaning house, including a powerbomb into a running elbow. Maverick comes back in but gets knocked off the apron and onto (not through) a table. The breather lets Maverick get the belt to whip the champions until a low blow cuts him off. A cricket bat shot to the ribs and the elevated DDT retains the titles at 14:38.

Rating: C. I liked the violent parts but can we PLEASE stop with the tagging in street fights? It looks so stupid to have chairs and belts and tables but YOU HAVE TO TAG BECAUSE IT’S THE RULE! It wasn’t as bad as the mess on Raw but figure this stuff out. The ending wasn’t in doubt here and it could be a good while before Lorcan and Burch drop the titles given their lack of competition. Nice opener here, bad interpretation of the rules aside.

We go to House Gargano where Johnny updates the number of days until Christmas and plays the piano. Indi Hartwell and Austin Theory join them with Johnny runs the camcorder. Theory gets in trouble for saying no way Jose and is told to put his cookie down. Things are smoothed over with Theory getting some Gargano Protein Powder. Theory: “I CAN BE LIKE YOU???”

We look at Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly watching their match at Takeover: 31 to set up their rematch at New Year’s Evil. They talk about how hard hitting everything was and how much of a struggle the whole thing was. We take a special look at the exchange of strikes which put both of them on the shelf after the match. Balor says he is still the champ but all anyone remembered was the broken jaw. Now they are doing it again and there isn’t going to be a trilogy this time around.

Malcolm Bivens talks about how great Tyler Rust was in his debut and this week, we’ll see that he is a diamond in the Rust.

Isaiah Scott vs. Jake Atlas

They stare each other down to start and then exchange some shoves. Atlas gets in a slap to the face but Scott takes him down into an armbar. Back up and Atlas pulls him down with a dragon screw legwhip and a triangle enziguri puts Scott on the floor. We take a break and come back with Atlas getting two off a Code Red but Scott sends him outside.

They head back in with Scott flipping out of the corner and grabbing a rolling cradle for two. A hard elbow to the face staggers Atlas (and seems to serve as Scott taking things a little too far) and Atlas staggers to the ropes. Scott picks him up and hits the JML Driver (Confidence Boost) at 10:32.

Rating: C-. I know they’re trying here and I can go for Scott as a heel but this is as nothing of a feud as is taking place anywhere in WWE at the moment. The feud is there but it feels like absolutely nothing and there is no reason to see anything that these two are doing. There are no stakes to be see, but Scott getting a change and hopefully a push should be an upgrade.

The Undisputed Era loves the idea of O’Reilly winning the NXT Title at New Year’s Evil but here’s Velveteen Dream to say Adam Cole is becoming a cheerleader while O’Reilly becomes the new leader. Cole punches him in the face, says there is no leader in the Undisputed Era, and sets up a match for later. The heavy sigh I let out when Dream showed up sums up everything about him right now.

Timothy Thatcher likes that Tommaso Ciampa has come after him. Ciampa tried to take his ear at Takeover but the lesson wasn’t complete. Last week, Thatcher came out for a fight but received no respect because security took him out of the arena. Ciampa is the kind of guy who talks a lot but doesn’t do anything about it. Tonight Thatcher is going to take some liberties with Leon Ruff so Ciampa can come do something about it.

Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai

Ripley powers her into the corner to start and then throws Kai down with ease. Dawn bails out to the floor but manages to get in a show to the ribs to take over. Ripley gets posted and we take a break. Back with Kai pulling on the cross armbreaker but Ripley powers out again. A kick to the ribs and a belly to back faceplant gives Ripley two and an electric chair faceplant gets the same.

Kai can’t get a wheelbarrow rollup so Ripley slaps on the Prism Trap, only to have Raquel Gonzalez come out to offer a distraction. Kai makes the rope so Ripley pounds away in the corner while still looking up at Gonzalez. A superplex attempt is broken up though and the Kairopractor gives Kai two of her own. Ripley powers her down again though and Riptide finishes at 10:33.

Rating: C+. Rather fine match here and it’s nice to see Ripley get back on track after a loss. Ripley still has the potential to be one of the best things in all of NXT and setting her up for another showdown with Gonzalez should work out. I’m still not sure how much longer Ripley is in NXT, but she’s doing well enough for now.

Post match Gonzalez comes to the ring and the brawl is on, with referees not being able to hold them back. They’re separated a few times but then go right back at it for a pretty cool fight.

It’s back to House Gargano where Indi Hartwell has gotten the box from Johnny Gargano’s Playstation 5. Johnny has a better gift for her though: Hartwell is now officially INDI WRESTLING. Theory just shakes his head.

Toni Storm says she wants the NXT Women’s Title. Io Shirai is scared of her because Toni is the one woman she can’t beat. Like in the finals of the Mae Young Classic for instance.

Xia Li continues to beat up Boa, who continues to scream for more. The old man says enough and things seem to be taking a turn.

Bronson Reed vs. Ashante Adonis

Adonis tries some grappling to start and is run over in a hurry. Reed runs him over again and stomps on the ribs, setting up the Tsunami for the pin at 1:07. That’s how it should have gone.

Io Shirai says hit her music because she’s coming to the ring. After having some issues getting a chair into the ring, Shirai tells Storm to get out here. Cue Mercedes Martinez from behind to jump Shirai, including sending her into various things.

Back at House Gargano, Candice LeRae gets….a wheel from Shotzi Blackheart’s tank. Everyone hates wheels you see, but this one is special. They take their photo together, with Theory spitting out his powder at the wrong time.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Leon Ruff

We get the empty chair for Tommaso Ciampa at ringside. Thatcher takes him straight to the mat to pull on Ruff’s face but Ruff is back up with a jumping headlock. That earns him an uppercut into a front facelock suplex to send Ruff flying. The abdominal stretch on the mat goes on, with Thatcher covering Ruff’s face at the same time. A quick small package gives Ruff two and he hammers away on Thatcher to limited effect. Ruff hits a clothesline but gets uppercutted out of the air. There’s a butterfly suplex and Thatcher loads up the half crab, only to have Ruff reverse into a small package for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: C. This is the kind of thing that makes you realize how far NXT has come in recent years, as usually Thatcher wouldn’t lose until his next match with Ciampa at the earliest, but here he loses because he can’t stop thinking about Ciampa? It’s not the same as a distraction finish, but this would have gone the same with Thatcher winning and then attacking Ruff after the match. I like Thatcher and he could be something around here, so stop having him lose when there is another way out.

Post match Thatcher stays on Ruff but Tommaso Ciampa runs in to hit Willow’s Bell. Ciampa says he’ll see him in the Fight Pit. Cool. That’s a gimmick that needs to be used more than once.

Damian Priest doesn’t see Killer Kross as much of a killer because he’s still standing.

Dexter Lumis paints Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez in a Last Man Standing match for New Year’s Evil.

Tyler Rust vs. Ariya Daivari

Malcolm Bivens is here with Rust. Daivari gets taken down by the arm to start and the arm cranking continues as they get back up. Rust spins him around by the arm but the threat of a cross armbreaker sends Daivari to the ropes. Daivari manages a kick to the heck in the corner and a neckbreaker over the middle rope sets up a dropkick to put Rust on the floor. Back in and Daivari talks trash, allowing Rust to pull him into a triangle choke. That’s broken up so Rust ducks the hammerlock lariat and kicks Daivari in the head. The Rings of Saturn, with Rust using his let to pull the top arm down, finishes Daivari at 4:32.

Rating: C. Rust continues to look good in the ring and the cruiserweights continue to be there for the sake of filling up the roster and serving as losers to others. That’s a big reason why 205 Live means nothing but that has been a problem for years. Anyway, Rust might be something around here and that’s a good thing to see.

Leon Ruff is getting his rematch for the North American Title next week to continue Johnny Gargano’s curse.

Karrion Kross laughs off the idea of Damian Priest calling him out and mentioning Scarlett.

The NXT Year End Awards are next week. Vote now on WWE.com.

Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream

Roderick Strong is here with Cole. Dream gets taken to the mat with a headlock to start as Beth compares Barrett to the Grinch. Back up and Dream is driven into the corner, where he misses a slap to the face. A cheap shot out of the corner drops Cole but he isn’t having any of that and punches Dream down a few times. The jumping neckbreaker puts Dream down again and a pump kick puts him on the floor. Back in and they bang heads for a double knockdown.

Cue Pete Dunne to go after Strong with a ram into the steps and a kick to the head. The Bitter End onto the apron lets Dream hit a clothesline and we take a break. Back with Dream missing the Purple Rainmaker and the slugout it on again. Some shots to the face sets up the flipping fireman’s carry slam onto the knee into a German suplex for two. Dream is back with a hot shot and a neckbreaker for two but Cole superkicks him off the top.

Cole is knocked to the floor but manages to superkick a diving Dream out of the air. Back in and a superkick sets up a Figure Four, sending Dream to the ropes for the break. Cole almost superkicks the referee, allowing Dream to grab the wind up DDT. The Purple Rainmaker gives Dream two but Cole goes up, only to dive into a superkick. Cole does the same though and finishes with the Last Shot at 13:11.

Rating: C+. I don’t remember the last time I did not want to see someone as much as I don’t want to see Velveteen Dream right now. He is mostly lifeless out there and is just floating around with nothing to do, but because he has done some things before, he gets to stick around. Throw in the allegations against him and I really could go with him falling in a hole and never coming out because…..well we all deserve some happiness now and then.

Overall Rating: C. Maybe they weren’t feeling it because of the holiday season or because everything is focused on New Year’s Evil at this point but this was a pretty lackluster show with nothing standing out. It just came and went, which isn’t something you often say about NXT. That being said, the next two weeks are looking stacked and anyone can have an off night. Not a bad show, but just read a recap instead of watching.

Results

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch b. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick – Elevated DDT to Maverick

Rhea Ripley b. Dakota Kai – Riptide

Bronson Reed b. Ashante Adonis – Tsunami

Leon Ruff b. Timothy Thatcher – Small package

Tyler Rust b. Ariya Daivari – Rings of Saturn

Adam Cole b. Velveteen Dream – Last Shot

 

 

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 16, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph

We’re on the way to New Year’s Evil and that could go a variety of ways. Tonight we find out the new #1 contender to the NXT Title though as Pete Dunne faces Kyle O’Reilly. That could be a heck of a fight and that’s what NXT is shooting for with the showdown. Other than that, the whole show could be all over the place. Let’s get to it.

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

Kushida/Leon Ruff vs. The Way

That would be Johnny Gargano/Austin Theory with Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell. Kushida takes Theory to the mat and the frustration is on in a hurry. Ruff comes in so Theory runs him over with a clothesline and hands it off to Gargano to glare at Kushida. The delay lets Ruff take Gargano down and kick him in the head for two, only to have Gargano hit a gordbuster.

Theory comes back in so Kushida makes the save, with stereo dropkick sending Theory and Gargano to the floor. Ruff loads up a big flip dive but slips and falls flat on his back on the floor for a scary landing. Thankfully he seems to be ok as Theory sends Ruff face first into the apron. Back in and Ruff scores with a DDT for two but Gargano hits his slingshot spear. We take a break and come back with Ruff fighting out of a chinlock and enziguring Gargano, allowing the hot tag off to Kushida.

House is cleaned with Kushida kicking Gargano in the arm but getting kicked in the head for his efforts. Ruff comes back in with a missile dropkick to Gargano and stereo running kicks in the corner give Ruff two. Theory is back in with the spinning torture rack powerbomb for two on Ruff and a double superkick is good for the same. Ruff hits his own superkick to send Gargano into the corner but Theory is back in with This Is The Way (where he picks Ruff up and flips him into a Downward Spiral) for the pin at 13:35.

Rating: B-. They did things the right way here with Gargano and Theory working well together and finishing Ruff in the end. Kushida continues to look strong and it wouldn’t shock me to see him get the first shot at Gargano. That has been a logical place for him to go for the last several months so it would be nice to see them actually do something about it.

Dexter Lumis is watching from the balcony with an easel. Uh yeah.

Video on Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley, with Toni saying that all that matters is her time. She is ending this rivalry on her terms tonight.

Video on Legado del Fantasma.

Shotzi Blackheart is proud of her WarGames team and doesn’t think much of Candice LeRae carrying a trophy that her husband got from a Little League banquet. She broke Candice’s arm in the cage and tonight she’s breaking Candice’s best friend Indi Hartwell.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Rust

Ciampa leaves a chair and shirt for Timothy Thatcher at ringside. Rust works on the wrist to start but gets taken down into a front facelock. Cue Thatcher to watch so Ciampa hits a running shot to the face to drop Rust again. Ciampa heads outside to yell at Thatcher and Rust runs Thatcher over by mistake. That’s enough to get Thatcher ejected but Rust uses the distraction to get in a shot on Ciampa as we take a break.

Back with Ciampa hitting a Samoan drop to get a breather and elbowing Rust in the face. Rust scores with an ax kick for two but can’t get a cross armbreaker as Ciampa stacks him up. The hold goes on with the second attempt but Ciampa is out again and blasts Rust in the face. The arm is too banged up for the Fairy Tale Ending so Rust grabs a cravate and flips Ciampa forward for two. Rust slaps on a Rings of Saturn with his legs, meaning Ciampa has to use his own leg for the break. Ciampa unloads with chops in the ropes, followed by a running knee to the face. Willow’s Bell is good for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: C+. Rust got to showcase himself here and that’s the reason you put him in a spot like this. Ciampa is in the middle of his big feud with Thatcher and beating up Thatcher’s glorified lackey is as good of an idea as you can have. If nothing else, Rust got a chance to showcase himself and that worked well. Nice stuff here, as both did what they were supposed to do.

Post match Ciampa picks up the Thatcher shirt but here’s Thatcher to glare at him. The two are held back but Ciampa throws the shirt in Thatcher’s face to make it worse.

Video on the Grizzled Young Veterans, who are back after eight months away. There are a lot of new teams around here and they are still the best around.

Video on Karrion Kross.

During the break, Malcolm Bivens came out to tell Rust that he is a star. Rust bumped fists with him and they left together.

Dexter Lumis has drawn the New Year’s Evil logo.

Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly

The winner gets the title shot against Finn Balor at New Year’s Evil. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are here to start but here’s the Undisputed Era and the returning Breezango to take care of them, meaning it’s one on one. Dunne and O’Reilly go straight to the slugging to start with Dunne not being able to get anywhere off the hammerlock. Instead Dunne takes him down and pulls on the leg but O’Reilly is out of that in a hurry.

O’Reilly sits on his stomach to strike away but the dragon screw legwhip is countered without much trouble. Back up and they run the ropes with Dunne hitting a clothesline to send O’Reilly to the floor. The moonsault off the apron misses O’Reilly but he misses a knee of his own. Dunne scores with a pump kick but O’Reilly slips out of an X Plex onto the apron. The slugout on the floor almost gives us a double countout with both of them diving back in at nine.

Back in and they slug it out with O’Reilly kicking him in the leg. Another kick puts Dunne on the floor again and we take a break. We come back with Dunne’s Bitter End being countered into a guillotine choke. That’s broken up and Dunne is back with the X Plex, allowing him to glare with his bloody mouth. Dunne starts in on the arm with the big stomp having O’Reilly in trouble. The cobra clutch with a leg trap has O’Reilly in pain to go with the trouble.

Back up and O’Reilly starts striking away, including the running elbow in the corner. Dunne tries to run the ropes in the corner but O’Reilly kicks him back down. O’Reilly goes up top with him but Dunne flips out of a German superplex attempt and kicks O’Reilly in the head. The dropkick in the corner connects and we take another break. Back with the two of them on the apron and pulling the other into the buckle over and over. That means a double knockdown until O’Reilly charges into a knee.

Dunne powerbombs him for two and cranks on the arm again. That’s reversed into an ankle lock on Dunne which is reversed into the Kimura on O’Reilly’s bad arm. O’Reilly tries a choke to escape but settles for a brainbuster to put Dunne down again. A jumping knee sets up a belly to back fisherman’s suplex for two more on Dunne. O’Reilly gets pulled into a triangle but slips out in a hurry to hammer away with forearms.

There’s a kick to Dunne’s head, followed by one to O’Reilly’s head. A second to O’Reilly lets Dunne snap the fingers and they head to the apron. The Bitter End onto the apron is countered into a suplex to the floor and Dunne is in big trouble. O’Reilly drapes him over the bottom rope and a top rope knee to the back of the neck sends O’Reilly to the title match at 22:48.

Rating: A-. Well that was awesome and I don’t think that’s any surprise. Two talented people getting the time and having the chance to beat the heck out of each other. What else could you possibly need? What might be a bit surprising is having Dunne loses, as he seemed to be the perfect choice to get the title shot. That being said, O’Reilly vs. Balor was amazing the first time so letting them go at it again in a huge rematch works for me.

Rhea Ripley knows how to deal with Raquel Gonzalez because Gonzalez backed away last week. As for tonight, she’s ending Toni Storm once and for all.

We go back to Xia Li/Boa (hey I didn’t miss it this week) where the old man is ordering a very sweaty Li to attack Boa over and over. She hammers away as the bloody Boa begs them to stop. The old man says do it again as Li is in tears. Li unloads on Boa and they both go a bit stoic.

Indi Hartwell vs. Shotzi Blackheart

The rest of the Way is here with Hartwell. Blackheart is more serious to start here and hits an early dropkick before starting in on the limbs. The running reverse Cannonball in the corner mostly misses Hartwell, who elbows Shotzi down for two. Blackheart jumps over her in the corner though and hammers away, meaning now the reverse Cannonball can connect. A running dropkick sends Hartwell to the floor but Candice gets on the apron for a distraction. Hartwell hits Shotzi with the trophy (and yes it breaks) for the DQ at 4:05.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but the match was there for the sake of getting to the ending and likely the post match beatdown. Shotzi and some other people fighting the Way could go on for months and this worked just fine as a way to move things forward. The idea of Shotzi continuing the fight works well, even if it did mainly start with breaking a tank.

Post match the beatdown is on, including the Wicked Stepsister to Shotzi. Barrett is more worried about the trophy because he knows how to be a commentator.

Karrion Kross video.

Bronson Reed is back at New Year’s Evil.

Karrion Kross vs. Desmond Troy

Scarlett is here as well. Total destruction with the Doomsday Saito setting up the Krossjacket choke to finish Troy at 1:05. That worked.

Post match Kross confirms his match against Damian Priest at New Year’s Evil.

Isaiah Scott confirms that he gets frustrated when he loses to someone like Jake At…..and he cuts himself off. The rematch is next week and the result will be different.

Scott leaves and here’s Ever Rise to say last week was a handicap match so they have tried to have it stricken from the record. Therefore, the team is still on a winning streak. Martel: “You hear that Goldberg? WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!” And no they don’t want a rematch.

Lumis is still drawing and now he is going to be the host of New Year’s Evil. Oh sweet goodness.

Finn Balor says New Year’s Evil isn’t Balor vs. O’Reilly II. It’s Balor vs. O’Reilly The End.

We run down the New Year’s Evil card, which certainly does look big.

Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley

They fight over the lockup to start with Storm slapping on a headlock for little avail. Ripley shoulders her down and they trade crucifixes on the mat. Back up and Storm hits some chops but Ripley is back with some of her own. A double chop to the back knocks Storm down but she slips out of an electric chair. Ripley pulls her to the apron but gets sent into the post and kicked in the face as we take a break. Back with Ripley fighting out of a chinlock but missing an elbow. A superkick connects with Storm though and Ripley knees her in the face.

The Riptide is broken up with some elbows to the face and Storm headbutts her down. Back up and they slug it out until Ripley gets two off a dropkick. The Prism Trap goes on but Storm rolls her into the ropes for the break. A German suplex gives Storm two and Ripley dropping Storm face first onto the turnbuckle gets the same. Ripley drops the leg for another two but here’s Raquel Gonzalez. Ripley kicks Storm onto her but as the referee checks on Storm, Gonzalez sends Ripley shoulder first into the post. Storm Zero gives Storm the pin at 13:48.

Rating: B. This was a big match feel with both women working to make it feel like a fight. Ripley is already a major star and Storm kind of is, so getting the big win here makes her feel that much more important. Throw in the idea of Gonzalez fighting Ripley again and this was a heck of a packed match, as the women’s division is getting crazy deep in a hurry.

Ripley isn’t happy to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Yeah what else are you expecting from a show like this? They had an excellent match in the middle, a rather good main event and a pretty good opener, while also setting up the big New Year’s Evil card. This was a heck of a show though and one of the better things that NXT has done in a pretty long time, as they had good to great wrestling and set stuff up for the future. What more can you want?

Results

The Way b. Kushida/Leon Ruff – This Is The Way to Ruff

Tommaso Ciampa b. Tyler Rust – Willow’s Bell

Kyle O’Reilly b. Pete Dunne – Top rope knee

Shotzi Blackheart b. Indi Hartwell via DQ when Hartwell used a trophy

Karrion Kross b. Desmond Troy – Krossjacket Choke

Toni Storm b. Rhea Ripley – Storm Zero

 

 

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 2020
Date: December 6, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

It’s time for what has become something close to NXT’s signature match and that year has one of the better looking matches in the show’s history. Just like last year, we have the men’s and women’s edition of the show’s namesake match, with a good enough looking undercard. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a general look at WarGames, including the cage being lowered. With that out of the way, we switch into a look at the two WarGames matches.

Team Blackheart vs. Team LeRae

Shotzi Blackheart, Rhea Ripley, Ember Moon, Io Shirai

Candice LeRae, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, Toni Storm

We start with the Women’s WarGames match, including a rundown of the rules. After the time is up, the team who won the advantage coming in (Blackheart in this case) sends someone in for a 2-1 advantage for three minutes. Once that time is up, Team LeRae will even things up for three minutes. They alternate until all four each are in and then it’s first pinfall or submission wins. And yes Shotzi has a new and bigger tank, which even shoots something at the side of the cage.

Dakota Kai and Moon start things off and go straight to the mat for the brawl. Moon flips off a sleeper attempt and hits a flipping clothesline in the corner. Dakota sends her into the ropes but Moon is right back with a crossbody against the cage. A charge is cut off by Kai’s raised boots and the Kairopractor connects. Kai chokes away and it’s Shotzi coming in for the advantage. Blackheart whips out a toolbox as she comes in to clean house on Kai. The reverse Cannonball connects against the ropes but Shotzi rams her into the cage.

Kai goes after Moon but Shotzi is back up with a doomsday missile dropkick to put Kai down. Gonzalez comes in to tie it up but Shotzi and Moon are right there to jump her at the door. It doesn’t seem to matter though as Gonzalez wrecks both of them, including powerbombing Shotzi against the cage. Kai is back in to clean house and a kick to the face rocks Shotzi in the corner. A springboard from one ring to another takes out Blackheart and Moon again but it’s Ripley coming in, giving Gonzalez a VERY interested face.

The showdown is on (they’ve got something with these two) until Ripley is cut off by Kai. Moon and Shotzi take care of Gonzalez, leaving Ripley to destroy Kai on her own. It’s time for the toolbox and Ripley busts out a hammer, only to drop it to send Kai into the cage. Gonzalez has dropped Moon and Shotzi though, meaning NOW we get the real showdown. They meet between the rings and slug it out with Ripley getting the better of things until Storm, with kendo sticks, comes in to take over.

Everyone else gets back in but Team LeRae takes over without much trouble. The stick beating is on but all six go to the corner, with Moon hitting a Steiner Bulldog on Kai and Blackheart/Ripley being slammed down as well, leaving all six down. Shirai is in for the final advantage and slides in a ladder, only to be kicked out by Gonzalez. Things get creative as Gonzalez keeps knocking Shirai off, either out of the door or off the side. The time expires and it’s LeRae coming in, only to have Shirai waiting on her outside.

Cue Indi Hartwell to jump Shirai and throw in some more weapons. The big beatdown is on, with the referee even telling LeRae and company to stop and give Shotzi a breather. Moon is back up but it’s Shirai on top of the cage, putting a trashcan over herself and diving onto EVERYBODY for the huge spot. Shirai gets the hammer and cleans house with it (meaning she hits people either with the bottom or flat across the back) and the recorded NXT chants start up again.

There’s the moonsault to Gonzalez but everyone makes the save. LeRae gets the Gargano Escape on Moon (with a wrench) at the same time Shotzi puts Storm in Cattle Mutilation. Shotzi uses a chair to knock a kendo stick out of Storm’s hands before picking up the stick (uh…) to clean house again. Shirai’s charge is sent into the corner and Kai hits the running boot to the face. Kai puts Shirai in the trashcan again for a top rope double stomp but Moon makes the save.

Two chairs are set up and Moon hits the Eclipse to drive Kai into said chairs. Storm makes the save and hits Storm Zero to drive Moon into the trashcan for two. Ripley is back up with the Prism Trap to Storm, with Shirai adding a running dropkick for a bonus. That gives Ripley two and the ladder is bridged between the rings. LeRae superkicks a trashcan lid into Ripley’s face as another ladder is set up in the corner. Shotzi and LeRae climb at the same time, with LeRae being knocked off and onto some chairs.

LeRae puts the chair onto herself, flips it over, and points at it before Shotzi drops a backsplash for the (very well choreographed) crushing. Shirai’s Over The Moonsault hits Ripley but Storm drives Ripley into the cover for the save. Shirai gets caught on top and Gonzalez superbombs her through the bridged ladder for the pin (and likely the next title shot) at 35:34.

Rating: B. This was a long and brutal fight, though it didn’t feel quite like your traditional WarGames. That’s because this isn’t your traditional WarGames, and for the NXT version, it worked out well. There were some great spots in here (that Eclipse onto the chairs looked awesome) but it did feel like they were stretching things out for the sake of stretching things out at times. What we got was a heck of a fight though and that’s what it needed to be, with the right team winning.

Finn Balor says after the team sports end, it’s time for all eyes to go back on the Prince.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher

Ciampa said he wanted to fight and Thatcher was game. Thatcher takes him to the mat and starts working on the arm before switching over to the leg for a change. Ciampa is right back by working on the leg, including stomping on the leg. Thatcher sends him outside though and catches him with an uppercut on the way back in. Hold on though as Ciampa gets knocked into the ropes, meaning the referee needs to check on him. Thatcher is fine enough to uppercut away and sends Ciampa outside for a second.

Back in and another uppercut means another check from the referee so Thatcher grabs a neck crank. Thatcher pulls on the arm as the slugout begins, only to have to send Ciampa into the corner. They bang heads for a double knockdown but it’s Ciampa coming up with the clothesline comeback. A superplex gets two on Thatcher, who is right back with the guillotine. Ciampa drives him through the ropes for the break and they’re both down on the floor.

Back in and Ciampa runs him over, setting up a bulldog choke. Thatcher’s ear is busted open as he makes the rope and manages a German suplex to drop Ciampa again. Ciampa can’t hit Willow’s Bell as he is pulled throat first into the top rope instead. That’s fine with Ciampa, who ties him in the ropes and chops away, setting up Willow’s Bell for the pin at 16:55.

Rating: B. They built this up as two people wanting to beat the heck out of each other and that’s what we got. There was no reason to try for anything more than Thatcher using his technical stuff against Ciampa’s brawling and the formula worked out rather well. Good, hard hitting match here and while I might have gone with Thatcher winning, Ciampa being rebuilt is a good thing for NXT.

They stare at each other after the match so this might not be over.

We recap Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis. Grimes is cocky and loud so Lumis has been stalking him, including inside a haunted house at Halloween Havoc. As a result, Grimes has been running away over and over so let’s have a strap match.

Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis

The referee is ready to put the strap on but Grimes wants to use his own. That’s not cool but Grimes jumps Lumis before the bell. They head outside with Grimes sending him into various things and choking with the strap. Back in and Lumis hits a Thesz press to hammer away and now the strap goes on, meaning the bell can ring (so we can get some bonus Lumis you see). Grimes heads outside and tries to escape over the barricade, only to get pulled back for an uppercut.

A hard whip sends Grimes into the barricade but Lumis gets sent over for a change. That lets Lumis do his big scary pull up (he’s no Keith Lee) but Grimes pulls him back to ringside in a crash. A shot to the face drops Lumis again and Grimes wraps the strap around his eyes. With that not being enough, Grimes puts a hood over Lumis’ head and takes him back inside for a whipping. Lumis whips out a spinebuster and, after taking off the hood, heads outside to wrap the strap around the structure around the post.

That goes nowhere as Grimes escapes and kicks Lumis in the chest, only to be pulled off the apron. Back in again and Lumis whips away, only to get German suplexed into the corner. Grimes unloads with a chair before having a seat in it for a change. Lumis catches a charge and hits a fall away slam, only to get pulled off the top. Grimes’ flipping powerslam gets two but both the Cave In and Silence are countered. Lumis ties the legs up with the strap and Grimes goes face first into the open chair. Silence goes on and Grimes taps at 12:55.

Rating: B-. They had a good match here and Grimes is still a natural treasure but….WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT LUMIS??? I’ve yet to miss an episode of NXT and for the life of me I do not understand what is so special about this guy. I don’t get what NXT sees in him and yet it just keeps going for months on end. Anyway, pretty good match with some creative spots, but in the end, it’s still Lumis and that cuts off a lot of my interest.

The lights flicker and a vulture flies around. Karrion Kross’ voice is heard saying Tick Tock. Since Kross’ theme is a clock and he said tick tock over and over, commentary has no idea who this is.

We recap the triple threat match for the North American Title. Johnny Gargano won the title from Damian Priest thanks to some outside interference at Halloween Havoc. That made him cocky so he rigged a wheel to choose Leon Ruff as his first challenger. Priest interfered to cost Gargano the title, making Ruff the fluke champion. Ruff did not like being called a joke and agreed to defend against both at once.

North American Title: Leon Ruff vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest

Ruff is defending and gets sent into the corner early on, leaving Gargano to hit a superkick. Gargano takes Ruff into the corner but Priest is back in to throw Ruff out of the way for a second time. Back in and Ruff hits a double missile dropkick before stepping up to Priest. That isn’t the best idea as Priest grabs him by the throat until Gargano makes the save. Priest gets double teamed down but Gargano turns on Ruff with the slingshot spear. Priest is back up as they head outside, with Ruff insisting that he is not a joke.

That earns him a shot to the face and a Razor’s Edge through the barricade as the crowd noise doesn’t seem pleased with Priest. Referees check on Ruff as Priest apologizes for hurting him like that. Gargano is back up but One Final Beat is blocked so Gargano goes with a standing Sliced Bread for two instead. Priest blasts him with a clothesline and they’re both down. With Priest down on the ramp, Ruff comes back and uses him as a launchpad for a clothesline.

A rope walk flip dive off the top takes both challengers down on the floor. Back in and a twisting rope rope cutter (The heck was that?) drops Gargano again, but it only seems to get on his nerves. Ruff clotheslines Gargano for two but Priest is back in, saying Ruff is out of chances. Priest kicks him in the head and lifts them both up in a double Downward Spiral. The double teaming takes Priest down again though, this time with his arms getting tied in the ropes.

Ruff gets quite the two count off a crucifix but Gargano pulls him into the Gargano Escape, right in front of Priest. That’s as bad of an idea as it sounds as Priest gets out and makes the save. The spinwheel kick drops Gargano and Ruff is sent outside, leaving Gargano to take the South of Heaven chokeslam. Cue three Ghostfaces to jump Priest, who shrugs all of them off. Three more show up so Priest hits a big step up flip dive to the floor. Another dive takes out the original trio.

Priest is all fired up (great visual) and chokeslams Gargano onto the apron. Back in and Ruff hits the frog splash for two on Gargano with Priest making the save. The Reckoning is broken up and they trade kicks to the face, with Priest knocking Gargano silly. Cue another Ghostface with a lead pipe to Priest’s back though, allowing Gargano to hit One Final Beat on Ruff for the pin and the title at 17:31.

Rating: B. This was an interesting match as you had Gargano winning the title, but Priest and Ruff got to showcase themselves very well. Priest looks like the monster of monsters right now and that fired up look on his face after the dives was great. At the same time you have Ruff, who probably just moved past the peak of his career, getting a chance to show you what he can do. I can always go for someone making the most of their chances and that is exactly what he did here. Nice job all around with probably the right result.

Post match the main Ghostface is…..Austin Theory.

New Year’s Evil is a special episode of NXT on January 6.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. Pat McAfee and Company got together and ran over NXT, including taking out the Undisputed Era. They set their sights on Finn Balor, but the Era is back for a big fight. That means a William Regal WARGAMES announcement and here we are.

Undisputed Era vs. Team McAfee

Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong

Pat McAfee, Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch, Pete Dunne

O’Reilly and Dunne start things off and Team McAfee has the advantage. The take their time to start with neither being able to get very far early on. O’Reilly takes him down by the arm to start but can’t get the triangle. He can’t get the cross armbreaker either so Dunne pulls him into a triangle choke in the ropes for a change. With that not going very far, Dunne cranks on the fingers, only to have go after the fingers in the corner. A stomp to the fingers misses so O’Reilly goes with a choke.

O’Reilly knees him in the chest, only to get pulled into a cross armbreaker. That’s broken and it’s Oney Lorcan coming in to kick away at O’Reilly. The double teaming is on with O’Reilly going down but fighting back in a hurry. Lorcan gets caught in the ropes for a guillotine legdrop but Dunne dropkicks the leg out. It’s Bobby Fish coming in to start throwing the knees and there’s a spinebuster to Lorcan. Dunne is back up with a Kimura on O’Reilly but Fish makes the save with a choke.

They go into the cage until time runs out, with Danny Burch telling Pat McAfee that he has this. Burch grabs a bag to pull out a cricket bat to clean house. Like any villain though, Burch takes too long talking trash and gets pulled into a kneebar. Dunne breaks it up with a stomp to the arm and it’s Lorcan with his own cricket bat. The group stomping is on but here’s Roderick Strong running in….and getting stomped down immediately.

Strong fights up to clean house with a dropkick to Lorcan and a backbreaker to Dunne. He heads to the middle of the rings and hits the running forearms to all three at once in a nice little sequence. Lorcan manages to send Strong face first into the cage though and McAfee and Company take over again. With the Era in trouble, it’s McAfee coming in to complete the team, though he needs to grab a table. Make that four tables, each with a member of the Era’s name included.

With all four in, McAfee finally gets in as the team is dismantling the Era. Strong is driven through his table and it’s Cole coming in to finally complete the field. Since McAfee and Company are waiting on him, Cole whips out a fire extinguisher to clear the ring and it’s time to get going. All of the usual takes care of everyone but McAfee and the showdown is on. Dunne steps in Cole’s way though and we hit the slugout, with Dunne taking him down and stomping away at the head.

The Bitter End is countered with a quick DDT but McAfee grabs Cole’s arms so Dunne can kick him in the head. O’Reilly takes Dunne down with a chair and tells McAfee to come fight him if he wants to be a wrestler. Kyle goes on the best rant I’ve ever heard from him, telling McAfee that he’s nothing and to come get some. Everyone is back up and the big fight is on with Lorcan hitting a Blockbuster. O’Reilly and Strong knee Dunne down with Lorcan making the save.

Cole starts kicking people in the face until McAfee chop blocks him down. With the required WOO’s, McAfee puts on a pretty good Figure Four while the other six are brawling at the ropes. Cole turns it over with Dunne having to make his own save. The Era is in trouble with the Cole table being set up but Strong and Fish kick Lorcan and Burch down. Cole hits Dunne with the brainbuster onto the knee for two and sets up a table in the middle of the ring.

Dunne gets powerbombed onto Burch onto a table, which doesn’t break (Barrett: “Where are we getting these tables from?”). Strong splashes both of them through the table and Cole shoves McAfee off the top and through another table in a massive crash. And Company is caught up against the cage so the rest of the Era charges into them with a long series of strikes. Cole gets in on it as well and the Era stands tall. McAfee is all alone and despite claims of a bad back, he tries to scale the cage, which goes about as well as expected.

The group beatdown is on and McAfee is sent hard into the cage. With McAfee mostly done, the rest of the team gets back up and we’re right back at it. A Doomsday European uppercut drops Strong but Dunne is taken off the top with a super neckbreaker. There’s a superplex to McAfee and they’re all down again. Everyone gets together for the big staredown but it’s McAfee going to the top of the cage for the HUGE flip dive onto everyone else for the huge crash.

O’Reilly and Dunne slug it out in the other ring with O’Reilly kicking away, only to get his fingers snapped. A suplex drops Dunne between the rings for two. McAfee grabs a chair and Cole tells him to do his best. Cole knocks it down and takes it away, only to get kicked low. Fish drives Burch through another table and Cole superkicks McAfee out of the air.

The Panama Sunrise plants McAfee for two in a heck of a false finish. The Last Shot misses McAfee but hits Lorcan instead. Dunne is back up with the Bitter End onto an open chair (geez) but O’Reilly kicks him down. A top rope knee onto a chair onto Lorcan’s head gives the Era the pin at 45:06.

Rating: A-. It says a lot when a 45 minute match doesn’t feel long and makes you feel every bit of the pain. I’m surprised at the Era winning but if McAfee isn’t going to be around regularly (fair enough), there was little reason to have his team win. McAfee can come back when he wants and be the best heel in the company, which is probably going to keep him a lot more fresh. I’m not sure what is next for the Era now as there is nothing left for them to do, but dang they had a great one here. Awesome match and crazy brutal throughout, with the Era getting the win in the definitive NXT team battle.

A lot of posing takes us out.

Overall Rating: A-. Yeah it was great and I’m not sure what else there is to say about something like this. All five matches were good to great and I had an awesome time throughout. It’s a heck of a show and worth seeing, though it didn’t have that big show stealing match. Still though, this felt like a Takeover and that’s as strong of an endorsement as you’re going to get.

Results

Team LeRae b. Team Blackheart – Superbomb to Shirai through a ladder

Tommaso Ciampa b. Timothy Thatcher – Willow’s Bell

Dexter Lumis b. Cameron Grimes – Silence

Johnny Gargano b. Leon Ruff and Damian Priest – One Final beat to Ruff

Undisputed Era b. Team McAfee – Top rope knee to a chair to Lorcan

 

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 25, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Kevin Owens, Vic Joseph

We’re rapidly approaching the next Takeover and that means it’s time to get ready for WarGames. The men’s match is already set up but the women’s match needs a little more tweaking. There are a few more other things to be set up this week as well and that means they better be moving fast. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of last week’s show, with the Undisputed Era returning to go after Pac McAfee and company. After the show went off the air, William Regal announced WARGAMES (he must practice that all year, like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter).

Candice LeRae vs. Ember Moon

Indi Hartwell is here with Candice but Moon goes straight after her to start. Candice is knocked outside and dropped onto the announcers’ table (Owens: “HI CANDICE!”), followed by a trip back inside. That doesn’t last long as Moon beats her up by the entrance, only to get caught with a cheap shot on the way back in. A neck crank doesn’t last long for Candice but she does get one off a sunset flip.

That sets off a pinfall reversal sequence, followed by a Moon kicking her in the chest for two. Candice scores with a running clothesline though and a head slam onto the mat gets two more. Moon manages to knock her into the corner and then hits a kick to the face for two of her own. Cue Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai for a distraction though and we take a break.

Back with Moon fighting out of a chinlock and snapping off a hurricanrana. Candice manages a spinning faceplant and the Gargano Escape goes on. That’s switched into a sleeper but Moon drops backwards for the break. Moon strikes away and scores with a release gordbuster before loading up the Eclipse. Gonzalez and Kai offer a distraction though, meaning Hartwell takes the Eclipse instead. LeRae uses the distraction (and lack of being Eclipsed) to hit a superkick into the Wicked Stepsister for the pin at 12:58.

Rating: C. You really can see the tier system around here and that’s not the worst thing in the world. While you have matches like Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley last week, you also have people at this level. This was a perfectly watchable and acceptable match, but it was a step or two below what we were seeing at the higher level. Candice is good for almost anything and Moon is starting to get her time back, so hopefully everything keeps improving.

Post match the group beatdown appears to be on but Moon manages to get to the floor. Cue Toni Storm to even things up a bit….until she turns on Moon, who is destroyed by the trio (Hartwell is still down and Storm has fun watching on the floor).

Santos Escobar talks about how he started Legado del Fantasma to bring respect back to lucha libre. This has been their year and their careers are taking off. They have taken out everyone who have come against them and turned Isaiah Scott into a talk show host. Next up is Curt Stallion, who is going to be a HUGE challenge. The difference between them and everyone else is they get things done. Cheers. Or maybe salud in this case.

Here’s the Undisputed Era to talk about WarGames, though first we see a clip from Pat McAfee’s podcast where he talks about how Pete Dunne is going to win a match tonight to gain the WarGames advantage. Adam Cole says they don’t look dead and he can’t count how many times people have promised to take them out. McAfee and company gave them a dose of their own medicine and yeah the Undisputed Era had it coming.

The only thing Cole is going to enjoy more than kicking McAfee in the face is being locked inside WarGames with him. WarGames is in two weeks though, and tonight they have to have the advantage match first. Kyle O’Reilly volunteers to fight for the team and Cole loves the idea. In two weeks, McAfee and company are going to face a new Undisputed Era, and they are taking those four to h***. That is undisputed. Cole is one of the best talkers around here and he sold the confidence and anger well here.

Candice LeRae and company talk rather quietly but the gist is that Candice’s WarGames team will be Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai and Toni Storm. They’re all cool with each other.

Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae (she’s been busy tonight) shill merchandise.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Kushida

Hold on as Tommaso Ciampa comes out with a chair to watch (Owens: “Oh he’s going to sit. That’s not so bad.”) as Thatcher takes him down by the arm to start. Kushida slips out of a front facelock and kicks at the leg, only to have to kick Thatcher in the face. A belly to belly plants Kushida and Thatcher grabs a leglock, which Kushida reverses into one of his own. Make that a Muta Lock, which doesn’t last long by definition.

Thatcher is sent to the apron where he manages to bend Kushida’s leg around the rope as Ciampa isn’t looking pleased. We take a break and come back with Kushida striking away until an uppercut cuts him off. Kushida gets taken down into another leg crank but he’s right back with some stomps to the chest. The Hoverboard Lock goes on but Thatcher blocks a lot of the pressure by grasping his hands. Thatcher reverses into a Hoverboard Lock of his own, with Kushida reversing that into a failed cross armbreaker attempt.

With that not working, Kushida goes to an ankle lock but switches into a bridging rollup for two instead. Thatcher is out of that too and grabs a sleeper, only to be sent outside in a big crash. Kushida drives him down by the arm on the floor as Thatcher is bleeding from the nose. Back in and Kushida kicks him in the arm, only to get caught in a butterfly suplex. Ciampa pops up and shoves the chair away, with the distraction setting up the Hoverboard Lock for the tap at 12:35.

Rating: B-. I think you can get the idea here and they worked rather well with all of the submission stuff here. The ending wasn’t quite the screwy finish that you usually get as Kushida wasn’t beaten when Ciampa stood up. Thatcher vs. Ciampa should be good, though I’m still waiting to see Kushida actually get to do something of note.

Post match Ciampa thinks Thatcher might have a problem with him now.

We look back at last week’s main event with Io Shirai defeating Rhea Ripley to retain the Women’s Title in a hard hitting fight. Even the ringside physician gets to talk about how banged up they are after that kind of a match. Rhea Ripley isn’t sure what she is going to do next.

Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are a little more fired up for Pete Dunne’s match with Kyle O’Reilly than Dunne is. Dunne promises to break Undisputed Era’s spirit tonight.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show, with Owens saying last November he was in WarGames and this time he’s doing commentary so maybe he’ll be a referee next time. Either way, this week it’s time to talk to someone who just had the biggest win of his career: the North American Champion Leon Ruff. Leon is glad to be here and Owens wants to give him the chance to tell his story. The fans are happy to see him and Ruff can’t believe that he only signed his contract seven weeks ago.

We look at Ruff winning the title, even with the title not fitting. Owens: “Same thing happened to me when I won the NXT Title.” Owens talks about how great of a feeling this is and Ruff needs to appreciate what he is getting to do. Ruff talks about wanting to be an inspiration to others, but Owens doesn’t think that he’s selling it hard enough. You need to let them hear who you are so Ruff starts shouting about how he beat Johnny Gargano twice, even shoving his chair away.

Owens facepalms, with Ruff immediately apologizing for the chair. Owens says it isn’t the chair because he knows what’s about to happen. Cue Johnny Gargano (Owens: “I was a little off on the count but that’s what I meant. I knew it.”) to ask if this is a prank show. Owens gets Gargano his own chair, which is thrown over the top rope. That means Owens grabs another chair, which is for someone other than Gargano.

That’s shaken off so Gargano can get in Ruff’s face as he rants about Damian Priest. Owens: “Come on Johnny, I just told him what happened.” Owens counts it down again (and again….Owens: “Oh man maybe things in NXT are different!”) so here’s Priest to get in Gargano’s face. Owens: “Before this gets too far, do you need a chair?” Gargano yells at the smiling Ruff but Priest says hang on a second.

Priest remembers Ruff saying he could beat both of them at once. Owens: “Oh man. What a shame that Teddy Long isn’t in NXT!” He wishes the NXT version of Teddy Long could come out and make a triple threat match so here’s William Regal to make the triple threat title match at WarGames. Regal: “Playa.” I knew that last line was coming and I laughed anyway.

Finn Balor talks about preparing for war. Some advice for whomever wins the war: don’t put checkers on his chess board. He isn’t hard to find.

Shotzi Blackheart has some fun with a blowtorch and asks what is the best part of war. That would be crushing your enemies and she laughs a lot.

Cameron Grimes vs. Jake Atlas

Atlas goes right after Grimes to start but a German suplex drops him down for an early two. Grimes ducks his head for a backdrop and gets it kicked right back up, only to have Atlas do the exact same thing. Now it’s Atlas with his own German suplex and a shot to the face gets two. That’s enough for Grimes though as he hits Atlas in the face and finishes with the Cave In at 2:46. Nice to see Grimes being himself again.

Post match here’s Dexter Lumis to scare the hat off of Grimes. That’s enough to send Grimes running off but a video of Grimes running away from the haunted house match, complete with a singalong, starts playing on the screen. Lumis pulls out a strap and I think we know where Takeover is going.

Post break, Grimes is trying to leave but William Regal makes a strap match between Grimes and Lumis at Takeover. Grimes asks Regal why he hates him so much, with Regal thinking it’s his personality.

Here’s Rhea Ripley to address her future. She had a big fight with Io Shirai last week and then hugged her after the match. That was all about respect though, because Ripley isn’t going anywhere. All that matters is winning the NXT Women’s Title but here are Candice LeRae and Toni Storm to interrupt. LeRae makes fun of her for never being able to win and says she’s all talk. On the other hand, LeRae can walk the walk, so here are Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai, with the former carrying the unconscious Io Shirai on her shoulder. Ripley tries to fight but the numbers game catches up with her. Sign her up.

A terrified looking Xia Li and Boa go up to what appears to be their master and beg her forgiveness for losing again. They plead for one more change but a mark is written on their hands and the master says it’s time.

Here’s Ever Rise for a tag match but the Grizzled Young Veterans are back to beat them down instead. The beatdown is on and Zack Gibson promises to dominate going forward.

The Garganos take Indi Hartwell, in a neck brace, to the car. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae promise to dominate at Takeover….and there’s another Ghost Face in the car next to Hartwell.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne

It’s a ladder match for the WarGames advantage. They go straight to the brawling before the bell with Dunne being knocked outside as we take a break. Back with the match joined in progress and O’Reilly knocking him outside again for the running knee from the apron. Dunne gets in a shot to take over though and bridges a ladder between the apron and the barricade. O’Reilly gets back up though and catapults Dunne face first into the Plexiglas.

Back in and Dunne runs over the ladder to put O’Reilly down, with the ladder landing on his leg for a painful visual. O’Reilly’s arm is crushed in the ladder but he manages a dragon screw legwhip into a knee hold with Dunne on the ladder to make it worse. The knee is fine enough to pick O’Reilly up for a powerbomb onto a ladder in the corner but O’Reilly is back up to nearly knock Dunne into the bridged ladder. A charge hits a raised boot though and Dunne suplexes him through the ladder for the huge crash.

We take a break and come back with O’Reilly kicking a chair out of Dunne’s hand and suplexing him down onto a ladder. The top rope knee only hits ladder though (that looked and sounded great) and a limping Dunne goes up. O’Reilly pulls him down by the leg though, only to have Dunne’s enziguri only hit the ladder. They slug it out from underneath the ladder and then get up so Dunne can go for the fingers.

That means a double knockdown and the ladder goes down as well, landing on Dunne’s knee. It’s time for the big stereo climb until O’Reilly snaps the arm. Dunne snaps the fingers to knock O’Reilly down….but he can land on his feet just fine, meaning Dunne gets knocked down again.

A heck of a rebound lariat drops Dunne and they’re both down. O’Reilly goes up but gets chaired in the knee and then the back to make it worse. The Bitter End onto the barricade leaves O’Reilly laying but he’s up again to turn the ladder over, sending Dunne into the ladder in the corner. O’Reilly goes up again but here’s a man with a hood over his face to jump from the floor to the apron shove O’Reilly down in a crash. Dunne wins at 15:53.

Rating: B. This was your usual violent ladder match without much drama in the end. I think you can guess who the masked man was and that’s a fine way to go, as even WWE knows better than to have the heels go into WarGames at a disadvantage. They did their thing here and kept popping up over and over, which tends to be the case in a ladder match. I’m not sure why this needed to be a ladder match (and hey we’ll be seeing another one next week) but at least they did what they needed to do.

Post match, Dunne poses with Lorcan and Burch while the Undisputed Era yells at ringside.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event was the big spectacle to set up the REALLY big spectacle later on but that’s about the only thing worth your time. Candice LeRae was all over this show, appearing in about five segments. LeRae is good at this wrestling thing but that’s a lot for almost anyone. The rest of the show was designed to set things up for Takeover and the show needed that, but it wasn’t the big awesome show that they needed to get us ready for WarGames. That’s probably next week, and they need it at this point.

Result

Candice LeRae b. Ember Moon – Wicked Stepsister

Kushida b. Timothy Thatcher – Hoverboard Lock

Cameron Grimes b. Jake Atlas – Cave In

Pete Dunne b. Kyle O’Reilly – Dunne pulled down the briefcase

 

 

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
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

This year’s show is all about the Battle For Brand Supremacy, but NXT is involved as well and the invasions have been red hot for a change. They have set up a pretty awesome looking show, even with the amount of triple threat matches, including triple threat elimination matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

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

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

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

When one member is out, the team is out. Where to begin? First of all, there are no graphics to tell you which brand the teams are on. I get expecting people to know that at the time, but WWE knows that they have the Draft every year and that the Network is a thing here. Throw up a show graphic.

Second, a year later and five of these teams are gone, with four of them out of the company. Third, Hawkins and Ryder are “glad to still be here.” These people were the Tag Team Champions at Wrestlemania seven months and a half months earlier. That’s a heck of a fall. Oh and I had forgotten about that Tag Team World Cup deal the OC had from Crown Jewel. I’ve heard worse ideas.

It’s a brawl to start (shocking I know) with Jaxson Ryker saving Gran Metalik for no reason. General stupidity maybe? The Sons are out in a hurry as I try to get over Dolph Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat in the match. Yeah they need graphics on their name but it’s Ziggler so by definition it’s a stupid thing to do. Angelo Dawkins throws out Gran Metalik to get rid of the Lucha House Party as Ziggler (now minus the hat) is thrown to the apron for his traditional save fest.

Hawkins is sent through the middle rope but Ryder is thrown over the top and onto him for the elimination. Barthel catapults Ziggler over the top for the skinning of the cat and Roode gets rid of Aichner to eliminate Imperium and save Ziggler (again). Otis falls trying the Caterpillar and gets dumped by OC/Revival. Breezango is out thanks to Revival and that’s it for NXT.

We’re down to Revival, OC, Roode/Ziggler and the Profits, with the Profits dropkicking Revival out in a hurry. Ziggler saves Roode from the Magic Killer and superkicks Gallows out to get us down to two. The brawl is on with Roode busting Dawkins’ spine but Ziggler superkicks Roode through the ropes by mistake. The Sky High looks to set up the frog splash but Roode saves Ziggler (that man needs a lot of saving). Ford hits the frog splash on Ziggler instead, only to be thrown out by Roode for the win at 8:19.

Rating: D+. It’s a battle royal and a tag team one at that, with the teams barely being identifiable outside of commentary throwing out a brand here and there. It will get better later on and since this was a bonus match, it’s hard to get that upset. What impresses me the most is how much the tag team division changes so quickly, as this feels like it could have been four or five years ago. That probably shouldn’t be happening and yet it doesn’t seem out of place.

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

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

Rush is defending and gets double teamed to start but Tozawa and Kalisto waste no time in turning on each other. That means it’s time for Rush to start his bobbing and weaving, which always looked awesome. Kalisto pulls Rush to the floor and cuts off Tozawa’s dive before walking the rope to kick Rush in the face.

A spinning wristdrag takes Tozawa down but Tozawa shoves Kalisto into Rush’s raised boot. Rush hits a double handspring elbow to take both of them down but Tozawa punches him in the face. Kalisto gets kicked to the floor and Tozawa’s sliding boot gets two on Rush. Tozawa and Kalisto take Rush to the top but he double armdrags both of them down for a huge crash.

A circle chop off is capped off by Tozawa German suplexing Rush but Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two. Tozawa is back up with a Shining Wizard to send Kalisto outside and the top rope backsplash hits Rush. Kalisto dives in for the save and the slugout is on, with Kalisto hitting the Salida del Sol on Tozawa. That’s fine with Rush, who comes in with the Final Hour to pin Tozawa and retain at 8:20.

Rating: C. It’s a match that has been done before but what we got worked out just fine with the three of them flying around and doing their high flying stuff. That’s something that is always going to work because it is a style that never gets old and Rush retaining is a fine way to get NXT on the board. I know he might have some issues, but dang Rush can do the flying thing.

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

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

Non-title (with all three as respective champions) and it’s Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, fresh off WarGames the previous night, for the Era. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off, which may be a little harder to keep track of but it makes a lot more sense than having two people in there at once instead. O’Reilly is taken down in a hurry so it’s Fish coming in, earning himself a beating of his own from Ivar. Both parts of the Era come in and get dropped by Ivar and Big E. before they turn on each over.

They take turns flipping away from each other until Big E. runs Ivar over in the power display. O’Reilly comes back in for the rapid fire knees to Big E. but the Raiders knee O’Reilly down without much effort. It’s back to Fish, who gets Ivar slammed onto him to make it even worse. Kingston comes in to slug away on Erik and it’s New Day double teaming O’Reilly down for two.

The Era is sent outside and it’s the New Day/Raiders showdown. The slugout goes on until Kofi is left alone, meaning it’s time for the Era to come back in and take over on Kingston’s leg in the corner. Ivar dives in with a splash to break up a kneebar so O’Reilly and Kingston slug it out on the apron instead. Big E. misses his spear through the ropes so Kofi and the Era join him, meaning Erik can slam Ivar onto the other four.

Back in and Fish starts taking over on Erik’s knee before handing it off to O’Reilly for the same. Erik manages to suplex O’Reilly into the corner to take Fish down, allowing the hot tag to Ivar. House is cleaned and O’Reilly kicks Fish in the corner by mistake. Big E. gets kicked in the face as well and Erik hits the shotgun dropkick on Fish. Ivar’s Bronco Buster misses though, meaning Kofi can come in with a standing double stomp to Erik.

Big E. suplexes the Era and it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp to crush Erik. Kofi’s big dive over the top takes out Ivar and the Era, with Big E. hitting the spear to take Erik down as well. Everyone gets back up and Erik knees Big E. in the face, setting up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination (always cool), sending Big E. outside again.

Kofi takes the High/Low on the floor meaning it’s the Era vs. the Vikings for a change. Erik is knocked outside so the Era kicks Ivar…who doesn’t seem to mind. The handspring double elbow (second in two matches) connects for Ivar and it’s the Viking Experience to drive O’Reilly into Fish to give Ivar the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B. This was the kind of all action match that they should have been having and it got enough time to make it work really well. New Day is a team who can be put in there at any time to make other teams look good and the Era can work with anyone. The Raiders needed the win most and it worked out well all around. Good stuff here and a nice way to wrap up the Kickoff Show.

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

The opening video looks at how this is usually Raw vs. Smackdown but then NXT jumped in to make it a lot more interesting in a hurry. There are some other matches thrown in but this is ALL about the three way brand fight, which did have a heck of a build.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

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

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

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

The NXT team was announced after last night’s Takeover and some of them are coming off of WarGames so they’re a little banged up. Storm, Evans and Logan start things off with Lacey taking over early on. That earns her a double flip out to the floor and it’s Cross tagging herself in to take her place. Logan hits a cartwheel knee to Storm’s back for….well nothing actually as she talks trash until Cross jumps on her back for the choking.

They’re both a bit odd so that fits well. Back up and Storm German suplexes both of them at once so it’s off to Sane, Carmella and Shirai. The fans get rather excited about two of these people and I’ll let you guess who they are. Carmella hands it off to Brooke, who is fine with just standing in the corner while the other two trade headscissors and clotheslines. Shirai hits a running basement dropkick to Sane’s face but Brooke sends them both into the corner for a double handspring elbow.

The Swanton hits both of them for two on Shirai so Evans comes in for a double hiptoss instead. Candice gets the tag and strikes away at Evans as Asuka comes in as well. A quick snapmare drops Asuka so Candice can hit a step up backsplash and there’s a middle rope faceplant for two on Evans. It’s off to Ripley, who gets caught in Asuka’s armbreaker so Belair makes the save, triggering the parade of secondary finishers. Banks is left alone in the ring with everyone else down…including Shirai and LeRae need medical attention.

Everything pauses as Raw and Smackdown wave goodbye to them instead of, I don’t know, trying to eliminate each other. We settle down to Banks vs. Ripley vs. Charlotte, which does sound like a heck of a match. Ripley doesn’t seem to be very impressed and since this feels big, it’s off to Belair, Logan and Cross instead. Cross hits a neckbreaker on Logan but gets sent to the apron for her efforts. A dive to the floor takes Ripley down and Cross hammers away on Storm against the apron.

Ripley picks Cross up though and puts her on the apron, allowing Belair to grab a rollup (with Ripley holding the feet) for the elimination at 9:39. Carmella comes in with a big headscissors to Belair and a superkick to Logan, only to walk into Belair’s KOD. That sends her into the ropes but Logan sends both of them out to the floor. Running knees takes Carmella and Belair down again with Natalya having to make a save back inside. Belair punches Logan down though and hits the 450 to get rid of her at 12:10.

That puts us at Raw and Smackdown with four each and NXT with three as Charlotte comes in to face Belair and doesn’t seem impressed. Belair gets clotheslined but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte down. The big boot drops Belair again but Carmella breaks up the moonsault that will never hit no matter what anyway. Charlotte pulls Carmella up for a powerbomb, which is countered into a hurricanrana onto Belair to give Carmella a pair of two’s each on both.

Carmella grabs Belair by the ponytail but takes too long, allowing Charlotte to hit Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38. Sane, Storm and Banks come in with Storm kicking Banks in the face. Storm Zero to Shirai is broken up though and the Insane Elbow connects, with Sasha breaking up the pin and….then pinning Sane herself at 16:48. Asuka gets so frustrated that she comes in and wrecks the place, including kicking the now legal Brooke in the face to get rid of her at 17:25.

We’re down to Ripley/Belair/LeRae/Shirai (with the latter two backstage) for NXT vs. Evans/Banks for Smackdown vs. Charlotte/Asuka/Natalya for Raw. Charlotte tags herself in and gets into a shoving match with Asuka as a result, eventually slamming Asuka down by the hair. Lacey tries to jump Charlotte but Asuka is back with the green mist (BIG pop for that) to blind Charlotte before walking out. The Woman’s Right gets rid of Charlotte at 19:09 and Raw is down to just Natalya. I’ll take that over Asuka taking another loss and Charlotte is going to be the focal point of everything she does so a tainted loss doesn’t mean a thing.

Since Natalya is the only one left for Raw, she comes in with the discus lariat to Storm and then rolls Evans up for a fast elimination at 19:51. That leaves us with Storm/Belair/Ripley for NXT, Banks for Smackdown and Natalya for Raw and Ripley is rather pleased. Banks and Natalya get smart and take Storm down for a Sharpshooter/Banks Statement combination for the tap at 20:47.

Belair comes in and Natalya tries to talk trash before going with the smarter move of playing Jim to Banks’ Bret on the Hart Attack for the pin at 21:16. So it’s down to Banks vs. Natalya vs. Ripley….or at least it is until Banks decks Natalya for the pin at 21:57, eliminating Raw completely.

The fans REALLY like the idea of Banks vs. Ripley though and it’s Ripley hammering away and getting two off a dropkick. Back up and Banks can’t hit a tornado DDT so it’s a sleeper to limited avail instead. Banks hits the running knees in the corner and the middle rope Meteora gets two. More knees to the back of the head send Ripley into the corner again but this time she superkicks the Meteora out of the air.

The Prism Trap (dang that looks awesome) is on but Banks rolls into the Bank Statement instead. Ripley is in trouble so here are LeRae and Shirai, who were never officially eliminated, to pull Ripley to safety. That earns them a dropkick through the ropes each and they head back in, where Banks has to slip out of Riptide. Shirai hits her with a springboard missile dropkick though and now Riptide can give Ripley the final pin at 27:53.

Rating: B-. They got some time here and the important thing is NXT wins a major match. That’s an awesome thing to see and it’s really cool that it actually happened on a big stage. You want to set things up well for the rest of the night and having an NXT all star team lose to teams involving Logan, Brooke and Carmella wasn’t going to work. Above all else, Ripley looked like a total star here, eclipsing almost everyone else in the match and the fans treated her like one. I wouldn’t have had Shirai and LeRae save her at the end, but Ripley pinning Banks for the win is all that matters.

NXT – 2

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

We look at the closing moments of WarGames last night when Kevin Owens became the final member of Team Ciampa and helped them win.

Seth Rollins, Raw Team Captain, comes up to Owens to ask where his loyalties lie. Owens says last night was just to get back at the Undisputed Era so tonight, he’s Team Raw. He also finds it funny that SETH ROLLINS is questioning loyalty. A mock Shield pose takes us out.

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

Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn is in Nakamura’s corner. Nakamura strikes away at both of them to start but AJ gets them into the corners for some running elbows. Strong’s backbreaker gets him out of trouble but AJ knocks him to the floor and hits a shot to the face. Back in and Nakamura breaks up AJ’s springboard and kicks Strong to the floor for a bonus. A knee gets two on Styles and there’s the running knee in the corner.

The gutbuster fireman’s carry gives Strong two on Nakamura but AJ comes back in with a sleeper to give Nakamura a breather. Strong fights back up and runs them both over a few times, including the alternating running forearms to AJ in the ropes. AJ fights up and gets in a few shots, only to be monkey flipped into a shot to the face from Nakamura. A slugout puts Strong down in a hurry and Nakamura hits the sliding knee for two.

The Styles Clash to Nakamura is broken up and Sami pulls Nakamura outside for a break. Strong unloads on Styles in the corner but gets caught in an Electric Chair, with Nakamura coming in off the top with a kick to the chest. AJ breaks that up as well but Sami pulls him outside, leaving Strong to hit a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Back in and AJ cuts off Kinshasa, setting up the circle of strikes to the face.

Nakamura drops AJ and hits a reverse exploder on Strong (whose knee got very close to AJ’s face), setting up Kinshasa….for two as AJ makes another save. AJ and Nakamura slug it out so Nigel can talk about their Japanese rivalry. The Landslide gets two on AJ but Kinshasa is countered with a shot to the face. AJ hits the Phenomenal Forearm but Strong comes in to get rid of AJ and steal the pin at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was the action packed match that you would have expected and the cool thing is that it made Strong look like he was on their level. Strong isn’t someone who has been proven on the big stage before and seeing him win here, especially by outsmarting the other two, is great to see. Again: it’s not like Nakamura or Styles are going to be hurt by the loss, especially to another champion. Throw in the fast paced action and having commentary boosting it that much more than this was a great time.

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

Miz comes up to Daniel Bryan in the back and says they’re both family men. That’s why Miz wants Bryan to stop the Fiend once and for all, because he is an evil that must be stopped. Bryan doesn’t want to hear it from Miz.

NXT Title: Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne

Cole is defending, but the interesting thing here is the lack of Mauro Ranallo, who apparently blew his voice out last night at Takeover. This would be code for “did not like Corey Graves calling him out for making too many Chicago rap music references and not letting Phoenix and McGuinness talk enough. He would be gone for a little while before returning, but it was clear that something wasn’t quite right. Cole has bad ribs and Dunne has a bad knee coming in.

The wristlocking doesn’t work well on Cole as Dunne flips out before going straight after the bad ribs. Dunne starts in on the hand before taking it outside to stomp the elbow in the steps. Back in and Cole kicks him down to stomp away before a dropkick cuts off Dunne’s knee. Dunne grabs the X Plex for a breather and Cole lands hard on the ribs again. There’s an enziguri into the corner to set up a release German suplex.

A sitout powerbomb gets two on Cole and he heads outside, with Dunne hitting a middle rope moonsault to the floor. Back in and Dunne’s moonsault hits knees, setting up the Last Shot to give Cole two. The Panama Sunrise misses so they take turns hitting each other in the face. The brainbuster onto the knee gives Cole two but another Last Shot misses and Dunne grabs the Bitter End for a close two. They slug it out again and Dunne unloads with chops but Cole superkicks his moonsault out of the air.

That’s good for two as well, as is Dunne’s sitout X Plex. They fight to the apron (because of course they do) and Cole busts out the Panama Sunrise to put them both down on the floor. Back in and Cole kicks him in the head and the kickout has Cole panicking. Dunne talks trash as they get up and snaps the finger but the Bitter End is countered into a Panama Sunrise (that looked great). The Last Shot retains the title at 14:09.

Rating: B+. Now that’s what you were hoping to see from these two and it was an awesome match throughout. Dunne is an absolute star and Cole looks like someone who should be the future whenever he is in the ring. This is one of those matches that makes you drool when you hear it announced and then they delivered on top of it. Great stuff here and worth seeing for that NXT style that works so well.

Team Smackdown argues over who should be the captain.

We recap the Fiend taking the Smackdown World Title from Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel. Then Miz questioned if Daniel Bryan was the same person he used to be, which got the Fiend involved as well. Bryan finally said YES again and that’s just what Fiend wanted as Bryan brought back the YES Movement.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Fiend is defending and there is something so creepy about watching him in person. The red lights are on and Bryan hits the running dropkick into the corner. A running clothesline cuts him off though and they head outside with Bryan being sent into the post. Back in and Fiend hits the release Rock Bottom and there’s the toss suplex to drop Bryan again. We hit the neck crank as Fiend laughs a lot.

They head outside again with Bryan hitting a running knee from the apron. A top rope dive takes Fiend down again and there’s a missile dropkick back inside. Bryan nips up and the YES chants set up the YES Kicks. The big kick to the head just makes Fiend laugh but another one keeps him down for a change. The running knee connects for two but Fiend grabs the Mandible Claw. Bryan manages to reverse into an armbar but another Mandible Claw finishes Bryan at 10:01.

Rating: C+. The point here was to have Fiend get over as a monster in his first title defense and that’s what he did. They made Fiend feel like a movie monster and that’s the kind of thing you want to do in this situation. Bryan not being able to win, even with the most successful stuff he has, is a good way to go and it told they story they wanted. Fiend is an unstoppable monster and that’s how it should be.

Rey Mysterio says it has been fifteen years since he first faced Brock Lesnar. A few months ago, he was ready to hang up his mask but his son Dominik made him keep going. Tonight, Rey is swinging his lead pipe for Lesnar’s knees and hopes his son is watching when he becomes WWE Champion.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

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

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

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

The NXT team was announced on the Kickoff Show again. The fans are way into Walter, more or less sealing his fate. Strowman, Ciampa and Rollins start things off and Strowman dropkicks both of them down. Walter and McIntyre come in and Walter is all over a three way battle of the big men. The double teaming works on Strowman this time before slugging it out themselves. A big boot into the running seated senton hits McIntyre and there’s a German suplex to drop him again.

Walter chops Strowman to make him mad, tells him to bring it, and hits a dropkick into the corner. McIntyre hits the Claymore to finish Walter at 2:59 and the fans are MAD, as they should be in that spot. Priest comes in to strike away at McIntyre and Strowman. Shorty comes in to moonsault Priest and it’s Ricochet coming in as well. That earns him a Chaos Theory from Shorty and it’s off to Riddle for the grapple off. Both ankle locks miss and neither can hit a spinning kick so we’ll go with the standoff. Ciampa comes in so Ricochet kicks both he and Shorty down at once. Owens frog splashes Shorty for the pin at 6:27.

Reigns and Corbin both come in with Corbin hitting him in the face like the horrible teammate that he is. Owens heads outside to superkick Corbin and hit the Cannonball on Reigns against the barricade. Back in and….Ciampa grabs Willow’s Bell to get rid of Owens at 7:42. Orton slides in behind Ciampa and the fans really like this one. The RKO is blocked and Ciampa clotheslines him outside but Willow’s Bell is blocked as well. Orton drops him onto the apron and it’s time for the circle stomp back inside. Priest gets a blind tag as Orton RKOs Ciampa, so it’s an RKO to get rid of Priest at 10:16.

Riddle comes in and rolls Orton up for the fast pin at 10:30. Riddle is SHOCKED at the win….until Orton hits him with an RKO so Corbin can steal the pin at 10:56. We’re down to Rollins/McIntyre/Ricochet for Raw, Reigns/Corbin/Ali/Strowman for Smackdown and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Lee comes in to face Corbin but Strowman tags himself in as the fans are recommending that we BASK IN HIS GLORY.

Strowman runs Lee over and starts cleaning house, including the freight train around the ring. He does it again but this time Lee Pounces him, followed by a Claymore from McIntyre for the countout at 13:14. Ricochet comes in to kick Corbin down and the big flip dive drops Reigns on the floor. That just earns him the End of Days from Corbin for the pin at 14:30. Ali, the hometown boy, comes in to clean house and soak in some cheers. The wicked tornado DDT plants Rollins and Ali hits a suicide dive…but Corbin yells at him, allowing Rollins to hit the Stomp on Ali for the elimination at 16:10.

Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor as a quick CM PUNK chant starts and stops just as fast. Back in and McIntyre hits the reverse Alabama Slam on Ciampa. Reigns spears McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39 though, leaving us with Rollins vs. Reigns/Corbin vs. Ciampa/Lee. Rollins rolls Reigns up for two but gets kicked in the face. Willow’s Bell drops Reigns but the Fairy Tale Ending is blocked. Corbin cuts off Lee and drags Reigns over for the tag, only to have Reigns spear Corbin. Ciampa will take that pin at 19:54 and Smackdown is down to Reigns.

Rollins and Reigns go after Ciampa, who is fine with these odds. Rollins throws Ciampa outside though…and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table. Lee breaks up the DoubleBomb though and Ciampa hits Project Ciampa for a close two on Rollins back inside. The Fairy Tale Ending is countered so Ciampa hits a running knee, only to eat the Superman Punch from Reigns. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:01 and we’re down to one man each.

Lee comes back in to throw Rollins around and he crossbodies both of them at the same time. Rollins is back with an enziguri into a low superkick and the frog splash gets two, with Lee LAUNCHING him off the kickout. Rollins is all fired up but walks into the Big Bang Catastrophe to give Lee the pin and get rid of Raw at 26:36. Lee smiles down at Reigns, who hits back to back Superman Punches for a VERY close two. The spear is countered into the Spirit Bomb for a nearer fall but the moonsault misses. Reigns hits the spear for the final pin at 29:18.

Rating: A-. I came to Survivor Series wanting to see one of the classic elimination matches and that’s what I got here, with one elimination after another and some crazy drama near the end. Lee looked like a STAR here and pinning Rollins clean is as big of a moment as he was going to get. There is no shame in being pinned by Reigns and what we got here was great stuff. I loved this match, save for the way Walter was put out, and it’s all I could have asked for.

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

NXT – 1

Becky Lynch is ready for Shayna Baszler and there is no one who can keep her down tonight. She has been traveling the world and every day out means one day out of the gym. Becky sees something of herself in Bayley, so tonight she is going to show both of them what she is.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio for Brock’s Raw World Title. Brock came after Rey and his family so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez. That didn’t go so well as Brock destroyed him, leaving no one to protect Rey. That’s why Rey grabbed a lead pipe and started swinging, setting up this No Holds Barred title match.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio

Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is defending and it’s No Holds Barred. Rey is the Joker here for no apparent reason. Heyman says Lesnar weighs about two and a half Rey Mysterios. Rey grabs a pipe to start so Lesnar drops to the floor. He comes right back in though and blasts Rey with a clothesline. Rey is thrown over the announcers’ table and an overhead belly to belly sends him into the announcers’ table covering.

Brock posts him but Rey does the same to him, meaning it’s pipe time. Back in and Brock suplexes him onto the pipe and then adds another suplex. Cue Dominik to try to throw in the towel but Rey uses the distraction to hit a low blow. Some pipe shots from Rey and a chair shot from Dominik set up stereo 619s. Back to back frog splashes into a double cover gets two on Lesnar, who is back up with a suplex on Dominik. The F5 retains the title at 6:53.

Rating: C+. The whole point here was that one moment of drama and it worked a lot better than I was expecting. I don’t think anyone was realistically expecting Rey to win here but they managed to get in that little bit of drama and that was a great surprise. Lesnar was running out of opponents so having him wreck Mysterio was as good of a move as they had here, with Rey knowing how to sell this perfectly.

We recap the Women’s Champions triple threat. Becky Lynch said being the champ was all that mattered but Shayna Baszler just wanted to snap a limb. Bayley wanted to know why she was an afterthought and now it’s match time.

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

Non-title again. They stare each other down to start and Bayley shoves Baszler into Becky. The brawling continues to the floor so Becky dives onto both of them. Back in and Bayley avoids the running spinning legdrop but Becky kicks her in the head. Baszler is back in as well and starts cleaning house until Bayley knocks her outside. Bayley stomps on Becky but charges into an elbow in the corner. With Baszler being dropped to the floor again, Bayley drops onto Becky’s back for two.

All three are back in with Becky kicking Baszler down and starting the Bexploders. A DDT gets two on Bayley and the top rope legdrop is good for the same with Baszler making the save. Becky gets sent outside so Bayley can hit a running knee for two on Baszler. Back up and Baszler sends Bayley outside, meaning it’s time for the big showdown with Becky. Bayley crossbodies both of them at once though and Becky is back outside. Bayley has to elbow her way out of a gutwrench superkicks but Becky breaks up the Kirifuda Clutch.

A powerbomb out of the corner gives Becky two on Baszler, who knocks Bayley off the apron. That means the Disarm-Her on Baszler but Bayley makes a save. They all head outside again with Becky tweaking her knee, allowing Baszler to drop her onto the announcers’ table. Becky gets dropped onto the table again but Bayley runs Baszler over. Back in and Bayley hits the top rope elbow, only to get pulled into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 18:05.

Rating: C. Another viewing helped this a lot but it was longer than it needed to be and the action was only so good. Bayley was obviously there to take the fall and there is nothing wrong with that. If nothing else this should set up Becky vs. Baszler in a mega showdown later as Becky is unstoppable and Becky looks that way. Not overly great, but it did its job, albeit in the very long form.

Final Standings:

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Overall Rating: B+. The two last matches drag this down a bit but otherwise it’s a heck of a show with nothing bad and some good drama/shock as NXT runs away with things. What matters most here is they took some chances (some good some bad) and gave us a special moment with NXT. The wrestling was good throughout and it felt like the Survivor Series I had wanted to see for such a long time. Awesome show here and proof of what NXT can offer when they get the chance (and win the trophy).

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D

Redo: D+

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+

Redo: C

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B

Redo: B

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B

Redo: B

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-

Redo: B+

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B

Redo: C+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+

Redo: C

Overall Rating:

Original: B+

Redo: B+

Other than the main event, the memories seem strong with this one.

Here’s the original Review if you’re interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/12/01/survivor-series-2019-they-really-did-that/

 

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