IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 22, 2018
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Corey Graves, Renee Young, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Evolution so expect a lot of hearing about Nikki Bella vs. Ronda Rousey, which somehow is the highest profile match we can have on what was supposed to be a top level show. Other than that we have Crown Jewel next week, even though we’re not allowed to hear where the show is taking place. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to say that he can’t fight every day. He’s been wrestling for eleven years and now it’s back. Therefore he has to vacate the title and seek treatment. He was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 22 years old and now he has to do it again. Reigns was done with football but the WWE gave him a chance. Whether it was cheering or booing, the fans always reacted to him and that’s what matters most. The best thing for him to do right now is to go home and focus on his family and his health.

This is NOT a retirement speech because he’s coming back to this ring when he’s healthy again. When he comes back, it’s not about titles but about a purpose. He wants to show his family and friends that when live throws a curve ball at him, he crowds the plate and swings for the fences. Reigns leaves the title in the ring and walks away, only to be greeted by Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose on the stage for a big hug and one more Shield pose.

The announcers are nearly in tears talking about what happened and wish Reigns the best.

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Lio Rush hypes Lashley up as he throws Balor around. Balor knocks Lashley to the floor and chases after Rush, only to get run over by Lashley as we take a break. Back with Balor caught in a nerve hold as Rush keeps up the LASHLEY chants. Finn fights up but has to escape the delayed vertical suplex. The Sling blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Lashley pops up and blasts him with a clothesline. Balor is fine enough to grab a rollup for the fast pin at 8:29.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and it’s not like the fans cared about it after what opened the show. I know it’s hard to think about the title picture at the moment but Reigns leaving is going to open the door for a lot of new names in the main event picture. Balor could be one of them and a clean win here might suggest that being the case.

The announcers talk about the future of the Universal Title. Nothing has been determined yet but we might be getting updates throughout the night.

We look back at Drew McIntyre hitting the Claymore on Braun Strowman last week.

Dolph Ziggler and McIntyre say they have to look over their shoulders every night. McIntyre says when Strowman got done with Ziggler, he was coming for him so it was attacking first. After tonight, Ziggler won’t have to worry about a thing. McIntyre leaves to go monster hunting.

Sasha Banks vs. Ruby Riott

Preview of the six woman tag at Evolution. The early Riott Squad distraction lets Ruby beat Banks down from behind and we take an early break with Banks in trouble. Back with Banks getting elbowed in the face for two but sending Ruby into the buckle to get a breather. The right hands set up the double knees in the corner, followed by the middle rope Meteora. The Bank Statement goes on and draws Sarah Logan in, only to have Bayley make the save. That’s enough of a distraction for Ruby to send her into the corner, setting up the Riott Kick for the pin at 8:44.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here, though again there’s only so much energy you can have all night long. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and that’s making it hard to focus on the show. For a setup for the six woman tag, this was perfectly acceptable, even if this story has been going on for what feels like ever.

We see the Undertaker and Kane’s promo from last week.

Nia Jax says she’ll win the battle royal.

Here’s DX for a chat. They talk about being afraid of things but neither of them are scared of anything. Shawn: “Ain’t neither of us running for Mayor!” The other word running around has been nostalgia, which Shawn hoped was just a Greek word for “new merch”. It’s really a polite way of saying old. But then again, the #1 movie at the box office came out 40 years ago and two weeks ago, they sold out a 70,000 person stadium. HHH: “Maybe old is just another way of saying “we’re better than you””.

I’ll let you make your own jokes and stick with HHH saying the DX logo has been around for twenty two years. HHH talks about how there’s another X that says the future is better too. Shawn: “And we’re running that too!” They’re not coming to Crown Jewel to make you laugh, but to hand you a beating. Shawn loads up the catchphrase but some electrical noises go off….followed by a gong.

Undertaker and Kane appear on the screen, saying pride goes before destruction. DX can bring their delusions and try to retrieve their lost respect. They’ll unleash their utter contempt because Shawn can’t outrun the reaper or survive the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers will own their souls for eternity and torment them in the deepest pits. They pour dirt into a grave. On a show where the Universal Champion says he has leukemia. And before they go to a country that is in the headlines for murdering a journalist.

We see the Reigns promo again.

Wrestlers have sent out tweets to Reigns.

There will be a new champion crowned at Crown Jewel when Strowman faces Brock Lesnar in a one on one title match.

We look back at the Bella Twins/Ronda Rousey segment from last week.

Here’s a somewhat shaken up Paul Heyman for a chat. His thoughts and prayers are with Reigns and he’s proud to have been in a locker room with that much pride for their friend. Tonight, Reigns was a man who sacrificed what he loved because he couldn’t be the Universal Champion. When you’re Universal Champion, you’ve earned the right to have people point at you and say you’re the best. Until 8:05pm EST tonight, we had the right to brag that the Universal Champion was the best in the world.

But now, no one is the champion so we need to find a new best in the world. There is only one person worthy of being champion and it certainly isn’t Braun Strowman. The only person who deserves to be walking into the Octagon as the Universal Champion is Brock Lesnar, and Strowman isn’t in his league. Cue Strowman and reality sets in quickly. Strowman says he’s going to bring the title back to Raw and when Reigns gets back from beating leukemia, he’s the first man in line for a title shot. For now though, Lesnar is going to get these hands. Strowman goes to leave and walks into the Claymore from McIntyre.

Post break Ziggler praises McIntyre, who says he did what most of the roster won’t do. He’s a grown man who doesn’t check under his bed for monsters. When Strowman shakes the cobwebs clear, he’ll realize that he needed them. Tonight, they defend the Tag Team Titles.

Here’s Elias to play a little guitar. Before he gets into the song about Apollo Crews though, here’s Apollo to cut him off.

Apollo Crews vs. Elias

Crews dropkicks him to the floor to start and hits a moonsault off the apron as we take a break. Back with Elias holding a chinlock for a rather long while until Crews powers up. The jumping clothesline drops Elias and the standing shooting star press gets two. A fall away slam into a Samoan drop is good for the same but Elias grabs the rope to avoid the toss powerbomb. The jumping knee to the face sets up Drift Away to finish Apollo at 8:00.

Rating: D. Well so much for Crews. I’m still not sure what the point is in having Elias out there for these nothing matches over and over, but at least they’re doing something with him and keeping him in front of the crowd. That’s certainly better than having him sit on the bench for weeks at a time and letting the fans forget about him. Still though, give him a push already.

Kurt Angle talks about how tough the World Cup of Wrestling is going to be. He talks about (as in reads cue cards about) all of his possible opponents with highlight packages of all seven of them. Angle has done a lot of things, but now he has the chance to be the best in the world. On this one night, he can do it all again.

Back from a break and here’s Elias to try the song again. This time it’s Baron Corbin interrupting, saying it’s his job to keep the show moving. Stephanie McMahon has sent him out here for something far more important than Elias playing his little guitar. He better quit staring at Corbin too, because if Stephanie didn’t like him, Elias would be fired.

Elias says he was in his own little world there for a second and writing a song in his head that he’s going to sing right now. The new song is about how Corbin is a coward and a puppet but Corbin has the mic cut. Elias walks off but comes back and blasts Corbin with the guitar. The face turn is a long time coming, but I’m not sure how well it’s going to work. Still though, you couldn’t hold it back much longer.

We look at the Bellas turning on Ronda Rousey two weeks ago.

Here are the Bellas and Rousey to sign. The twins bail as soon as Rousey shows up but she says she’s not going to beat them up tonight. Instead, she’s going to sign a contract so she can beat them up on Sunday. She even offers to put her hands behind her back because if they can beat her up like that, her own mother would kill her. They have her word, which is Ronda’s bond.

The Bellas come in and mock her for not being as good in judo as her mother or for not retiring undefeated from UFC. Nikki says Ronda’s mother is already ashamed of her so imagine what it’s going to be like when a Diva beats her for the title. She even slaps Ronda, who signs and promises to end Nikki on Sunday. This was WAY better than last week, partially because it didn’t go on for ten minutes. Now hopefully Sunday’s match follows this week’s example and not last week’s.

Reigns’ speech again.

Rollins and Ambrose say there are no words to talk about how they’re feeling, so tonight they’re going to win for Roman.

Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax vs. Tamina vs. Ember Moon

One fall to a finish. It’s a brawl to start as the announcers try to push Tamina vs. Nia as an interesting battle. Nia drops Dana and hits a flip splash but gets superkicked to the floor by Tamina. Ember goes up and hits the Eclipse to pin Tamina at 1:37.

Evolution rundown.

Here’s Titus O’Neil on the stage to introduce a group of breast cancer survivors with title belts.

Trish Stratus and Lita are ready to fight on Sunday and aren’t worried about Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. Alicia Fox comes up to make fun of them but here’s Mickie from behind for the cheap shot brawl. Security breaks it up but Trish and Lita run back in to beat them up. Trish: “That’s how we did it in the Attitude Era.”

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and McIntyre are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the champs being knocked outside to send us to an early break. Back with Rollins hitting a suicide dive onto both champs but McIntyre kicks him down back inside. Ziggler comes in, teases a superkick to Ambrose, and goes with a chinlock on Rollins.

That doesn’t last long as Rollins fights up and throws him down, followed by an enziguri on McIntyre. Ziggler is fast enough to get over and pull Ambrose off the apron though, leaving Rollins to take the reverse Alabama Slam. Back from a second break with Rollins making a blind tag and dropping a frog splash for two on McIntyre as Ambrose dives onto Ziggler. McIntyre gets put in the Tree of Woe but of course sits up to throw Rollins down.

Rollins is fine enough to superplex Ziggler into the Falcon Arrow as the fans are going nuts on these kickouts, probably because they know a title change is coming. The Stomp misses so Rollins lifts Ziggler up for a powerbomb into McIntyre. Dean comes back in but Dirty Deeds is broken up and a Claymore sends him outside.

Ziggler sends Rollins shoulder first into the post and gets two off the Zig Zag. The Claymore/Zig Zag combination is broken up by Ambrose but here’s Strowman as Rollins and Ziggler clothesline each other. McIntyre gets up to fight Strowman but they brawl into the crowd. Ziggler tries to grab a title but gets Stomped for the pin and the title at 19:16.

Rating: B. Well….yeah. This was the most obvious title change in recent history but at the same time, it’s the only thing they could do. With the Reigns situation, dedicating the match to him was the best thing they could do to guarantee an invested crowd during the title change. Another entertaining match too.

Post match the celebration is on….until Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Rollins. The place gets REALLY quiet as Ambrose pounds away on him and shouts about Rollins thinking he’s funny. The beatdown is on with Den throwing a title at him and then peeling back the floor mats for Dirty Deeds on the concrete. Dean rips off the Shield shirt and leaves through the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I’m giving this one a big break tonight because of the opening announcement changing everything. That being said, I’m less interested in seeing either Evolution or Crown Jewel than I was coming in, though I’m wanting to find out where some other things are going. This week’s show made those two pay per views feel more like things we have to get through rather than something I want to watch, which is a really bad sign. Not a great show, but you have to give them a break on some parts of that.

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

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

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

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

Tonight on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns opened the show and announced that he was vacating the Universal Championship due to having leukemia. Reigns said that he had been diagnosed with the disease when he was twenty two but it had gone into remission, only to come back now. Reigns made it clear that he is NOT retiring and will be back one day. There is currently no word on what this means for the Universal Title.

I…..I have no idea what to say on this.  My goodness man.  Superman punch that thing in the face and get back soon.

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 20, 2018
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Corey Graves

You know, in a weird way I enjoy watching this show and seeing what they have in store. The highlight packages are often fine, but every now and then you get an actually good original match like last week with Zach Ryder vs. Apollo Crews. Oddly enough, the last good match also featured Ryder. But he doesn’t have the right look so no WWE Title run for him. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Zack Ryder vs. Mike Kanellis

Hopefully Kanellis feeling the Crews tonight. Kanellis wastes no time in stomping away in the corner because that’s the only way he’s going to get noticed around here. Some running clotheslines and a big boot get two, followed by a Side Effect for the same. Ryder is back up for a middle rope missile dropkick, only to get his neck snapped across the top rope to cut him down again.

Kanellis’ superkick gets two but Ryder throws him off the top, setting up the Rough Ryder for two. Back up and Kanellis grabs a sitout Michinoku Driver for two but makes the eternal mistake of loading up the Broski Boot. You don’t do that to Ryder, who ducks away and hits the Rough Ryder for the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C. Another perfectly watchable match here with Ryder continuing to look good. Kanellis is someone dying for a character or a gimmick, because being the whipping boy who is waiting for his wife to get back has crippled the limited impact that he could have had in WWE. Not a bad match here and hopefully this gets some attention at some point.

From Raw.

Here’s Undertaker to respond to HHH about Super Show-Down. During his very well received entrance, Cole says many consider Undertaker the best of all time. Those people would be wrong. Undertaker talks about how no one can spin a web of lies like someone with a broken soul and no one has a soul as broken as HHH. The delusion will be HHH’s downfall because his new battlefield is the board room.

HHH can no longer decipher truth and can’t see his own demise. Undertaker doesn’t care what anyone thinks and only cares about what’s coming: HHH going six feet under again and Game over. HHH can have his delusion and his best friend Shawn Michaels, but Shawn is going to be at ringside. Therefore, Undertaker will bring Kane to even things up. Undertaker already took Michaels’ career and he’s going to do the same to HHH. As a bonus, he’s going to take HHH’s soul.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Paige to introduce Becky Lynch for the Championship Celebration. Becky is glad that she’s finally getting the recognition that she deserves but wants Charlotte out here. Charlotte comes out and says Becky was the better woman on Sunday. The thing is Becky gave up a lot to become champion and Charlotte is coming back for it at Super Show-Down.

Becky: “I’m sorry, I stopped listening after you said I was the better woman.” Becky wants Charlotte to put the title around her waist but she’ll settle for being called queen. Becky: “B****.” The fight is on with Charlotte being thrown over the announcers’ table and the Disarm-Her going on. The Bexploder leaves Charlotte laying to end the show.

Apollo Crews vs. Mojo Rawley

Mojo starts with the trash talking and runs him over a few times. With the power not working, Apollo dropkicks him down and hits an armdrag to the floor. Crews follows him out and that’s just never a good idea as Rawley runs him over with a clothesline. Back in and we hit the chinlock, allowing Crews to fight up with an enziguri and the standing shooting star press. The Toss Powerbomb is broken up but so is Rawley’s sitout Alabama Slam. Another enziguri sets up an enziguri into the frog splash to finish Rawley at 6:39.

Rating: C-. While not quite as good as the opener, this was still perfectly fine and there’s nothing wrong with that. Crews is still more than good in the ring but I can’t believe that Rawley has already fallen back to the nothing that he was before his quick Raw push. He’s good enough to be a low level heel but it’s back to the dregs that is Main Event.

From Raw again.

Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin

Reigns is defending and is banged up after last night. Corbin goes right for the ribs to start and gets two off a rollup. They head outside with Reigns hitting the apron dropkick but getting clotheslined down as we take a break. Back with Corbin holding a chinlock, followed by a chokebreaker for two.

That’s enough non-chinlocking so we hit it again to keep Reigns in trouble. Reigns fights up for the corner clotheslines as the announcers are STUNNED that he can do this. Dude he had a 24 minute match last night where nearly ten minutes was spent laying down. Rollins and Ziggler had a 25 minute match and then FELL OFF THE CELL and wrestled for ten minutes tonight. Reigns isn’t that impressive.

The Samoan drop gives Reigns two and there’s the Superman Punch off the steps. Corbin has finally had it and throws a chair at Reigns and yeah I’m not falling for this. There’s the restart with No DQ. Back in and the Superman Punch gives Reigns two. Reigns goes for the chair but here’s Strowman to take Reigns down. Strowman misses a charge into the post but Corbin grabs Deep Six for two. Now it’s Ziggler, McIntyre, Rollins and Ambrose running in for another fight, including double suicide dives to put Ziggler and McIntyre down. The spear retains the title at 16:53.

Rating: D. Well duh. I can get behind the idea of a champion having to overcome the odds and still retain the title in an obvious finish but Corbin is one of the least threatening heels in years. When your big move is “I’LL CALL STEPHANIE!”, I’m not going to buy you winning the title. All the run-ins didn’t offer any help either and the match was just boring as we waited for the inevitable spear. Reigns can carry things, but he’s not a miracle worker yet.

Overall Rating: C. The original stuff was better than usual here but the show didn’t exactly make me interested in seeing the multiple shows that are coming up. That’s the case with almost every Monday night anymore though and that’s not exactly the best thing to be said about one of the busiest seasons of the WWE year. Watchable show, but that’s about it.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 13, 2018
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the go home show for Hell in a Cell and that means some clips of the big pushes from Raw and Smackdown. This really is a week where they could just drop the original matches altogether but that doesn’t exactly seem to be in the cards. You can probably guess what we’re getting tonight but that makes for some interesting television at times. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Ember Moon vs. Dana Brooke

Now remember: this is the IMPROVED Brooke. Dana takes her into the corner without much effort and a few rollups get a few near falls. A test of strength goes to Brooke until Moon fights up without much effort. Some shoulders in the corner set up a knee to the ribs for two.

More knees set up a bodyscissors but Moon fights up and nips into a hurricanrana. That just earns her the handspring elbow in the corner and we hit the abdominal stretch, first on the mat and then the standing version. The springboard crossbody gets Moon out of trouble, only to have Brooke enziguri her into the corner. That means a roll into the buckle though and the Eclipse gives Moon the pin at 5:23.

Rating: D. Brooke just isn’t very good and there’s not much of a way around that anymore. She tries but it’s a situation where she’s not going to get any better being fed to these big names. The solution would be to send her down to NXT for a good while, but WWE isn’t one to change course, even on someone as low on the totem pole as her.

Video on Rousey vs. Bliss.

From Raw.

Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. B Team

The B Team is challenging. Ziggler and Dallas start things off with Bo hitting an early neckbreaker for two. Axel comes in and slugs away as we take a break. Back with McIntyre working on an armbar before stomping on Axel’s hand. A superkick into a reverse Alabama Slam gives McIntyre two but Axel catapults Ziggler into the corner. Everything breaks down and Ziggler rakes Dallas’ eyes, setting up the Zig Zag/Claymore combination to retain at 8:48.

Rating: D. The B Team are still comedy guys and there’s still no reason to believe that Ziggler and McIntyre shouldn’t slaughter them. They were fine for what they were as short form comedy goofs but they were designed to lose huge to a better team. There’s nothing wrong with that, but this match should have been what the title change was: near if not complete and utter dominance.

Post match Ambrose and Rollins run in to beat down Ziggler and McIntyre, who bail before McIntyre can get Stomped.

Video on Charlotte vs. Lynch.

From Smackdown.

Brie Bella vs. Maryse

Brie now has the Seattle Seahawks colors too. Maryse bails to the floor at the bell and Miz gives her a good luck kiss. Back in and Maryse hides in the ropes before heading outside again. Brie grabs the mic and calls Maryse a coward. Feel the burn I guess. Miz doesn’t like this and talks about how Maryse gave birth just five months ago. This city doesn’t deserve this match so Miz and Maryse are out. Brie chases Maryse down and sends her into the apron but Bryan going after Miz lets Maryse get in a kick to the head for two. The YES Lock has Maryse in trouble but Miz pulls Brie out for the DQ at 4:40.

Rating: N/A. I don’t use that very often but this wasn’t a match. They “wrestled” for about twenty seconds near the end of their angle and that’s about it. I know WWE might be a little worried about the two of them wrestling, but if that’s the case they shouldn’t be in the main event of this show. Now we’re going to have to hear even more about how much of a legend Brie is, but at last Nikki’s match last night was a match as opposed to this angle that they tried to call a match.

Post match the brawl is on with Bryan running Brie over by mistake. Maryse sends Brie into the apron a few times but Brie comes back with her terrible punches. Bryan gets back in and takes Miz down with Brie punching him into a clothesline to the floor to end the show.

Zack Ryder vs. Apollo Crews

They shake hands before the feeling out process starts. Crews takes over with a wristlock but Ryder dropkicks him into the corner without much effort. Back up and Crews flips away in the corner, followed by a dropkick of his own to show Ryder who the better athlete is. A slingshot dive sets up a chinlock until Ryder jawbreaks his way to freedom. Stereo crossbodies give us a double knockdown with Crews getting up first.

Some clotheslines set up a powerslam to put Ryder in trouble again, followed by the nipup just to show off. A low bridge to the floor lets Ryder hit a dropkick from the apron though, followed by the Elbro for two. Ryder’s neckbreaker looks to set up the Broski Boot but Crews is out of the way and Ryder is in trouble again. An enziguri sets up a frog splash to finish Ryder at 8:32.

Rating: C+. This is a good example of what can happen when you let talented performers work. How much input do you think the higher ups had in this match? Other than “Apollo you’re going over with something from the top”, do you really think an agent gave them many instructions? These are two talented guys and they had a very nice match. It’s not going to get them anywhere, but hopefully someone took some notice of the work they put in.

From Smackdown.

Samoa Joe reads a bedtime story (complete with book) about AJ Styles, who built a house but then forgot his friends who helped get him there. One of his friends promised to make things better by beating Styles up, which leads them to Sunday where AJ will get to go back to his family. After he wakes up of course. The last shot of the book is Joe as champion with Styles’ family for a rather evil visual.

The rhyming here was a good idea as they’ve done some solid work with the promos leading up to the match. It’s amazing how much you get out of switching up a few things like this. The best part is they can back it up in the ring, which is the part that lacks in so many of these well built feuds.

And from Raw.

Here’s Strowman to call out Reigns. No one shows up and Strowman says Reigns won’t be able to run on Sunday. Strowman will get his hands on Reigns and then hurt Foley far worse than Undertaker ever did. Reigns pops up on the announcers’ table so Strowman goes after him, earning himself a Samoan drop off said table through part of the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Oh yeah this was WAY better and that’s not exactly surprising. WWE is still high quality television when they cut out all their other nonsense and given how much nonsense there is to cut out, Main Event is often the best choice for a go home show. They covered all of the big stories in one swoop and gave us a snappy Crews vs. Ryder match too. Not bad at all.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 17, 2018
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves

It’s the night after the Cell and that means things are now heading towards a variety of shows because the days of building towards one event on Monday night is gone. In this case we’re coming up on Super Show-Down, Evolution and the next Saudi Arabia show. Oh and Survivor Series is down the line and we can get there eventually. Roman Reigns retained the Universal Title last night over Braun Strowman via a no contest when Brock Lesnar interfered. In the Cell. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Reigns to open things up but first, a video on last night’s Cell match. Reigns says last night was brutal but he’s still Universal Champion. He knew Lesnar would get a rematch and if he wants the title, come get it right now. Cue Strowman instead, to say that Lesnar saved the title last night. That’s the second time Lesnar has screwed him over and there won’t be a third time.

Strowman wants Lesnar before he gets to Reigns but here’s Baron Corbin to interrupt. He’s upset about what happened too and has gotten together with Stephanie McMahon to come up with a plan. At Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, Reigns will defend against Strowman and Lesnar in a triple threat match. Strowman: “I think that sucks. I think you suck and I think you suck.”

That’s enough for Strowman but here’s Paul Heyman to take his place. He’s here to educate the fans and shows us the door that Lesnar kicked off of the Cell last night. You can boo Lesnar all you want but tonight it’s all about Brockonomics. The bigger star you are, the more money you’re worth in WWE and UFC.

There is nothing more powerful than the Universal Championship though and look at all the money WWE brought in when Lesnar was champion. Lesnar will get the title back and become the crown jewel of WWE. Heyman leaves but Corbin is still not done. Reigns is banged up so let’s have a Universal Title match tonight with Corbin himself getting the shot.

It was an acceptable opening segment, but we’re now hyping up a show in NOVEMBER because Super Show-Down and Evolution just aren’t enough. Super Show-Down is already overshadowing most of the show and now we need to start getting ready for another show a month later? It didn’t work during the build to the Cell and it isn’t likely to work again here, which is why WWE is going with it full steam ahead.

Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre

No seconds. Ambrose goes straight for the leg to start and wraps it around the post. The leg gets sent into the LED board (Remember when the side of the ring was a skirt and didn’t make noise? I miss those days.) but Drew runs him over on the floor. Back from a break with Dean in an armbar but hitting a right hand to the jaw. A clothesline takes Drew down and the knee is banged up again, only to have him kick Dean away.

Drew gets crotched on top and goes down into the Tree of Woe, only to sit up and choke superplex Ambrose down. Ambrose avoids a Claymore though and the Texas Cloverleaf has McIntyre in more trouble. A rope is grabbed so Dean knees him outside for a suicide dive. Dean goes up but misses the top rope standing elbow to the floor. He dives back in at nine, only to run right into the Claymore for the pin at 11:25.

Rating: C+. This was all it needed to be and there’s nothing wrong with that. Drew getting a clean pin over a former World Champion is a good sign and hopefully it leads to several more once this feud is over. Strowman is going to tie up the title picture for a long time as we wait around for the Saudi Arabia show, which will totally benefit Reigns’ time with the title.

Post break Dolph Ziggler congratulates Drew when Corbin comes in to say he’s winning the title tonight. Corbin also talks Ziggler into invoking his rematch clause tonight because Rollins might not be here, meaning it would be a forfeit to make Ziggler champion. My goodness Corbin isn’t working in this role.

We look back at Ronda Rousey retaining the title last night.

Natalya talks with the Bellas when Rousey comes in. They are SO proud of her and Rousey wants to issue an open challenge tonight. For some reason this requires some instructions. This “we’re all giggly sisters who totally love each other” is nauseating.

Chad Gable vs. Viktor

Gable wastes no time in taking him to the mat but Viktor cartwheels away (ok then) and chops Gable into the corner. A butterfly suplex gives Gable two but a Konnor distraction lets Viktor elbow him down. The chinlock doesn’t go anywhere as Gable is right back up with the armbar over the ropes. A crossbody puts Viktor on the floor for a cannonball, followed by a missile dropkick back inside. Rollins Chaos Theory gives Gable the pin at 4:14.

Rating: D+. Viktor was trying here but there’s only so much you can get in a four minute match with zero doubt to the ending. The Gable/Roode team is fine but this is going to set up Roode vs. Konnor, despite Ascension losing clean twice in a row already. There is no reason for the feud (Is this even a feud?) to continue and whatever steam Gable and Roode might have had is going away.

Post match, Konnor lays out Roode and Gable because THIS MUST CONTINUE.

Rollins arrives and is told about the title match. He doesn’t seem to mind.

Here’s Undertaker to respond to HHH about Super Show-Down. During his very well received entrance, Cole says many consider Undertaker the best of all time. Those people would be wrong. Undertaker talks about how no one can spin a web of lies like someone with a broken soul and no one has a soul as broken as HHH. The delusion will be HHH’s downfall because his new battlefield is the board room.

HHH can no longer decipher truth and can’t see his own demise. Undertaker doesn’t care what anyone thinks and only cares about what’s coming: HHH going six feet under again and Game over. HHH can have his delusion and his best friend Shawn Michaels, but Shawn is going to be at ringside. Therefore, Undertaker will bring Kane to even things up. Undertaker already took Michaels’ career and he’s going to do the same to HHH. As a bonus, he’s going to take HHH’s soul.

Same Reigns vs. Strowman match from earlier.

Video on wrestlers going to the Dallas children’s hospital.

The kids come out with Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke

Joined in progress with Bayley fighting out of an armbar but getting caught with a handspring elbow in the corner. Dana sends her hard into the corner for two and some handstand knees to the ribs get the same. Bayley snaps the throat across the top, slips out of the Samoan driver and hits the Bayley to Belly for the pin at 2:54 shown. Nothing to see here.

The AOP nearly kills a guy in the back.

2K19 ad.

AOP vs. Gregory James/Barrett Brown

I think you get the idea by now. The Death Valley Driver into the corner sets up the Super Collider for the pin at 1:04. The team is as much of a layup as you can get but they’re going to have to wait a few months to get into the title hunt, again because things are set up so far in advance these days.

Ziggler and Corbin are in the back when Rollins comes in to say he’s ready to go. That was in doubt after he appeared earlier?

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Rollins is defending and they’re both really banged up after falling off the Cell last night. Rollins sends him outside to start but Ziggler beats him back inside and knocks the champ into the barricade to send us to a break. Back with Rollins elbowing him in the face, followed by a Blockbuster to put them both down.

The Sling Blade is countered into a sleeper but the superkick is countered into the ripcord knee for two. Rollins gets crotched on top, only to have Ziggler get crotched as well. The superplex looks to set up the Falcon Arrow but Ziggler slips out into a rollup for two. He takes too long getting up though and the Stomp retains Rollins’ title at 9:38.

Rating: C+. Was there really a need to go from the Cell one night to ANOTHER rematch between these two the next night? You couldn’t just have them cut promos on each other and set up a match in….two weeks maybe? This was the shortened version of what these two have done for three months now and I really don’t care anymore as WWE continues to take away any impact the Cell could have.

Reigns says he’s not the underdog tonight.

Hispanic Heritage Month video on the fathers of wrestlers. And Roberto Clemente.

We look at Corbin giving himself a title match by just giving himself a title match.

Corbin is warming up when Strowman comes up. He hopes Corbin wins the title because, and I quote, “You suck and I know I can kill you.”

Here’s Elias for a song. Elias is tired of being cut off every week but it’s all jealousy. Everyone who interrupts him knows that WWE stands for Walk With Elias and that gets on people’s nerves. Tonight he has Bobby Lashley, who has all the tools but he can’t win in the clutch. Kind of like the Dallas Cowboys. The song continues but here’s Lio Rush to cut him off. Rush is tired of hearing Elias play the same dish track every week. Elias: “Who’s kid is this?” Rush introduces himself so Elias says security can come out here and take Rush back to lost and found. That gets a chuckle from Rush, who is ready to see Lashley take Elias apart.

Bobby Lashley vs. Elias

Joined in progress with Rush on commentary, introducing himself as the Manager of the Hour. Lashley powers out of a chinlock and elbows Elias in the jaw before going up. That’s not the best idea as Elias knees him out of the air. Cue Kevin Owens to go after Rush, who does all of his flipping and diving to escape. Elias goes after him as well and the match is thrown out at 2:52.

Post match Lashley throws Rush at the other two and the villains bail. That’s a good usage of Rush, who can always work a match if necessary, which is a huge perk.

Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox and Mickie James are ready to take care of Ember Moon tonight.

Ember Moon/??? vs. Alicia Fox/Mickie James

The mystery partner is….Nia Jax. Fox and James hide on the apron until Moon starts for the team. Moon cranks on the arm but gets sent into the corner so James can come in. That doesn’t work well either as Moon sends her outside for a suicide dive. Back in and Fox takes her down into a chinlock as they’re building towards the hot tag to Jax.

James adds her own chinlock before Fox gets two off a big boot. A belly to back suplex attempt doesn’t quite work though and it’s a diving tag to bring in Jax. Everything breaks down and the Eclipse drops James, leaving Fox to kick at Jax’s legs. That goes as well as you might expect with the Samoan drop finishing Fox a few seconds later at 5:55.

Rating: D. Totally standard formula tag match here and bringing Jax back is fine, though there’s not much for her to do at the moment. Rousey and the title are tied up in Bellaville, Jax has beaten Bliss multiple times and the Riott Squad wouldn’t exactly be thrilling. Maybe put her against Moon, but that’s not the most inspiring stuff either.

Corbin insists the referee call the title match down the line.

Cole and company talk about the Hurricane Florence victims and show us how to donate to the Red Cross.

Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin

Reigns is defending and is banged up after last night. Corbin goes right for the ribs to start and gets two off a rollup. They head outside with Reigns hitting the apron dropkick but getting clotheslined down as we take a break. Back with Corbin holding a chinlock, followed by a chokebreaker for two.

That’s enough non-chinlocking so we hit it again to keep Reigns in trouble. Reigns fights up for the corner clotheslines as the announcers are STUNNED that he can do this. Dude he had a 24 minute match last night where nearly ten minutes was spent laying down. Rollins and Ziggler had a 25 minute match and then FELL OFF THE CELL and wrestled for ten minutes tonight. Reigns isn’t that impressive.

The Samoan drop gives Reigns two and there’s the Superman Punch off the steps. Corbin has finally had it and throws a chair at Reigns and yeah I’m not falling for this. There’s the restart with No DQ. Back in and the Superman Punch gives Reigns two. Reigns goes for the chair but here’s Strowman to take Reigns down. Strowman misses a charge into the post but Corbin grabs Deep Six for two. Now it’s Ziggler, McIntyre, Rollins and Ambrose running in for another fight, including double suicide dives to put Ziggler and McIntyre down. The spear retains the title at 16:53.

Rating: D. Well duh. I can get behind the idea of a champion having to overcome the odds and still retain the title in an obvious finish but Corbin is one of the least threatening heels in years. When your big move is “I’LL CALL STEPHANIE!”, I’m not going to buy you winning the title. All the run-ins didn’t offer any help either and the match was just boring as we waited for the inevitable spear. Reigns can carry things, but he’s not a miracle worker yet.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a very lethargic show as the Cell continues to mean less and less every single year. Tonight, Rollins and Ziggler wrestled after falling off the Cell (which is apparently less devastating than about twelve minutes of wrestling inside of the thing, which is a debatable point at best) and Reigns was treated like a god (again) for wrestling to a no contest inside of the thing. No time to worry about that though, because we have three shows to build to at once. The Saudi Arabia show is going to dominate the news in short order and that’s not going to help all the problems that Raw already has.

Results

Drew McIntyre b. Dean Ambrose – Claymore

Chad Gable b. Viktor – Rolling Chaos Theory

Bayley b. Dana Brooke – Bayley to Belly

AOP b. Gregory James/Barrett Brown – Super Collider

Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler – Stomp

Bobby Lashley vs. Elias went to a no contest when Kevin Owens interfered

Nia Jax/Ember Moon b. Mickie James/Alicia Fox – Samoan drop to Fox

Roman Reigns b. Baron Corbin – Spear

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Hell in a Cell 2018
Date: September 16, 2018
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

Welcome to the first show of the three that WWE is currently building. In this case we have the show designed around carnage and that could mean a few things. The show hasn’t exactly blown me away on paper but maybe they’ll surprise me here. There are two matches inside the big red cage tonight so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Rusev Day vs. New Day

Rusev Day is defending after winning a tournament. There are enough empty seats visible that I feel like I’m watching 205 Live. Kofi wastes no time in double stomping English and it’s already off to Rusev. A fall away slam has Kofi in trouble and we go split screen to see an Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey ad. At least it’s on a commercial show instead of the regular TV shows.

Back with Kofi fighting out of a front facelock and hitting a tornado DDT for the tag off to Big E. Suplexes abound but Rusev tags himself in to kick Big E. in the head. English tags himself back in though, leaving Big E. to spear the illegal man to the floor with English nailing a dive. Back in and the reverse DDT gets two on Big E. but English takes too long going up, allowing New Day to hit a powerbomb/top rope double stomp (sweet finisher) for two (which doesn’t finish) in what could have been the ending.

Kofi gets Machka Kicked to the floor and Big E. gets DDT’ed on the apron. Back in and English tags himself in again, this time to Rusev’s annoyance. The annoyance gets even worse when misses a top rope headbutt. English’s top rope splash gets two and he grabs the Accolade of all things. Big E. gets Machka Kicked again but Kofi slips out. With Rusev missing a charge and sending himself outside, Trouble in Paradise retains the titles at 8:48.

Rating: B-. That’s about as perfect of a Kickoff Show match as you can get. They didn’t overstay their welcome, it was an exciting and entertaining match and they got a popular act out there to give the fans something to cheer about. That’s all you can ask for in something like this and it was a good idea.

The opening video talks about people being afraid of different things, which doesn’t have the most impact when it’s Brie Bella and Maryse. Tonight there is no turning back and you must surrender to evil.

The red Cell is lowered. It….really didn’t need the change. Was black not an option?

Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton

Inside the Cell. Orton is back to being the Legend Killer but this time it’s more the Hero Killer, with Hardy being his first target. Hardy goes right after him to start as Phillips says there are no rules other than the pinfall or submission has to take place in the ring. That sounds like a rule to me. Orton takes him outside and sends him into the cage but Hardy does the exact same thing. Well, to Orton instead of himself but you get the idea.

It’s already time for a table because THE CELL isn’t enough of a weapon. That’s not enough either so of course it’s ladder time. A ladder to the ribs slows Orton down even more but a chair to the back cuts Hardy off. An RKO on the floor is blocked and Hardy uses the chair as a launch pad for Poetry in Motion against the cage. They actually get back in for Hardiac Arrest but the Swanton is broken up and that means a superplex.

Jeff kicks him down again and let’s get a second ladder because why not. Hardy sets this one up upside down on the floor but gets front suplexed onto it instead. Some more chairs are brought inside with one of them bouncing off of Jeff. Orton hits him a few more times before stealing Hardy’s studded belt for a whip to the exposed back. To get a little creative, Orton puts Hardy inside of a ladder with Hardy’s head sticking between some rungs for a little stomping.

We hit the chinlock, which feels completely out of place in the Cell. Hardy is right back up with the legdrop between the legs and a basement dropkick but Orton powerslams him. With nothing else working, Orton goes outside and finds….a screwdriver. That goes THROUGH THE HOLE IN HARDY’S EAR, which Orton then TWISTS AROUND, giving us one of the best in pain looks I’ve ever seen from Jeff. A low blow lets Hardy take the screwdriver out of his ear (I didn’t think I’d be writing that one) and he unloads with a chair.

Orton is still fine enough to crotch Hardy on top and the hanging DDT (with Orton bleeding from the back) plants Hardy again. The RKO is countered into the Twist of Fate and a Swanton onto the chair gets two. And so much for Hardy’s chance of winning, though there was no way that was the ending anyway. Hardy finds another table (of course) but sets up the big ladder with the small ladder next to it.

Orton gets laid on the table and Hardy climbs up, only to grab the top of the Cell. A few swings back and forth set up the splash through the table, though it seemed that Orton was off the table before Jeff even let go. They raise the Cell with the referee screaming for medics and for the match to be stopped. Orton covers Hardy and demands a count as the referee loses his mind, though he’s fine enough to count the pin at 24:50.

Rating: C+. I get what they were going for here but egads this went longer than it needed to. They easily could have cut out ten minutes here and had pretty much the same TLC match inside the Cell. The emphasis her is on the last three words: this was inside the Cell, making the ending that much worse. Yeah Hardy is hurt “for real” but IT’S THE FREAKING CELL. We’ve seen Shane McMahon dive all the way off the top and the match wasn’t going to be stopped, but this one was? Come on already.

Post match we get the quiet voices and the lack of Orton’s music as I’d like to point out that he was inside the Cell instead of FLYING OFF THE THING LIKE SHANE DID LAST YEAR (and the year before that because Shane gets to do whatever he wants). Replays show that Orton was off the table a good two seconds before Jeff dropped. Really not a good angle to show there people.

HHH vs. Undertaker is still happening again.

AJ Styles wants to fight Samoa Joe because he’s sick of talking all the time.

We recap Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch. Charlotte was added to the Women’s Title match last month at Summerslam and Becky wasn’t happy at having her title shot stolen from her. Becky turned on her after the match but the fans cheered her on anyway, so tonight it’s about the title for her and revenge for Charlotte.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Charlotte is defending. They hit the mat to start but Becky kicks her away for a cautious standoff. It’s way too early for either finisher so Charlotte settles for a knee crusher and a leglock. Back up and Charlotte misses a shoulder into the corner so Becky hits a running forearm to the shoulder (nice) from the apron. A Pentagon arm snap gets two and it’s off to the armbar.

The Bexploder is blocked so Becky forearms her down for two instead. Back up and Charlotte sends her to the apron but bangs up her arm again. The bad arm goes shoulder first into the apron for two more so Charlotte gets smart by kicking her in the face. Becky avoids the moonsault though and the cross armbreaker goes on. Since she’s Charlotte, that’s reversed into the sitout powerbomb and they’re both down.

The fans cheer for Becky and seem pleased when she wins a slugout. A hammerlock slam gets two but Charlotte grabs a desperation Boston crab. The Disarm-Her goes on so Charlotte crawls underneath the ropes for the eventual break. Back up and the spear is reversed into a small package to give Becky the pin and the title at 13:52.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of physical match you would expect from these two and the ending was exactly what it should have been. Becky won the title completely clean because she was willing to do whatever it took and if that included destroying Charlotte’s arm, so be it. Charlotte felt like she was fighting from behind the entire time and never once felt like she could keep up with Becky, which is how the match should have felt. Very good stuff and the right call at the right time.

Post match Charlotte offers a handshake but Becky holds up the title and says this is her moment. As she should.

The Marine 6 is coming, featuring Miz, Becky Lynch and Shawn Michaels.

Connor’s Cure video.

Jeff Hardy has been taken to a local medical facility. Gee you think?

Kickoff Show recap.

New Day has their pancake butler come in to celebrate but Kofi pops up as his interviewer. They’re ready to defend their titles against the Bar in Australia but first, pancakes. It’s starting to feel like they’re forcing these things and that’s not good at all.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins

Ambrose and Rollins are challenging and the BURN IT DOWN is strong this time. Feeling out process to start between Ziggler and Rollins with Seth taking him down and handing it off to Ambrose for some running elbows. An early Stomp attempt sends Ziggler bailing to the floor so it’s off to McIntyre instead. He wants and receives Ambrose who goes nose to nose with Drew before dropkicking his knee out.

A Ziggler distraction lets McIntyre hit Ambrose from behind though and it’s off to Ziggler for a chinlock. That lasts as long as your average chinlock and Rollins is right back up with the Sling Blade. Another distraction lets Ziggler hit the running DDT for another two and McIntyre comes in for an armbar. Ziggler grabs the sleeper before it’s right back to McIntyre for a shoulder breaker. Rollins fights up and gets to the corner but the referee is distracted so the hot tag doesn’t count (still one of my favorites).

Ziggler puts Rollins up top but gets kicked away so McIntyre tries his luck. That’s not the best either as Rollins scores with a Blockbuster and the hot tag brings in Ambrose. He can’t suplex McIntyre but he can get two off a Jackknife rollup instead. Ziggler comes back in and takes Ambrose to the apron where McIntyre gets in a big boot. Everything breaks down and Ambrose gets suplexed hard into the corner for a crash.

McIntyre is back in again and gets dropped just as fast, allowing Rollins to hit the frog splash for an even nearer fall. A Tower of Doom is broken up and Rollins tries a dive onto Ziggler, only to crash hard to the floor. Since it’s Rollins he’s back up only a few seconds later to tags himself in for the running up the corner superplex. The Falcon Arrow is loaded up but McIntyre hits the Claymore to give Ziggler the pin to retain at 22:58.

Rating: A. Totally awesome tag match here with Ziggler and McIntyre getting the win that they’ve needed to look like serious threats. If nothing else it makes you realize how sad it was to watch the makeshift/comedy guys fighting over the belts for months now. All four were working hard here and the fans were into it the whole way. I know it’s not the last match or even one of the last matches in the feud, but at least we had something awesome to get started. Great match and one of the best things in the tag division in years.

Mick Foley comes in to tell Braun Strowman that his life will change in the Cell (no, it won’t) and Strowman needs to respect his authority. Strowman says count the three and hand him the title. Foley: “Good talk.”

All four teams are ready for the first episode of Mixed Match Challenge.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles. Joe has been messing with AJ’s mind and promises to send AJ home to his wife and kids, sound asleep. We get the full Samoa Joe bedtime story from Smackdown and it’s still incredibly awesome on an evil level.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is challenging. AJ goes right at him to start but Joe shrugs it off and starts hammering away. A dropkick works much better and a running knee to the head rocks Joe again. There’s a baseball slide to keep Joe down but he’s smart enough to roll away before the Phenomenal Forearm. AJ’s slingshot gets kicked out of the air though and Joe sends him knees first into the steps.

Joe doesn’t take well to a comeback bid and gets his knee taken out again. Another running knee in the corner has AJ reeling so Joe sends him outside for the suicide elbow. Back in and we hit the neck crank for a bit until AJ fights up. That just earns him an elbow that turns him inside out as it’s all Joe. The rather cocky (and deserved) Joe gets caught on top and pulled face first into the buckle though and AJ finally has a breather.

Somehow AJ is fine enough to hit the torture rack powerbomb for two and they’re both done. The springboard 450 gets two and Joe’s crazy hard clothesline gets the same. Neither finisher can connect so Joe goes with a loud kick to the head for a delayed two. AJ is right back up with the Phenomenal Forearm but Joe catches him in the Koquina Clutch, only to have AJ backflip into the pin at 19:01.

Rating: A-. This was a lot of fun with Joe having AJ beaten for most of the match and AJ having to survive the entire time. It shows that AJ is in trouble here and that Joe is likely getting the title soon. Like, say in October. In Australia. In a match that was already announced. This one was a heck of a fight though as Joe knows how to bring AJ to a level that few others can and he did it here too. Just let Joe win the title in Australia and everything will be fine.

Post match Joe celebrates before AJ is announced as the winner. Joe says that AJ tapped and Graves agrees. AJ kicks Joe down and holds up the title as the announcers argue. The replay shows that AJ did tap and it was before three so we’re almost guaranteed a rematch, which was announced weeks ago because WWE now works for the calendar instead of vice versa.

Miz and Maryse, in matching suits that make Miz look stupid but somehow works on Maryse, are ready to take care of Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella. Daniel and Brie are only relevant because of them and Miz wouldn’t be surprised if Brie is doing all this for the sake of reality show ratings.

We recap the mixed tag. Miz cheated to beat Bryan at Summerslam so now we’re having a mixed tag match to continue the feud without giving up the big rematch. Which is also taking place in Australia and has already been announced in advance. Oh and did I mention that Brie will be back on Total Divas this Wednesday?

Miz/Maryse vs. Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella

The women start (gulp) but thankfully it’s off to the men before anything happens. A distraction from Maryse lets Miz punch Bryan into the corner. Phillips: “Some people believe that Brie Bella has the hardest punch in WWE.” No Tom, they don’t. Graves: “No one believes that Phillips.” Yeah what he said. Bryan is back up with the moonsault over Miz into the running clothesline but Miz bails to the floor at the threat of a YES Lock.

The women come back in and once again tag back out before anything happens. Again: thank goodness. The fans chant COWARD at Miz as Bryan takes him down with a dragon screw legwhip and a top rope hurricanrana puts Miz in even more trouble. The running knee misses so Bryan settles for the YES Lock, drawing in Maryse for the save. Bryan is fine enough to hit the running dropkicks in the corner until Miz avoids the final charge and drops Bryan on his hip (better than his head/neck).

The Reality Check gives Miz two as Brie goes into cheerleader mode, which is really about as good of a role as she’s going to have. Miz fires off some kicks in the corner but Bryan breaks up the superplex. The Swan Dive (To quote Miz: Really?) misses so Bryan kicks Miz away and brings Brie in. Maryse won’t do the same so Brie punches Miz a few times and sends Maryse into the announcers’ table.

Everything breaks down and Brie gets two off a middle rope dropkick. Bryan gets back in and throws Miz down for touching his wife on the save and we hit the stereo YES Kicks. Of course the big ones both miss and the guys fight up the ramp, leaving Brie to hit the BRIE MODE knee. Miz gets back on the apron so Brie rams Maryse into him and grabs a rollup, only to have Maryse reverse into a hideous one of her own with a grab of the tights for the pin at 13:01.

Rating: D+. They tried as hard as they could here and keeping the women out of the ring was the best path they could have taken but they were running with an anchor here. I’m just not feeling this whole Miz vs. Bryan feud as it hasn’t reached that point where I need to see Bryan beat Miz. Maybe they’ll get there by the end, but for now it’s not really working. Getting it back to one on one might help, but please keep Brie out of the ring.

We look at the ending of the first Cell match again.

Hardy is now coughing up blood.

We recap Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss. Rousey was ticked off that Bliss cashed in Money in the Bank so she went nuts and wrecked Bliss for the title at Summerslam. Now we’re doing a rematch where Bliss has no chance so we can build towards Rousey vs. THE LEGEND Nikki Bella at Evolution.

Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss

Rousey, with bad ribs, is defending and has Natalya with her while Bliss has Mickie James and Alicia Fox in her corner. An early headlock takes Bliss down and Rousey loads up what looks like a Stump Puller before rolling back into a cradle (that’s a new one). Bliss decides to shove her and gets punched in the face for her efforts. A kick to the ribs has little effect as Rousey monkey flips her down and hammers away, followed by the overhead throw.

James and Fox have to save Bliss from the armbar so Rousey throws Bliss onto both of them. Rousey: “Who needs enemies when you have friends like that?” Bliss finally trips her down and kicks away even more, setting up a seated abdominal stretch. Rousey fights up for the swinging Samoan drop but the ribs give out, allowing Bliss to hit the knees to the ribs into the moonsault. The champ gets up again and tries a superplex, only to get pulled down into the Tree of Woe for a dropkick to the ribs.

Rating: B. This was a lot better than I was expecting, even with a complete lack of drama. I know no one was buying Bliss as having a chance here but Rousey sold well and they had a good story throughout. There were even a few surprises in there and Rousey has to face a little adversity from time to time.

The announcers talk about the victims of Hurricane Florence. Nothing wrong with that.

We look at the ending of Styles vs. Joe again.

Joe yells at the referee and Paige, who tells Joe to calm down. The rematch with AJ is set for Australia and there will be no countouts or disqualifications.

Super Show-Down rundown. Egads get on with the main event already.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman. Reigns won the Raw World Title at Summerslam and it’s not like he had anyone else to face. Strowman cashed in Money in the Bank but Shield reformed to take him out. Ignoring that Reigns knew about the cash-in in advance and this was a complete heel move from Shield, Strowman is now the villain and cashing in his contract tonight, meaning we’re done with it WAY early this year, making me rather happy.

Raw World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Reigns is defending inside the Cell with Mick Foley as guest referee in a completely minor detail. Reigns slugs away at the bell but gets sent shoulder first into the post. A running shoulder sends Reigns off the apron and into the cage as Reigns is in early trouble. Reigns is right back with a show to the face but another shoulder sends him hard into the cage. Strowman grabs the steps but has them dropkicked back into his face.

That’s it for Reigns’ offense though as Reigns dives into a chokeslam onto the apron. Reigns is right back with some chair shots to the ribs, followed by a DDT onto the chair for two. A pair of Superman Punches rock Reigns but the third is countered into a chokeslam….for three, which Foley calls two. That was quite the botch and pretty clearly a three count. Another Superman Punch gets another two and it’s time for a table.

Reigns sees Strowman up and runs around the ring at him but doesn’t see Strowman puck up the steps, which bounce off Reigns’ head. Strowman: “WHY WON’T YOU STAY DOWN YOU FOOL???” There’s a steps shot to the ribs and Strowman LAUNCHES them over the top because he’s strong enough to do that. The running powerslam gets two so Strowman sets up the table in the corner. Of course that earns him a spear through the table, drawing out Ziggler, McIntyre, Rollins and Ambrose.

Since WWE can’t pay attention to multiple things at once, we watch the brawl on the floor with Rollins and Ziggler fighting up to the top of the Cell. McIntyre follows them up and saves Ziggler from a bad case of death. Cue Ambrose to the top with a kendo stick to clean house, setting up a bunch of punching back and forth. A double clothesline puts all four down as Reigns and Strowman still haven’t moved.

Ziggler climbs down but Rollins follows him, meaning it’s time to fight on the side of the Cell. We’re just waiting on the big fall now and indeed there they go, through a pair of announcers’ tables in the most contrived spot of the night. All six are down….and we have Brock Lesnar (looking weird in a plain black shirt).

Brock kicks the door off the hinges (good visual) and then climbs up said door to get inside. Paul Heyman maces Foley and Lesnar hits both guys with pieces of the table. Lesnar wrecks them some more and gives Reigns an F5 onto Strowman. With Lesnar leaving, another referee comes in and it’s a NO CONTEST IN THE CELL AT 23:48.

Rating: B-. I don’t even know where we are anymore. The most violent match in WWE history just ended because “the two of them can’t continue”. As in after THEY LAID THERE FOR THE BETTER PART OF TEN MINUTES??? This is just so freaking dumb because, again, the stupid calendar backed them into a corner. If this is just any regular wrestling match then fine, but we just HAD to wait for Summerslam to change the title to Reigns and then we just HAD to do the Cell match in September.

This was a way to make you think that you were getting something good when it was any given street fight plus a bunch of interference so the other guys can do something cool off the side of the Cell. Oh but then we get to the important stuff: setting up a likely triple threat in NOVEMBER AT SURVIVOR SERIES BECAUSE WE HAVE TO PROMOTE THREE SHOWS AT ONE FREAKING TIME ANYMORE! This is the most annoyed I’ve been at a match in a long time and it wasn’t even a bad one. The ending sucked the life out of me though and that’s a horrible way to cap off an otherwise good show.

The show goes off the air almost immediately, likely to avoid the BULL**** chants from making the Network.

Overall Rating: A-. I was tempted to drop this by a few notches for that ending but man alive this was a heck of a show. Aside from the mixed tag (which was held back by reasons outside of the actual wrestling), nothing was even close to bad and there are two back to back instant classics in the middle. There are a lot of flaws with the way some things are going in the future, but the actual wrestling is rather strong at the moment, which I can’t say I expected coming in. Very good show and one of the best main roster shows in a long time.

Results

Randy Orton b. Jeff Hardy – Hardy missed a splash through a table

Becky Lynch b. Charlotte – Small package

Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler b. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins – Claymore to Rollins

AJ Styles b. Samoa Joe – Rollup

Maryse/Miz b. Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella – Rollup with tights to Bella

Ronda Rousey b. Alexa Bliss – Armbar

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar went to a no contest when Brock Lesnar interfered

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Contrary to what you may have seen on Monday Night Raw this week, the next major show won’t be taking place in Australia and men will indeed be wrestling on the card. This Sunday will see Hell In A Cell, featuring two matches inside the Cell and a bunch of other stuff that won’t be heavily featured as there’s only so much that can take place when we have the other two shows to build towards. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: New Day (c) vs. Rusev Day

Rusev Day won a (yet another) tournament to earn the title shot in a bit of a surprise. The team was a hot act in the spring but since WWE has to WWE, we’re finally getting somewhere between the two of them in the middle of September. New Day has held the titles for about a month now and since the division basically consists of four teams, it’s not like they have a bunch of competition.

I’ll go with New Day to retain, likely as Rusev Day implodes for good because WWE doesn’t want them together for whatever reason. Other than that the match should be entertaining and will likely see a rematch this week on SmackDown Live. Rusev is in need of some kind of a success but given his track record in WWE, odds are we’re going to be waiting a very long time to actually see it happen.

Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey(c) vs. Alexa Bliss

This one has me more confused with each step of the build. First of all, Rousey smashed her way through Bliss on the way to the title at Summerslam. You know, how she should have done because it’s RONDA ROUSEY vs. Alexa Bliss. The match was about five minutes long and Rousey was never in anything resembling trouble. Again, how it should have been. So how are we going to make a rematch work?

I’m really not sure, though Rousey of course retains, likely with more involvement from the Bella Twins because we need Nikki Bella vs. Rousey in our lives. Before I go on that rant, I’ll go with Rousey retaining in a match that isn’t as dominant as it should be. Rousey will likely sell the rib injuries from Monday, though that really shouldn’t be enough to keep her in trouble for very long.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte(c) vs. Becky Lynch

This is the first case of “well, we’re not having this Cell ready match in the Cell because….reasons”. Last month Charlotte won the title and Lynch snapped and turned on her, with the fans wanting to cheer Lynch but WWE dragged their feet and is going with more of a shades of gray feud because they don’t know how to listen to what the audience clearly wants.

As for the match itself, I’ll go with Lynch winning the title. I know WWE doesn’t exactly get the idea here a lot of the time, but this is as much of a layup as you can have. On top of that, is there anyone else who can possibly take the title off of Charlotte? The only way I could imagine it not happening is if Charlotte does a hard heel turn to make Lynch the super face that she needs to be. I could live with that, but that’s about the only way they could go other than Lynch flat out beating her.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins

Let’s not even pretend that this is going to be the big, final match between these teams. These four plus Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are going to fight for the next few months and there’s no way around that. The titles might change hands here but it’s far from likely to be the final title change between them. The wrestling should be good, but the storyline stuff isn’t exactly going to matter.

I’ll say the champions cheat to keep their titles, which will set up a rematch where the Shield boys want to use a variety of weapons. Say like tables, ladders and chairs. Along with Reigns. And Strowman. With all three belts above the ring at once. There’s not much else to say here and that’s a really bad sign given how many eggs WWE has put in the Shield’s basket.

Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella vs. The Miz/Maryse

When this match was first announced, I was a fan of the idea. It advances the story while preventing the overload of Miz vs. Bryan, which is almost guaranteed to keep going all the way into 2019. Then it became clear that this was going to be the Maryse/Bella show and that’s one of the scariest things you can have. We’ll have to hear about what a legend Bella is and how awesome she looks after having a baby a year ago, all while she botches everything she does and shouts BRIE MODE before doing some of Bryan’s stuff. Yay for us.

It doesn’t make sense to have Miz and Maryse win here so I’ll take Bella beating Maryse here in some form. Bella can’t do much properly in the ring but the YES Lock looks passable enough. Maryse doesn’t need to ever win anything again as she just has to put on one of her outfits, strike her model pose and insult the crowd in French to be right back where she was before. Bella and Bryan win in hopefully the last match from the women for a long time.

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Here’s your Smackdown Cell match (even though the Cell is now red) because….why is this the Cell match actually? I know the logical answer would be so Hardy can dive off of the Cell like an idiot, but my guess is more that they didn’t want to do a Cell match on Smackdown but since WE MUST HAVE A CELL PAY PER VIEW, this is the default match instead. Just in case you need more proof that having a Cell pay per view is a really bad idea.

I’ll go with Orton winning as Hardy tries to do something stupid and winds up taking the RKO for his efforts. Orton has an interesting character if he goes from one short range feud to another where he destroys a variety of popular faces. Knowing WWE though, they’re going to do something stupid with it and waste a lot of potential because that’s all WWE is capable of doing at the moment.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Samoa Joe

On paper, this should be where Joe gets the title. He took Styles to the limit in their first match and has been even more physical since then. Logic on the street would suggest that he wins the title here by overwhelming the emotional Styles and choking him out so he can hold up the title and say OH WENDY, DADDY’S COMING HOME! That makes sense in theory, until you remember that WWE has already announced a third match between these guys in Australia at Super Show-Down.

That’s where I think the title change actually takes hand. I mean, it doesn’t really matter when Joe wins the title as long as he does, though Styles is rapidly approaching CM Punk’s 434 day reign with that very title. On top of that, he actually defends the thing and has great matches while making others look good. Hence why he’s likely about to drop the title. Styles isn’t a guy who does the same three moves over and over again when he wrestles four times a year. What value is there for that?

Raw World Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Braun Strowman

And then there’s this, which is one of the most oddly booked matches in a long time. They do have a long history between each other, but their last singles match was eleven months ago in October. That’s all well and good as the blowoff to a long running feud (Undertaker and Mankind hadn’t had a singles match in over a year when they had the Cell match), but does anyone believe that this is the last match between these two?

I’ll go with Reigns retaining as Strowman is sacrificed again in the name of getting him over. I still have no idea what the end game is supposed to be for Reigns, who is beating (arguably) his chief rival in his first feud as champion (the fourth time he’s been champion that is). Why is him beating Strowman in the Cell supposed to make me care? Is it just because he’s that awesome or something? I’m sure WWE could explain it to me, though I doubt it would still make sense.

Overall Thoughts

I know I talk about this a lot but it’s pretty amazing to see how much difference it makes to have one show focused on Sunday and another focused on everything else involved. There’s a lot of stuff that can be done to set up Sunday’s show and Smackdown has done that far better than it’s Monday counterpart. The pay per view will have its moments, but it really does feel like they’d like to get this show out of the way so they can focus on the other stuff instead.

Just look at the card. There’s a lot of big stuff on here and there is a grand total of one match (Styles vs. Joe) that I’m interested in seeing. That’s not acceptable on a card that features two Cell matches and a bunch of big title matches. How can you possibly have this kind of a card and have so little interest in the whole thing? WWE is ice cold right now and I don’t see that changing for a long time to come, which makes for a very rough end of the year.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 31, 2018
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’ll wrap up Canada week here with the highlight package show. This week has been better than most for WWE as the followup to Summerslam has actually been pretty strong. The promos and stories have all been good and we’ve even had some nice matches to go with them. Hopefully the short form versions are good as well. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Tyler Breeze

Please don’t turn Breeze heel. Breeze armdrags him down to start and lays on the top, only to have Jose dance at him in return. Some right hands in the corner have Breeze in trouble so he takes out the knee to put Jose down. A half crab stays on the knee until Jose kicks him to the floor. That’s broken up after Breeze pulls him back to the middle but a dropkick to the knee makes things even worse. Jose is fine enough to catapult him into the corner and the pop up right hand is good for the pin at 5:12.

Rating: C-. Breeze is an interesting choice here and he was “aggressive” here, which sounds like the start of a heel turn. It’s not like he has anything else going for him at the moment but I still don’t want to see it happen. He’s rather amusing with the Fashion Police thing and I’d love to see them go somewhere when Fandango comes back.

Clip of Shield reuniting to cost Braun Strowman his Money in the Bank cash-in.

Clip of Strowman saying he was cashing in for a Cell match and agreeing to team with Reigns to face Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre on Monday.

From Raw.

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman

Roman and Ziggler start as it’s already after 11pm. A clothesline puts Ziggler on the floor and Strowman approves. The apron dropkick rocks Ziggler but McIntyre kicks Roman in the face to take over. Back in and Ziggler gets two off the running DDT, followed by the sleeper. The big jumping elbow gets two and it’s right back to the sleeper.

Reigns finally shoves him away and the big boot drops Ziggler. The hot tag attempt is broken up by McIntyre, who throws Reigns with an overhead belly to belly. Reigns Superman Punches Ziggler out of the air and Strowman gets the hot tag….but doesn’t get in. Reigns gets stomped down as Strowman watches from the apron. The referee disqualifies…..I’m not sure actually but the match ends at 8:50.

Rating: D+. Just an angle and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s something wrong with wasting the last year plus on Strowman for the sake of having him be Reigns’ first victim, but that’s another rant for another time. As usual McIntyre looks better in ten second than Ziggler looked working most of the match, but that goes without saying.

Post match Strowman says he’s not finished with Reigns and beats him down. Ziggler and McIntyre join in until Ambrose comes in for the failed save. Rollins runs down and gets beaten up as well. A bunch of powerslams leave the Shield laying and Strowman poses with his new friends to end the show.

From Raw again.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins is defending and Owens is still rather popular here. Feeling out process to start with Rollins hitting a clothesline to put Owens on the floor. Back in and Rollins hits a slingshot Fameasser onto the middle rope. A clothesline off the steps puts Owens down and we take a break.

We come back with Owens holding a chinlock and getting two off a backsplash to the arm. The armbar goes on and Rollins starts to scream. They head outside with Owens missing the Cannonball into the barricade, allowing Rollins to chop away. Back to back suicide dives have Owens in trouble but he blasts the third attempt with a right hand. Rollins hits the other dive anyway and we take a second break.

We come back with Rollins hitting the frog splash, stopping to shake his bad arm, and then getting two. Owens sends the bad arm into the post and puts on a Crossface. As Rollins crawls to the ropes, Owens turns it into something like a camel clutch to keep Rollins in trouble. A foot on the ropes gets Rollins out of trouble and frustration is setting in. Some right hands to the face just annoy Rollins and he jumps over the Pop Up Powerbomb. A low superkick rocks Owens but he counters the Stomp into a Stunner of all things for two.

The fans are WAY into this and Owens takes him up top, only to get reversed into a running buckle bomb. Owens no sells it and superkicks Rollins for a hot near fall and they’re both down. It’s Owens up first but Rollins catches him on top and they slug it out. Rollins gets shoved down and lands on the arm but is still able to avoid a moonsault. The Stomp retains the title at 22:11.

Rating: B+. Heck of a fight here and I was actually buying the chance that the title was going to change. Owens is someone who can bring the great stuff when he’s given the chance and that’s what happened here. It’s amazing how much better Rollins is when he doesn’t have Ziggler doing the same stuff every week as this was a nice change of pace.

Post match, Rollins nods at him in respect.

Back from a break with Owens sitting in the ring in a chair. He says he quits and leaves, taking the tape off his hands as he goes.

Pay per view rundown.

Ember Moon vs. Ruby Riott

Moon headlocks her to start but gets legsweeped down. A right hand doesn’t have much effect on Moon as she flips over and wristdrags Riott, only to get distracted by the Squad. Riott forearms her off the apron and we take a break. Back with Moon shrugging off a cravate and hitting a butterfly suplex. The front flip forearm in the corner gets two but another distraction lets Moon miss a corner charge. Riott gets two off a falling middle rope backsplash but walks into a gutbuster. The Eclipse is loaded up but the Squad offers another distraction, allowing Ruby to Riott Kick her down for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C. They actually had a story here with the Squad interfering over and over until Moon couldn’t stop them anymore. Riott has been a nice surprise in the last few months but egads what has happened to Moon? She was one of the big surprises on the post Wrestlemania Raw and now she’s jobbing on Main Event less than five months later?

Legends give their predictions on Undertaker vs. HHH.

From Smackdown.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Carmella

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

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

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

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

Overall Rating: C-. Well so much for Smackdown. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe can’t get time, but we can hear predictions on a legends match six weeks from now? There was good stuff on Raw but they can choose how much is shown from each clip. You can’t cut some of that out and get in one more thing from Smackdown? I know it’s standard around here but egads man.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 27, 2018
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

I’m interested in where the big story goes this week. Last time around Shield came in and cost Braun Strowman the chance to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, which in theory should make them villains. I mean, Strowman told everyone what he was going to do and Reigns knew he was there but Shield came out anywhere. Maybe we’ll get something this week, especially with the Cell coming up. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to open things up and the fans aren’t exactly thrilled. He does however do the always cool fist bump to a very excited kid. Cole recaps last week’s match with Finn Balor, calling it a “thirty minute barn burner”. Eh, nineteen minutes, thirty minutes. Close enough. Cole also talks about Reigns defending the title over the weekend at live events, which is a nice touch.

Reigns says he told Braun Strowman to meet him out here at 8pm and it’s 8:05. If Strowman isn’t out here, the open challenge is on because he won this title to defending it. Cue Strowman to say he doesn’t think much of Reigns because of how he got out of trouble last week. Reigns says the Shield is a brotherhood of workhorses. All Strowman knows how to do is say GET THESE HANDS, but those hands never raise titles. Reigns has won everything there is to win around here so cash in that briefcase and let’s have this title match.

Strowman isn’t doing that tonight because he knows Rollins and Ambrose will run straight in for the save. Instead, he’ll cash in on September 16 inside the Cell, where no one can help Reigns. That’s cool with Reigns, but here are Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre to interrupt. Ziggler says Summerslam was a crime because the Intercontinental Title was stolen from him. He’ll cash in his rematch clause on his terms, but for now he needs a new challenge.

Drew says Reigns and Strowman are at the top of them mountain and now they have to come tumbling down. That’s a challenge, but Reigns wants to do it right now. Baron Corbin comes out, approves Strowman’s cash-in for the Cell, and makes the tag match that was just announced.

I’m split on the Strowman vs. Reigns announcement. I really, really like the idea of announcing the cash-in in advance to mix things up for a change, but Strowman is done when he loses again (which he will). It’s almost like having Reigns wait an extra four months to get the title was a really bad idea as Reigns is going to keep the belt for a LONG time, meaning Strowman still isn’t going to win and we spent over a year waiting on him to get a grand total of nowhere. But hey, at least Reigns had another crowning moment, because winning the World Title in the main event of Wrestlemania was just a thing.

Corbin comes to the ring and announces himself vs. Finn Balor, right now, meaning he’s ready and Balor isn’t.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Corbin runs him over and does the slide underneath the ropes clothesline. The chinlock (take a shot) goes on as the fans think Corbin can’t wrestle. Balor fights up and jumps over the ropes, only to get knocked to the floor. Back in and we hit the chinlock again (that has to be a rib of some sort) before Corbin throws him outside again. A Sling Blade on the floor puts Corbin down and we take a break.

We come back with, you guessed it, Corbin holding a chinlock. The second slide underneath the ropes is cut off by a forearm but Deep Six gets two. Corbin gets knocked outside for the big flip dive but he can’t hit the Coup de Grace. Instead Corbin hits him with the chair for the DQ at 11:10. Actually hang on as Corbin says he forgot to mention that this was No DQ. More chair shots set up the End of Days for the pin at 12:38. So Balor goes from squashing Corbin at Summerslam to nearly winning the Universal Title to losing to Corbin in a pretty weak match to continue their already too long feud. Thanks for that WWE.

Rating: C-. This can be added to the list of matches I never need to see again. That being said, I could probably see the match coming up again at the pay per view, possibly even in the Cell. The problem continues to be that WWE seems to have no idea how to end a feud, because there’s no good reason to keep this going after the destruction at Summerslam. Give Balor ANYTHING else to do, like feud with Ziggler or McIntyre for example. Actually we can’t do that either, because their several months long feud with Rollins is still going. See how this is a problem?

Clip of HHH’s big speech against Undertaker last week.

Various legends (Jeff Jarrett, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Christian and Mick Foley) have weighed in on the match. It’s not that big of a deal.

Dana Brooke and Apollo Crews talk about flips and getting Dana on Evolution. Titus O’Neil comes in and says she has a match tonight. It’s against Sasha Banks. Dana is nervous and leaves as Apollo thinks Titus is nuts. Titus believes in her though and Apollo goes along with it.

Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke

Dana rolls her up for one to start and seems to let Banks up before the kickout. The threat of a Bank Statement sends Dana bailing to the floor but it’s time to pose back inside. A step up enziguri gives Dana two and she hammers away with some right hands. The top rope Meteora drops Dana and the Bank Statement is good for the tap at 2:31. Dana got in some offense here and it was nice to have Banks and Bayley get away from the Riott Squad for a bit.

Jinder Mahal comes up to Dean Ambrose and talks about all the anger inside him. Meditation is offered and Dean sees himself breaking a lot of Mahal’s bones. That’s enough for Mahal.

Here’s a well received Seth Rollins for a chat. He looks at the Shield shirt and says it’s time for the family business. They’re proud of being workhorses (second member of the team to say that) so let’s have an Open Challenge. Cue Kevin Owens to a MONSTER pop to say that his return to Raw has been a nightmare. If he had his best friend at Summerslam, he would be Universal Champion right now. The terrible summer ends tonight because he isn’t leaving here without a title, even though he’d rather be in Montreal. Owens speaks some French

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins is defending and Owens is still rather popular here. Feeling out process to start with Rollins hitting a clothesline to put Owens on the floor. Back in and Rollins hits a slingshot Fameasser onto the middle rope. A clothesline off the steps puts Owens down and we take a break.

We come back with Owens holding a chinlock and getting two off a backsplash to the arm. The armbar goes on and Rollins starts to scream. They head outside with Owens missing the Cannonball into the barricade, allowing Rollins to chop away. Back to back suicide dives have Owens in trouble but he blasts the third attempt with a right hand. Rollins hits the other dive anyway and we take a second break.

We come back with Rollins hitting the frog splash, stopping to shake his bad arm, and then getting two. Owens sends the bad arm into the post and puts on a Crossface. As Rollins crawls to the ropes, Owens turns it into something like a camel clutch to keep Rollins in trouble. A foot on the ropes gets Rollins out of trouble and frustration is setting in. Some right hands to the face just annoy Rollins and he jumps over the Pop Up Powerbomb. A low superkick rocks Owens but he counters the Stomp into a Stunner of all things for two.

The fans are WAY into this and Owens takes him up top, only to get reversed into a running buckle bomb. Owens no sells it and superkicks Rollins for a hot near fall and they’re both down. It’s Owens up first but Rollins catches him on top and they slug it out. Rollins gets shoved down and lands on the arm but is still able to avoid a moonsault. The Stomp retains the title at 22:11.

Rating: B+. Heck of a fight here and I was actually buying the chance that the title was going to change. Owens is someone who can bring the great stuff when he’s given the chance and that’s what happened here. It’s amazing how much better Rollins is when he doesn’t have Ziggler doing the same stuff every week as this was a nice change of pace.

Post match, Rollins nods at him in respect.

Kurt Angle isn’t sure if his vacation is permanent or not.

We recap the opening segment.

Strowman officially gives Corbin the briefcase to confirm the cash-in.

Back from a break with Owens sitting in the ring in a chair. He says he quits and leaves, taking the tape off his hands as he goes.

Ziggler and McIntyre are ready to face Strowman and Reigns because there is no way they’re healthy either physically or mentally after last week. It’s time to change things around here.

B Team vs. Revival

Non-title and JoJo seems to laugh during the B Team’s entrance. Scott Dawson really isn’t happy with B Team holding the titles and sent out a tweet apologizing to the Midnight Express for allowing it. Axel gets sent into the corner to start but comes back with a running dropkick. The announcers talk about Owens, which does mean more at the moment. Revival is sent outside and we take a break. Back with Dallas trying to fight out of a chinlock but getting taken down with a drop toehold.

A tornado DDT doesn’t work though and Dallas hits his hanging swinging neckbreaker. Wilder seems to be holding his neck and brings Dawson in while laying on the apron. The hot tag brings in Axel to clean house but Wilder breaks up the PerfectPlex. A small package has Axel covered but Dallas turns it over again, just like at Summerslam. Unlike at Summerslam, this one is only good for two and the Shatter Machine finishes Axel at 8:50. That’s the B Team’s first loss and thankfully Wilder seems fine.

Rating: D. Another match that just came and went as WWE gets to show off its creative muscles by using option B to set up a title match. The whole point of the B Team is they use dumb luck to win matches and now they’re just losing clean in a short match on Raw. That’s the result of their face turn though, because WWE doesn’t know many ways to book a face act.

Post match the Revival holds up the titles and says we went from the Road Warriors to the Andersons to this. They can take the titles whenever they want them so keep the them warm. Top guys out.

Here’s Elias for some guitar. He talks about how things will get tough but never stray from the truth: WWE stands for Walk With Elias. The fans seem to agree but it’s time for Elias to sing. Actually hang on as Elias just had a moment of clarity. When Drake said he started from the bottom, he meant Toronto. Cue Trish Stratus of all people to interrupt and of course that gets a reaction. Elias makes this seem like a big deal for her and Trish says she’s a fan.

Trish tells him to hold his applause and shut his mouth but Elias says another performance in Toronto is like the Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup: it’s never happening in their lifetimes. Trish: “Kind of like you winning a WWE Championship.” She talks about ending her career here in Toronto but she’s coming back to face Alexa Bliss at Evolution. Elias says he’s looking forward to the swimsuit pillow fight so Trish tells him to get out. She clearly just wants to walk with Elias but he doesn’t date women in their 60s. That’s good for a slap and here are Ronda Rousey and Natalya as Elias bails.

Natalya vs. Alicia Fox

Before the match, Alexa Bliss says Trish is looking great but all that Stratusphere Yoga isn’t going to get her ready for the beating at Evolution. For tonight though, Bliss says she’s invoking her rematch clause against Rousey at Hell in a Cell. Of course it’s not here because she doesn’t like Canada and those accents freak her out. Mickie James comes out to keep an eye on Trish and we’re ready to go.

The threat of an early Sharpshooter freaks Fox out so Natalya dropkicks her in the ear instead. Back in and Fox knocks her down for two and asks WHAT IS GOING ON. The chinlock doesn’t last long and it’s the Sharpshooter to make Fox tap at 2:15. Like the Canadians were losing here.

Post break Trish, Ronda and Natalya run into the Bellas and take a picture.

More legends speak on HHH vs. Undertaker.

Corbin is calling for a masseuse when Bobby Lashley comes in to laugh at him. Therefore, Lashley can face someone next.

Bobby Lashley vs. Ascension

Lashley runs Viktor over with a shoulder to start but Konnor gets in a shot from behind to take over. Viktor’s front facelock has almost no effect and gets thrown away. The spinebuster gives Lashley the pin at 2:26.

Dean Ambrose vs. Jinder Mahal

Dang he looks a lot like HHH. Ambrose clotheslines him outside in a hurry and chops Mahal up against the barricade. Back in and Mahal knees him in the face, followed by a knee drop for two (I guess they’re both like HHH). Ambrose drops him ribs first on the top rope, shrugs off the Khallas, and finishes with the Dirty Deeds at 3:48.

Rating: D. The match was nothing but happy days are here again with Jinder being treated like the jobber that he always should have been. A win over him doesn’t mean anything but Dean gets to look dominant after a competitive match last week. Thankfully they didn’t try to make this competitive because Mahal is right back where he was two years ago, but with a big line on his resume.

Strowman and Reigns don’t like each other but they’ll work together tonight. In 20 days, Strowman destroys him. Reigns says in 21 days, Strowman is waking up.

Next week: Bellas vs. Riott Squad, B Team vs. Revival for the titles and Shawn Michaels talking about HHH vs. Undertaker.

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman

Roman and Ziggler start as it’s already after 11pm. A clothesline puts Ziggler on the floor and Strowman approves. The apron dropkick rocks Ziggler but McIntyre kicks Roman in the face to take over. Back in and Ziggler gets two off the running DDT, followed by the sleeper. The big jumping elbow gets two and it’s right back to the sleeper.

Reigns finally shoves him away and the big boot drops Ziggler. The hot tag attempt is broken up by McIntyre, who throws Reigns with an overhead belly to belly. Reigns Superman Punches Ziggler out of the air and Strowman gets the hot tag….but doesn’t get in. Reigns gets stomped down as Strowman watches from the apron. The referee disqualifies…..I’m not sure actually but the match ends at 8:50.

Rating: D+. Just an angle and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s something wrong with wasting the last year plus on Strowman for the sake of having him be Reigns’ first victim, but that’s another rant for another time. As usual McIntyre looks better in ten second than Ziggler looked working most of the match, but that goes without saying.

Post match Strowman says he’s not finished with Reigns and beats him down. Ziggler and McIntyre join in until Ambrose comes in for the failed save. Rollins runs down and gets beaten up as well. A bunch of powerslams leave the Shield laying and Strowman poses with his new friends to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure what to think of this show. I wasn’t bored and they kept things moving, but there were so many issues in it that the good took some hits. First of all there’s the big angle, which makes me shake my head at how long we waited on Reigns to win the title, all while Strowman was the most popular guy in the company. I’m so glad that we spent all that time, just so Reigns can have a big name victim. It’s nice that they have something in mind, but this company really doesn’t buy into the concept of striking while the person is hot.

Then there’s the women’s stuff, which was more of the “oh we’re all sisters and love each other” between the Bellas and Rousey and Natalya, which is really just rather annoying. Then again that may be the Bellas in general (I guess wine and lingerie weren’t paying the bills now that Cena is gone).

Evolution is turning into one of the weirder builds they’ve done in a long time, especially since it’s over two months away and there are two other big shows in the middle. I’m curious about where Lashley and Owens’ stories are going, though at the same time you have Balor vs. Corbin killing interest every time the non-Demon version of Balor is out there.

It’s like they’re trying to focus on everything at once and that doesn’t really work when the stories aren’t the greatest in the first place. The show wasn’t bad, but I could go for them cooling it with Super Show-Down and Evolution for a week or two. At least until after the Cell, which should be a bigger deal than it’s being made out to be with two and a half weeks of shows left.

Results

Baron Corbin b. Finn Balor – End of Days

Sasha Banks b. Dana Brooke – Bank Statement

Seth Rollins b. Kevin Owens – The Stomp

Revival b. B Team – Shatter Machine to Axel

Natalya b. Alicia Fox – Sharpshooter

Bobby Lashley b. Ascension – Spinebuster to Viktor

Dean Ambrose b. Jinder Mahal – Dirty Deeds

Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman b. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre via DQ when Ziggler and McIntyre double teamed Reigns

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 23, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

Here are Summerslam results if you need a recap.

No Way Jose vs. Mike Kanellis

Mike headlocks him to start as we hear about Maria Kanellis injuring her wrist but trying to get back by Evolution. That’s one of the first times we’ve heard any specifics about her status. Jose pops up without much effort and grabs a hiptoss, only to miss a charge into the corner. Showing some intelligence, Mike stomps away on the arm but spends too much time blowing a kiss, allowing Jose to avoid a charge of his own. A fireman’s carry flapjack gets two but Mike snaps the arm across the top rope. Kanellis’ superkick gets two but he’s slow going up, allowing Jose to punch him out of the air for the pin at 5:16.

Rating: C-. Better than most Main Event matches and that’s always nice to see. They were trying something with the arm and Kanellis was a little better than usual here. I get why Jose stays on Main Event so often as his energy is going to be more than enough to get the crowd going at the start of the night. Mike though….just hope Maria gets back soon.

From Raw.

The women’s division is around the ring (including the Bellas) for the presentation to Ronda Rousey and here’s Stephanie strutting to the ring to soak in their applause. After putting over Evolution, we see a package on Rousey destroying Alexa Bliss last night to win the title. Stephanie is proud of Rousey because this never would have happened without Stephanie’s business prowess. She shined Rousey up like a diamond and now everyone around the ring wants to be like Stephanie and Ronda.

Here’s Rousey but Stephanie wants to know why the fans aren’t chanting for her. Rousey says this isn’t about Stephanie for once and wants to know why the women aren’t all in the ring. They get on the apron and Rousey cuts Stephanie off again, saying that this is about everyone instead of just one person. Rousey puts over Natalya as the cornerstone of the division and the Banks vs. Bayley match from Takeover a few years back. She’s not Brock Lesnar because she’s going to be a fighting champion.

Stephanie says it’s true that Rousey isn’t Lesnar because this isn’t the Rousey who wanted to break people’s arms. Just look at poor Alexa Bliss, like in this clip where Rousey dislocated her elbow. Rousey wants to break everyone’s arm and take all of the spotlight. Actually that’s not true as Rousey is only going to break the arms of those who deserve it.

Stephanie gets her arm barred again (with the elbow being regularly bent, meaning it shouldn’t hurt that much) and since it’s not Wrestlemania, it works just fine. The face women, including the Bellas, pose with Rousey and it’s a big group hug because they’re all sisters or something. I’m not sure why this was necessary but at least it ended well.

From later in the night.

Stephanie is getting her arm looked at with Corbin and Bliss in the trainer’s room with her. Angle comes in and Stephanie yells at him, saying he needs a vacation. Stephanie makes Corbin the new acting General Manager. If that means one less boss, fine. I’m so sick of this story anyway that I’ll take any change at this point.

We get a clip of the Becky Lynch promo and subsequent brawl with Charlotte from Smackdown, but I’m not going to copy it from the old review as usual because it’s rather different. The version aired here doesn’t include Lynch ranting against the fans or really anything to suggest that she’s a heel. In other words, it’s made to look like she’s a fired up woman who got ripped off, suggesting that they’re changing the entire story. That might not be the worst idea, though it’s a pretty hard about face.

From Smackdown, unedited this time.

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

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

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

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

From Smackdown again.

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

Stills of New Day winning the Smackdown Tag Team Titles.

Rhyno vs. Mojo Rawley

Mojo grabs the rope to get out of an early armbar attempt and we take a very abrupt break. Back with Rhyno fighting out of a chinlock and a collision staggering Mojo. The running shoulder in the corner sets up a belly to belly for two but Mojo chop blocks the knee. A running right hand in the corner sets up the sitout Alabama Slam to finish Rhyno at 6:52 in a match that had a lot clipped out in the middle.

Rating: D+. That clip in the middle didn’t do them any favors and I’m curious about what they did in the middle. Rawley has completely stopped meaning anything on Raw after his short push came to an abrupt ending, which is kind of a shame as he’s not a bad heel. Rhyno is the same guy he’s been for the last ten years and that’s why he’s still got a job to this day.

From Raw to wrap things up.

Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor

Reigns is defending and runs Balor over to start. Balor does his jump over the top to avoid a charge but gets punched in the face to send us to a break. Back with Balor fighting out of a chinlock (good grief come up with something else) and kicking Reigns into the barricade. The running apron kick is broken up and Reigns drops him onto the apron. A hard whip sends Balor into the corner and Reigns yells at him a bit.

Balor takes him down though and scores with the double stomp to the chest. That’s all for the comeback as Reigns takes him into the corner for the clotheslines but Balor knocks him to the floor again. A good looking running flip dive has Reigns in trouble and we take a break. Back with Reigns hitting an uppercut but getting caught by a Pele. Balor gets all fired up and stomps away with an aggression you don’t often see from him. Reigns is right back with a sitout powerbomb for two but the Superman Punch is countered into an Eye of the Hurricane for a very hot two as the fans are completely into this one.

Rating: B+. The fans helped carry this one and they had me believing that a title change might happen. I mean, that went away as soon as Cole kept saying “HE’S GONNA DO IT!” but they had me for a few seconds. Reigns needs a win like this and as usual, when he’s putting in the effort, the match was very good. Really strong main event and the post match stuff is going to be a big deal.

Post match Strowman is in the ring and kicks Reigns down as the cash-in is…..hang on a second as we’ve got Shield music (and no bell, meaning the cash-in didn’t take place). Cue Rollins and Ambrose in the Shield gear as the fans are VERY pleased. Strowman goes after Reigns but the triple beatdown is on. The trio knocks Strowman outside but he fights off the TripleBomb, only to get speared down. Now the TripleBomb connects to end the show.

I’m not sure what the thinking here is, but Strowman looked like a face with the cash-in and Shield looks like heels by thwarting the cash-in, but since Shield won’t be booed, they’re going to wind up being the faces no matter what. It should be fun seeing WWE try to twist Strowman into a heel, especially when he was willing to fight Shield on his own and Reigns welcomed the challenge of a cash-in.

Overall Rating: C+. The talking carried this show (again) as the promos have been on fire as of late. This was an interesting week for WWE as it felt like they were more worried about keeping the Brooklyn crowd from taking the shows over, but that made for some very good television. I know it gets boring at times and I’m right there with those making the same complaints, but when WWE turns it on, they can still do some great stuff.

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

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

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

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