Smackdown
Date: December 6, 2019
Location: Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

The very slow build on the fast road to TLC continues with one of the last two shows before the pay per view. The big story coming out of last week is the return of the YES Movement as Daniel Bryan gears up to fight the Fiend one more time. It didn’t go so well in round one but this company loves itself some rematches, perhaps this time with less hair. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s the Miz to get things going. He has been looking for Daniel Bryan since Bray Wyatt attacked him last week and will find him no matter what. Miz knows what Bryan has meant for Smackdown since he arrived and that can’t go away because of the Fiend. Bray pops up on screen to say that something bad happened to Bryan last week. Bryan was supposed to come play at TLC and now that might not be happening. Maybe Miz can come play instead!

Miz isn’t sure, but that makes Bray unhappy. Ramblin Rabbit pops up to tell Miz to run while he can but Bray scares him off. The Word of the Day is family, because Bray used to have one. Now Bray has a chance to join a new family, so he holds up a picture of Miz, his wife Maryse and his two daughters. Does Miz want to come play with him now? Miz storms to the back.

Post break, Miz calls Maryse and tells her to lock the doors. He wants to do something about this but she wants him to come home.

Alexa Bliss vs. Mandy Rose

Of note: Jessika Carr makes her main roster debut at the first full time female referee. Mandy gets sent outside early on to start but avoids a baseball slide, allowing Mandy to hit a jumping knee to the face. Back in and Mandy takes her down to PULL OUT HER EYELASHES. Mandy yells that Bliss will never look like her so Bliss hits her in the face. Some stomping keeps Mandy down as Nikki Cross takes out Sonya Deville on the floor. Twisted Bliss finishes Mandy at 4:18.

Rating: D+. Just a match here as Bliss is back after her injury. They finally seem to have pulled the trigger on her full face turn, which is something that they have wanted to do for a very long time. I can get how they are shooting to make her the new Trish Stratus and it isn’t that much of a stretch. If she can improve her in-ring abilities, it wouldn’t be that impossible to have her get in the same universe.

Dana Brooke is at catering when Drake Maverick comes in. He heard that Dana is going on a date with Batista and wants to know what Batista has that he doesn’t. Elias comes in to sing a song about what Batista has over Drake. Various jokes about Drake’s sex life are included so Drake slaps him, seemingly setting up a match tonight.

Post break, Drake is in the ring to say everyone thinks this is funny. He wants Elias out here right now for a fight instead of a match so here is Elias, rather promptly at that. Dana is with him as well and Drake can’t get in a single shot. Elias even bends him over his knee for a spank and Dana has to throw Drake back inside. Drift Away connects to leave Drake laying so Dana can get a three count.

Miz is marching through the back and hears a noise. He goes into a room and finds the same photo of his family, but with Bray’s picture over his face. Bray jumps him from behind and hits Sister Abigail before singing a little There’s No Place Like Home.

Video on Tribute To The Troops, which was taped earlier today.

Ali/Shorty G. vs. Lucha House Party vs. Revival vs. Heavy Machinery

Elimination match and the winners get New Day, on commentary, for the titles at TLC. Gable front facelocks Gran Metalik to little avail to start so it’s off to an armbar to work a little better. Ali comes in to flip out of a wristlock and it’s time for a big flip off, drawing New Day to their feet in applause. Lince Dorado and Tucker come in for an exchange of dropkicks as everything breaks down.

The House Party hit stereo dives to take out just about everyone and New Day is rather pleased by the competition. Back in and the Compactor finishes Metalik for the first elimination at 3:29. We come back from a break with Tucker kicking Wilder away and bringing in Otis to clean house. The shirt comes in for some dancing and the power of jiggling absorbs Dawson’s chops. The Caterpillar hits Dawson but the legal Wilder rolls Otis up (with trunks) for the pin at 9:43.

So it’s the Revival vs. Ali/Gable and they’re on the floor in a hurry with Revival being sent onto the New Day. Cole: “THERE ARE PANCAKES EVERYWHERE!” We take a break and come back with Ali German suplexing Wilder for two with Dawson making the save. Ali’s tornado DDT is countered into a powerslam for two but Ali kicks Wilder right back down. The 450 misses though and Ali is tossed over the barricade into the timekeeper’s area. Gable dives onto both of them and ankle locks Wilder but Dawson comes back in for the Shatter Machine and the pin at 18:42.

Rating: C+. The action got better at the end but it was a little deflating to see Revival get yet another title shot. Revival is becoming the second set of Usos as they feel like they have fought the New Day a hundred times now. I’m sure the match is going to be good, but it’s something I’ve seen so many times that it just doesn’t mean much anymore.

Post match the Revival says they won’t let New Day disrespect the titles anymore. The new day is over because they’re taking it back to the old days.

Roman Reigns isn’t worried about Baron Corbin promising to humiliate him tonight. The only humiliating thing is that Corbin and company can’t beat him. At TLC, Reigns is humiliating him.

Sheamus is still coming to destroy Smackdown.

Lacey Evans vs. Haley Jones

Lacey powers her into the corner and the Woman’s Right is good for the pin at 1:13.

Post match here’s Sasha Banks to yell at Lacey for knocking her out last week. Sasha calls herself the blueprint for the division but Lacey is just a Mary Poppins wannabe. Just because Lacey is a bad role model to her six year old daughter….and Lacey cuts that off to say never do that again. Lacey talks about how being in the Marine Corps put leadership in her so she’s ready to fight right now. The threat of the Woman’s Right has Sasha cowering so Lacey leaves, only to get jumped by Bayley. The beatdown is on and Lacey is left laying.

More from WWE at Tribute to the Troops earlier today.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler can’t wrestle him down to start but he can go to the knee for some more success. The chinlock and a hair pull put Reigns down again and Ziggler sends him into the steps to make it worse. Back with Reigns still in trouble, including being sent hard into the corner. We hit the chinlock again with Ziggler cranking away until Reigns powers up to his feet. Reigns’ running clothesline misses and they fight to the floor where Ziggler dropkicks him out of the air.

Cue King Corbin, complete with the throne being carried to the ring of course. We take another break and come back with both guys down. Reigns gets back up and hits the Superman Punch for two but Ziggler is right back with the Zig Zag for the same. That doesn’t work for Corbin, who gets on the apron and is punched right back to the floor. The spear finishes Ziggler at 17:48.

Rating: C-. The chinlocks hurt this one a bit but the longer run time didn’t hurt things all that badly. Reigns wasn’t about to lose to Ziggler here because he’s Roman Reigns in a match against Dolph Ziggler. The match was littler more than a way to advance Reigns vs. Corbin, and if that has to happen, there are worse ways to get there.

Post match Corbin’s handlers jump Reigns and Corbin gets involved too with Reigns fighting them off. Someone underneath the ring grabs Reigns’ leg but he beats Corbin up some more. Ziggler superkicks Reigns and grabs some handcuffs from underneath the ring. Reigns fights them off again but the guy from underneath the ring grabs his foot again and the numbers get the better of him.

They handcuff him around the post and unload on Reigns before pulling out….dog food. It’s poured over Reigns’ head and rubbed in his face to end the show, with Reigns screaming as the other two leave. Really effective angle here as it’s the first time Corbin and Ziggler have actually done something to get to Reigns rather than just making stupid dog jokes.

Overall Rating: C+. I can’t believe I’m saying it but that big Corbin angle at the end was the best part of the show. It made me want to see Reigns take him apart and that is the first time I’ve felt something like that about Corbin. The rest of the show came and went, but at least we have a few matches set up for TLC now. Bryan being out of the match makes sense as there is no reason to do Bryan vs. Wyatt twice in a row. Let him come back and win later, as Miz gets to fight for his family but come up short. Good enough show here, and it actually didn’t have anything terrible.

Results

Alexa Bliss b. Mandy Rose – Twisted Bliss

Revival b. Ali/Shorty G., Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party last eliminating Ali/Shorty G.

Lacey Evans b. Haley Jones – Woman’s Right

Roman Reigns b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

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

Smackdown
Date: November 29, 2019
Location: Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

We’re finally back to normal around here after a pretty wild month that saw NXT invade and everything get turned upside down. Things have settled back down though with Smackdown coming in second place at Survivor Series. I’m not sure if that is going to make much of a difference but now it’s off to TLC. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to open the show. In his house, if there are still leftovers in the fridge, it’s still Thanksgiving so Happy Thanksgiving everyone. What matters the most around this time of year are health and family and last year at this time he only had family. Things are better now and Smackdown won at Survivor Series. The NXT chants are on and Reigns says it’s all WWE, but Smackdown survived on Sunday.

Reigns thanks his teammates, but says he won’t thank the one dummy on his team. Cue King Corbin, to say it was his leadership that won the match, but Reigns says Corbin was the one who got eliminated. Corbin talks about his feast today and all of the servants he had waiting on him today. Reigns probably had a burned turkey but he’s used to eating dog food anyway, just like everyone here. Corbin can face this man instead.

Robert Roode vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns sends him outside to start before hammering away in the corner. Roode is knocked outside again but Reigns glares at Corbin, allowing Ziggler to grab a leg so Roode can knock him into the announcers’ table. The spinebuster puts Reigns onto the table as well and a drive into the barricade takes us to a break. Back with Reigns kicking him in the face but walking into some boots to the face.

The Blockbuster gives Roode two but Reigns catches him with a sitout powerbomb for two of his own. They head outside with a Corbin distraction letting Roode send him into the steps. Back in and Roman Superman Punches him out of the air for two but the spear is countered into another spinebuster for two more. With nothing else working, Corbin slips Roode the scepter but Reigns spears him down for the pin at 13:41.

Rating: C+. Roode is still the guy who doesn’t do anything flashy but he does everything really well. That’s often a nice formula for a good match, which is what they had here. Reigns vs. Corbin is not an interesting feud, but I’ll take Reigns and Roode having a nice little match over Corbin making dog jokes every single time.

Post match Ziggler jumps Reigns but gets taken out. That brings in Corbin for the failed save, only to have Roode get in a scepter shot. Roode puts Reigns’ head on a chair and says something about his kids but misses the big scepter shot. The Superman Punch drops Roode to the floor for the big spear through the barricade.

Ziggler tries to come after him again but gets knocked over the barricade with the steps. With Roode still underneath the barricade, Reigns turns the announcers’ table onto him. It’s a good segment with a pretty awesome beatdown, but this is setting up Reigns vs. Corbin based on Corbin making jokes about Reigns being a dog. There isn’t much of a way to save that one.

We look back at Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend on Sunday with Wyatt retaining.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with Bray being thankful to still be champion. The Fiend cuts in with a Fiend themed title which is going to haunt my nightmares for a long time. Bray loves his new toy and he had a blast playing with Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series. The Fireflies seem to approve so if Bryan wants to join in, Bray can make it all change for the better. All Bryan has to do is let him in.

Sheamus is back and calls the current state of Smackdown pathetic due to all of the cowards. He sees no one with a backbone and no one like him. Smackdown is soft so now it’s time for him to return and ravage everyone in his way. Smackdown will be his.

Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak

Ali dropkicks him down to start but gets pulled off the top for a big crash. The half crab has Ali in trouble until he fights up and scores with a superkick. The tornado DDT sets up the 450 for the pin at 3:08.

Rating: C-. Nice little win for Ali here to make it clear that he is still a thing. Gulak’s work over the summer is wasted for another week, but I’m not sure how much of a future he was going to have on the main roster anyway. That being said, he was still too big for the dying 205 Live, but since NXT isn’t an option for no apparent reason, this is what we get.

Here are Sasha Banks and Bayley to say that what happened to the Smackdown women at Survivor Series was not their fault. Smackdown did not lose because NXT is better and Bayley did not lose because Shayna Baszler is better. They rip on the Smackdown women’s division so here’s Lacey Evans to interrupt.

Lacey has been tired for making a Thanksgiving dinner for thirty six people, including the in-laws. She wouldn’t trust these two nasties to lead the Chicken Dance at a garden party so it’s time for someone with some class to take over. We get a pretty loud LACEY EVANS chant before Lacey mocks Bayley for tapping out. Lacey taps the title so Sasha gets in her face. That’s good for a Woman’s Right and Bayley panics. Lacey leaves with a big smile and I guess we have a face turn.

Daniel Bryan isn’t sure if he should accept Bray’s challenge as we get the Firefly Fun House again. Huskus has eaten too much but the only thing that would make him feel better is if Bryan came and played with them. Bray tells us the real story of Thanksgiving, which was about the muscle men dancers and the reptilians throwing over humanity. It’s music video time with Bray and Huskus demonstrating the Muscle Man dance as Huskus talks about how fat he is. Bray insists that we CAN’T let the reptilians in but let him in instead. After all this, Bryan still has no answer.

Nikki Cross vs. Sonya Deville

Fallout from Nikki losing at Survivor Series. Hold on though because Mandy needs to say that Nikki looks like a cold plate of Thanksgiving leftovers. Sonya punches her in the face to start and hits a sliding knee for two. Trash is talked but Nikki pulls her down into a small package for the pin at 1:38.

Post match the beatdown is on but Alexa Bliss returns for the save.

The Miz talks to Bryan about what happens to people who face the Fiend and asks if that is worth it. Miz mentions Bryan’s family and gets stared out of the room.

Drake Maverick holds some mistletoe over Dana Brooke’s head. Dana: “Aren’t you married?” Maverick: “It’s complicated.” Cue the returning Elias to play a song about how he’s back for the Christmas season as Dana dances.

Here’s New Day to talk about everything they ate over Thanksgiving, including hog and….dog? That’s just a joke, but today is Black Friday so they have a deal: an open challenge for the Tag Team Titles. Now we need someone to answer the challenge though. Cue Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro with Sami Zayn running down the idea of Thanksgiving for being about gluttony and imperialistic evil. Sami rips on the idea of Black Friday and says it is time for some honorable men to win those titles.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro

New Day is defending. Cesaro shoulders Kofi to start so it’s off to Nakamura, who gets dropkicked down in a hurry. Kofi gets taken into the corner though and dropped head first onto the top turnbuckle. Sami offers a distraction on the floor and Cesaro uppercuts Kofi over the table as we take a break.

Back with Kofi making the hot tag to Big E. but the Warrior Splash misses Nakamura. Nakamura knees him in the head but walks into the Rock Bottom out of the corner for two. A kick to the face puts Big E. down and it’s Cesaro coming in with a top rope headbutt for two more. Kofi backdrops Cesaro to the floor and kicks Nakamura in the head, setting up the powerbomb/top rope double stomp combination for the next near fall.

Kofi’s launch over the top is uppercutted out of the air and another hits Big E. Kinshasa is countered into a rollup for two so Nakamura kicks Kofi in the face. A sliding….something to the face (they missed on something there) gives Nakamura two more so it’s back to Cesaro to drop Kofi across the top rope. Sami tries to use the pancake tray but gets caught in the act, meaning it’s an ejection. Trouble in Paradise to Cesaro retains the titles at 11:16.

Rating: B. They had me believing that we might get a surprise title change so well done on the most important account. The Smackdown tag division doesn’t feature a lot of interesting challengers to New Day but they’re very good for placeholder champions until someone else can come after the titles. Good match too, though Cesaro already being put in a team and taking the fall in their first match is more of the same thing that has gotten on fans’ nerves for years.

We look back at Reigns attacking Roode earlier.

Here’s Daniel Bryan to talk about everything going on with Bray Wyatt tonight. Earlier today the Miz talked about how the Fiend will change him. Back at Survivor Series, Bryan felt the change from the people. For the last year, Bryan has talked about how the YES Movement is done, but now something has changed. So does he accept Bray’s challenge? YES he does! Cue the Firefly Fun House and Bray is very excited to get to play again but if Bryan does it again, we will see his true form. Bryan helped Bray change in the first place and the Fiend remembers that.

Oh he almost forgot: Bray promised a new face tonight and he is a man of his word. The lights go out in the arena and it’s the Fiend popping up through the ring. Bryan fights him away but gets Mandible Clawed down into the hole. Fiend pulls his hands out of the hole and has a bunch of hair in his hands. He does it again with a bunch of hair being left on the mat and the laughter ends the show. So he’s a Brutus Beefcake fan now?

Overall Rating: B-. This was a fast moving show which kept my interest the entire time. Hopefully that is the case going forward and not just the fallout from Survivor Series, as this show never dragged, despite the first thirty five minutes being dedicated to one story. Bray wanting to fight Bryan again is fine and a souped up Bryan could be a good challenger for Bray this time around. Anyway, solid enough stuff here, even if no one is going to watch.

Results

Roman Reigns b. Robert Roode – Spear

Mustafa Ali b. Drew Gulak – 450

Nikki Cross b. Sonya Deville – Small package

New Day b. Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro – Trouble in Paradise to Cesaro

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

Smackdown
Date: November 22, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for both Survivor Series and Takeover: WarGames. Normally the second show wouldn’t matter around here but the NXT roster is going to be around to make things a little more interesting. That could play out in several ways and I’m curious to see how it goes. Let’s get to it.

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

I was in the arena live for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron. That being said, I couldn’t see a lot of the screen due to lighting equipment so there are parts of this that I didn’t see/hear live.

The Smackdown locker room is in the back in front of what looks like the door to the loading dock. King Corbin, Roman Reigns and others get up and say they know NXT and Monday Night Raw are here tonight. They literally open the door for them and say come on in. Sasha Banks gets up as well and, in that completely natural manner of speaking in WWE, says the women’s division is ready so let’s just do this right now.

Opening sequence.

Here are the Smackdown women to get things going, meaning we have to get the Snoop Dogg version of Sasha’s theme again. I get why they’re going with it but the other one is just much better to get a crowd going. Sasha says this is their ring and no one is going to jump them from behind. They jumped NXT last week so Team Raw can get out here for a fight right now.

Cue Team Raw so a single referee comes out to try and keep the peace. Charlotte thanks them for opening the door but Raw would have kicked it down anyway. If Sasha is interested, they can fight one on one for old times’ sake. Cue Team NXT through the crowd, with the lineup being revealed as Captain Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox, Candice LeRae and Toni Storm, who has barely ever been in regular NXT.

Rhea wants to make it captain vs. captain vs. captain so NXT gets in the ring as well. As you might have guessed, the big brawl is on and we take a fast break. Back with things having settled down (after the brawl went all the way through the break and started again after being stopped once) and the bell ringing.

Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha slugs away at both giants but walks into a double big boot for her efforts. That means it’s time to talk some trash until Rhea rolls out of a waistlock. A superkick rocks Charlotte but she’s right back with a big boot of her own. The shoulders in the corner keep Ripley in trouble but the last one misses, allowing Banks to come in and hammer away at Ripley. That doesn’t last long either as she sends Banks outside, only to have Charlotte get back up and start the fight on the floor. With everyone else getting involved, Charlotte busts out the huge moonsault and takes out Banks and Ripley as we take a break.

Back with Charlotte on the floor and Ripley dropping Banks face first onto the top turnbuckle. Banks is right back with the Meteora but Charlotte runs in with Natural Selection to Banks for her own near fall. Natural Selection hits Ripley as well, sending her straight to the ropes before the cover. That leaves Banks to get caught in the Figure Eight but Ripley comes in and crucifixes the bridging Charlotte for the pin at 9:41.

Rating: C+. The commercial took something out of this as the chaotic nature was great and made it feel like these women wanted to destroy each other. I really liked the ending too with Ripley showing intelligence and catching Charlotte when she wasn’t paying attention. All three were fighting hard here and it was a very entertaining performance from everyone involved, including the people on the floor.

Post match Charlotte and Banks keep up the fight with everyone else getting involved as NXT watches from the stage.

King Corbin tells Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler that they are going to bail when NXT interrupts their six man tag tonight while Roman Reigns, Ali and Shorty G. get beaten up. Then the three of them can beat up Roman and company again! Sami Zayn comes in and seems to want to fight, while holding a bag. If they’re interested, come see him in the ring RIGHT NOW.

Bayley isn’t worried about Sunday and invites Shayna Baszler to come after her face to face tonight.

Here are Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura for a chat. Sami knows that Corbin isn’t coming out here because Corbin is scared of him. People have called Sami annoying, but he would go with something more like….stud. The only person studlier than him is Nakamura, which is why Sami has gotten him a present. That would be a new Intercontinental Title, which is rounder with a black strap and a round center plate. It’s going to take some time for me to get used to that but it’s not bad.

Sami takes the old title, saying this is the only way to get it off of Nakamura. They’re ready for Sunday against AJ Styles and….whoever the North whatever champion is from NXT. Nakamura: “I’m drawing a blank.” Cue the Undisputed Era with Sami instantly getting behind Nakamura, as you would expect him to do.

The two of them leave with Adam Cole introducing the team and promising to win on Saturday and Sunday. That is undisputed, but here is New Day to dispute something. Kofi accuses the Undisputed Era of running off last week without a proper goodbye. They’re all here right now, so how about an eight man tag with these guys joining in?

Undisputed Era vs. New Day/Heavy Machinery

Strong takes Big E. into the corner to start but that doesn’t last long due to some straight power. Suplexes abound to send Fish and Strong down, with the former winding up on the apron for Big E.’s splash. A suplex drops O’Reilly on the floor and it’s Kofi slugging it out with Cole inside. Strong sneaks in on off a blind tag for a half nelson backbreaker though and it’s Kofi in trouble with Fish getting two off a double suplex.

Something like a Gory Stretch has Kofi in more trouble but he slips out and grabs a rollup for two. That’s not enough for a tag though as Strong is right back with a front facelock to keep Kofi down. Kofi fights out and goes up but Strong dropkicks him to the floor, where he lands on Tucker. Otis goes over to check on things but Big E. isn’t happy with that, with a near brawl taking us to a break.

Back with Kofi hitting a dropkick on Fish and diving over for the hot tag to Otis. House is cleaned (Graves: “Like the Kool-Aid Man with a bad attitude.”) and O’Reilly’s kicks are shrugged off by the power of….jiggling? Some corner splashes look to set up the Caterpillar but a save is made.

Tucker and Strong come in with a splash crushing Strong in the corner. A side slam gets two and Tucker’s moonsault is good for the same as everything breaks down. Big E. throws Fish to the floor (Cole: “Now it’s New Day’s turn to have some fun!”) but the Era cuts Kofi off. Fun haters. The very spinning slam plants O’Reilly and there’s the Caterpillar but Strong is back in with the jumping knee to finish Tucker at 15:04.

Rating: C+. Nice one here as it was more of a fun match than anything else. Putting two teams together to face the Four Horsemen style team worked very well and the Era gets to show that they can hang with and defeat main roster talent. I don’t think anyone seriously questioned that, but it’s nice to see it take place.

Post match Strong and Nakamura have a staredown on the stage. Cue AJ Styles to jump both of them but Sami makes the save before the Era gets up to the stage as well.

Survivor Series rundown.

Post break Styles and the Good Brothers are still yelling about how much they don’t like Chicago. Styles says he could clean house with anyone from this city. Cue the CM Punk chants, with AJ saying he would do it to him too. He’ll win at Survivor Series.

Here’s Daniel Bryan to summon (Summon?) Bray Wyatt. Bryan shows us a clip from last week with Bryan challenging Bray for Survivor Series and getting a big (and kind of maniacal) YES from Bray. Back in the arena, Bryan says he isn’t here to say YES or play with puppets because he wants Bray out here right now.

They can talk about the past or just fight right now….and there go the lights. They come back up with no one in the ring but here’s Miz instead. Daniel: “If there is one thing worse than Bray coming out here, it you.” Miz rants about how Bryan is being insane and how he has always tried to slap some sense into him. Instead he just slaps Bryan and I think you know where this is going.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

Joined in progress with Miz hitting some YES Kicks but getting thrown outside for the running knee from the apron. Back in and Miz kicks him in the face for a pair of twos and the headlock goes on. Bryan starts with the strikes but gets caught with the corner clothesline. Bryan’s own running clothesline slows Miz down and he headbutts Miz off the top. The missile dropkick into the nip up sets up the real YES Kicks (Graves: “Night night Miz.”) and it’s time for the corner dropkick but we’ve got a Fiend as the match is thrown out at we’ll say 5:40.

Rating: C-. These two are always worth a look but there is only so much that you can get out of a match that only had about five minutes before Wyatt interfered. That being said, was there any reason to not have Bryan get the win here before the Fiend showed up? Bryan isn’t exactly on a roll here so let him get a quick pin and then do the Fiend stuff. It’s not like Miz has anything going on at the moment.

Here’s Shayna Baszler for a chat. She wastes no time in calling out Bayley so the jacket comes off, but it’s Bayley running in from behind with a chop block. The fight is on and they head to the floor with Baszler getting in the Kirifuda Clutch. Bayley drives her into various things to escape….and that’s it. No Becky appearance and no extra fighting. That’s quite the odd ending.

Quick look at last week’s tag match which set up this week’s six man.

Roman Reigns/Ali/Shorty G. vs. King Corbin vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

Ali gets the huge hometown welcome, Corbin is brought out on the throne, and THANK GOODNESS Gable has lost the basketball jersey. It’s a small improvement but I’ll take everything I can get here. Reigns slugs away at Roode to start and the fight is outside in a hurry. Ziggler and Corbin get in a few cheap shots to take over on Reigns, who fights back inside without too much effort.

Gable comes in for some kicks and throws but Roode and Corbin slam him off the apron and onto the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with Ziggler DDTing Reigns for two but walking into a Superman punch. The hot tag brings in Ali to throw some right hands and the rolling X Factor plants Corbin. The dive sends Ziggler into the announcers’ table and there’s the springboard tornado DDT to drop Corbin again. Roode’s spinebuster on the floor plants Gable but Reigns is right back with the Superman punch off the steps. Back in and it’s the Deep Six to finish Ali at 8:53.

Rating: C. This wasn’t a long match in the first place and a lot of it took place during the break. What we got was good enough though, even if they need to let the fans have something to cheer for without putting the heat on Corbin every single week. It’s good to do that a lot of the time, but it’s ok to not snatch everything away from the fans.

Post match Corbin grabs his scepter and goes after Ali but Reigns makes the save. Cue Raw through the crowd with Rollins getting in the ring for the big staredown. The fight is on, with the CM Punk chants being drowned out in a hurry. Braun Strowman leads the Smackdown charge to start the huge brawl…..and it’s Road Dogg/Shawn Michaels/HHH driving a tank into the back with NXT coming inside to make it an even bigger fight.

This is one of the wildest brawls I’ve ever seen and it’s Keith Lee staring Strowman down inside as the show ends with the fighting continuing. This ended WAY earlier than it should have, as Ali hit a huge super Spanish Fly onto the pile to knock everyone down, which at least gave Ali something back after getting pinned, which was completely necessary.

After the show was over, everyone headed to the back and D-Generation X offered to put Corbin on the team. HHH said “for the millions watching at home….even though we’re off the air because this will be on like in about five minutes” and a huge beatdown of Corbin ended the night as DX celebrated.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a case where you need to look at the bigger picture rather than the individual things. The point of this show was making me want to see Survivor Series and that worked out quite well. The wrestling was forgettable at best most of the time but every major story was addressed and the huge brawl at the end was excellent. I want to see where things go on Sunday and that is entirely the point of something like this. Get better wrestling and this is great, but as it is we’ll call it job done well enough.

Results

Rhea Ripley b. Charlotte and Sasha Banks – Crucifix to Charlotte

Undisputed Era b. Heavy Machinery/New Day – Jumping knee to Tucker

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz went to a no contest when the Fiend interfered

King Corbin/Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler b. Roman Reigns/Shorty G./Ali – Deep Six to Ali

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 2016
Date: November 20, 2016
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 17,143
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, David Otunga

I say this every year but it’s always hard to believe that it’s been a full year since this show. This was the first time that a Survivor Series was expanded to four hours but thankfully there’s a good chance that they could make it work, mainly due to the elimination matches. The main event though is Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, which I’m sure will be completely uneventful. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese vs. Noam Dar/TJ Perkins/Rich Swann

This is a preview match for something called 205 Live, which debuts next week. I know it hasn’t gone great but the division really has evolved into a better place than when it started. Swann gets a nice reaction and then starts with Nese, who gets chopped in the corner. They do their regular flips with Swann’s jump over Nese’s feet getting a good pop (as always) before it’s off to Perkins.

Some suplexes set up an Octopus Hold but Nese reverses into a kind of gutwrench suplex. Gulak comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner with everyone working him over. We actually get a TJ PERKINS chant as he slaps on the kneebar to keep Gulak in trouble. Everything breaks down and we take a break.

Back with Daivari in trouble this time as Dar gets two off a running kick to the face. Nese offers a distraction though and a spinebuster takes Dar down. A superkick gives Daivari two and it’s back to Gulak to crank on the leg. If this sounds rather uninteresting, it’s only because that’s what it is.

Dar dropkicks his way to freedom and the hot tag brings in Swann to very little reaction. A good looking jumping hurricanrana takes Daivari off the middle rope as everything breaks down again. That means we hit the dives but the referee CUTS PERKINS OFF. Now you know that’s not working so Perkins dives over the referee to take out some villains. Back in and Swann’s standing 450 ends Daivari at 11:48.

Rating: C-. I forgot how uninteresting these earlier cruiserweight matches were. The guys barely have characters and the entire story here was “three faces vs. three heels”. It didn’t get much better for a long time but, as usual, the problem comes down to one simple thing: if the smaller guys on the main roster can be big stars and do all these dives, why should I be impressed when cruiserweights can do them too?

Kickoff Show: Luke Harper vs. Kane

Harper is part of the NEW Wyatt Family, which screwed Kane over, meaning we need a match here. Kane grabs a full nelson of all things and we’re in a chinlock fifteen seconds in. That goes nowhere so Harper grabs a headlock as the fans are oddly split here. Kane starts in on the shoulder by sending it into the buckle. Harper sends him outside though and hits that suicide shove of his (Who needs cruiserweights?).

A slingshot flip splash gives Luke two and we take a break. Back with Kane in a chinlock (well duh) but managing to superplex Harper down for a crash. The sidewalk slam gets two but Harper scores with a superkick for the same. Kane’s running DDT and Harper’s Boss Man Slam are good for two more each but it’s the chokeslam to put Harper away at 9:10.

Rating: D+. Well what were you expecting here? This was exactly the match you would have planned out for them and Kane won with his finisher. It’s about as paint by numbers of a power match as you can get and while it wasn’t terrible, it’s also a match I really didn’t need to see.

The opening video looks at Goldberg vs. Lesnar and then all the Raw vs. Smackdown matches. Well at least they got some time. I’m sure Stephanie’s voiceovers had nothing to do with it.

Raw Women’s Team vs. Smackdown Women’s Team

Raw: Bayley, Alicia Fox, Charlotte, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks

Smackdown: Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Nikki Bella

Entrances alone take forever of course, which will be a theme tonight. Charlotte is Raw Women’s Champion and has Dana Brooke in her corner. Becky is Smackdown Women’s Champion but Nikki is captain. You know, because of course. Bliss gets a heck of a reaction (gee I wonder why). Actually hang on a second as there’s no Nikki. We cut to the back where she’s down after being attacked. Not to worry though, as Smackdown coach Natalya is more than willing to take the spot.

Carmella and Alicia get things going and it’s an early northern lights suplex to give Fox two. That just earns her a trip into the corner for the Staten Island Shuffle…and let’s look at Team Raw while Fox gets in a kick to the face. That felt like a hard edit to make sure we didn’t see something. Becky comes in and wants Bayley but Charlotte tags herself in instead. Banks does the same though and everything breaks down as Team Raw is about to implode. As usual, I would ask why Team Smackdown didn’t just let them. Nia will have none of this though and easily clears the ring to settle things down.

We settle down to Becky and Banks trading rollups before it’s off to Charlotte for more of the same. Becky can’t get the Disarm-Her and it’s off to Nia as things get a lot more difficult. Carmella and Bliss come in for the expected results and Naomi’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Natalya actually gets a reaction but Nia clotheslines her head off for her efforts. It’s off to Fox vs. Carmella with Alicia avoiding a Bronco Buster, setting up what looked to be a mostly missed ax kick for the elimination at 6:35. Bliss comes right in, sends Fox into the buckle and adds Twisted Bliss to tie it up at 6:48.

Charlotte and Naomi come in with the latter cleaning house, including knocking Nia outside and hitting a high crossbody to the floor. Nia posts her though and that’s a countout at 8:23. We pause for the Tye Dillinger TEN chant until Bliss takes Banks down and grinds her face into the mat. Banks sends Bliss and Natalya into each other, followed by the double knees in the corner to Alexa. Back up and Bliss saves Natalya from the Bank Statement, allowing Natalya to roll Banks up for the elimination at 10:20.

Charlotte comes in and gets suplexed, meaning we hit the SUPLEX CITY chants. You would think fans would know more chants than that. Charlotte goes up for the moonsault but, as always, Natalya powerbombs her down for two in the near fall that never ends Charlotte. The required Sharpshooter sends Charlotte crawling for the ropes but a big boot ends Natalya at 12:01.

Becky and Bliss get in an argument over who should come in, allowing Jax to suplex them both at the same time. Of course that gets a MAMA MIA from Mauro, which I miss hearing so often. Bliss gets caught in a slam but Becky makes a blind tag and missile dropkicks Bliss in the back to knock her onto Jax. The Disarm-Her actually makes Jax tap at 13:35 and it’s 2-2 with Becky/Bliss vs Charlotte/Bayley.

Jax mauls Becky, leaving Bliss to get big booted down for the elimination at 14:03. Becky fights back as fast as she can with the series of clotheslines into the leg lariat, followed by Bexplex. Bayley has to dive in for a save after a top rope legdrop before coming in for the slugout. Another Bexplex gets two but Bayley’s elbow to the back gets the same. You can tell Becky is getting tired out there so Bayley blocks the Disarm-Her and grabs the Bayley to Belly for the final pin at 17:53.

Rating: C+. The quick eliminations didn’t help things here but the ending was the right call. There was way too much talent on the Raw side to lose and I’m VERY glad it was Natalya, who can wrestle this style without having to dumb things down too much. Becky was pretty much all the blue team had for a lot of the match and she put up a valiant effort, only to be outgunned. That makes her look strong and Bayley getting a win like this is a good thing for her at this stage in her main roster career.

Charlotte takes Bayley out post match and beats her around ringside.

Smackdown mascot James Ellsworth runs into Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who weren’t funny in 2016 either. They make some bad chin puns but Raw GM Mick Foley comes in to run them off. Ellsworth talks about all the great memories he has of Foley, most of which involve him being in extreme pain. Foley thanks him anyway and suggests Ellsworth move to Raw. He appreciates the offer but politely turns it down because he’s true blue. Foley leaves and Ellsworth runs into Braun Strowman, who asks if he knows Ellsworth. James runs in a smart move.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Miz is defending and Sami is trying to take the title to Raw. We get the Big Match Intros and Sami gets quite the reaction for being Canadian. Sami spins out of a wristlock to start and Miz looks annoyed in the corner. Miz gets sent outside but Sami has to bail out of the flip dive. The moonsault off the barricade works though, drawing over Maryse for a distraction. Well she can be quite distracting.

This one works well with Miz taking out the knee to get his first advantage. Some hard stomps to the knees have Sami in trouble but he’s still able to clothesline Miz to the floor. A flip dive works as well, followed by a Michinoku Driver for two. Miz’s short DDT gets the same and it’s time for a double breather. The running corner dropkick/clothesline look to set up the ax handle but Sami reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb.

The Helluva Kick only hits corner though and that means the Figure Four. This one stays on for a good while until Sami makes the ropes, earning himself some YES Kicks. Sami reverses one into a Figure Four of his own but Maryse rings the bell. Since Sami isn’t all that bright, he of course falls for it, only to have Miz roll him up to retain at 14:06.

Rating: C-. Kind of a dull match as you knew a lot of Sami’s near falls weren’t going anywhere. I can go for Miz and Maryse teaming up to steal wins though and it’s a big reason why he’s been an awesome Intercontinental Champion. This would also help play into Sami’s heel turn nearly a year later as he would get tired of losing while playing by the rules. Makes sense, especially in a long term form.

Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles are bickering over being teammates tonight when Shane McMahon comes in and tells them to cool it so Smackdown doesn’t lose again.

Raw Tag Teams vs. Smackdown Tag Teams

Raw: Enzo Amore/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson, New Day, Shining Stars

Smackdown: American Alpha, Breezango, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Hype Bros, Usos

A fall eliminates both members of a team. Enzo and Cass suck up to the live crowd, as you might expect. New Day and Slater/Rhyno are the respective champions. Fandango tries to give everyone a fashion ticket to start, earning himself a Midnight Hour for the elimination at 44 seconds. New Day spends too much time celebrating though and it’s a superkick from Jimmy to pin Big E. at 1:08.

Gallows comes in to punch Jimmy in the face before handing it off to Cass for the tall power. The fast tags continue as it’s off to Epico vs. Ryder (who is rocking some old school Survivor Series logo trunks) with Mojo coming in for a clap around the ears. Rawley gets taken down into the corner for the huge group beating though as we keep trying to get everyone in. It’s back to Ryder (not Slater like the fans want) but Gallows saves Anderson from the Broski Boot. Instead it’s the Magic Killer to pin Ryder at 5:08.

Gable comes in as Graves talks about how scared he is of American Alpha. It doesn’t seem to be the most valid fear to start though as Epico takes Gable down into a chinlock. Some rolling suplexes have Gable in more trouble and Primo comes in with a springboard ax handle to the ribs. He misses a charge in the corner though and it’s off to Jordan for a quick Steiner Bulldog to get rid of the Stars at 8:08.

The six remaining teams (Enzo/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson vs. American Alpha, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Usos) come in at once as everything breaks down. That means Enzo gets tossed over the top onto a big pile….which was mainly Raw guys but whatever. Rhyno gets thrown over the top as well, only to have Slater add an even bigger dive. Back in and Cesaro swings Jordan but Gable makes the save with a Rolling Chaos Theory.

Gable isn’t done though as Jordan throws him over the top for a HUGE flip dive onto everyone. Sweet goodness those two were awesome together. I mean, not as awesome as Jordan on his own with Kurt Angle kind of around but still. Back in and it’s a quick Magic Killer to get rid of Jordan at 10:39 as the eliminations are still flying. A spinebuster plants Slater and he’s caught in the wrong corner.

Sheamus won’t tag Cesaro (this was before their ridiculous matching outfits) and an argument breaks out, allowing the hot tag off to Rhyno as everyone bickers. Rhyno comes in and Gores Gallows for an elimination at 12:28. Cass wastes no time with a big boot to Rhyno, followed by the Bada Boom Shaka Lacka for the pin at 12:45.

That leaves us with the Usos….who superkick Enzo down to set up the Superfly Splash and an elimination at 13:26 before I can type the Raw teams. So now we’re down to the Usos vs. Cesaro/Sheamus with the latter hitting the ten forearms (you know the chant) on Jimmy. Cesaro comes in and eats a double superkick but Sheamus Brogue kicks Jimmy with Jey making a diving save.

Super White Noise plants Jimmy again but Jey is right back with a Superfly Splash for two with Cesaro making a save of his own. The hot tag brings in Cesaro for the Uppercut Train and a 619 as the fans lose their minds over Cesaro again. A high crossbody gets two on Jey and it’s time for the Swing. Jimmy breaks up the Sharpshooter and Jey gets the Tequila Sunrise. That’s reversed right back into the Sharpshooter with Sheamus remembering he’s in the match to cut off Jimmy, leaving Jey to tap at 18:55.

Rating: B. This was during the time that I couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro (not a lot has changed in a year) but they did a lot of stuff in this match, despite the crunched timeline. Getting nine eliminations in less than nineteen minutes is a lot but you have to clear the ring out at the beginning. It’s entertaining, but hits a hard ceiling that it’s not getting past.

Stephanie and Foley decide that Sheamus and Cesaro should get a Tag Team Title shot tomorrow night. They recap the rest of the show with Stephanie getting way too serious, as usual.

Preview for TLC with Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles in a TLC match for the title.

Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick does his best Sean O’Haire impression and is ready for Kalisto. If Kalisto wins, he brings the division to Smackdown. It’s fine for a one off match but it was really hard to buy Kendrick as the best cruiserweight in the company in 2016.

Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is defending and charges straight into a knee to the face. Kalisto is right back with a suicide dive, followed by a springboard corkscrew crossbody for two. Some rollups give Kalisto more near falls and a shotgun dropkick has Kendrick in even more trouble. A rollup into the corner finally gives Kendrick a breather and he crushes Kalisto between the steps and the apron for good measure.

Back in and we hit the cravate to slow things back down. Kalisto manages to fight up and get to the apron where he grabs a C4 out to the floor in the big crash of the match. A good looking suicide dive takes Kendrick down again but he reverses a super Salida Del Sol into the Captain’s Hook. Kalisto finally grabs the ropes and fires off some kicks, followed by the hurricanrana driver. The Salida Del Sol gets two with Kendrick getting to the ropes. Kalisto heads up top….and here’s Baron Corbin for the DQ at 12:21.

Rating: C-. The match was good at times but Kendrick really isn’t the kind of guy you want as a long term champion. It also didn’t help that you knew they weren’t changing up the cruiserweight division so close to 205 Live’s launch. Corbin interfering was fine enough, but it really does make the title match feel like a big waste of time.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps the show so far.

Daniel Bryan yells at Corbin, who doesn’t want little pests running around on Smackdown.

We recap the men’s Survivor Series match, which started in July at the second Brand Split. Naturally this is about the McMahons as Shane and Stephanie are the Commissioners and therefore they have to be fighting. We look at all the entrants as this is treated like the major match is should be treated as. Then Shane is added to the match and that notion kind of falls apart.

Raw Men’s Team vs. Smackdown Men’s Team

Raw: Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns

Seth Rollins

Smackdown: AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon

AJ and Owens are the World Champions, Reigns is US Champion and Ellsworth is here as the mascot. This is also during the period where Orton is part of the Wyatt Family because we needed that story to get to Orton as World Champion again. Rollins gets a nice reaction and it’s far better without BURN IT DOWN or whatever the line is. AJ and Owens start things off with Styles wasting no time in hitting the drop down into the dropkick.

That’s enough of that though as it’s and they slug it out with AJ getting the better of it. The STUPID IDIOT chants mean it’s time for Jericho, who throws his shirt at AJ and hammers away. Styles dropkicks him down again as the announcers discuss Jericho insulting Undertaker on Twitter. It’s off to Ambrose vs. Rollins, which turns into far more of a wrestling match than it should.

Rollins can’t get a Pedigree so let’s go back to Jericho. Chris yells at Dean for the $15,000 jacket issue, earning himself some really bad armdrags. An enziguri cuts Dean down for two but Ambrose is right back with a bunch of right hands to the head. Shane comes in for the first time and my interest goes down. I’m still not a fan of middle aged Shane and this isn’t likely to change things.

Shane’s bad punches and an armdrag (better than Dean’s) take Jericho down until a dropkick cuts him off. The announcers debate the TV ratings as Reigns comes in and gets booed out of the building. Roman hammers him down in the corner and Seth comes in for a chinlock. That’s broken up so let’s go with Dean vs. Kevin. Owens hits a superkick but gets caught in a hurricanrana, only to have Jericho break up Dirty Deeds.

Everything breaks down and Strowman tags himself in, leaving the fans to chant for Ellsworth. The fight heads outside with Dean being left alone in the ring until Strowman catches his slingshot dive. Strowman walks him around the ring until AJ’s slingshot forearm to the floor breaks it up. Owens dives onto everyone and Strowman tosses Shane across the ring in a pretty good power display.

Some double teaming doesn’t do much to stop Strowman but they manage to knock him outside. That’s enough of Dean and Ambrose working together so they get in a fight, allowing Strowman to hit the running powerslam for the pin on Dean at 15:57. AJ was looking right at the cover and didn’t move. Shane gets to beat on Strowman for a bit but thankfully he gets hammered down as well.

The Phenomenal Forearm is pulled out of the air with AJ being tossed outside in a nasty heap. Orton gets thrown aside too but a stare from Bray stops Strowman in his tracks. Strowman grabs Jericho by the throat but decides to run Bray over instead, followed by a dropkick to put him on the floor. Braun goes outside as well but runs into an RKO onto the announcers’ table. After we pause to see what a random eight year old fan thought of it (he was applauding), Shane drops the top rope elbow to put Strowman through said table. That and Ellsworth grabbing Braun’s foot get Strowman counted out at 21:18.

Strowman catches Ellsworth running up the ramp though (How slow is this guy?) and throws him off the stage through some tables. Everyone else is mostly dead until Jericho covers Shane for two. Owens is fresh enough to drop the backsplash on Shane for two (but only after mocking the dance). There’s the Lionsault but Shane gets two of his own off a small package.

Shane takes a Codebreaker but Orton comes in before the cover, meaning Shane survives another finisher. He avoids a top rope splash though and it’s off to AJ to work on Jericho. With Owens getting in an insult to AJ’s hair (too far man), Jericho counters the Styles Clash into a failed Walls attempt. The Phenomenal Blitz rocks Jericho but Owens comes in with the List of Jericho to blast AJ. That’s a DQ at 29:23, but not before he gives AJ a Pop Up Powerbomb.

Orton gets the tag and comes in with the RKO to get rid of Jericho at 30:19. Notice Reigns blankly staring up at the ramp and not hearing the RKO RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. So it’s down to Shane/AJ/Orton/Wyatt vs. Reigns/Rollins with Orton hammering on Rollins to start. Wyatt and Orton take turns on Seth as Shane is still laid on the apron after his long time in the ring. The superplex takes Rollins down (looks great too) but it allows the hot tag to Reigns. AJ comes in as well and MY GOODNESS the fans do not like Reigns.

House is cleaned with a series of Samoan drops, followed by a great looking Razor’s Edge powerbomb for two on AJ. Seriously that was good enough to cut off the booing. A Pele cuts off a Superman Punch and it’s back to Shane for no logical reason. Shane gets in a tornado DDT to drop Reigns and a clothesline takes Rollins down. Reigns tries a spear but gets awkwardly countered into the post.

In probably the spot of the match, Shane loads up Coast to Coast but gets speared out of the air for a SICK landing. Shane actually kicks out at two but you can see that he is completely gone. Like Lesnar after the botched shooting star gone. The referee says Shane is eliminated at 37:07, presumably due to his brains looking like a pie that has been run over by a bus driven by raccoons.

We pause for a bit as doctors get Shane out of the ring until Roman blasts Bray with a clothesline. Rollins and AJ get stereo hot tags with Seth’s Blockbuster putting Styles down. There’s the slingshot knee to AJ and a suicide dive to Wyatt. With Reigns down on the floor, let’s hit that ROMAN’S SLEEPING chant! Still one of my favorites because the fans just will not give him a break no matter what. An enziguri staggers AJ on top and now it’s WAKE UP ROMAN. Reigns does in fact wake up and saves Rollins from a hanging DDT on the floor.

With Orton down, it seems as good a time as any for a DoubleBomb. Styles makes a save before it can be loaded up but here’s Ambrose to jump Styles again. The fans call Dean a STUPID IDIOT as the former Shield beats up security. NOW the TripleBomb puts AJ through the table, allowing Rollins to get the pin at 47:00. It’s down to two on two with the Wyatts vs. the Shield (not the worst idea in the world)….and here’s Luke Harper for a distraction so the Wyatts can take over.

Reigns posts Orton but Harper superkicks him down, only to have Rollins score with a flip dive to the floor. Back in and the low superkick hits Wyatt but he dives into an RKO, giving Bray the pin at 49:25. Reigns, all alone, sends both of them outside and takes Harper out as a bonus. Back in and Orton eats a spear to save Wyatt, leaving Bray to grab Sister Abigail for the pin at 52:50.

Rating: A. This is a great example of a match that benefits from all of the time it had. What I loved about this was how long it took to take someone out. Most of the people in here were former World Champions and it doesn’t make sense to have them losing in a minute or two like in the other matches. They let the match build up for a change and that’s what makes this feel important.

Above all else though, this felt like someone surviving instead of whoever was left last. Look at the women’s match. Bayley barely looked like she had been through anything at the end. Orton and Wyatt looked banged up, which is how they should after a match like this. It’s a well put together match that got the kind of time it needed, which is exactly how something like this should be. Really strong stuff here with Bray, who actually needed it, getting the win.

We recap Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar. Goldberg was being interviewed about being in WWE2K16 and said he didn’t owe Lesnar a rematch. Lesnar challenged him though and Goldberg wanted his son to see him wrestle. The match was on and it does indeed feel like a battle of two people who could kill each other.

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

We get the full Goldberg entrance, complete with someone knocking on his door. Lesnar drives him into the corner to start but Goldberg shoves him right back down, scaring the heck out of Lesnar in the process. Back up and the spear connects to drop Lesnar again. There’s a second spear, followed by a Jackhammer to give Goldberg the huge upset at 1:25.

Yeah I still don’t like it. Sure it was shocking and a huge moment, but what did this set up? Goldberg eliminating Lesnar from the Rumble, Goldberg getting the most unnecessary Universal Title reign ever, and then a good sub five minute match at Wrestlemania. One of WWE’s biggest issues is giving fans something to cheer for and they give this spot to Goldberg, who they didn’t even create, for the sake of a video game (might not have been their call) and a story that could have made someone’s career. After this, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman both fell to Lesnar, but Goldberg doesn’t. I don’t buy it, nor to I like it.

Goldberg celebrates with his family to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. One of the major perks about a match running nearly an hour on a three and a half hour show is that it can REALLY bring an overall rating up. Throw in a good women’s match and nothing really bad, this is actually a strong show. It’s far from perfect (main event aside, though that was the only thing that could have closed the show) but it’s a heck of a card, which I can always go for of course. The main issue is they could have gotten this one under three hours so it’s a bit long but nothing too bad. Really solid show though and most of that is due to the mega long match.

Ratings Comparison

Rich Swann/Noam Dar/TJ Perkins vs. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak

Original: C

Redo: C-

Kane vs. Luke Harper

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Original: C

Redo: C+

Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Tag Team Survivor Series Match

Original: D+

Redo: B

Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Original: C

Redo: C-

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Original: A-

Redo: A

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: B+

My eyebrows went up when I saw the original overall rating. The year of mellowing on the ending have helped a lot as there’s no way this is a B-. Also I really couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro back then.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2016/11/20/survivor-series-2016-there-are-no-words/

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 2016
Date: November 20, 2016
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, David Otunga

For the first time ever, Survivor Series is a four hour show with a two hour pre-show. Now some might think this is too….oh wait I’m not a real fan if I complain about shows being too long unless it’s Raw when it’s unquestionably too long. Pay per views can be as long as they want you see. Tonight is all about Raw vs. Smackdown and Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg so let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Ariya Daivari/Drew Gulak/Tony Nese vs. TJ Perkins/Rich Swann/Noam Dar

Swann gets out of a suplex to start and dropkicks Nese in the jaw before handing it off to TJ. More flipping ensues and we can hear Renee Young talking to her producer and saying “nine minutes”. The kneebar has Gulak in trouble but everything breaks down to send us to a break.

Back with Dar getting crotched on the middle rope and superkicked for two. A delayed vertical suplex gets two for Nese and it’s back to Gulak for a leg lock. Some kicks finally get Dar out of trouble and it’s off to Swann for the house cleaning. We hit the dives on the bad guys and it’s Swann’s standing 450 for the pin on Daivari at 11:50, or 8:57 after Renee said “nine minutes”.

Rating: C. Standard six man tag though the pace seemed a bit faster here. Maybe giving them their own show is the solution because they still feel out of place on the main roster. They’re more than talented enough but the lack of charisma and personalities are killing them. Someone like Gulak or Nese for instance are great examples of this as there’s no reason to care about anything they’re doing and it shows more every week they’re out there. Not a bad match but it was in one ear and out the other.

Pre-Show: Kane vs. Luke Harper

Feeling out process to start with both guys going after the arm. That’s not the most interesting thing in the world though so it’s Kane being sent outside for the suicide dive. Back in and a Falcon’s Arrow gets two for Harper as we take a break. We come back with Kane in a chinlock until a belly to back suplex drops Luke on his head. As JBL makes a Walking Dead reference, Kane walks into a superkick for two. A big boot to the shoulder and the running DDT give Kane his own near fall. Harper comes back with the discus lariat but Kane grabs the chokeslam for the pin at 10:08.

Rating: C-. This was every match you’ve ever seen these two have, meaning it wasn’t half bad. Harper has been a little overshadowed so it’s nice to see him have a match on his own for a change. Kane winning is fine, albeit a bit unnecessary as he just pops in and out of Smackdown at will.

The opening video is pretty standard and focuses on the three elimination tags plus Goldberg vs. Lesnar.

Survivor Series Women’s Tag Team Match: Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown

Raw: Bayley, Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Charlotte, Sasha Banks

Smackdown: Nikki Bella, Natalya, Carmella, Naomi, Becky Lynch

Actually hang on a sec as there’s no Nikki. We cut to the back where someone has attacked Nikki, meaning Natalya will be taking her place. Alicia and Carmella start things off but it’s quickly off to Bayley vs. Becky. Unfortunately that doesn’t get to happen as Charlotte tags herself in, leading to a big ten woman staredown with Nia breaking everything up on her own.

It settles down to Becky trying the Disarm-Her on Charlotte but Nia comes in and runs through the Smackdown women one by one. Some double teaming finally puts her back on the apron and it’s Alicia hitting an ax kick to eliminate Carmella at 6:26. Bliss pulls Alicia right back down though and Twisted Bliss ties us up at 6:47.

Everything breaks down and Naomi dives onto Jax, who sends Naomi head first into the post. That’s enough for a countout at 8:46 and it’s 4-3 Raw. Alexa takes Sasha into the wrong corner but Banks comes right back with the double knees without missing a beat. Alexa saves Natalya from the Bank Statement and it’s a rollup from Natalya to get rid of Sasha at 10:26.

Charlotte takes Natalya down but the moonsault is countered into a sitout powerbomb. The Sharpshooter doesn’t last long as Charlotte makes the ropes, allowing her to kick Natalya in the face for the elimination. So it’s Becky/Alexa vs. Nia/Bayley/Charlotte but the Smackdown women get in an argument. Nia suplexes them both at the same time before falling to a horribly botched double DDT. The Disarm-Her (looks really bad as Becky can’t lock it in) makes Nia tap at 13:26, leaving the match at 2-2.

Actually never mind as Charlotte boots Alexa in the face for the pin at 14:15. Becky is in trouble but comes back with clotheslines and forearms, followed by the Bex Plex. It’s off to Bayley who takes a Bex Plex of her own but blocks the Disarm-Her. A quick Bayley to Belly gives Bayley the surprise winning pin at 17:49.

Rating: C. This was pretty sloppy and the eliminations felt like an excuse to get us to the final few people, which makes sense as they’re the most interesting but it also shows the problems with this kind of match. Bayley getting the pin was a good choice though I’m not sure why they got Sasha out of there so fast. All that being said: this was so far ahead of what these matches used to be that it might as well have been a different sport entirely. Things are trending in the right way and that’s a good thing.

Charlotte destroys Bayley post match to set up the next title feud.

Anderson and Gallows pick on James Ellsworth until Mick Foley comes in for the save. After talking about how much he loved seeing Foley get beaten up as a kid, Ellsworth turns down an offer to come to Raw. Braun Strowman comes up and scares Ellsworth away.

Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Sami is challenging and the title can change brands. The Canadian fans are way behind Sami as he starts fast with a leg lariat and sends Miz to the floor for a breather. That’s fine with Sami who moonsaults off the barricade to drop the champ again. The standard Miz distraction lets Miz take over on the leg with some kicks and a swing into the post.

Sami comes right back with a flip dive and the Michinoku Driver for two but Miz starts doing Daniel Bryan stuff again and takes over. That just means a Blue Thunder Bomb to give Sami two but the Helluva Kick only hits the buckle. The Figure Four goes on until Sami turns it over for the counter.

Miz starts in with the YES Kicks but gets pulled down into a Figure Four (which takes a bit as Sami doesn’t seem to know how to do it) and the bell rings…..as rung by Maryse. The distraction lets Miz grab a rollup (and tights according to Cole, even though his hand isn’t grabbing anything) to retain at 14:09.

Rating: C+. Not the best here as the ending felt like they needed a way out and didn’t want either guy to do a job. I’m really not sure what they’re waiting on with Sami as he’s more than over enough and ready to do something but he keeps going from one story to another (like Strowman, who didn’t even have a match against Sami) without really getting anywhere.

Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles argue over what’s going to happen at TLC when Shane McMahon comes in and tells them to cool it.

Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match: Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown

Raw: Enzo Amore and Big Cass, New Day, Anderson and Gallows, Shining Stars,

Smackdown: Heath Slater/Rhyno, Breezango, Usos, American Alpha, Hype Bros

When one member is eliminated, their partner is as well. Fandango and Big E. get things going but Fandango would rather give away fashion tickets. The Midnight Hour takes care of Breezango at 46 seconds but Jimmy superkicks Kofi to tie it up at 1:13. Well that’s certainly a surprise. Ryder, with the old Survivor Series logo on his trunks, flapjacks Primo before it’s off to Mojo (Graves: “Smackdown’s resident blithering idiot.”) for his bell clap in the corner. Ryder comes back in and has to deal with Anderson and Gallows, meaning it’s a Magic Killer for the pin at 5:14.

We get the big moment of the match as American Alpha comes in for multiple double dropkicks but Sheamus starts stomping Gable down in the corner. The Shining Stars actually beat on Gable for a bit until the hot tag brings Jordan back in for the house cleaning. It’s actually a Steiner Bulldog to get rid of the Shining Stars and tie things up.

Everything breaks down and it’s Enzo being launched onto the pile. Slater hits a dive of his own, leaving Jordan to get caught in the Swing. Another Magic Killer eliminates American Alpha at 10:46 and we’re down to 3-2. Slater has to fight off Anderson and Gallows but some Raw miscommunication allows a tag off to Rhyno. The Gore gets rid of Anderson and Gallows at 12:26 but the Bada Boom Shaka Lacka takes out Rhyno and Slater at 13:00.

The Usos remember they’re in the match and superkick Enzo into the Superfly Splash for the elimination at 13:30, leaving us with the Usos vs. Sheamus/Cesaro. Sheamus eats a superkick but Cesaro shoves him out of the way of the second, meaning it’s a Brogue Kick for two on Jimmy with Jey making the save. Cesaro comes in with the Uppercut Train followed by a 619. The high crossbody gets two on Jey and there’s the Swing to make it even worse. Jimmy superkicks the knee out to set up the Tequila Sunrise but Cesaro reverses into a Sharpshooter for the tap out at 18:56 as Sheamus cuts Jey off.

Rating: D+. Yeah ok we get it: Cesaro and Sheamus are a thing and we’ll like them already. This was REALLY disappointing as they flew through the eliminations for reasons I don’t even want to try to comprehend. But hey, they got the match in and out of there as fast as they could and that’s what matters right? That’s why we added an hour: so the matches that could be interesting could be short with two eliminations in less than eighty seconds.

So in theory the final Survivor Series match, which now means even less as Raw has secured the brand supremacy thing (assuming they’re not counting the stupid singles matches), is going to run about forty five minutes.

Stephanie McMahon and Foley give Cesaro and Sheamus a Tag Team Title match tomorrow night on Raw.

We recap the Cruiserweight Title match, which is another non-existent feud because there’s no story here. Kendrick has the title and Kalisto’s job is to bring it to Smackdown.

Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is defending and Kalisto snaps off some hurricanranas to start. A running corner dropkick has Brian in trouble so he grabs the ropes to avoid getting pinned. That would be his craftiness you see and that makes him an interesting villain. Or so I’m told. Kendrick grabs a long cravate until Kalisto gets him to the apron for a Spanish Fly to the floor.

Back in and Kendrick gets flipped off the top but still grabs the Captain’s Hook. The rope is finally grabbed and Kalisto starts snapping off the kicks, followed by a middle rope seated senton to the back. The Salida Del Sol gets two as Kendrick puts a boot on the rope. Kalisto heads up top….and here’s Baron Corbin to hit Kendrick for the DQ at 12:19. Therefore, Raw is now 3-1, making the last Survivor Series match even less important.

Rating: C. I was digging this one until the end and it’s amazing how much more interesting this is when you have a high flier that we’ve actually gotten to know a bit over the years instead of someone who was brought in without much backstory. Oh and another reason why the division hasn’t worked so far: the champ’s finisher is a chinlock.

Corbin gives Kalisto the End of Days.

Pre-Show recap.

Team Raw Men vs. Team Smackdown Men

Raw: Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman

Smackdown: Shane McMahon, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles

Ellsworth is here as Smackdown’s mascot. AJ and Owens get things going to really make the smarks happy. Neither can get anywhere so the fans start a STUPID IDIOT chant (Owens: “That’s you!”). The fans get the tag to Jericho, who stops to hug Owens. Chris leaves so it’s off to Rollins vs. Ambrose with neither being able to hit a finisher. Jericho comes back in and hits an enziguri for two on Dean.

Shane gets the tag and does his weird punching before elbowing Jericho in the jaw with the fans telling him he still has it. The boss gets beaten down as the announcers argue over which show had higher ratings. Not THE MATCH IN FRONT OF THEM, but the TV ratings. Roman comes in for the corner clotheslines but it’s back to Ambrose vs. Owens. The Pop Up Powerbomb doesn’t work and we get the big showdown instead, leaving Owens to do the BIG flip dive onto everyone else.

A bunch of people go after Braun, leaving the Shield and AJ in the ring. The Smackdown guys clear the ring but get in a brawl until Shane breaks it up. A kick to Dean’s head allows Strowman to powerslam Ambrose for the elimination at 15:59. Strowman shrugs off the Smackdown attack again, including a SCARY looking toss to send AJ over the top and out to the floor.

We get the Bray vs. Braun showdown with Strowman dropkicking Bray down in a not horrible visual. Orton finally gets in the RKO onto the announcers’ table and Shane adds the top rope elbow for the huge crash. AJ gets Shane back inside and Strowman is counted out at 21:12 because Ellsworth grabbed his foot. James bails up the ramp but gets caught (How can you not outrun BRAUN STROWMAN?) and thrown off the stage.

Shane is still in the ring to take another beating and the Lionsault connects, only to have Shane reverse into a small package for two. McMahon and Orton both take Codebreakers and of course Shane kicks out. Question for discussion: would any other member of Team Smackdown be allowed to kick out of a Lionsault and Codebreaker in the span of thirty seconds? Naturally Shane gets in a shot on Jericho and makes the tag off to AJ. They trade submission attempts and AJ decks Owens, who comes in with the List of Jericho for the DQ at 29:28. Jericho is distraught and gets RKO’d for the pin at 30:21.

We’re down to Shane/Orton/Bray/AJ vs. Reigns/Rollins. It’s Seth going in first and the numbers game has him in early trouble. A superplex gets two on Seth but Orton is banged up enough to allow a tag off to Reigns. The sitout powerbomb gets two on AJ but he blocks the Superman Punch and brings in Shane. A DDT puts Reigns down and something like a spinebuster does the same to Seth.

The spear goes into the post and Shane loads up the Coast to Coast, which is speared out of the air…..for two. He’s officially announced as eliminated a few seconds later, presumably due to injury. Shane looks really messed up and it wouldn’t surprise me if that wasn’t exactly how it was supposed to go. There’s a good chance that he didn’t mean to kick out but had no idea where he was.

Rollins gets the hot tag to clean house and hits his rolling superplex into the Falcon’s Arrow for two on AJ. Reigns has to save Seth from the Elevated DDT on the floor but AJ breaks up a DoubleBomb. Cue Ambrose to go after AJ though and we get the Shield Reunion for a TripleBomb through the table. Seth pins AJ at 46:11 and it’s down to two vs. two.

Orton and Wyatt circle the ring until Luke Harper shows up for a distraction. As usual, NONE OF THIS IS A DQ because that’s not what the script calls for. Rollins Sling Blades Wyatt and dives onto Harper to keep up the house cleaning. The superkick looks to set up the frog splash but Orton pulls him out of the air with an RKO for the elimination at 49:32.

So it’s Orton/Wyatt vs. Reigns with Roman starting fast to do what he can. Reigns is sent into the barricade but scores with the apron dropkick on Bray. Harper gets a spear and the Superman Punch drops Bray. Orton shoves Bray out of the way of the spear though and Sister Abigail finishes Reigns at 52:57. JBL: “RAW WINS! RAW WINS!” Otunga: “Smackdown got one!” JBL: “RAW WINS IS WHAT EVERYONE WANTED TO SAY BUT SMACKDOWN LIVE WINS!”

Rating: A-. This was a lot messier than it could have been but they did exactly what they needed to do here by eating up A LOT of time (longest Survivor Series match on record and longer than multiple Royal Rumbles) and being very entertaining at the same time. Bray winning is a very, very good idea as it’s now the biggest win of his career and hopefully (emphasis on that word) he can build on it. Orton taking the bullet was interesting though and that’s going to mean something going forward. I had a blast with this and it’s the big Survivor Series match I was hoping for, issues with eliminations aside.

We get the same Goldberg vs. Lesnar recap we’ve gotten for weeks now.

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar drives him into the corner to start but Goldberg hits two spears in the first minute. The Jackhammer beats Lesnar in ONE MINUTE THIRTY SEVEN SECONDS!!!

SCREW YOU DEAN AMBROSE, RANDY ORTON, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT LESNAR HAS KILLED BECAUSE GOLDBERG JUST BEAT HIM IN A MINUTE AND A HALF!!!

The show goes off the air before 10:30 with nothing else happening.

Overall Rating: C-. The show ended about five minutes ago and I’m still in shock. HOW IN THE FREAKING WORLD DOES THIS HELP ANYONE OTHER THAN GOLDBERG, WHO ISN’T EVEN STICKING AROUND??? Have Orton, Reigns, Wyatt, freaking Strowman or ANYONE else do that match. You have Orton get squashed at Summerslam and Ambrose get squashed at Wrestlemania but GOLDBERG gets to do this?

So in theory, this has something to do with Goldberg coming into the show injured. If that’s the case, they knew this was going to be a short match. But they can’t even give the other two Survivor Series matches twenty minutes? This is what you extended the show for another hour? Or you can’t give anything else extra time?

I know I’m rambling here but this is one of the most astounding things I’ve ever seen. The money in Lesnar is gone for a long time, everything Lesnar has done in recent months and years feels like a total waste and Goldberg is probably gone until his Hall of Fame induction. Throw Luke Harper out there or Kane or ANYONE BUT LESNAR and it’s fine. Unless there was a major contractual issue or something big backstage, I cannot understand why this happened.

The rest of the show was up and down with the great long match helping to save it but that main event is all anyone is going to be talking about for a long time. I really could have gone for the two earlier Survivor Series matches getting more time, especially in light of what’s going on here. This is going to get a lot more talk in the upcoming days because I haven’t been this shocked since……probably Shane on Nitro.

Results

Team Raw Women b. Team Smackdown Women – Bayley to Belly to Lynch

The Miz b. Sami Zayn – Rollup

Team Raw Tag Teams b. Team Smackdown Tag Teams – Sharpshooter to Jimmy Uso

Brian Kendrick b. Kalisto via DQ when Baron Corbin interfered

Team Smackdown Men b. Team Raw Men – Sister Abigail to Reigns

Goldberg b. Brock Lesnar – Jackhammer

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 2015
Date: November 22, 2015
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 14,481
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

Now this is an interesting one as I barely remember anything about it from just a year ago. The big story here is the World Title having to be decided in a tournament as Seth Rollins destroyed his knee and is out for a LONG time. Other than that, the big match is the Undertaker teaming with Kane against the Wyatt Family to celebrate 25 years since his debut with the company. Let’s get to it.

Oh and before we get going: ISIS was allegedly targeting this show for a terrorist attack. Nothing would come of the rumors but it got quite a bit of attention.

Pre-Show: Dudley Boyz/Goldust/Neville/Titus O’Neil vs. Cosmic Wasteland/Miz/Bo Dallas

The Cosmic Wasteland was a short lived mini stable comprised of Stardust and the Ascension. Goldust is a mystery partner, making his return after several months off due to a shoulder injury, to freak Stardust out. The brothers start things off but a right hand means it’s off to Viktor, who is powerslammed and pinned in about thirty seconds. I’d bet on that being an injury.

Titus and Konnor come in for the big power showdown, meaning a bunch of whips and slams which are supposed to mean more because they’re being done by bigger guys. D-Von gets a chant (for some reason) and a tag (because Titus wanted to come out), which means it’s time for What’s Up. The rest of the heels are sent outside for a big flip dive from Neville in a big crash.

Back from a break with Bubba Rock Bottoming Konnor for an elimination to make it 5-3. D-Von comes back in but gets beaten down to give the heels a little breather. A spinebuster drops Miz and that’s enough for the tag off to Neville for the quick kicks to the face. Dallas grabs a Bodog and a Skull Crushing Finale gives Miz the pin on Neville to get us down to 4-3, only to have Goldust roll Miz up to get the fall back.

We come back from a second break with Dallas holding Goldust in a chinlock before it’s off to Stardust for some brotherly stomping. The chinlocks continue and the remaining bad guys charge at the three remaining on the apron in a rare good shot for the villains. Goldust shows he’s really back with a Code Red of all things, allowing the tag off to Titus. The Clash of the Titus gets rid of Bo and a 3D finishes Stardust at 18:10. I have no idea why the announcers were talking about Gilligan’s Island for the last two falls but I’d bet on some form of subtext.

Rating: D+. This came and went but it’s fine for a way to warm the crowd up. At the end of the day you have a lot of people on the roster and it makes sense to throw people together like this in a nothing match. It’s almost like part of the point of the series in the first place. There’s not much to the match but Goldust returning was a nice little surprise.

Lillian Garcia sings the National Anthem as a big middle finger to the terrorism charges. I actually liked this and she can sing the heck out of that song.

The opening video looks at the Undertaker because that’s really what this show is all about. The slow piano version of his theme is really cool. These recaps are actually really helpful because I had NO idea how we got to the Wyatts vs. the Brothers of Destruction. It turns out that they kidnapped Undertaker and Kane and now they’re fighting them because Bray and company are up there with Scooby-Doo villains when it comes to effectiveness. We also look at the tournament as an afterthought before going back to Undertaker and Kane.

WWE World Title Tournament Semifinals: Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio’s US Title isn’t on the line of course. What should be on the line is Roman’s career after the fans just erupt with boos during his entrance. Unfortunately this is also during the Zeb Colter period for Del Rio, which was just horrible on every level. They never clicked and there’s no way around that.

The booing turns into LET’S GO ROMAN/ROMAN SUCKS as Reigns hits a shoulder for the first offense. Alberto takes over outside but Roman hammers away back inside because he doesn’t have the strongest offense. The corner enziguri knocks Roman silly (that always looks great) and it’s time for the arm to go into the steps. We see HHH watching with a smile on his face after Reigns turned down a chance to be the Authority’s new protege because they’re still trying to redo Austin vs. McMahon.

A chinlock slows things down and Roman goes shoulder first into the post to make the arm even worse. The running clothesline drops Del Rio and Reigns’ good arm fires off the corner clotheslines. Del Rio gets in a Backstabber to take over again as this is going back and forth. They head to the corner so Del Rio can miss that still horribly stupid top rope double stomp and bang up his knee.

Not that it matters as it’s cross armbreaker into the rollup into the powerbomb but Roman can’t cover. Now the armbreaker goes on for a few seconds before Roman easily escapes (likely because it wasn’t on the arm Del Rio had worn down) and spears his way to the finals at 14:05.

Rating: B-. Standard Raw main event here and I don’t think anyone bought Del Rio was going to go to the finals. At the end of the day his main event run is LONG over at this point and there’s no reason to believe Reigns is going to be the first top level face in forever to submit to the armbreaker. The match was entertaining but really more of a way to kill time until the inevitable spear. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Ambrose praises Reigns for his win and Roman is happy to fight Dean for the title. That was pretty much the only possible ending to the tournament and everyone knew it when the brackets were revealed. Kevin Owens comes in after Ambrose leaves and thinks Reigns will screw up at the finish line all over again because Kevin himself will stop him.

WWE World Title Tournament Semifinals: Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose

Owens’ Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line. Kevin grabs a headlock as JBL goes into his ridiculous rant about how Ambrose can’t be the face of the company because he wouldn’t look good on the Tonight Show and on billboards as that’s pretty much just John Cena and John Cena alone.

Ambrose rakes Owens’ eyes across the top rope and slingshots out to the floor as the fans seem to be paying more attention to this one because there’s an actual chance either guy could win. It’s funny how that works. Dean gets crotched on the top and hit with the Cannonball (insert your Otto Wanz reference here because JBL has to use the same references every single time someone does a move), followed by a chinlock.

That goes nowhere so it’s the torture rack neckbreaker for another near fall. The two count means it’s time for some trash talking as only Owens can do. The fans are split again and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. We’re right back to the chinlock (Owens: “CHINLOCK CITY BABY!”) before a double clothesline puts both guys down. Kevin misses his moonsault (good looking one too) and the standing elbow gets two.

They head up top with Owens countering a superplex into that sweet swinging fisherman’s superplex. Owens: “COLE TELL HIM TO STAY DOWN!” That’s one thing I love about Owens: he does stuff that feels out of nowhere because he’s a bit off. A trip to the floor means something like a gutbuster onto the announcers’ table but the Pop Up Powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana and Dirty Deeds sends Dean to the finals at 11:20.

Rating: B. I liked the energy here as it felt like a back and forth match with Owens not being able to keep Dean down and Dean just trying to sneak in anything he could at any time. It also helps that you could see Owens getting the win instead of waiting around until he got speared. That can do wonders and it made for a better match here.

TLC 2015 ad. I still love that video game theme.

We look at Undertaker’s debut and the rest of his career. Of note in that debut match: Roddy Piper said if anyone can figure out Undertaker, Bret Hart could do it. Over their careers, Undertaker never pinned Bret Hart (save for one house show) in a singles match.

Team Ryback vs. Team Sheamus

Ryback, Usos, Lucha Dragons

Sheamus, King Barrett, New Day

There’s no real rhyme or reason to these teams so I picked two singles guys for the captains. Also I’m pretty sure this was a bonus match for the sake of filling in some time and, you know, it’s Survivor Series. Sheamus is Mr. Money in the Bank here. It’s also REALLY weird to see New Day as heels, though they’re definitely getting over as faces in a hurry. Atlanta native Xavier Woods has a rather impressive new hair style and Kofi brags about all the gold on their team. Sheamus: “And tonight, WE’RE GONNA GET JIGGY ON THESE POSERS!!! AM I RIGHT???” The silence is hilarious but Kofi turns it into NEW DAY ROCKS!

Jey and Woods get things going and Xavier’s wishes for untouched hair are quickly ignored. Kofi comes in and gets splashed by Cara (with an assist from the twins) before Sheamus comes in and gets sent outside. Actually all of the heels are sent outside for a quadruple dive, followed by Ryback diving onto all of them. I’m sure WWE stifled the creativity he really wanted to display with that dive though and his idea was shot down.

We reset to Barrett working on Jey’s ribs and the heels take over. Xavier busts out the trombone and dancing ensues with Barrett joining in for the GIF of the night. An enziguri is enough to set up the hot tag off to Jimmy for the house cleaning. The superkick sets up Cara’s Swanton Bomb to get rid of Barrett and make it 5-4.

It’s Kofi’s turn to get beaten up but he grabs Jimmy in a backbreaker, combined with a top rope double stomp from Woods to tie things up. Big E. spears Cara through the ropes and there’s the Brogue Kick for the elimination. That’s not cool with Big E. as he thinks Sheamus stole his pin (true) so Ryback jumps E. from behind, setting up the Superfly Splash to tie things up again. Actually let’s make that 3-1 as Kofi and Woods walk out, leaving Sheamus all by himself.

Sheamus slowly stomps on Kalisto and does the ten forearms. JBL: “It’s like a pub in Dublin!” Cole: “They have masked luchadors over there?” Jimmy comes back in for the running Umaga attack as Lawler talks about Doink. A few shots slow Ryback down but Jimmy kicks Sheamus into the Shell Shock for the pin at 17:33.

Rating: D+. So Sheamus just lost to an Uso, a Lucha Dragon and Ryback and we’re supposed to buy him as a future World Champion? I mean, I know they need to have him established as being in the building but can they really do nothing other than having him get pinned here? The match was fine but the energy died after New Day was gone. It’s almost like the whole “Sheamus isn’t interesting” thing is absolutely right.

We recap Team PCB (Remember them? Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch) splitting up with Paige turning on Charlotte, partially out of jealousy for Charlotte’s Divas Title.

Divas Title: Paige vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending and isn’t the most interesting face because heroines who are bigger, stronger and more athletic than most of their opponents aren’t really the best choices for the top of a division. Except Roman Reigns of course. He’s just that cool. We actually get Big Match Intros and Paige has blue highlights for a nice look.

Charlotte easily wrestles her down to the mat and the frustration is setting in. Some knees to the chest have Charlotte in trouble and Paige’s shouts get NOTHING from the crowd. Back in and we hit an abdominal stretch so she can shout about being the Divas Champion. A backpack Stunner gets the champ out of trouble and brings the match one step closer to a coma.

They trade kicks to the face and Paige escapes the Figure Four because it’s WAY too early for a submission. The hold wasn’t the right way to go so Charlotte puts her in an electric chair to drop Paige onto the apron. Back in and we hit the figure four neck lock so Charlotte can use those legs to torture her a bit. Charlotte goes shoulder first into the post, which Lawler thinks could be a game changer.

Paige grabs a crossface while bending Charlotte’s leg forward at the same time as this continues to go from spot to spot because there’s no real story. Like, they’re both doing fine and the match is entertaining but I have no reason to care about either one of them. It’s very TNA of them.

A neckbreaker out of the corner gets Charlotte out of trouble and the bad looking spear sets up Natural Selection. There’s no cover though as it heads outside with Paige sending her into the barricade. Paige then poses on that said barricade and gets tackled off for a big crash, followed by the Figure Eight back inside to retain the title at 14:10.

Rating: B-. The match was fine but like I said, there was just nothing to get excited over. The story here was a team splitting up to set up the title match but that story doesn’t work because when no one cared about the team in the first place because they were thrown together for the sake of a lame story. Good wrestling, horrible storytelling.

Earlier tonight, Ambrose said everyone knew this was coming and he’ll fight his brother with no regrets. Reigns comes in to say he’ll bring it and they’re cool no matter what.

Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler

Breeze debuted a few weeks ago (and lost his first match) and hooked up with Summer Rae, who had recently split with Ziggler, thereby setting up the mini feud. They trade laying on the top rope before Ziggler snaps off a dropkick. Breeze is knocked outside for the spot that would normally take us to a break in a TV match. I mean, this is a TV match but it’s on pay per view because it got bumped from the pre-show for the sake of time.

Back in and Breeze slowly hammers away before grabbing a weak half crab. Ziggler dropkicks him out of the air and hits some running clotheslines into the neckbreaker. To be fair, he does touch his knee before doing the big jumping elbow for two. We hit the pinfall reversal sequence before Tyler kicks him in the knee and hits an Unprettier for the pin at 6:31.

Rating: D. Cole tried to make this out to be a huge win but at the end of the day, it’s a win in a TV match disguised as a pay per view match against the guy that everyone beats. Breeze was dead in the water when he debuted on Smackdown and lost his first match because it was in the tournament against Ambrose. Hence why Breeze is where he is today. Ziggler is basically in the same spot he’s been in for years: hovering in the midcard and being the exact same thing, save for an occasional bump up thanks to an actual interesting character in the Miz.

We recap the Brothers of Destruction vs. the Wyatts. Undertaker: “I’m creepy!” Bray: “I’m creepier than you!” Undertaker: “These young boys never learn.” Bray also kidnapped both of them….and then let them go because he’s weird that way.

Undertaker/Kane vs. Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper

The entrances take FOREVER with Undertaker’s going even longer than usual, though it’s a pretty special occasion. Before the bell rings, Undertaker and Kane have to beat up Rowan to fulfill a contractual requirement of any Wyatt match. Kane and Harper start, basically missing the purpose of the entire feud. A basement dropkick floors Luke and it’s off to Undertaker for a nice reaction.

Cole declares Undertaker the greatest of all time as Luke’s arm is cranked. Old School is broken up as JBL does his stat/history reading designed to sound like casual conversation and, as usual, it’s horrible. Bray gets beaten up a little bit and NOW Old School connects. This time it’s JBL talking about Undertaker doing Old School for 25 years straight because we need to ignore shows he wasn’t at and times when he didn’t do the move. It’s off to Kane, who Strowman throws through the announcers’ table.

Somehow that’s not a DQ so it’s Bray taking over on Kane as we wait on the inevitable Undertaker hot tag. Sister Abigail is countered and the running DDT allows the aforementioned tag. Undertaker gets clotheslined to the floor where Strowman takes the double chokeslam through the other announcers’ table. Sister Abigail gets two on Undertaker, we get the double situp to break Bray’s spider walk and it’s the chokeslam into a Tombstone to finish Harper at 10:41.

Rating: D. They would have been better off having Undertaker just fight Harper on his own here as there was no doubt on the win and the Wyatts lost any credibility they might have had. I’m cool with Undertaker getting the big moment on the big stage and all that jazz because twenty five years to the day is an impressive day but this was really just a way to waste about twenty minutes and talk about how great Undertaker is.

WWE World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

The title is vacant coming in. Dean wins the early slugout but is taken outside and whipped into the barricade. The fans are all over Reigns as Dean hits the suicide dive, followed by an armbar to follow up on the earlier match. Some powerbombs get two on Dean and the Superman Punch is good for the same. Dean’s rebound lariat doesn’t do much good as Reigns spears him down for two. It’s really not a good sign that we’re at the first kickout of a finisher five minutes into a pay per view main event.

Another spear is blocked by a boot before the shirt spear is sent shoulder first into the post. Dirty Deeds gets two more and most of the crowd doesn’t seem to care, mainly because they’re hip to the trading finishers concept. They start slugging it out while sitting on the mat with Dean getting the better of it and hammering away in the corner….before he gets speared for the pin and the title at 9:02.

Rating: D+. What in the world was that? Reigns just pins him in nine minutes to win the title? There’s little drama, no surprise as everyone knew he was going to get the title here and barely any time for the match because all these other things needed to go so much longer. Reigns is a legitimate champion after beating four people to get the title but my goodness this was disappointing.

They take their sweet time celebrating as confetti falls….and here’s HHH. The boss offers a handshake and gets speared down, which Cole calls the most important moment in Reigns’ career. Cue Sheamus and the title match is on.

WWE World Title: Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns

Brogue Kick gets two, second Brogue Kick makes Sheamus champion at 34 seconds. Where did Dean go while this was happening?

The heels celebrate and Reigns looks like he’s about to cry to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. I remember liking this at first but sweet goodness this does not hold up. So there’s a tournament with the most obvious final ever and the most obvious winner ever and then “oh wait never mind because Sheamus cashes in because Money in the Bank ruins everything). The semifinal matches were fine for big time Raw main events but that’s not what people remember and/or care about. This show was about Reigns winning the title and then they screw that over for the “surprise” ending.

What’s even worse is where this would go. Reigns would go into Superman mode and win the title twenty two days later when he beat Sheamus on Raw, making this a huge waste of time and two cheap title reigns in a row. Sheamus is not a main event talent and this does more harm to Reigns than good. Just have Reigns fend off the cash-in attempt and hold the title until the HHH win in the Royal Rumble. Everything winds up the same and you don’t have the lame story and lame ending to this show.

Other than the World Title scene, we have the mess that is the rest of the card. The only other thing that matters here is the Undertaker match, which was a cool moment with the setup but a really bad match and another moment with the Wyatts losing for the sake of giving Undertaker another big win. The women’s match was fine albeit ice cold, the Survivor Series match had no story and was just a way to have New Day be funny and Breeze vs. Ziggler was advertised and therefore had to take place.

Now to be fair, they had to change A TON of stuff for the sake of the tournament and that’s not on them. What is on them is going with the “surprise” factor over logical storytelling. Sheamus is a multiple time World Champion and a Money in the Bank winner but that doesn’t mean he’s someone people want to see on top of the card at this point. If they want Reigns to be a top star, they need to let him be a top star. A five minute title reign after a bad match isn’t the way to go about that.

Ratings Comparison

Dudley Boyz/Goldust/Neville/Titus O’Neil vs. Cosmic Wasteland/Miz/Bo Dallas

Original: C

Redo: D+

Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: B

Redo: B-

Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose

Original: B-

Redo: B

Team Ryback vs. Team Sheamus

Original: C

Redo: D+

Paige vs. Charlotte

Original: C-

Redo: B-

Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze

Original: C-

Redo: D

Brothers of Destruction vs. Wyatt Family

Original: D+

Redo: D

Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

Original: D

Redo: D+

Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: D

I was WAY too kind to this one the first time around. The last hour and a half is dreadful.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2015/11/22/survivor-series-2015-rise-and-fall/

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 2015
Date: November 22, 2015
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

This is a special show for two reasons. First of all, tonight is twenty five years to the day that the Undertaker debuted. It’s rare to see someone last ten years and Undertaker is still having good matches twenty five years later. That’s one of those statistics that isn’t going to be broken and is really remarkable when you think about it. Other than that, we have the finals of the WWE World Title tournament for the title vacated after Seth Rollins’ knee injury. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Team Miz vs. Team Neville

Miz, Bo Dallas, Stardust, Ascension

Neville, Dudley Boyz, Titus O’Neil, Goldust

Survivor Series match and you have to believe they’re doing another one on the show because there are only six other matches. This is Goldust’s return after a long absence due to a shoulder injury. Goldust and Stardust start and a few right hands send Stardust over for a tag to Viktor….who is put out off a Goldust powerslam at 30 seconds. That sounds like an injury elimination.

Off to Konnor vs. Titus with O’Neil chopping away in the corner and slamming Konnor down. What’s Up sends Konnor to the floor and the Dudleyz deposit his partners next to him, setting up Neville’s big dive. Back from a break with Bubba Rock Bottoming Konnor for the elimination at 5:34.

Stardust comes in to take D-Von into the corner as we hear about the Gobbledy Gooker debuting 25 years ago today. Off to Miz who keeps up the beating, only to walk into a spinebuster. Neville comes in to clean house with his variety of kicks and a snap German suplex. A surprise Bodog and the Skull Crushing Finale take Neville out at 8:52, only to have Goldust roll Miz up for the pin at 9:03.

We’re down to Dallas/Stardust vs. Titus/Goldust/Bubba/D-Von. Back from another break with Dallas putting Goldust in a chinlock and Stardust telling the fans that there will NOT be any tables. It’s off to Stardust for a chinlock of his own, followed by another from Dallas. Goldust finally fights up and hits a clothesline, allowing for the hot tag to Titus. Everything breaks down and it’s a quick Clash of the Titus to put Dallas away at 17:13. Stardust tries to walk away but walks into 3D for the final pin at 18:03.

Rating: C-. Totally fine way to kill the pre-show time and give the fans something to watch. Goldust returning is cool and it seems to set up the idea for the show. The wrestling wasn’t anything great but for a match thrown together, it’s hard to really complain about the quality. Good enough here.

We open with Lillian Garcia singing the National Anthem as the middle finger to the ISIS threats.

The opening video focuses on both major stories with Undertaker’s anniversary and match with the Wyatts, followed by a tournament recap. There’s a great line of history being written by the survivors.

WWE World Title Tournament Semifinals: Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns

Non-title of course and the fans boo Reigns out of the building as soon as his music hits. They slug it out to start with Del Rio scoring with some kicks in the corner. Outside now with Reigns going into the barricade before Del Rio starts in on the arm, which Cesaro worked over Monday. A tilt-a-whirl slam gets a quick two for Roman as he’s hearing the dueling chants.

The bad arm goes into the steps as we see HHH watching in the back. A top rope shot to the head gets two for Alberto and we hit the chinlock. They’re moving here. The bad shoulder is sent into the post but Reigns pops right back up and nails a quick apron boot. The arm is hanging though as Reigns fires off the corner clotheslines. A Superman Punch is countered into the Backstabber for two.

The low superkick (hey he still uses that) is countered into a Samoan drop for the same. Roman tries to go aerial with a superplex but gets caught in the double stomp position (one of the only realistic ways for that to be set up). Of course it misses here though and Reigns nails the Superman Punch. Del Rio takes a long time getting up after landing on his knee but it’s all goldbricking with the spear charging into a superkick for a really close two.

For the first time since he’s been back, Del Rio tries the armbreaker but gets rolled up for another near fall. The armbreaker goes on a few seconds later and the announcers are freaking out. I have no idea why as it’s not the arm Del Rio had been working on. Reigns makes the rope and Alberto goes up for no apparent reason, only to miss some nondescript move, allowing Reigns to spear him down for the pin at 14:22.

Rating: B. Well duh. This was the biggest layup all night long but at least we had a hot match instead of the boring stuff Del Rio has been doing. It’s amazing what happens when he actually tries the logical moves instead of whatever co-operative nonsense he has to do to get the double stomps. Reigns’ arm could come into play later too.

Reigns wishes Ambrose luck and says they’ll fight next. Owens comes in and lists off Reigns being close before but always missing in the end. Tonight Owens is adding his name to the list of people who stop Reigns at the last second. Reigns still picks Dean. I know it’s not likely, but they’ve got me thinking it could be Owens.

WWE World Title Tournament Semifinals: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

Non-title again. Dean starts with some headlocks and armdrags (straight out of an old Aiden English song) but Owens crotches him on top. The Cannonball is only good for one but the backsplash gets two. We hit the chinlock (Owens: “CHINLOCK CITY BABY!”) and HHH is shown watching again. Dean suplexes him down and they slowly get up with Owens getting the better of it.

A moonsault (you don’t see him try that one too often) misses Ambrose and the top rope elbow gets two more. They fight over a superplex with Dean running the corner to try it again, only to get caught in the swinging fisherman’s superplex (I love that move) for the nearest fall so far. The rebound lariat staggers Owens but he sends Dean outside for a drop onto the table. Back in and two straight superkicks knock Dean even sillier but he counters the Pop Up Powerbomb and grabs Dirty Deeds for the spot in the finals at 11:20.

Rating: B-. Owens continues to look like a star but that’s the second champion to lose in a row because they didn’t think this thing through that well. Either that or they don’t think anything of the title. Either way, this was the good brawl you would expect from these two with the guys beating each other up for as long as they were allowed, which is the best thing you can ask for. Neither match was great but they were a really good way to spend forty five minutes.

We look back at Undertaker’s debut and the length of his career, mainly comprised of clips of Legends With JBL.

Team Ryback vs. Team New Day

Ryback, Lucha Dragons, Usos

New Day, King Barrett, Sheamus

The hometown boy Xavier Woods has a new haircut (like a pompadour) and Big E. wants us all to cheer for it. New Day rips on the Dragons for being small, the Usos for being injured and Ryback for being bald. Sheamus wants to get jiggy on these posers and you can feel the air go out of the place in a funny bit. Kofi: “I think what he meant to say was NEW DAY ROCKS!”

Woods and Jimmy get things going with the hair being completely off limits. Jimmy of course drags him across the ring by the hair and it’s off to Jey for some chops. Cara comes in to chop Kofi as we hear about the mini Kings back in 1994. Sheamus misses a charge and falls to the floor with his partners joining him. Everyone not named Ryback dives at the same time, leaving Ryback to dive onto all nine of them. Back in and Barrett crotches Jey on top to give Sheamus two.

The Unicorn Stampede means it’s time for some tromboning to start a dance party. Kofi puts on a chinlock but an enziguri allows the tag off to Jimmy. Woods gets thrown into the corner so Barrett comes in and slugs Jimmy in the face. Jimmy superkicks him right back and a swanton from Cara gets rid of Barrett at 7:46. It’s off to Kalisto for the monkey flip splash to Kofi for two before Jimmy comes back in pretty soon after tagging out. That would be too soon as Kofi grabs a backbreaker and Woods adds a top rope knee for the pin at 9:24.

Big E. spears Cara through the ropes but comes up holding his arm, leaving Sheamus to Brogue Kick him for the pin at 10:46. Sheamus and Big E. argue over the blind tag so Sheamus lets him come back in, only to have Ryback run him over. Jey adds a Superfly Splash to get rid of Big E. at 11:38. So we’re down to Jey/Ryback/Kalisto vs. Woods/Kingston/Sheamus. Kofi and Woods walk out with Big E. at 12:30 so it’s 3-1. Sheamus starts pounding on Kalisto until it’s off to Jey for a high cross body.

The Irish Curse gets two and puts Jimmy in trouble but again Sheamus lets him tag. Ryback comes in with the clotheslines and a spinebuster but a tilt-a-whirl slam stops the Meat Hook. The numbers are really getting on Sheamus’ nerves though and it’s a blind tag to bring in Kalisto for a top rope hurricanrana. Sheamus blocks it but Jey tags himself in and superkicks Sheamus, allowing Kalisto to hurricanrana Sheamus into Ryback (who tagged himself in as well) for the Shell Shock at 17:34.

Rating: C. Again this was fine with ten guys barely affiliated having a match for the sake of filling in a spot on the card. New Day walking out was the right call as you don’t want three champions losing in three matches. This was basically a bonus and another good match as we’re waiting on the big stuff.

We recap Paige vs. Charlotte without a single reference to the big issues on Monday. Basically it’s back to being fallout from PCB splitting, which isn’t great but it’s much more in WWE’s wheelhouse.

Divas Title: Paige vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending and starts this big rivalry match with a waistlock. Paige takes over with some brawling before taking it outside. The champion is sent ribs first into the announcers’ table, setting up an abdominal stretch back inside. Given that an abdominal stretch hasn’t won a match since about 1972, Charlotte quickly escapes and kicks Paige in the face. There’s the Figure Four (not eight) until Paige makes the rope.

Charlotte takes it outside again and drops Paige face first onto the apron. Back in and we get a figure four neck lock with some rolls to slam Paige into the mat. Charlotte tries to go too fast though and charges into the post. For some reason that means it’s time for Paige to work on the ribs with a bodyscissors.

That doesn’t last either and it’s time to slug it out, followed by Charlotte scoring with the spear. The unnamed Natural Selection sends Paige to the floor but she pops right back up. They get on the barricade for no apparent reason, allowing Charlotte to hit another big spear. Back in and the Figure Eight makes Paige tap at 14:20.

Rating: C-. The story killed this one as I’m really not sure what they were going for. I mean, I get that Paige was trying to get in her head but they don’t just insult Ric instead? It wasn’t bad or anything but some of the psychology was off and took away some of my interest. Watchable but not much more.

Reigns and Ambrose are ready to fight like brothers.

Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler

This is trying to salvage something from the Rusev/Ziggler/Lana story. Breeze takes him down to start and lays over the top like he should be doing. A headlock puts Tyler down as well and now it’s time for Ziggler to have a rest on top too. They head outside with Breeze hiding behind Summer, allowing him to send Ziggler into the steps. Back in and Ziggler gets caught in a half crab but it’s quickly off to the ropes.

Ziggler makes his comeback with the normal stuff, including a neckbreaker and the big elbow for two. A nice pinfall reversal sequence gives us a bunch of two counts before Dolph just slams him face first into the mat. Breeze bails to avoid the superkick (like any model would do) and kicks him in the knee, setting up the Unprettier to give Tyler the clean pin at 6:45.

Rating: C-. Ziggler jobbing isn’t a story again but at least Breeze won clean in his big match debut (yeah the tournament wasn’t really a big match as everyone knew what was going to happen there). I don’t think Breeze is ever going to be more than a jobber to the stars but at least he had a good debut.

We recap the Wyatts vs. the Brothers of Destruction. Bray targeted Undertaker at the end of Hell in Cell before kidnapping Undertaker and Kane. He stole their souls (whatever that means), setting up this regular tag instead of what could have been a cool elimination tag).

Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper vs. Undertaker/Kane

Undertaker gets the big entrance for his anniversary, though I’m sure more is coming. Rowan gets chokeslammed before the bell, leaving Harper as the official partner, which hadn’t been announced yet. Kane works on Harper to start before it’s off to Undertaker to really wake the crowd up. Harper has to get out of the Tombstone and it’s off to Bray who eats the jumping clothesline.

That’s it for Bray so Harper takes Old School as the fans tell Undertaker that he still has it. The apron legdrop has Harper in more trouble and Kane goes after Bray, only to have Strowman throw him over the announcers’ table. That’s not a DQ though and the Wyatts take over on Kane. The running cross body takes Kane down but Bray takes too much time mocking Undertaker and gets slammed down for his efforts. It’s already hot tag time (seven minutes in) for Undertaker and house is cleaned again.

Bray and Luke clothesline him to the floor though, only to have Strowman take the double chokeslam through the table. Back in and Sister Abigail out of nowhere gets two on Undertaker and Luke clotheslines Kane. No cover of course as Bray is busy doing the Spider Walk. The Brothers do the stereo sit up and it’s a double chokeslam to the Wyatts. Harper takes the Tombstone for the pin at 10:21.

Rating: D+. At least it wasn’t Bray. This was a post show dark match aired on pay per view and that’s not what they needed to go with here. I get the idea of the big moment for Undertaker but he’s had big moments at the last few pay per views now. Harper getting pinned makes sense and it’s not the worst loss in the world, but Undertaker needs to put Bray over soon.

Nothing special for Undertaker after the match as he and Kane just do their signature pose.

WWE World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

Ambrose has already lost his shirt and they go at it right after the big match intros. A clothesline puts Reigns on the floor and Dean follows with the suicide dive. Back in and Dean hammers away until Reigns powerbombs him out of the corner ala Undertaker. Reigns gets two more off a sitout powerbomb but Dean runs him over. The top rope elbow is blocked with a Superman Punch though and both guys are down.

Neither finisher can hit (way too early) but the rebound lariat is countered into a spear for two (shows what I know). There was almost zero hit on that near fall. A second spear hits post and Dirty Deeds gets two on a much hotter cover. Both guys sit up so they slug it out from the mat. Back up and the spear out of nowhere gives Reigns the title at 8:39.

Rating: D. Wait what? Like seriously, what? It’s 10:38 and the main event just ended in less than nine minutes. The fans didn’t react and there’s no reason to care with a win that fast. Reigns getting the belt is a good idea but that’s really the best way they can do it? That really doesn’t work and I’m guessing they’re using the time for an Undertaker celebration but this was a bad, bad move.

Dean hugs his friend and leaves as confetti falls. Cue a smiling and applauding HHH to offer a handshake but Reigns spears him instead. Sheamus comes in for a Brogue Kick and here we go.

WWE World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus

The Brogue Kick only gets two but a second gives Sheamus the title at 39 seconds. So was Ambrose off checking the Bengals score?

HHH and Sheamus leave together to end the show, but we cut back to the arena as Reigns gets up…..and leaves to add nothing else.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was mostly good but I only started getting excited in the last five minutes because it was a title change. Reigns can rise up again and win the title later, but sweet goodness that match was nothing to see and Reigns is just dying to turn heel. Sheamus is clearly just a placeholder champion and that’s fine, but it was a pretty lackluster ending. The opening two matches are both good though and it was certainly a big ending so I’ll call the show passable but a letdown given what else they could have done.

Results

Roman Reigns b. Alberto Del Rio – Spear

Dean Ambrose b. Kevin Owens – Dirty Deeds

Team Ryback b. Team New Day – Shell Shock to Sheamus

Charlotte b. Paige – Figure Eight

Tyler Breeze b. Dolph Ziggler – Unprettier

Undertaker/Kane b. Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper – Tombstone to Harper

Roman Reigns b. Dean Ambrose – Spear

Sheamus b. Roman Reigns – Brogue Kick

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

Smackdown
Date: November 8, 2019
Location: MEN Arena, Manchester England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s an interesting week here as we are over in the United Kingdom (or in Manchester, New Hampshire if you believe WWE.com) for a taped show because WWE hasn’t gone all over the world enough just yet. That means things could get interesting as we see the matches that were supposed to take place last week before everything went nuts. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s NXT invasion.

Opening sequence.

It’s the standard pre-FOX set, with the basic stage and Union Jack flags on the side.

Here’s King Corbin to open things up. He isn’t happy with the NXT invasion from last week but that’s all over now that they’re here. That brings him to Roman Reigns, who he certainly respects. Reigns has main evented four Wrestlemanias and even came back from leukemia in less than a year. I mean, who does that? But what has Reigns done lately? Now Reigns is a family man who spends time making appearances with children.

It’s like the Big Dog now has some little marbles and sounds like a chihuahua. Corbin shows us a computerized dog head on screen with a high pitched bark. So Corbin went through the time, effort and perhaps money to have that made just for the sake of that ten second visual? There’s no Reigns though because he isn’t here yet but he’ll be here tonight for the main event. Then the fans can get out their dog scoop bags to take care of Reigns. Corbin has such a bag with him because THEY GOT IN THAT PROMO DEAN AMBROSE TALKED ABOUT.

New Day is ready to win the Tag Team Titles because they have to keep up with Charlotte. This one is for Xavier Woods.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Revival

Revival is defending. Kofi rolls Dawson up for some early near falls and it’s off to Big E. to go after Wilder’s knee. The referee has to check on Wilder and we take an early break. Back with Big E. hitting a belly to belly on Wilder, whose knee is just fine. Kofi comes back in for the dropkicks and the big dive onto both champs. Back in and Dawson avoids Trouble in Paradise, leaving Kofi to get two off the SOS to Wilder.

Big E.’s Rock Bottom out of the corner is broken up and it’s a double hanging DDT to Big E. for no cover. A middle rope uppercut/German suplex combination gives Wilder two but the Shatter Machine is broken up. Dawson gets sent outside and Big E. holds Wilder up for Trouble in Paradise for the pin and the titles at 8:30.

Rating: C+. Well so much for Kofi’s post title loss depression. I’m not sure how much sense it makes to go back to that but if Kofi needs another line on his already Hall of Fame resume, so be it. At this rate he’s already a two time Hall of Famer so it’s hardly a stretch to have him win another title. The match was the usual entertaining stuff between these two.

Sami Zayn comes up to Daniel Bryan in the back and suggests that if Bryan had joined up with he and Shinsuke Nakamura, Bryan would be the new NXT Champion. They need to stick together and Sami should could watch Nakamura’s tag match later and see what can be done.

Heavy Machinery comes out for a match but Imperium jumps them. Some Smackdown guys run out for the save.

Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro vs. Ali/Shorty G.

My money is on Da Ali G Show. Bryan comes out to watch as Gable grabs the armbar over the ropes to put Nakamura in early trouble. Cesaro comes in to throw Gable into the corner though, only to have Gable Victory roll his way over to Ali. The big tornado DDT drops Cesaro and everything breaks down.

Gable belly to belly suplexes Nakamura to the floor, followed by Gable and Cesaro joining them. Ali dives onto Cesaro and it’s Gable grabbing the ankle lock. That’s broken up and Nakamura hits Ali with the reverse exploder. Kinshasa is blocked with the superkick but Cesaro sends Gable outside. Now Kinshasa can connect to finish Ali at 4:08.

Rating: C+. They packed a lot of stuff into a short match but it was entertaining. What matters here is the Sami stuff with Bryan, as the attempted manipulation is strong, even if it isn’t likely to work. That makes for a good story as you can see what is going on and there is a possibility that it could work. Not knowing where it is going (though one result is pretty heavily favored) makes it more interesting.

Sasha Banks vs. Nikki Cross

Bayley is on commentary. Banks has a remixed version of her theme song, including some vocals from Snoop Dogg. Cross gets sent into the corner for some early choking to start, followed by more choking on the ropes. The fans sing to Bayley as Cross starts the comeback with some armdrags. Cross goes after Bayley instead though and grabs the headset to shout something I couldn’t understand.

Banks uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot, only to be small packaged for two. Back with Cross fighting out of trouble and hitting a tornado DDT for a double knockdown. Cross’ crossbody misses but she stays out of the Bank Statement. That works for all of a few seconds before Banks locks it in for the tap at 8:39.

Rating: C-. They’ve done a nice job of trying to make Cross into a thing but she hasn’t won anything of note on her own. Having her lose over and over again isn’t a recipe for success but WWE doesn’t seem to see it that way. Granted she has already been more successful than I would have bet on for the main roster, though there seems to be more potential there.

Post match Bayley jumps Cross but Shayna Baszler runs in and lays Bayley out.

Sami tries to convince Bryan to not do the YES Movement again. The lights go out and the Fiend appears for the Mandible Claw on Bryan as Sami runs away.

We look at Tyson Fury defeating Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel.

Here’s hometown boy Tyson Fury to fire up the crown. He has been around the world and fought everywhere, including last week in Saudi Arabia. That brings him to Braun Strowman, who he wants to see right here in front of him. Cue Strowman, with Fury praising him for a great fight and offering a handshake. They shake hands and Fury says they should be a tag team. Strowman likes the idea but doesn’t think anyone is crazy enough to face them. Cue the B Team, with Dallas saying the B stands for fearless. The beatdown doesn’t take long with Strowman running them over and Fury hitting a right hand.

Fire & Desire vs. Carmella/Dana Brooke

The winners are two of the five entrants on the Smackdown women’s Survivor Series team, joining Sasha Banks. Sonya throws Carmella around to start as we hear that it’s going to be a three team, fifteen woman Survivor Series match. Mandy and Carmella come in with the latter getting stomped in the corner.

The beatdown continues until Carmella runs over and makes the hot tag off to Dana. A lot of screaming ensues with Dana’s cartwheel moonsault getting two. Carmella superkicks Mandy and throws Sonya to the floor so Dana can flip over her. A dropkick into the steps sets up the Swanton to give Dana the pin on Sonya at 4:00.

Rating: D+. As one of the four people in the world who watches Main Event, Dana has grown on me quite a bit over the last year. No she is not great or even very good, but she has improved a lot and looks like she is trying every time she is out there. It’s not her fault that she went from signing to start training in 2013 and was on the main roster less than three years later. She’s slowly getting better, but unfortunately we’ve spent three years laughing at her because she was thrown into the deep end before she could wade into the water.

Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin

Reigns jumps him before the bell and hits a clothesline to the floor. After a quick beating, it’s Corbin coming back inside and hammering away. Reigns hits a big boot but here are Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler to go after Reigns, because he’s lost the locker room or something. Corbin catches Reigns with Deep Six back inside and we take a break.

Back with Ziggler getting in another cheap shot so Corbin can send Reigns into the barricade. They get back in and slug it out until Corbin hits a chokeslam. Corbin misses a shot off the top though and Reigns hits a running clothesline for two. Ziggler and Roode come in again though and the distraction lets Corbin hit End of Days for the pin at 9:27.

Rating: D+. This really missed for me as Corbin vs. Reigns is boring enough on its own, and then we have Roode and Ziggler, who shouldn’t like Reigns in the first place, attacking him because….he took time off for cancer? It feels like it could be the start of Reigns’ big road to redemption, because that’s a story WWE loves to do. It isn’t the worst thing they could go with, but please find a more interesting way to go about doing so.

Overall Rating: D+. The first half was pretty good but it was downhill in a hurry with the Corbin stuff not doing it any favors. This felt really out of place after last week with Imperium and Baszler being the only invaders, and Imperium is more of a different thing than last week. The previous show felt important and interesting while this one felt like a standard “we’re in England” show. It’s the curse of the schedule again, as I’m assuming they didn’t want to bring all the NXT people over and therefore we have to wait a week to get back to what was a hot angle. We got one week out of it, but WWE fumbled it. Again.

Results

New Day b. Revival – Trouble in Paradise to Dawson

Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro b. Ali/Shorty G – Kinshasa to Ali

Sasha Banks b. Nikki Cross – Bank Statement

Carmella/Dana Brooke b. Fire & Desire – Swanton to Deville

King Corbin b. Roman Reigns – End of Days

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

Smackdown
Date: October 25, 2019
Location: Spring Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s another show with a purpose as we have the go home show for Crown Jewel. Therefore Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are here, because that’s the biggest match on the show no one other than WWE wants to watch. I’m not sure what to expect around here but hopefully it picks up a little bit. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We start fast with MizTV with Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and most of their teams, with no entrance for anyone. You have Hulk Hogan’s theme available and you don’t think that’s a good way to start the show? Miz introduces everyone (including Shorty G, who is now in neon basketball gear with a big G on the front), including members of the teams who aren’t here. Hogan talks about forming a team so Flair rants about how awesome his team is. That sends Flair into a speech about how he’s never lost to Flair and how great his own team is.

Sami laughs at Hogan bragging about Shorty G, who can’t wait to shut Sami up. Ali, who is about the same height as G, makes fun of Sami for not wrestling anymore but Corbin cuts them off to say Crown Jewel was named in his honor. Corbin promises that Reigns will let everyone down as he always does. Reigns: “Corbin, shut up man.” Reigns insults Corbin’s king gear and a six man tag is set up, with Hogan calling Nakamura a young boy. Sami isn’t available though, due to a neck issue so he has a replacement ready: Cesaro, who starts the fight with Reigns right now. Team Hogan clears the ring and we get some Real American.

New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

No Woods here as he had surgery for his torn Achilles today so you won’t be seeing him in the ring for a very long time. Ziggler starts fast by knocking Kofi to the floor and we take a break about a minute in. Back with Big E. cleaning house and bringing Kofi in off the hot tag for a launch onto Ziggler. Everything breaks down and it’s a spinebuster to Big E. Kofi springboards in with a double ax handle to Roode but gets rolled up with tights for the pin at 5:12. New Day was announced as getting a Tag Team Title shot on next week’s show and they lose here to set up the Tag Team Turmoil. This is an example of WWE being REALLY STUPID!

Post match Revival comes out to brawl with New Day but Heavy Machinery makes the save. I’m still trying to get over how completely stupid that match result was. It’s a match designed to set up next week’s big gauntlet so there are literally NINE other teams you could put out there other than the #1 contenders. How exactly did the decision making process go?

Video on Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman.

Lacey Evans vs. Camron Connors

Actually hold on as Lacey says she isn’t lowering herself to beat someone like Connors. She’s going to walk out instead of embarrassing her so Lacey says ring the bell so she can be counted out. Lacey dives back in at nine and hits the Woman’s Right for the pin at 47 seconds. Well that happened.

A far too excited Nikki Cross doesn’t like the insults that Bayley has thrown at her lately. Tonight, Nikki has to face Mandy Rose, who is certainly gorgeous, but wrestling isn’t a beauty pageant.

So we’re forty minutes in and we’ve had the following:

• Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, who have two of the most iconic entrances of all time, standing in the ring to start the show.

• Shorty G. in neon basketball gear.

• The #1 contenders losing in a five minute match when you could throw in multiple other teams (like one of the teams who made the post match save) to make the same point.

• Lacey Evans teasing walking out before coming back in to win in less than a minute.

I’m starting to get the mindset of the people who can’t stand this show lately. It’s like a bunch of people put in individual stuff but no one talked to each other as the show was being put together.

We look at the Firefly Fun House being burned down.

And now, the Firefly Fun House, featuring a funeral for Ramblin Rabbit. They get to say some nice words about him, including Huskus being glad Rabbit introduced him to carrot cake and the Mercy the Vulture saying he was a good dinner. Bray says it was supposed to be an open casket so he pulls out the bloody, charred remains of Ramblin Rabbit……who comes back to life. Mercy immediately eats him again and we’re done.

Drew Gulak vs. Kalisto

Well of course that’s what this show needs. Before the match, Lucha House Party talks about wanting to bring lucha libre to Smackdown. They do know that REY MYSTERIO is already on the show right? The bell rings and Gulak grabs a mic to introduce himself. He has a PowerPoint presentation on how Tyson Fury can defeat Braun Strowman. The slides won’t change so Kalisto kicks him down, only to get caught with a spinebuster. The referee stops to check on him but says it’s ok. Gulak loads up the Cyclone Crash….and here’s Braun Strowman for a distraction. The Salida Del Sol finishes Gulak at 2:15.

Post match it’s a running powerslam to plant Gulak. He does it again at the audience’s request and promises the same to Fury.

Here’s Daniel Bryan for a chat with Michael Cole. Last week he pinned the Intercontinental Champion and the arena erupted in YES chants. Bryan didn’t want to get involved though, so is the YES Movement back? Before that can be answered, here are Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn to interrupt. Sami shows us a clip of Bryan declaring the YES Movement dead back in November. The fans don’t like the new Daniel Bryan though because Sami wants to talk about the REAL Daniel Bryan.

Sami knows that Bryan is a real and honorable man but the people don’t care. It’s interesting that Bryan has a lot more in common with Sami and Nakamura, who care about the same things he cares about. They are all artists in the ring though, and now Bryan is at a crossroads. He can either go back to the people with the nitwits who chant YES or he can move forward with the two of them. The handshake is offered but Bryan walks away instead. This was the only good thing on the show so far.

Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose

Sasha Banks and Bayley (all in black) are on commentary. Mandy knocks her down to start and cuts off a comeback attempt with a forearm to the face. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Rose gets two off a fall away slam. Sonya Deville gets in a hard right hand to Nikki but she’s right back with a high crossbody for two. Another Sonya distraction backfires and it’s the Purge to finish Mandy at 4:37.

Rating: D+. Another match that just happened as this show is spiraling down. Bayley as the emotionless champion could go somewhere but Nikki as a title contender isn’t so likely. They’re trying to make someone new though and I can certainly give them points for that, but this wasn’t the best place to try and have something positive, at least not after the first hour of this show being such a mess.

Clip of the Undertaker on the WWE float in Riyadh.

Here are Rey Mysterio and Cain Velasquez for a chat. Rey is proud of his son Dominick for trying to fight back and now Rey knows he’s really a Mysterio. As for Brock Lesnar, Rey knows Cain is going to give Lesnar another scar. Lesnar and Paul Heyman need to get out here right now so we can do this face to face.

They pop up on screen instead, saying that Lesnar has more important things to do than go face to face with Velasquez. Brock has been doing something but Heyman won’t say where he has been doing it. Rey still wants them out here right now so Heyman says Rey should guess to whom Brock has been doing something. We pan down to the unconscious Dominick and Lesnar laughs.

Post break, Rey and Cain are checking on Dominick in the trainer’s room. Lesnar comes in with a trashcan to clean house, including an F5 to send Mysterio into the wall and another F5 to drop Cain onto Dominick.

Post break Velasquez shouts about Brock in Spanish and seems to swear vengeance.

Cesaro/King Corbin/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roman Reigns/Ali/Shorty G.

Hogan and Flair are here too. Team Flair jumps them at the bell and the fight is on outside, with Jimmy Hart having to hold Hogan back. Reigns and Corbin take turns hammering away at each other in the corner and Roman nails the Samoan drop for two. Nakamura comes in and gets hit in the face so it’s off to Gable (Cole said his old name so it’s good enough for me) to work on the arm.

Of course Gable can wrestle Nakamura down without much trouble as Cole brings up Gable’s Olympic career, with Graves pointing out that he looks like he belongs on the Tune Squad. Ignoring the fact that almost no fans under the age of twenty five are going to get that reference, that’s quite the mixed look at Gable. Ali comes in for a running hurricanrana to Cesaro, who muscles him over with a gutwrench suplex. Team Flair takes turns sending Ali to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Ali trying to fight back but having his tornado DDT blocked. Instead Cesaro picks him up by the throat, only to have Ali plant him with a DDT. Nakamura and Corbin break up the hot tag attempt though, only to have Ali enziguri Corbin. That’s enough for the tag to Gable, who suplexes Nakamura and neckbreakers Corbin. The moonsault gets two on Corbin (with Hogan in one of his elements as a cheerleader on the floor) and there’s a suplex to Cesaro.

Nakamura breaks up the ankle lock with a running knee so he and Corbin put Gable on top. That earns them a double missile dropkick and the hot tag brings in Reigns for the house cleaning. Cesaro takes Reigns down though and the Sharpshooter goes on until Ali breaks it up with a superkick. Everything breaks down and it’s the parade of secondary finishers. Reigns Superman punches Cesaro out of the air and hits the spear, setting up Ali’s 450 for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: B-. They took their time to get started here but once it was clicking, everything started to roll. The post break stuff was rather entertaining and Ali getting the pin was a nice touch. I’m not exactly thrilled in the ten man tag as it’s likely to go a long time and not be very interesting, but at least the six man version was pretty good.

Overall Rating: D. Oh I did not like this show. While it did pick WAY up starting with the Bryan segment, the rest of the show was a complete mess with the build to Crown Jewel taking over everything, even if it wrecked whatever else might be going on. In other words, if you’re not on Crown Jewel, your appearance here didn’t matter in the slightest. It’s another example of WWE trying to cram in so much stuff and the shows suffering as a result.

We’re less than a month away from Survivor Series and the show has not been mentioned once on WWE TV. By the time it is, which if we’re lucky will be next Friday (when the Smackdown roster is completely gassed from flying around the world in a day), when we’re about three weeks away. Then three weeks after that it’s TLC, with the Starrcade special in the middle. WWE has gotten a lot worse about this overdoing it lately and it’s really, really getting to be a problem. Just let things breathe for once so your fans aren’t so burned out. Why is that so much to ask?

Results

Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode b. New Day – Rollup with tights to Kingston

Lacey Evans b. Camron Connors – Woman’s Right

Kalisto b. Drew Gulak – Salida Del Sol

Nikki Cross b. Mandy Rose – Purge

Ali/Shorty G./Roman Reigns b. Cesaro/King Corbin/Shinsuke Nakamura – 450 to Cesaro

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

Smackdown
Date: October 18, 2019
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

This is an important show as we are officially into the new era with unique rosters for both Raw and Smackdown. That means they need to have something special here as they are running at half power and don’t have many excuses yet if the audience isn’t there. I’m not sure what to expect here but Roman Reigns is getting an Intercontinental Title shot against Shinsuke Nakamura. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura is defending and has Sami Zayn with him. Sami sits in on commentary as Roman drives the champ into the corner to start but Nakamura is right back with the knees. The slugout easily goes to Reigns though and he plants Nakamura with the Samoan drop for two. That’s enough to bring Sami off commentary to help his buddy, which includes pulling Nakamura away from the apron kick.

Nakamura hits a kick of his own and we take a break. Back with Reigns fighting out of a sleeper and hitting the running clothesline. Nakamura goes for the cross armbreaker, which is muscled up into a powerbomb for two. The Superman Punch draws Sami to the apron for a distraction and Nakamura hits a kick to the back of the head. There’s the sliding German suplex but Reigns is right back with the Superman punch for two. The spear is loaded up but here’s King Corbin, who Reigns had argued with on social media earlier today, to hit Reigns with the scepter for the DQ at 11:55.

Rating: C. This worked well enough, even if the title never really felt in jeopardy. It’s nice to have Nakamura wrestling actually defending the thing against some bigger competition for a change, but it is still clear that Nakamura isn’t exactly giving his best effort in WWE. The Zayn connection helps though and what we got was a nice enough match, even if it seems to be setting up something else.

Post match Corbin hits Deep Six but it’s Daniel Bryan running in for the save. The numbers get the better of it though and Nakamura hits the running knee to the back of Bryan’s head.

New Day is singing in the back when Tucker brings in a table. After Kofi says he’s fine with losing the WWE Championship because of the power of positivity, Otis brings in a bowl of pancake mix and protein powder, which he pours into his mouth. Big E. does the chant and I’m really glad this segment is over.

Corbin has nothing to say about Reigns.

Shorty Gable vs. Curtis Axel

We actually get a video on why Gable is now named Shorty. If you don’t get why someone is named SHORTY, you might want a low level of intellect in your entertainment. Gable armdrags him to start but gets sent into the corner. The Hennig necksnap gives Axel two and we hit the armbar. Gable fights up, knocks Bo Dallas to the floor, and finishes Axel with the ankle lock at 1:55.

Post match Gable says be who you are, even if it means being short. He isn’t even Shorty Gable anymore. Now it’s Shorty G.

Seth Rollins is out of Team Hogan vs. Team Flair as Rollins has to defend against Bray Wyatt.

Hulk Hogan is on Skype and seems to announce Ali and Shorty G. for his team. The new captain will be announced tonight and he wants to beat up Ric Flair once and for all.

New Day/Heavy Machinery vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler/Revival

Tucker and Ziggler grapple for a bit to start until Tucker dropkicks him down. Roode tries to run in but it’s a double suplex from Heavy Machinery. Everything breaks down and Big E. and Otis seem to realize that they’re soul mates. Roode plants Woods with a spinebuster on the floor and we take a break. Back with Woods fighting out of Wilder’s chinlock and enziguring Dawson.

Ziggler and Roode are smart enough to break up the hot tag attempts and it’s Wilder coming in for something like the Demolition Decapitator (or at least its cousin). Woods gets in a dropkick to Ziggler and it’s the double tag to bring in Otis and Roode. House is cleaned and Roode’s chops just make Otis jiggle (though that may be automatic). We get some Caterpillarizing but Ziggler saves Dawson from the Compactor. Instead, Otis picks Dawson up for a suplex and hands him off to Big E. for the Midnight Hour and the pin at 10:25.

Rating: C-. Just a preview for the Crown Jewel Tag Team Turmoil. That isn’t something I’m going to get behind as there are all kinds of teams in the thing and it’s going to be a lot of filling in time on the already long show for a token prize. If that’s the best they’ve got for the division, normally I would say it’s a waste of time show, but that’s been the case since the Saudi Arabia shows began at last for the fans.

Bryan rants about Corbin and Nakamura and tonight he’s teaming with Reigns to face the two of them.

Video on Ali.

It’s time for MizTV with special guest Bayley, flanked by Sasha Banks, the latter of whom surprises Miz. Bayley and Sasha brag about the title change last week and we see a clip of Bayley’s new attitude, setting up the win over Charlotte. Thankfully the viral clip of the child crying is included. Miz asks Bayley what was up with that but she doesn’t owe anyone an explanation. Miz: “Are you Brock Lesnar? Is this your Paul Heyman?”

Banks brings up Miz being a fifth rounds draft pick, which Miz laughs off because he’s always relevant. Bayley talks about crying after losing the title to Charlotte but no one was there to hug her. She has put herself second for years to be a role model but they weren’t there when he needed them. The reality is that Bayley has outgrown these people so here’s some reality: life sucks and then you die.

Cue Nikki Cross to interrupt and say that she is going to be the #1 contenders after winning her match tonight. This brings out Dana Brooke to say she is motivated by being underused and tonight is a new beginning. She’s bringing the Flex Appeal but here’s Lacey Evans to interrupt and it’s time for a #1 contenders match.

Carmella vs. Nikki Cross vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville

The winner gets a shot at Bayley for some point in the future. Lacey goes outside to start, leaving Mandy and Sonya to start taking over on everyone else. Cross’ comeback is cut off by Mandy’s clothesline, leaving Mandy and Sonya alone. Brooke takes them down on the floor, only to get run over by Lacey. Carmella crossbodies Lacey down though and we take a break.

Back with Mandy and Sonya in control again, this time beating on Carmella but she pops back up with a double Bronco Buster. The suicide dive takes Mandy and Sonya down again and Nikki dives onto a bunch of people. Back in and Dana powerbombs Lacey to set up the Swanton for two as Mandy and Carmella make the save. The Code of Silence is broken up and it’s time for the parade of strikes to the face. Cross grabs the Purge to finish Rose at 9:01.

Rating: C-. The match was the usual messy insanity that these things can be but at least they have a fresh challenger in there for a change. You can only do the Horsewomen stuff for so long and it is a good idea to find someone who hasn’t been in there for a long time. I doubt Cross gets the title but at least they are trying something new.

Video on Braun Strowman.

Video on Seth Rollins vs. the Fiend inside the Cell, followed by Rollins burning down the Firefly Fun House. The graphic for the rematch now says “cannot be stopped for any reason.” They seem to know that they screwed up, but I don’t think they’ll do anything to make it better.

Braun Strowman vs. Drew Gulak

Strowman scares him into the corner so Gulak grabs a mic. He declares himself an historian in the world of combat sports and if Strowman is too aggressive at Crown Jewel, he’ll get knocked out. Gulak has a 345 slide PowerPoint presentation to walk Strowman through his match against Fury. That earns him a toss across the ring and a big boot. A headbutt puts Gulak on the floor and there’s the running shoulder. The running powerslam ends Gulak at 3:05.

Rating: D-. I know the cruiserweights mean nothing but did we really need to have Gulak go back to doing the same stuff that he did for months? It was really goofy stuff back then and he moved on to a more serious character and won the Cruiserweight Title. Now he’s just a comedy guy again? And there was no one else on the roster to take this loss? Not a single one?

Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin/Shinsuke Nakamura

Reigns is named the new captain of Team Hogan and Sami Zayn is here with the villains. Corbin gets punched in the head and face to start and it’s quickly off to Bryan for the running dropkicks in the corner. Nakamura comes in for the slugout with Bryan, who knees him in the ribs for another knockdown. A low bridge from Sami sends Bryan to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Bryan backflipping out of a double belly to back suplex. A kick to the head should allow the hot tag to Reigns but Corbin pulls him off the apron for a ram into the steps. Corbin puts Reigns on the steps but throws the other set away thanks to a threat from the referee. Bryan dropkicks Corbin down and gets the LeBell Lock on Nakamura. That’s broken up by Corbin, who is speared through the barricade for his efforts. The YES Kicks have Nakamura in trouble and the running knee gives Bryan the pin at 9:01.

Rating: B-. I can certainly go for Bryan vs. Nakamura for the title and it could make up for a lot of the idea of Corbin vs. Reigns. This feels like Corbin getting moved back up towards the main event scene and while that isn’t as terrifying as it had been before, I don’t trust WWE to not push him way too far. The match itself was energetic as Reigns feels so much more acceptable as an upper midcarder who pops into the main event from time to time instead of the focal point of the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They kept the show moving fast enough and that’s the best thing that they could have done here. You don’t want to give the fans a reason to check out during the show and they kept things going here. What mattered most here was setting up some matches for the future and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the things they have coming up. It was a fun enough show and hopefully we can get on to the more normal shows instead of the special editions almost every week.

Results

Roman Reigns b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when King Corbin interfered

Shorty Gable b. Curtis Axel – Ankle lock

New Day/Heavy Machinery b. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode/Revival – Midnight Hour to Dawson

Nikki Cross b. Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville – Purge to Rose

Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns b. King Corbin/Shinsuke Nakamura – Running knee to Nakamura

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