Smackdown
Date: March 28, 2025
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re still in Europe and this time around we’re in a rather big location. The major attraction this week is actually a contract signing between CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, which should make for some fireworks. Other than that, Braun Strowman is getting a US Title shot, which might attract some attention. Let’s get to it.

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

Various people came to work today.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. Naturally the fans sing his song before Cody asks what they want to talk about. We get the dueling John Cena chants before they switch back to singing (positively) about Rhodes. He’s ready for Wrestlemania but on Monday, he and Cena will be face to face in the same arena.

Cue Randy Orton to interrupt and the fans get to sing again. Orton says he isn’t the sentimental type, but for the sake of London, he looks at Rhodes and can’t believe the man he has become. He remembers Rhodes in his early 20s, working harder than anyone but Rhodes realized that he needed to go somewhere else to grow. That took some guts, which Rhodes displayed again when he was facing Seth Rollins inside of the Cell and again when he beat Roman Reigns.

That was the end of the story, but now Rhodes is in another story. Orton respects him and loves him and he’s very proud. Now though, it is time for Wrestlemania and Orton is going to kick Kevin Owens’ head off. After Wrestlemania though, Orton is going to come after Rhodes and the title, but he’s going to look Rhodes in the eye and say he’s coming for this. Cue Drew McIntyre to interrupt, saying he is sick of these nepo babies.

Orton has been back and took more time off, because people talk about McIntyre’s five minute World Title reign than Orton’s entire comeback. That’s why Wrestlemania should be McIntyre vs. Rhodes, but Damian Priest screwed that up. If Rhodes survives Cena, McIntyre is the one taking the title from him. The reality is that Orton looks great on the outside, but his back is hanging on by a thread. Orton tries a quick RKO but McIntyre bails out to the floor. This isn’t so much adding something new to Wrestlemania, but it’s teasing something for after Wrestlemania, which is important as well.

Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Pretty Deadly

The Profits are defending. Dawkins headlocks Prince to start but it’s quickly off to Ford, who gets double hiptossed down. We take an early break and come back with Ford knocking Prince down and handing it back to Dawkins. A whip into the corner crotches Ford on top though and everything breaks down. Dawkins grabs a spinebuster to set up the frog splash but Ford hits the illegal Wilson, meaning Ford can get a rollup for two. A four way collision lets Pretty Deadly hit Spilled Milk on Dawkins with Ford making the save. The Doomsday Blockbuster retains the titles at 7:56.

Rating: C+. Pretty Deadly was getting to be more serious tonight in their home country and it was nice to see them getting to do something like this. They weren’t about to win the titles but the fans liked them and were into the match. There are a bunch of teams going for the belts at the moment and I hope that doesn’t result in a ladder match at Wrestlemania.

Earlier today, the Green Administration annoyed Zelina Vega and Kayden Carter/Katana Chance, with a tag match being set for tonight.

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart, as in the match from Wrestlemania XIII, is going into the Hall Of Fame. That’s a new concept.

Kayden Carter/Katana Chance vs. Piper Niven/Alba Fyre

Chelsea Green is here with Niven and Fyre. Carter and Chance take Fyre down to start for a basement dropkick to the head. Fyre is sent outside for a pop up crossbody but Niven is back with a running crossbody. We take a break and come back with Carter fighting back, including a springboard spinning legdrop for two on Fyre. Niven accidentally crushes Fyre with a backsplash but Carter manages to Samoan drop Niven for a breather. Everything breaks down but Green offers a distraction to break up the After Party. The Piper Driver finishes Carter at 7:01.

Rating: C. You need to give the new evil team a win or two and that’s what we got here. Chance and Carter aren’t a great team but they’re good enough that people know who they are. It might not have been a great match, but it was the kind that set things off in the right direction for Niven and Fyre.

Post match the beatdown is on so Zelina Vega runs in to clear the ring, only for the numbers game to catch up with her.

US Title: Braun Strowman vs. LA Knight

Knight is defending and gets shoved down to start. A belly to back suplex isn’t happening for Knight so Strowman runs him over for two. Strowman gets low bridged to the floor, where he easily cuts Knight off with a big boot. We take a break and come back with Strowman charging into a boot in the corner to give Knight a needed breather.

Knight sends him into the corner and now the belly to back suplex connects. The jumping elbow gets two on Strowman but the BFT is easily blocked. Strowman knocks him to the floor for the train but Jacob Fatu jumps Strowman for the DQ at 6:19. Not enough shown to rate but they didn’t get very far into it anyway.

Post match Fatu easily takes both of them out, with the running hip attacks rocking Strowman in the corner. The Moonsault makes it even worse.

Jimmy Uso is fired up after slapping Gunther on Raw because he knows that Jey Uso can beat Gunther at Wrestlemania. He runs into Miz and Carmelo Hayes, the former of whose insults set up a match tonight.

Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga yell at Jacob Fatu for what he just did, but Fatu isn’t having any of that. Fatu promises to be the last man standing with Strowman and promises to bring the US Title home to the family. He’ll do it with or without Sikoa.

Naomi talks about being someone who always wants to do the right thing. This includes taking out Jade Cargill last year. How can Cargill just show up out of nowhere and take Naomi’s place? Naomi has been an influence on people for the last ten years but now she’s tired of being just another third wheel. Moving forward, if Cargill will continue to be in her way, proceed with caution.

Cargill is looking for Naomi, who hasn’t been seen here. B-Fab and Michin come in to know Cargill will give Naomi what she has coming.

We see a shadowy person with smoke and Roman numerals popping up.

Michin vs. Charlotte

B-Fab is here with Michin….and they’re both jumped by Naomi before Charlotte comes to the ring. Cue Jade Cargill to chase Naomi off, with B-Fab having to be taken out. Charlotte comes out and has a staredown with Cargill on the way. The bell rings and Charlotte gets an early two as we take a slightly less early break.

Back with Michin fighting out of a chinlock and managing a tornado DDT for two. Charlotte kicks her in the head but Michin manages a sitout powerbomb for another near fall. The cannonball sets up Eat Defeat for two as Charlotte gets her foot on the rope, which has Michin annoyed. Charlotte gets up and goes after the leg, with the Figure Eight getting the fast tap at 7:39.

Rating: C+. Michin got in some offense here but there was no reason for her to be a serious threat to Charlotte, who is on her way to another title match at Wrestlemania. Let Michin shine a bit, then have Charlotte win in the end. That’s all this needed to be and they made it work well enough.

Tiffany Stratton mocks Charlotte’s insults to her last week, because that little girl is going to retain the Women’s Title over Charlotte at Wrestlemania.

We look at HHH’s entrances over the years.

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Orton grabs a quickly broken headlock to start and McIntyre starts in on the back. McIntyre gets sent into the corner for some right hands and his shoulder goes into the post. They go outside, where Orton drops him onto the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with McIntyre working on the arm but Orton fights up and makes the clothesline comeback. The powerslam looks to set up the hanging DDT but McIntyre snaps the throat across the top. Orton fights back but cue Kevin Owens for a distraction. McIntyre hits the Claymore for the pin at 7:56.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t exactly their World Title matches from a few years ago but there is only so much you can do with about eight minutes. Owens coming out for the distraction is fine and gives McIntyre one of his bigger wins in a bit. That’s what he has been needing, even if it seems like he is heading for a showdown with Damian Priest at Wrestlemania.

Post match Owens goes after Orton but can’t hit the package piledriver on the announcers’ table. The Punt is loaded up but Owens gets away.

The orange luchador is confirmed to be Rey Fenix, who will debut next week.

Jimmy Uso vs. The Miz

Uso starts fast and hammers away but Miz is back up with some knees to the back. The running boot misses though and Uso clotheslines him to the floor. Another shot takes Miz into the timekeeper’s area and we take a break. Back with Uso fighting up and striking away, only to get caught with a short arm clothesline. The DDT gives Miz two and the Yes Kicks connect. Uso is right back with a quick superkick and the Superfly Splash finishes at 7:52.

Rating: C. Another fairly short match tonight, with Uso getting some momentum before his likely destruction at the hands of Gunther on Raw. Miz is the perfect choice to give Uso a singles win as he’s been a made man for so long. Uso might not have much of a chance against Gunther, but at least he’s being built up well.

Post match Uso promises to take Gunther out on Raw.

Drew McIntyre meets a singer and goes to leave but runs into Damian Priest in the parking lot. The brawl is on and Priest chokeslams him through the windshield of a car. With Priest gone, CM Punk walks by and I managed to avoid a “real glass” joke.

We look back at the John Cena/Cody Rhodes segment from Raw.

Here is Nick Aldis to run the main event contract signing. Roman Reigns, with Paul Heyman, comes out first and appreciates the fans chanting his name. Even Heyman gets in on the act and Reigns is basking in his own glory. Reigns signs the contract and seems to think his night is done but here is Seth Rollins to interrupt.

Rollins talks about their history in this building and how they are on the same mission. Reigns points out that THEY died a long time ago, but Rollins points out the evil that is CM Punk. When Reigns had the chance to take Punk out, he let it go, which is why Rollins has to clean up Reigns’ mess again. Rollins signs as well, giving us two out of three.

This brings out Punk, who says he has come here to chew bubblegum and sign a contract, but he is all out of bubblegum. Punk starts looking through the contract, which has Reigns annoyed. Reigns: “Go to page four. Clause five. Come on junior this is TV today.” Heyman goes over to Punk and says he knows what Punk is looking for….and it’s in there: the match will be closing the show, making Punk a Wrestlemania main eventer.

Punk starts crying but Rollins snaps, shouting about how Punk doesn’t deserve it. Rollins blames Heyman and Reigns for letting this happen but Punk thanks the fans here and in Louisville, Kentucky for making this happen. Reigns wants the thanks for making this happen so the fans chant his name again. Punk thanks him as well, signs, and says he’ll see him in the main event of Wrestlemania….but that’s not the favor that he is owed.

Like him or not, Punk being in the main event of Wrestlemania is far from a stretch. It’s a genuinely emotional moment for him and that’s a great thing to see. The favor aspect makes things more intriguing, and Punk’s delivery of that line made me a lot more interested.

Overall Rating: B-. As is usually the case for Wrestlemania season, the wrestling wasn’t the point here. This was about getting things ready for the show, with the contract signing giving the match the big fight feel that it needs. This was a solid enough show, with stories advancing in some very nice ways. Now just keep it up for a few more weeks and everything will go on fine.

Results
Street Profits b. Pretty Deadly – Doomsday Blockbuster to Wilson
Piper Niven/Alba Fyre b. Kayden Carter/Katana Chance – Piper Driver to Carter
Braun Strowman b. LA Knight when Jacob Fatu interfered
Charlotte b. Michin – Figure Eight
Drew McIntyre b. Randy Orton – Claymore
Jimmy Uso b. The Miz – Superfly Splash

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Smackdown
Date: March 21, 2025
Location: Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

The European excursion continues as we roll into Italy. We’re less than a month away from Wrestlemania and that means we should start to see some more of the show coming together again this week. CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are all here this week so there is a chance things will get nuts. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Randy Orton to get things going but before he can get a word out, Kevin Owns interrupts him. Owens apologizes for everything he did to Orton, saying only Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn deserved what happened to them. Orton can understand the idea of letting anger make you do things you’ll regret so if Orton can forgive him, Owens can forgive him.

Last week, Owens saved Carmelo Hayes to prevent Orton from becoming his old self. They should be looking to the future, so why not winning the Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania? Orton says he should go beat Owens up right now and after thinking about it…yeah Owens deserves a kick in the head. It used to be “Fight Owens Fight” but now it’s “b**** Owens b****.”

Orton hears voices in his head, they counsel him, they understand, and they’re telling him to kick Owens’ head off at Wrestlemania. The match doesn’t seem to be officially set but this was as quick and to the point as you could get, with Owens realizing he may have bitten off more than he can chew.

Damian Priest/Jimmy Uso vs. Drew McIntyre/Shinsuke Nakamura

Priest and McIntyre start brawling in the aisle before the bell with the other two joining in. They get inside with Uso hammering away at McIntyre, who suplexes him out of the corner to cut that off. The fans chant something that I can’t make out but it seems against McIntyre. Uso fights back but gets pulled to the floor for a kick from Nakamura.

Back in and Nakamura hits a running knee, followed by another in the corner. McIntyre adds a suplex as the fans are chanting for Uso. The armbar has Uso in more trouble but he Samoan drops his way to freedom. A jumping enziguri puts Nakamura down and the needed tag brings in Priest to clean house. The Old School crossbody hits Nakamura and a clothesline gets two. Uso cuts off McIntyre and South Of Heaven finishes Nakamura at 7:43.

Rating: C+. Uso and Nakamura are kind of floating around at the moment but Priest vs. McIntyre is all but penciled in for Wrestlemania at this point. That’s the kind of match which could go a long way for Priest, though it feels like a bit of a letdown for McIntyre at the moment. The match itself was seemingly just a way to get them on the show and there are worse ideas.

Post match McIntyre jumps Priest, promising that the beatings will be on sight every time. Priest’s head is rammed into the mat and McIntyre adds a Claymore.

LA Knight says he has Braun Strowman’s back against Jacob Fatu. Strowman says that the match is now for a US Title shot and he sees the title as his ticket to Wrestlemania. Works for Knight.

We look at Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte’s wild brawl last week.

We get a split screen interview between Charlotte and Stratton, with Charlotte cutting off Stratton, saying the Queen goes first. Stratton is always trying to be like Charlotte because that’s what everyone has to do. Stratton thinks that because she’s a blonde and can do a backflip, she can be the next Charlotte. Back in the day, Charlotte was one of her biggest supporters, but Charlotte mocks the idea of ever being in Stratton’s corner. Stratton promises to win at Wrestlemania, which Charlotte finds funny. Stratton better win at Wrestlemania, or she’s the latest victim of Charlotte’s never ending dominance.

Jacob Fatu vs. Braun Strowman

For a future US Title shot. Strowman powers him into the corner to start and then knocks him to the floor. Back in and Strowman kicks him in the head but the charge around the ring only to miss a charge over the announcer’s table. Strowman’s head is sent into various things but a whip sends Fatu’s knees into the steps.

They get back inside, where Fatu hits a running clothesline and then tells Strowman to get up. Then why did you knock him down? Strowman fights out of a neck crank so Fatu Samoan drops him into a backsplash for two. Strowman is back up with a running clothesline in the corner and a spinebuster but Solo Sikoa runs in for the (rather unwise) DQ at 9:21.

Rating: B-. It was another hoss match between these two, but there is only so much to be gained from Strowman winning like this. After Fatu smashed him at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Strowman is either going to have to pin Fatu at some point (which isn’t a good idea) or he’s always going to be behind him in the feud. They are at least mixing it up with the title aspect, though seeing Fatu win the title seems like a rather strong outcome as well.

Post match Fatu is mad but helps with the beatdown anyway. LA Knight runs in for the save.

Post break, in the back, Fatu yells at Sikoa and Tama Tonga, with Sikoa saying it looked like Fatu needed help. Fatu tells him to watch it.

Piper Niven vs. Zelina Vega

Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre are here with Niven. Vega tries to run the ropes to start but has to slip off of Niven’s shoulders. Some choking works a bit better for Vega and she hammers away in the corner, only to get distracted to send us to a break. Back with Niven knocking her down to cut off a comeback and sending Vega hard into the corner.

A gorilla press is countered into a choke though, with Vega switching into something like an octopus hold. The Code Red is blocked so Vega grabs a tornado DDT for two instead. The 619 connects, only for Fyre to offer a distraction. Niven hits a crossbody for the win at 12:15.

Rating: C. This feels like the start of something for Vega, as she is going up against a lot of odds on her way to a title match. It might take some time to get her to that match and she might need some help on the way, but it does seem like they have set things up. Hopefully it winds up working, as Vega certainly needs the boost.

We get a long recap of John Cena’s big explanation and response from Cody Rhodes on Raw. It still feels so weird hearing those things coming from Cena’s mouth.

Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens is set for Wrestlemania.

Jade Cargill is ready to show Liv Morgan what she gets for trying her. After that, it’s time for revenge on Naomi.

We get the A/4 logo again.

Liv Morgan vs. Jade Cargill

Raquel Rodriguez is here with Morgan. Cargill kicks her down to start but goes after Rodriguez, only to cut off a sneaking Morgan for a ram into the barricade. Morgan tries to leave but is quickly dragged back as Cargill isn’t up for the whole retreating thing. Back in and a powerbomb gives Cargill two but another Rodriguez distraction lets Morgan get in a cheap shot to take over.

We take a break and come back with Cargill fighting out of a chinlock to drive Morgan into the corner. Morgan is fine enough to hit Three Amigos but Oblivion is countered into a German suplex. Cargill plants her with a spinebuster and something like an F5 does it again. Cue Naomi for a belt shot though (the Rodriguez distraction helped) and Oblivion finishes Cargill (her first pinfall loss in WWE) at 10:11.

Rating: B-. That’s an interesting way to go as you wouldn’t expect Cargill to lose a fall, especially in what wasn’t a heavily hyped up match. That being said, it does make Naomi look like that much bigger of a deal as she has cost Cargill something else. I’m not entirely interested in seeing them fight, but at least they’re doing something a bit different with Naomi.

Post match Naomi stays on Cargill, including a hanging Pedigree and a knock onto the announcers’ table.

We look back at Drew McIntyre attacking Damian Priest after their tag match earlier.

McIntyre says he has explained his issues with Priest and mocks Priest’s voice. He’ll see Priest in London next week…and then runs into Seth Rollins, who stares at him.

We look at the Street Profits winning the Tag Team Titles last week.

Here are the Profits, who say this is long overdue. They had been doubting themselves for a bit but these titles made everything worth it. They’re proud that they can count on their brothers but here is Legado del Fantasma to interrupt. Santos Escobar says they’re coming for the titles but here is Pretty Deadly to interrupt. They’re the #1 contenders and Legado needs to step aside, but Escobar says that is NOT happening. The Profits know Pretty Deadly have their shot but Legado wants to fight tonight so let’s do it.

We get the orange luchador vignette again, which is pretty clearly Rey Fenix.

Street Profits vs. Los Garza

Non-title. We’re joined in progress with Angel in trouble and Ford hitting a running knee to the face. Berto comes in to knock Ford down and a double basement superkick drops him again. Angel ties Ford in the Tree of Woe so stomping can ensue but a quick head fake and a dive brings Dawkins back in to pick up the pace. A low bridge drops Dawkins to the floor though and we take a break.

Back with Dawkins fighting out of a double arm crank but getting dropkicked down just as fast. Berto plants Dawkins again and the Gory Bomb/flipping cutter gets two, with Ford having to make the save. Dawkins finally gets in a shot of his own and it’s back to Ford to take over. Ford has to flip out of a super double gorilla press attempt and a superplex gets two on Garza. Dawkins hits his own flip dive and Ford’s frog splash is good for the pin at 14:32.

Rating: C+. This got more time than I was expecting and it wound up being a good enough, back and forth match. Los Garza aren’t likely to move up the ranks very far, but they’re good enough to make someone else look better in the ring. The division on Smackdown has gotten that much better, though I’m really hoping we don’t get some big ladder match at Wrestlemania.

HHH Hall Of Fame video.

Pretty Deadly runs into DIY, who offer to help them win the titles next week in exchange for a title shot. Pretty Deadly: “NO BOY!” The Motor City Machine Guns pop up to gloat.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Here is Roman Reigns, with Paul Heyman, for a chat. CM Punk took him out at the Royal Rumble so Reigns took him out on Raw. Seth Rollins tried to kill him so Reigns tried to kill him. He’ll be out here if anyone has anything to say to him so here is Rollins in person. After a lot of the fans singing Rollins’ theme song, Rollins says Reigns should have let him finish Punk off because Punk is that dangerous.

The reality is Rollins and Reigns cannot coexist in the same place at the same time. They should write another chapter in their story but here is Punk to interrupt. Punk says neither of them have beaten him without the other’s help. Reigns was tossed out of the Royal Rumble where it was every man for himself. That was after Punk saved Reigns’ family at WarGames, and he’s still owed a favor of course.

Punk dives on Reigns and the fight starts fast, with Rollins getting involved as well. Referees break it up and Punk points to the Wrestlemania sign (Heyman: “NO!”), leaving Rollins to fight with Reigns. Rollins breaks away and points at the sign before going after Punk. Reigns drops both of them with the steps and points as well, with the brawl having to be broken up again to end the show. I’m not big on triple threats, but they’ve done a good job of making me want to see these three fight. There is a reason for them to want to get at each other and that makes for a much better story.

Overall Rating: B-. The crowd wasn’t as hot as it was last week but they were certainly there enough to keep up the interest. This show was more about getting things ready for Wrestlemania and they added one match, with another being all but confirmed. That’s a good way to go, along with some other things being pushed forward. Wrestlemania is starting to come together, and other shows like this should help it along even more.

Results
Damian Priest/Jimmy Uso b. Drew McIntyre/Shinsuke Nakamura – South Of Heaven to Nakamura
Braun Strowman b. Jacob Fatu via DQ when Solo Sikoa interfered
Piper Niven b. Zelina Vega – Crossbody
Liv Morgan b. Jade Cargill – Oblivion
Street Profits b. Los Garza – Frog splash to Berto

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Royal Rumble 2025
Date: February 1, 2025
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett, Pat McAfee

It’s time to start the Road To Wrestlemania and that means we have one of the most important shows of the year. As usual, we have the two Royal Rumble matches, which could go in a few directions. Other than that, Cody Rhodes is defending the WWE Championship against Kevin Owens in a ladder match. Let’s get to it.

I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the upper deck with the entrance on my right.

Commentary welcomes us to the show as people come to work.

Here is Stephanie McMahon in a surprise to welcome us to the show and hype up how big it is.

The opening video is naturally hosted by Pat McAfee, who talks about what a great city this is and how excited he is to have everyone here.

Commentary welcomes us to the show again.

Women’s Royal Rumble

So in a new innovation this year, we have some incredible (yet still simple) graphics, giving stats (how many Rumbles they have been in, their total eliminations etc), as well as how many people are in, how many have been eliminated, the next entrant, who is still in the match, who has been eliminated etc. These are GREAT and make this feel like so much more of a real sporting event while also making it easy for fans to jump in. Outstanding addition here and another sign of how great the changes have been.

Anyway we have two minute intervals and Iyo Sky is in at #1 and Liv Morgan is in at #2. They run the ropes to start until Sky dropkicks her into the corner. Sky misses a springboard but manages to send Morgan to the apron as Roxanne Perez (from NXT) is in at #3. Perez Thesz presses Sky and hammers away before hitting a DDT and Russian legsweep at the same time. Morgan is back up with a Codebreaker to leave everyone down as Lyra Valkyria is in at #4.

Valkyria cleans house to start and hits a tornado DDT on Sky…and we pause as Valkyria’s top starts falling off. Morgan is smart enough to knock her into the corner so things can be repaired. No one is eliminated and it’s Chelsea Green (to a heck of a pop) in at #5. Green comes in with the big over the top slaps, which leaves everyone to surround her for a group beatdown. B-Fab is in at #6 and gets in some shots as little is happening.

Ivy Nile is in at #7 and gets to German suplex people, including two at once. Zoey Stark is in at #8 and fires off some superkicks before sending Sy to the apron. Morgan gets close to eliminating Green butt can’t quite get there. Lash Legend (a big powerhouse from NXT) is in at #9 and gets to throw people around, including swinging Nile at various people. Fab gets in a slugout with Legend but Green throws Fab out for the first elimination.

Bianca Belair is in at #10, giving us Sky, Morgan, Perez, Valkyria, Green, Nile, Stark, Legend and Belair as the ring is rather full. Belair starts fast with a high crossbody to Green but it’s too early for any eliminations. Belair hammers away on Sky in the corner but moonsaults over a charging Sky to hammer away on both of them. Then she does it again with Stark and Legend and Morgan, though the latter gets away from the right hands. That was a great sequence and Belair follows it up with a suplex to Legend. Shayna Baszler is in a #11 and starts working on limbs until Stark slips on a springboard attempt.

Nile throws Valkyria out to set up their teased title match. Bayley is in at #12 and goes after Perez before having the big staredown with Sky. Stark and Baszler break that up but get sent to the apron as Sonya Deville is in at #13 to complete the Pure Fusion Collective. Deville gets to clean house and the Collective starts wrecking everyone. Green takes a time out on the floor as the beating continues.

Maxxine Dupri is in at #14 and forearms Nile down. The fisherman’s suplex drops Nile but the Collective breaks up the reverse Caterpillar. With the Collective down, Dupri can hit the reverse Caterpillar and kicks Nile out. Then the Collective tosses Dupri out as well. Naomi is in at #15 and teams up with Belair to start cleaning house. The Collective is out back to back to back to clear the ring an it’s Jaida Parker (athletic standout with some attitude from NXT) is in at #16.

Parker uses her hip based offense before staring it down with Legend. Belair and Naomi join in but Green gets in the middle of the four of them and is promptly destroyed. Green gets rid of Legend but runs into Naomi and Belair, who scare her off. Piper Niven is in at #17 and Green is rather happy, though it takes Niven forever to get to the ring, leaving Green frustrated. Niven comes in and cleans house….and accidentally eliminates Green. Panic ensues (even Cole knows that’s not good) and it’s Natalya in at #18 to a rather limited reaction.

Natalya starts fast and almost powerbombs Sky out, only for Perez to make the save. Jordynne Grace (officially part of the company and now with straight hair) is in at #19 and the fans are VERY happy. Grace gets to throw people around and tosses Parker, setting up a Parker style dance. A Death Valley Driver plants Niven and McAfee/Cole jump up in shock. Grace hugs old friend Naomi but Belair pulls them apart.

Michin is in at #20 to clean a bit of the house before getting planted by Niven. That gives us Sky, Morgan, Perez, Belair, Bayley, Naomi, Niven, Natalya, Grace and Michin. Alexa Bliss, with the Lily Doll, is back at #21 and so much for the contract issues. Even commentary gets in on the joke about the internet saying she wasn’t coming back. Bliss goes after Bayley for the old staredown and it’s Zelina Vega in at #22. The pace picks up, including a Code Red to Grace.

Candice LeRae is in at #23 and goes after Perez to limited avail. Belair has to hug the post to avoid being eliminated and it’s NXT’s Stephanie Vaquer in at #24. She gets to pick up the pace but charges into Bayley’s raised boot in the corner. Bayley gets her leg taken out and it’s Trish Stratus for the big surprise legend spot at #25. Stratus goes after Natalya, who Cole says is her “longtime rival.” They have never had a singles match or even been on opposite sides of a tag match.

Niven drops Stratus and things slow down as Raquel Rodriguez is in at #26. Rodriguez powerbombs Morgan onto Natalya and then dumps Natalya out. Bliss goes after Morgan and gets Codebreakered out for her efforts. Charlotte is back at #27 and, after taking her sweet time getting to the ring, chops quite a few people. Charlotte gets caught in a delayed double suplex but reverses it into a double DDT. Niven is out so Morgan and Rodriguez go after Charlotte as NXT Women’s Champion Giulia is in at #28.

Sky is waiting on her and they knock each other down as Charlotte fights off Morgan and Rodriguez. Giulia knees Grace out (that’s a bit of a surprise) but gets to face off with Vaquer. We get something of a current NXT vs. old school NXT brawl (cool) until Nia Jax is in at #29 (McAfee: “Oh no is what everybody is saying.”). Jax eliminates Vega and goes after Stratus, who doesn’t seem impressed. LeRae tries to break that up and gets tossed by Stratus, who tries the Stratusphere on Jax.

A hurricanrana just annoys Jax and Stratus is out and Jax runs over various people. Nikki Bella is back at #30, giving us a final grouping of Sky, Morgan, Perez, Belair, Naomi, Vaquer, Rodriguez, Charlotte, Giulia, Jax and Bella. Everyone circles Jax, who shoves them all away because she’s a monster and all. A bunch of strikes have Jax in trouble and Bella stops to do pushups, with Perez doing the same. In a totally not planned sequence, Vaquer, Sky, Belair, Naomi, Rodriguez and Morgan are sent to the apron and eliminated by Jax in the span of about fifteen seconds.

Giulia and Perez get Charlotte to the apron, only for Perez to eliminate Giulia instead. Bella knocks Bayley out but gets eliminated by Jax, laving us with Charlotte, Jax and Perez. Charlotte chops away at Jax but gets her leg twisted by Perez for a knockdown. Back up and Charlotte knocks out Jax, followed by a boot to eliminate Perez for the win at 1:10:16.

Rating: B-. I did like it, but there were WAY too many instances of people laying around and just killing time. On top of that, there is the “yes, it’s Charlotte, again” factor, as she’s gone for a year but comes back and wins the whole thing. That’s a bit of a lot to take, but it was the most likely option because, you know, Charlotte.

Other than that though, there were several great performances in here, with Grace, Perez, and especially Green coming off as absolute stars. That is quite the lineup but the bigger problem the long stretch of time without eliminations, leaving so may people laying around. Jax eliminating about six people almost at once was a bit much to take and large portions felt rushed, which says a lot when it was already long.

Big E. shills Slim Jim’s.

The Godfather, Mickie James and Kurt Angle are here, with Angle’s daughter wearing his gold medal.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. DIY

The Guns are challenging in a 2/3 falls match. The recap video (which shows the Guns debuting and winning the titles, only for Johnny Gargano to turn on his longtime friend Alex Shelley to steal them away) isn’t showed on the broadcast. Sabin and Ciampa chop it out to start until Shelley comes in for a double kick to the chest. The champs are sent outside for stereo dives from the Guns, setting up a suicide double clothesline from Sabin.

Gargano gets in a cheap shot on the floor though and DIY takes over back inside. That means some alternating double teaming can ensue, only for Shelley to fight back. Sabin finally gets in an enziguri and brings in Shelley but Ciampa…doesn’t tag. Gargano comes in for a distraction though, allowing Ciampa to come in with a jumping knee for the first fall at 3:16 (that was brilliant).

The second fall begins with Ciampa stomping away to set up the chinlock on Shelley. With that broken up, it’s a powerbomb/belly to back suplex combination for two as Shelley is in trouble. Back up and Shelley hits a Downward Spiral/DDT combination, only for Ciampa to offer a distraction. The referee doesn’t see the tag (that always works) and Sabin is caught in the wrong corner again.

A Shatter Machine gets two on Shelley but the slingshot spear is cut off. That’s enough for the tag back to Sabin and house is quickly cleaned. Ciampa is bleeding from the mouth as Sabin hits a huge dive to the floor for the double knockdown. Back in and a tornado DDT sets up Skull & Bones to tie the score at 9:04.

The third fall starts with Gargano getting in a shot to Sabin, allowing Ciampa to come in for a Fairy Tale Ending/superkick combination for two. Project Ciampa gets the same on Sabin and everyone is down. Ciampa takes Sabin up top but gets dropped face onto the post to knock him silly. With Ciampa in the Tree of Woe, Gargano gets suplexed into him to send Gargano outside.

A Sliced Bread/sitout powerbomb combination gets two on Ciampa, with Gargano making a last second save. Back up and Gargano accidentally kicks Ciampa, setting up the Dream Sequence. The referee is distracted though, allowing the Street Profits to come in with a crutch to knock Shelley silly. Meet In The Middle gives Ciampa the pin to retain at 13:59.

Rating: B. It was a good match, but it could not have been more filler to a card and it showed badly. The problem here is that it just didn’t feel that important and there was little way around that fact. That being said, it was good, back and forth action with DIY getting an assist to retain the titles, which works out just fine. Heck of a match here, with the Profits being added right back into the title mix.

Post match the Profits beat the champs down and pose with the titles.

And now, we look at Pat McAfee’s best NFL plays. But we don’t have time to recap the Tag Team Title match?

Some fans met Bianca Belair and Chelsea Green and got to come to the show.

Ron Simmons, Rick Steiner and Rob Van Dam (the latter of whom looks better than he did during parts of his career) are here.

We recap Kevin Owens vs. Cody Rhodes. Owens was livid about Rhodes teaming with Roman Reigns after Owens fought the team for years. Then Owens snapped and stole the Winged Eagle belt, setting up this ladder match for the title and a lot of revenge. Note that Cole says that we’re going to see a recap set to a Papa Roach song but it’s cut from Peacock.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens

Rhodes is defending in a ladder match and for some reason they both have their belts despite making such a big deal about them being hung up over a week ago. They stare at each other to start before going to the floor. The ladder is turned on its side so Owens slams him through the rungs in the middle. Said rungs are raked over Rhodes’ face and they fight into the crowd as this is quite the brawl so far.

Owens sends him face first into a camera for a great visual and they get back to the barricade, where Rhodes is dropped ribs first onto the barricade. Owens loads up a ladder inside but Rhodes is right there to cut him off. Another ladder is set up as a bridge between the apron and the announcers’ table but Owens takes too long. That lets Rhodes sends him into the steps…but Owens is back with a four foot step ladder and throws it at Rhodes to take over again.

A frog splash of the mini ladder doesn’t launch so Owens hits him with said ladder. Rhodes is dropped onto the mini ladder but he’s fine enough to send Owens into the really tall ladder. That lets Rhodes climb up but he winds up hanging from the belts. Owens pulls him down for a huge powerbomb, followed by a less huge ram into the standing ladder. Rhodes is fine enough to push the ladder over again and let’s tear off a rung to swing at Owens.

That lasts all of a few seconds as Owens kicks him in the face, setting up a Flip Flop And Fly for a nice chuckle. Instead of a Bionic Elbow though, it’s a rung to the head. Yet another ladder is brought in (even Cole thinks it’s excessive) but the package piledriver is broken up, with Rhodes backdropping him onto the side of a ladder for a NASTY landing. Rhodes goes up again, earning himself a powerbomb onto a ladder bridged over the bottom rope in the corner. Another ladder is bridged into the big standing ladder in the middle and Owens goes up.

For some reason Rhodes tries a superplex, which is as stupid as it seems as Owens superplexes him onto the bridged ladder. We pause for the medics and Nick Aldis to check on both of them….and Sami Zayn is here. With the two of them back up, Rhodes reverses a Stunner into the Cross Rhodes but it’s too early to climb. Rhodes takes it to the floor for a posting and Owens is busted open. That means a bunch of right hands to the cuts, but a low blow cuts Rhodes off. Another package piledriver is loaded up but Rhodes reverses into an Alabama Slam through the ladder. Owens is DONE and Rhodes retains at 25:05.

Rating: B. It’s a rather violent brawl and the ending spot looked great as Owens was destroyed. There were several cringe worthy moments and it felt like two people wanted to destroy each other. The problem here is the length, as it felt like they were killing tie more than once. Cut this down by five to eight minutes and it’s WAY better, but as it is, it’s basically just a violent ladder match with some good spots.

Evolve is coming in March. On Tubi.

Joe Tessitore and Big E. talk about the ladder match. For some reason only the audio was played in the stadium with no video.

Rumble By The Numbers video…which is also cut from Peacock.

Men’s Royal Rumble

2 minute intervals with Rey Mysterio in at #1 and Penta in at #2 for a nice start. We get a rather lengthy show of respect, which surprising as Penta has probably been a fan for decades. They start a bit slowly before going to the apron, where Penta’s feet certainly seem to hit the ground. The referee says it’s only one (the fans are REALLY not sure on that) butt Penta gets back in.

They knock each other down again and it’s Chad Gable in at #3. Gable fires off some suplexes but gets double teamed, with Mysterio climbing onto Penta’s shoulders to crash down onto Gable in a nice spot. Carmelo Hayes is in at #4 and hits the springboard reverse DDT on Mysterio before forming an alliance with Gable. That lasts all of ten seconds before they split up and pair off in the corners as Santos Escobar is in at #5.

Penta and Escobar have their showdown, with Escobar hitting a Canadian Destroyer butt getting caught with a 619 from Mysterio. We get a parade of people going to the apron and it’s Otis in at #6 as Gable (who can’t handle luchadors) keeps getting in trouble. Otis hits the Caterpillar before slugging it out with Gable, who plants him with a German suplex. Bron Breakker is in at #7 and a spear gets rid of Hayes (Breakker’s old NXT rival), followed by a backdrop to Otis.

Another spear drops Escobar (who was holding Penta) and Escobar is out. Akira Tozawa of all people is in at #8 but Hayes jumps him in the entrance. Since one forearm is enough to knock Tozawa silly, Adam Pearce comes out and carries him to the back, where HHH sends IShowSpeed (a streamer) in for his spot instead. Speed runs in and helps Breakker get rid of Otis before getting absolutely crushed by a Breakker spear (that looked GREAT). Breakker throws Speed over the top and onto Otis, who throws him over the announcers’ table for the elimination. Cole: “Are you ok so?” McAfee: “NO HE’S NOT OK!”

Sheamus is in at #9 (the booking for this has been great so far, as it’s one logical step after another, with Sheamus having issues with Breakker) and hits the forearms to Gable’s chest. Breakker gets the forearms as well and Sheamus hits Penta with a slingshot spear. The Brogue Kick cuts off Breakker’s spear and they chop it out until Jimmy Uso is in at #10. That gives us Mysterio, Penta, Gable, Breakker, Sheamus and Uso, the latter of whom hits a Whisper In The Wind to Penta.

Andrade is in at #11 and runs over Sheamus, followed by some running knee in the corner. Penta superplexes Escobar and most everyone is down…as Jacob Fatu is in at #12. Fatu Samoan drops Mysterio and Penta at the same time before throwing out Mysterio and Gable. There goes Andrade as well but Breakker is waiting on Fatu. Ludwig Kaiser is in at #13 and he’s not thrilled with getting in there immediately. The rest of the match slows down and Kaiser gets in, only to be tossed out by Penta two seconds later. Breakker saves himself from an elimination attempt and it’s the Miz in at #14.

Miz almost throws Breakker out and hits a Skull Crushing finale on Uso. A middle rope hurricanrana takes Penta down but Miz makes the mistake of going after Fatu, which goes as well as you would expect. The Samoan drop plants Miz and Fatu stands around….as TNA World Champion Joe Hendry is in at #15. The stadium sings his song and he gets to clean some house including the Standing Ovation (chokeslam) to Miz. Sheamus and Fatu have a standoff and Roman Reigns is in at #16 to a ROAR.

The spear hits Miz and he’s out, with Sheamus following him rather quickly. There’s a spear to Hendry who is out as well (to be fair, he was only there for the song) but Breakker spears Reigns for a change. Reigns is right back up to toss Breakker but Reigns needs a breather. Fatu dumps Uso and we have the big showdown with Reigns, which has to be a preview for something. The slugout is on and Reigns hits a spear but Drew McIntyre is in at #17. Fatu and McIntyre double team Reigns down and Finn Balor is in a #18.

The Sling Blade hits Penta but it’s not enough to get rid of him. Penta is back up with some slingshot dropkicks in the corner as Shinsuke Nakamura is in at #19. Penta’s Canadian Destroyer hits Fatu so he tries another on Balor, who tosses Penta out. Jey Uso is in at #20, giving us Uso, Balor, Fatu, McIntyre, Nakamura and Reigns. Uso hits a spear on McIntyre and a poisonrana on Fatu before trading kicks with Nakamura. Uso tosses Nakamura (and waves goodbye) and AJ Styles is back at #21.

House is cleaned before Styles gets in a staredown with Fatu. Braun Strowman is in at #22 (only a week after being smashed by Fatu, which is quite the turnaround) and goes straight after Fatu with a crossbody of all things. That’s enough for Strowman to power Fatu out, leaving Fatu to clear the announcers’ table and throw a chair. A bunch of people go after Strowman but none of that matters as John Cena is here at #23 (getting a not so subtle glare from Fatu). Cena gets rid of Strowman and Balor before getting in a staredown with Reigns. Since this isn’t big enough, CM Punk is in at #24 and we get a three way staredown, with Cena looking rather excited.

This goes on so long that Seth Rollins is in at #25 to make things all the more interesting. Rollins wastes no time in going after Punk as Cena brawls with Reigns. McIntyre is back up so Rollins goes after him as Styles chops Cena in the corner. Dominik Mysterio is in at #26 and comes in with a frog splash. For some reason Mysterio tries a suplex on Reigns, which goes as badly as you would expect. Sami Zayn is in at lucky #27 and starts firing off the Helluva Kicks. Nothing goes on for a bit until Damian Priest is in at #28.

Priest comes in with the Old School crossbody to McIntyre an a chokeslam is enough to get rid of Mysterio. Things slow down again and it’s LA Knight in at #29 to quite the reaction. The top rope spelling elbow hits Cena and there’s the jumping neckbreaker to Styles. Zayn gets sent to the apron and Uso’s superkick knocks him out by mistake. Logan Paul is in at #30, giving us a final group of Uso, Cena, Paul, Styles, McIntyre, Knight, Priest, Punk, Rollins and Reigns.

Paul comes in with a double Buckshot Lariat before Priest dumps McIntyre, who is aghast (again). Knight knocks Paul to the apron but Paul jumps to the announcers’ table (you sir are no Kofi Kingston). Knight clotheslines Priest out instead but gets tossed by Styles, leaving Paul to jump from the apron to the steps so he can get back in. As a bonus, he pulls Styles of the top for an elimination and we’re down to six. They all get up for a hexagon staredown and the pairing off begins.

The parade of knockdowns is on until Reigns glare at Rollins, We get the big showdown before both of them miss their big strikes. Reigns hits a clothesline against the ropes but can’t get rid of Rollins, so Punk is right there to dump both of them. Paul dumps Punk and Rollins is so mad that he takes out Reigns. Rollins brawls with Punk but once that’s broken up, he Stomps Reigns into the steps. Rollins FINALLY leaves as the other three are still down inside with the match basically having stopped. Uso and Paul get up to slug it out until Cena fireman’s carries them both at the same time.

With that broken up, Cena clotheslines Paul out and we’re own to two. They stare each other down and lug it out until Uso hits some superkicks. The spear cuts Cena down and we get a double breather. Back up and Cena throws him over the top but Uso holds on, with Cena joining him on the apron. Both are smart enough to try to get back inside before they slug it out but Uso slips out and knocks him to the floor for the win at 1:20:08.

Rating: A. I’m sorry what now? Uso winning is about as out of nowhere as you can get, but you cannot deny how over he is right now. Uso is as hot as anyone in WWE at the moment and while there is a LONG time left for the Wrestlemania title picture to be shaken up, this is the kind of win that can change someone’s career. I kept thinking they were making it too obvious in the final two and above all else, this was not boring. We’ll have to see where it goes, but dang points for a surprise.

As for the rest of the match, it was one of the best put together Rumbles I’ve ever seen, with the stories connecting throughout the match to make things that much better. Breakker and Fatu had another star making performance each and there were some stories set up for later. Heck of a match here and I had a great time with it. I’ll need some time to get my head around the ending, but the match was great.

Post match Cena is aggressive but shows respect before leaving. Uso gets to celebrate for a long time as the announcers’ YEET on the table to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. As usual, the Royal Rumble is going to be built around the two namesake matches because what else was it going to be about? They took up over two and a half hours of ring time and that is more than half of the entire show. The women’s edition was ok enough and the men’s edition was excellent, which is more than enough for a strong showing. The Tag Team Title match was good enough and the ladder match was a fight, making this one heck of an overall show.

Results
Charlotte won the Women’s Royal Rumble last eliminating Roxanne Perez
DIY b. Motor City Machine Guns 2-1
Cody Rhodes b. Kevin Owens – Rhodes pulled down the titles
Jey Uso won the Men’s Royal Rumble last eliminating John Cena

 

 

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It’s time for the first major show of the year and in this case I’m a bit more excited than usual. Granted that might be due to me having a ticked for the show but maybe I’m looking too deeply into that. Other than that, it’s the usual two match card, with the Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches dominating the show. That should be enough to carry things so let’s get to it.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: DIY(c) vs. Motor City Machine Guns

Here we have one of the longer matches to help flesh out the card as this is 2/3 falls. In other words, there is no reason for this to be anything more than good, as you have two talented teams in a match that is basically built for them. They have a bit of a story too as DIY cheated the Guns out of the titles in an overdue heel turn. I can always go for more of the Guns, and we should be getting that here.

As much as I would love to see the Guns get the titles back in a great moment on a big stage, this seems like it is going to be DIY getting to the last all and then losing in the end, likely due to some cheating. That would make the most sense and give DIY a way out, though I’m not sure what is next for the Guns. Either way, this should be a heck of a match and that’s all it is supposed to be.

WWE Title: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. Kevin Owens

It’s a ladder match for two titles and my goodness it’s going to be insane to see the Winged Eagle Title on the line. This is a feud that is several months in the making and while there is always the chance for Owens to steal the title in something like this, Rhodes is still the biggest star in WWE and that should be more than enough to help carry him. I think you get where this is going.

Of course I’m going with Rhodes here, as we should be on the way to her having some kind of a major showdown at Wrestlemania. Owens has become a pretty standard Royal Rumble opponent and that is a nice thing to have around. There are going to be some big spots here and I could go for seeing what they pull off before Rhodes retains the title, as he should at the moment.

Women’s Royal Rumble

This match always has the same issue: the women’s division only has so much depth and it can become something of a problem. The names at the top are all more than solid enough, but the match doesn’t usually have enough big names to fill out thirty spots. They are getting better and better at it, but hopefully we get some more NXT names or legends to spice things up a bit this time.

As for a winner though, as annoying as it might be, this feels like Charlotte’s to win. Unless Becky Lynch is going to make one heck of a surprise return, Charlotte is just too big of a deal to overcome. If WWE is so obsessed with her getting sixteen titles (and they are), then we are going to be in for another of her big runs as she becomes the first ever two time winner of the women’s edition.

Men’s Royal Rumble

Now we get to the fun part as I’m really not sure where to go. This week’s Raw made it feel like winning the title shot was the biggest deal in the world and that is what we should be getting here. When you have people talking about how important the win is, it makes the match feel that much better and WWE has done a good job of making it work here, which is where things should be going.

I really have no idea who to pick here, as you could easily go with John Cena, but with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk and maybe even Sami Zayn, you have a heck of a field of options. That doesn’t even consider the idea of someone in the middle of the card jumping up as a surprise. That being said, as it’s his last chance, I’ll take what should be the safe pick and say Cena steals the win here. It sets him up as the all time record holder for Rumble wins (well tied at least) and sets him up for the big record setting title match. It’s a wide open field though and that is great to see.

Overall Thoughts

When I was watching Raw this week, the thing I kept thinking was “I have no idea who is winning the Men’s Royal Rumble” and I love that feeling. It’s just cool to have so may options and it makes the match that much more interesting. I’m curious to see where things go and if they are getting fans to feel that way, they are doing things exactly right for one of the most important shows of the year.

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 6, 2025
Location: Inuit Dome, Inglewood, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s a new era as we are officially on Netflix, which could make for a heck of a change of pace. The show is not going to have a fixed runtime and this is more or less going to be the pay per view of the month. That alone should make for a special night, but there are likely going to be some guest stars and maybe some debuts as well. Let’s get to it.

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

Earlier today, a bunch of people came to work.

We get a special video, with HHH talking about the story of wrestling being like an artist’s canvas before moving over to television. We see some paintings of Hulk Hogan and Andre (which HHH refers to as “the face and the heel”) and various famous clips (including some from WCW), as HHH says the screens get smaller but the stories get larger. Presenting the never ending story of WWE, with the camera pulling back to reveal a heck of a montage of tars painted on a mat.

The curtain, which the video was playing on, falls from around the ring and HHH is standing inside. HHH says let them hear you louder than ever before and asks if we’re ready. Welcome to the Netflix Era. This was a spectacular opening, as no one in the world can hype up its own history like WWE.

And here’s the Rock to get things going. After a very long intro, Rock talks about how he used to watch wrestling as a kid, but now it’s a lot easier to watch, especially on Netflix. We get the official announcement that this is the largest arena gate in WWE history, for about the fourth time in the last year. Rock thanks some Netflix executives, as well as Cody Rhodes, who is in the crowd for some reason. Rock: “Tell Mama Rhodes the Rock said hello.” He puts over the Tribal Combat match and talks about what it means to be a chief in their family before saying it’s time to start the show.

Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa

Tribal Combat, meaning anything goes, for the title of Tribal Chief and Paul Heyman is here with Reigns. After a break, they start fast with the slugout with Reigns knocking him out to the floor. Back in and Reigns hammers away against the ropes, only to get sent outside. Sikoa sends him over the announcers’ table with Spinning Solo. Sikoa hits him in the head with the steps and then sits on them as we take a break.

Back with Sikoa unloading with a chair and then wrapping it around Reigns’ neck. The running Umaga Attack misses though and Reigns chairs him down but a Conchairto misses. Spinning Solo onto the chair gets two but Reigns fights back up. The spear connects for two, with Tama Tonga pulling the referee out.

Cue Jacob Fatu to lay Reigns out, with the implant DDT into the moonsault getting two. The referee gets taken out but here are Sami Zayn and Jey Uso to brawl with the Bloodline. Reigns hits a spear for a delayed two from another referee but here is Kevin Owens with a Stunner for two on Reigns. The package piledriver is loaded up by cue Cody Rhodes to brawl with Owens. Reigns hits the spear to put Sikoa away at 23:27.

Rating: B. This never quite made it up to the next level, but it was a nice street fight style match with some good interference to make it better. Reigns beating Sikoa is a major result and what matters is that it should be either the beginning of the end of the new new Bloodline or the end of the storyline entirely. Reigns getting the win is what matters here and I could go for seeing what they have going on next. For now though, Reigns beats Sikoa and that should wrap up some things for now.

Post match Heyman loads up the Ula Fala but here is the Rock to give it to Reigns instead.

The Royal Rumble is officially coming to Riyadh next year.

Various wrestlers, like Rey Mysterio, LA Knight and the War Raiders are in the crowd.

Here is John Cena for a chat as the Farewell Tour officially gets going. Cena hypes up how smart the fans are and they know their audience just got a lot bigger. He thanks the fans and Monday Night Raw for letting him stand in the ring in jorts one more time. Cena is ready to start his farewell tour and lists off some potential opponents, like CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The other question people are asking is when he’ll become the 17 time World Champion, but he’s not seeing it.

Cena is on a streak of over 2,400 since he won a singles match (Cena: “Yeah.”) so the World Title is not in the cards. He has a better chance of winning an Oscar and….well….that’s not going to happen either. The only chance he has to get a title shot is to win Money In The Bank or the Elimination Chamber or….the Royal Rumble. Maybe he could do that! It would be a great way to thank the fans and if you know him, nothing is impossible. The only time they say never is when they say never give up. He’s in the Rumble. Cena had this crow in the palm of his hand and his last Rumble is a going to be a special moment.

Video on Logan Paul, who is in the crowd.

More wrestlers and celebrities (including Macaulay Culkin, who gets a ROAR) are here. Danielle Fishel (Topanga from Boy Meets World is here, sitting next to Will Friedle (Eric from Boy Meets World), the latter of whom is not acknowledged whatsoever.

Raw Women’s Title: Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is challenging. They start fast with Ripley hammering her out to the floor. Ripley wastes no time in tossing her over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Morgan stomping away but Ripley muscles her up. A half and half suplex gets two on Morgan but she’s back with a Backstabber.

Ripley is back with Riptide for two and Dominik Mysterio offers a distraction, allowing Morgan to hit Oblivion onto a chair for a rather near fall. Three Amigos into the frog splash get two on Ripley, but she blocks another Oblivion. Back to back Riptides finish Morgan at make Ripley champion again at 11:29.

Rating: C. This was about Ripley getting to smash Morgan for good to win the title back, which is exactly how it should have gone. There comes a point where Morgan can only escape so often as she’s no match for Ripley one on one. The match was only so good as Morgan could only do so much, but what mattered was the result and it went well.

Post match, Dominik tries to hug Ripley and gets kicked low. Ripley goes up the ramp…and here is the Undertaker on the motorcycle to pay tribute to her. They do the double raised fist pose.

Chad Gable and American Made want Adam Pearce to get the best luchador for next week.

As the Rock left, he talked to various people, including HHH (who he leaves hanging on a handshake) Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, naturally with his bottle of tequila in his hand. Oh and he’ll be at NXT tomorrow night. Ignore him driving away after drinking tequila.

More celebrities are here.

Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre

Uso comes to the ring with Travis Scott and Cole dances to the Yeet song on commentary in an amazing bit. McIntyre powers him into the apron to start as commentary recaps everything that McIntyre has been going through lately. They get inside for the opening bell with McIntyre chopping away in the corner, only to get powerbombed down.

McIntyre fights back and tries the Claymore, only to get kicked in the face for his efforts. Back up and a DDT is blocked, allowing McIntyre to hit a Futureshock for a near fall. The spear gives Uso a rather delayed two but another attempt is blocked. Back up and a quick Claymore gives McIntyre two so he loads it up again, only to get reversed into a crucifix for the pin at 10:22.

Rating: C+. The result is a bit of a surprise as McIntyre has been mowing his way through people lately but just gets pinned here. That should send McIntyre further over the edge, which is a good thing, but I’m not sure what his end game is here. A match with Roman Reigns would make sense, but him losing like this isn’t the best way to set something like that up. Uso doesn’t have much else going on either, but he might have to deal with the Bloodline after getting involved earlier.

Video on Gunther.

Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is cut off by New Day, who aren’t happy that they aren’t getting time on the show. They’re told they’re out of time and Iglesias leaves with the Alpha Academy.

Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman are happy with their win and ready for a celebration. Reigns says it’s on for January 27 and they go into a room marked WWE2K25.

More wrestlers and celebrities are here and it’s Hulk Hogan out for a chat with Jimmy Hart. He promotes his beer and plugs Raw on Netflix, with the fans NOT being pleased.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins

They waste no time in going to the fighting and it’s already on the floor early on. Rollins sends him into the barricade and yells at the referee to LET IT RIDE, which he seems willing to do. Punk backdrops him into the crowd with Rollins getting the better of things, only for Punk to punch him out of the air. They head back inside, where Rollins misses a quick Stomp attempt.

The GTS is broken up as well so Rollins chokes away in the corner and goes up. That’s fine with Punk, who grabs as super swinging neckbreaker for a breather. We take a break and come back with Punk hitting some running knees in the corner and the swinging neckbreaker drops Rollins again. Rollins is favoring his neck as he rolls to the apron, with Punk hitting a neckbreaker over the ropes.

The suicide dive drops Rollins again and they head back inside, where Rollins rolls through a high crossbody into a GTS of his own send him back outside. Rollins mocks Punk a lot so Punk comes back with a Stomp for two of his own. Punk’s GTS is countered into another one from Rollins and they go outside again.

This time a GTS onto the announcers’ table is countered into a Pedigree to drop Punk. Back in and a Pedigree gives Rollins two, meaning they both need to breathe. They slug it out from their knees until Rollins grabs a Buckle Bomb into the Stomp…but Punk gets a foot on the rope. Back up and Rollins tries the Falcon Arrow but Punk reverses into back to back GTS’s for the pin at 19:54.

Rating: B+. This might not have been an all time classic but Punk can still hang in the ring with just about anyone. It worked well here and Rollins has to go back to square one, which should mean a run in the Rumble. Punk very well may be doing the same thing and gets a nice feather in his cap on the way there.

Rollins is bleeding from the eye to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The show was far from perfect, but they had a lot of special moments to cover rather than just being a regular week. So much of this was about establishing that they were on Netflix and showing the fans what they have to look forward to around here. The opener and main event were both good and the two matches in between were fine enough, while the feed (at least the one I was watching) was perfect. This might not have been a classic, but it was a show that set up the new platform and it could have been FAR worse. Just ask Hogan.

Results
Roman Reigns b. Solo Sikoa – Spear
Rhea Ripley b. Liv Morgan – Riptide
Jey Uso b. Drew McIntyre – Superkick
CM Punk b. Seth Rollins – GTS

 

 

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Smackdown
Date: December 13, 2024
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

We’re a day away from Saturday Night’s Main Event and that should make for an important night on the way there. One of the biggest stories coming out of last week was DIY winning the Tag Team Titles with Johnny Gargano going full on villain. Other than that, the Bloodline is still lurking around so let’s get to it.

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

Here is a limping Jimmy Uso (thanks to a broken toe at Survivor Series) for a chat. Uso said WarGames didn’t get him but it did get his toe. WarGames meant everything to him because even though he fights with his family, they’ll fight together and throw up the one’s. So that’s behind them, so what is in front of them?

He and his family have been doing this for years and they have been pretty successful. He’s even proud of Jey Uso and the YEET! Then there’s Solo Sikoa, who he might not like but he’s proud of him. So what’s next for Jimmy? He’s not sure. Maybe the Royal Rumble, the US Title or even the WWE Title. He may have one big toe, but he’s here…and so is Drew McIntyre with the Claymore.

A Christmas themed Tiffany Stratton is warming up when Candice LeRae and Nia Jax come in to give her a pep talk.

Nick Aldis yells at Drew McIntyre when Bianca Belair and Naomi come in. Aldis tells McIntyre to stay in his office and then tells Belair she is going to have to relinquish the Tag Team Titles. Naomi offers to step in and be her partner, with Aldis reluctantly agreeing, saying they have to be ready to defend the titles as soon as next week.

Women’s US Title Tournament Semifinals: Tiffany Stratton vs. Michin

Stratton knocks her down to start but Michin grabs a double leg and hammers away. A hurricanrana out of the corner drops Stratton again but Stratton faceplants her on the apron. We take a break and come back with Michin rolling away before the Prettiest Moonsault Ever can launch.

Michin kicks her down and hits a springboard DDT for two. The Tarantula has Stratton in trouble but she flips away and grabs an Alabama Slam for two of her own. A Regal Roll sets up the Prettiest Moonsault Ever but Michin rolls away…and right into the moonsault, which doesn’t count as she rolled away. Eat Defeat gives Michin the fast pin at 8:22.

Rating: C+. The ending didn’t help things and commentary tried to cover it as well as they could but it looked pretty bad. Other than that, Michin beating Stratton is almost weird to see, as Stratton has been pushed fairly strong in recent months while Michin has only been building momentum in recent weeks. Michin should make for a good underdog in the finals though and that’s always a nice role to have filled.

We look back at Johnny Gargano going evil to win the Tag Team Titles last week.

DIY (in black and white) talk about getting cheated in Gargano’s hometown but he promised to do whatever it took to set things right. Then the Motor City Machine Guns were handed a path to the titles so last week, Gargano did what he needed to do to get the titles back. And it was fun.

We look at the Bloodline beating down LA Knight and Andrade last week.

Roman Reigns, with Paul Heyman, talks about how this has been a rough year. They were running everything not too long ago but then they lost everything. Four years ago, Solo Sikoa wasn’t here when Reigns earned everything. That’s why he wants Tribal Combat on January 6, where he can take everything back and everyone can acknowledge him.

There will be a Raw On Netflix Kickoff Show next week. Of note: Logan Paul is advertised despite saying he was retired earlier this week.

Legado del Fantasma complains to Nick Aldis about everyone being attacked so maybe they should go to Raw. Aldis says go call them so Carmelo Hayes comes in, where he is told he’ll find out who he is facing in the ring.

Carmelo Hayes vs. ???

And the newest member of Smackdown is….Braun Strowman. Hayes panics and gets knocked down to make it even worse. The running powerslam is broken up and Hayes misses a charge into the post, allowing Hayes to get one, with the kickout sending him flying. Now the running powerslam can finish for Strowman at 1:28.

LA Knight is always ready to handle his business he didn’t want to get involved in WarGames when he was asked. That wasn’t his business, but now Solo Sikoa has gotten in his business and in the way of his US Title. That’s why tonight, Sikoa’s face is going to get in the way of Knight’s fist.

Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight

The Bloodline is here with Sikoa. Knight wins a slugout to start and hits a discus lariat, followed by a running clothesline to the floor. Sikoa is back up with some rams into various things but Knight manages a whip into the steps. Knight hammers away on the announcers’ table but Sikoa Samoan drops him back inside.

A middle rope bulldog gets Knight out of trouble and his dropkick through the ropes hits Tonga, allowing Sikoa to hit Swinging Solo onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. Back with Sikoa trying a Superman Punch and getting suplexed down for his efforts. Knight stomps away in the corner but stops to dive onto the rest of the Bloodline. Back in and a Side Effect drops Sikoa and the top rope elbow gets two. That’s enough for Jacob Fatu, who grabs Knight for the DQ at 11:20.

Rating: B-. It was hard to imagine Sikoa being challenged to Tribal Combat next month and losing here, but at least Knight didn’t get pinned. It’s fine to fight against the top heel stable and get taken out by the numbers game so this could have been a lot worse for Knight. He might even get a tag match or something to follow this up so it’s a bit of an upgrade for him, at least for the time being.

Post match the beatdown is on, with Apollo Crews and Andrade’s save attempts not working.

Braun Strowman runs into Pretty Deadly, who offer him a spot in their musical (oh yeah that’s a thing). With Pretty Deadly running off, A-Town Down Under come in and offer him a guest spot on the Grayson Waller Effect. Sure.

Women’s US Title Tournament Semifinals: Bayley vs. Chelsea Green

Piper Niven is here with Green. Bayley plants her down to start in a hurry and a rollup gets an early two. Green’s rollup gets her own near fall but Bayley is back with a basement clothesline for two more. Niven sweeps the leg though and Green stomps on Bayley’s back as we take a break. Back with Green hitting an enziguri and rolling Bayley up for two. We hit the chinlock and go split screen for a quick preview of the Mufasa movie.

Back to full screen and they go to the apron (nice timing on the chinlock for the break) where Bayley hits a Stunner over the middle rope. A hanging suplex to the floor has Green in more trouble, followed by a belly to back for two. Bayley hits a running knee into a sunset bomb into the corner for two but Green (who has lost the flowers in her hair, meaning she can’t go to San Francisco) is back with a Rough Ryder. Niven pulls Green outside so Bayley dives onto her instead. That earns her a toss over the barricade, followed by the Unprettier to give Green the win at 12;12.

Rating: C. This was good enough but points for pushing Green forward. I’m not sure if she is going to win the title but it’s nice to see her getting a chance to do something. She has more than earned the chance to do something on her own (or with Niven behind her) and it’s not like Bayley is going to be hurt by losing to anyone.

The Motor City Machine Guns are not happy with DIY because they can’t believe what Johnny Gargano did to them. Now it’s a fight and Gargano will learn that next week.

Shinsuke Nakamura talks about how there has been a shift which will see the weak dragged into the light. LA Knight had something he never deserved and will never get it again. Nakamura is imminent.

Nia Jax consoles Tiffany Stratton but Candice LeRae comes in and says she and Nia have a Women’s Tag Team Title shot next week. With Jax gone, LeRae says Stratton just might not be a singles wrestler.

Saturday Night’s Main Event rundown.

Michael Cole brings out Cody Rhodes for a chat with….Kevin Owens, who joins us from his car. Owens can’t believe how Rhodes is willing to use his friends to finish his story. The reality is Rhodes is as bad of a friend as he is a son and brother. The other reality is that Rhodes was always more interesting as Stardust.

Rhodes knows Owens has more zingers up his sleeve but goes to the back to deal with him in person. Owens jumps him from behind and they fight into the arena and into the ring. Security tries to break it up and Owens gets in a belt shot to end the show. Of note: Owens was wearing a Stardust shirt, as that man’s shirt closet must be amazing. Good brawl here, and it feels like a pay per view main event, which is quite the impressive feat for a television special.

Overall Rating: B-. The best thing I can say about this show is I want to see what happens tomorrow night. This show was designed to make Saturday Night’s Main Event more interesting and it pulled that part off. The action itself here wasn’t great, but it was good enough to move things forward. This show wasn’t the one that mattered, but rather the show that set up the ones that matter. Nice job on that front, with tomorrow being the important night.

Results
Michin b. Tiffany Stratton – Eat Defeat
Braun Strowman b. Carmelo Hayes – Running powerslam
LA Knight b. Solo Sikoa via DQ when Jacob Fatu interfered
Chelsea Green b. Bayley – Unprettier

 

 

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Survivor Series 2024
Date: November 30, 2024
Location: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

It’s WarGames night and that should be enough to carry the evening. In this case we have the men’s and women’s version, but there are also three title matches to fill out the card. That should be more than enough, as the card is looking rather excellent all things considered. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks a the two WarGames matches, with the other matches not really being important enough to warrant much time.

Since we’re going to have two of them, here are the WarGames rules:

• Two wrestlers start and fight for five minutes.

• After five minutes, the team with the advantage (as determined before the match) gets a three minute advantage.

• The teams alternate until all ten are in and then it’s first pin/submission to win.

The cage is lowered.

Women’s WarGames

Naomi, Iyo Sky, Bayley, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair
Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae

Bayley is a last second replacement for the possibly injured Jade Cargill. Jax and Bayley start things off with Bayley bouncing off of her but being smart enough to avoid a charge. They go between the ring where Bayley loudly calls for an elbow and is then elbowed in the face. Bayley takes her into the other ring and goes up for a super hurricanrana before taking off some weird shoulder pad to whip Jax.

That gets taken away and a running hip attack sends Bayley back into the first ring. Jax runs her over and it’s Naomi, wearing a freaking birthday hat, is in, albeit after grabbing some weapons (including a toilet seat). Naomi steps on her in the back then slides under a clothesline and helps double team Jax down. Jax gets the kendo stick but is knocked into the corner, where the toilet seat is put on her face for the Stinkface.

Jax gets double backdropped and it’s…well it was going to be Tiffany Stratton but Candice LeRae comes out of the cage instead. Some chair shots put Bayley and Naomi down and the slow beating begins. LeRae lays Bayley over some open chairs for a Lionsault and it’s Belair coming in (after getting a trashcan, a fire extinguisher, a table and a chair) to even things up. Belair drops LeRae onto the turnbuckle and puts Jax into the corner.

A dropkick sends a chair into Jax’s face in the corner (she was nice enough to hold it) and Tiffany Stratton is in to give the villains the advantage again. A handspring elbow connects and a middle rope G9 hits Belair. Naomi takes a chair from Jax and knocks her down with some not so great chair shots. Sky is in next and grabs a painted trashcan, which she uses a string to tie around her back. That’s broken up though with LeRae cutting her off, leaving the trashcan on top of the cage.

Sky and Stratton take turns flipping around until Sky chairs her down. Jax is back up to run Sky over and it’s Raquel Rodriguez coming in to a limited reaction. After taking her required time to bring in weapons, Bayley and Belair jump Rodriguez. Jax breaks that up and the villains wreck everyone until Ripley (in red for once, plus a horned mask) is in to complete her team. Naomi is back up with a double Rear View and almost everyone lays around a lot.

Rodriguez and Jax get beaten up in the corner and Ripley headbutts Jax down, leaving her as the only person standing. Morgan is in to complete the field and brings in a baseball bat, with Ripley taking the mask off, revealing black eye paint. Morgan’s big swing misses and the beatdown is on but Jax makes the save. Ripley is held for a bunch of bat shots to the ribs and the handcuffs are brought out, with Ripley managing to fight them off.

Sky and Bayley make the save and it’s a parade of shots to the face to put people down. Bayley gets caught with a Samoan drop as Sky and Stratton climb to the top of the cage. They both do flip dives (Sky with the trashcan) and everyone is down. Stratton pulls out the briefcase and teases a cash in but Sky makes the save with a fire extinguisher. Rodriguez is handcuffed in the corner and Belair drops LeRae face first onto the turnbuckle.

A legdrop gets two on Belair but Jax gets powerbombed through a table. Morgan grabs a baseball bat for some shots but Belair takes it away. A quick Oblivion onto a chair hits Bayley but Rodriguez saves Morgan from Riptide. Morgan’s Codebreaker sends a chair into Ripley’s face before they go up top. Ripley powers her up into a super Riptide through the table and Morgan is done at 38:03.

Rating: C-. They had some moments which worked, but my goodness this did not work very well. It was a mixture of a lot of blown spots, people standing around waiting for their spots, too many weapons, and just too much time overall. This is a match that would have been far better as a run of the mill Survivor Series elimination match, if nothing else as it would suit the styles better. Just way too long here and too much standing around waiting or screwing up stuff that didn’t need to be so complicated. This was possibly the weakest WWE WarGames match yet and that’s not nice to see.

We recap LA Knight defending the US Title against Shinsuke Nakamura, who returned and attacked Knight to jump back into the title picture. Mist was blown too and Knight was partially blinded.

US Title: LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Knight is defending and Nakamura has a very Samurai style entrance. Nakamura strikes away to start but Knight is back up with the stomping in the corner. A middle rope elbow to the back gives Knight two but Nakamura elbows him in the face. Nakamura’s basement dropkick rocks Knight but he ducks a spinning kick to the face.

The torture rack slam plants Nakamura and Knight puts him up top, where it’s an overhead belly to back superplex to drop Knight on his face. Knight knocks him back down though and hits the jumping top rope elbow…for no cover. Instead Nakamura rolls between the rings and grabs a reverse DDT onto the steel plate. Kinshasa gives Nakamura the title back at 9:52.

Rating: B-. I can go with the result, as either of them coming out with the title would have gone well enough. Nakamura coming back to lose wouldn’t have made a ton of sense, but it’s still a bit surprising that Knight lost the title so soon. For now though, it’s the right way to go and odds are the feud isn’t over yet.

Alpha Academy sell t-shirts, but Otis has forgotten his pants.

We recap the Intercontinental Title triple threat. Sheamus wants the one title he’s never had, Ludwig Kaiser wants to prove himself, and Bron Breakker wants to fight everyone.

Intercontinental Title: Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser

Breakker is defending. Kaiser is sent outside fast to start and grabs a chair but Breakker knocks him down. Breakker gets in a shot to Sheamus’ knee but Kaiser is back up to put the chair in the corner. Sheamus and Breakker hammer away on Kaiser in the corner but he cuts off both of them with running dropkicks on the floor. Breakker flies in with a shoulder to drop Kaiser though and then runs Sheamus over for a bonus.

Sheamus gets hammered down as well and Breakker does the Scott Steiner pushups back inside. Back up and Sheamus knocks him down but Kaiser is right there to take Sheamus to the floor. A powerbomb is broken up and Breakker hits a huge clothesline from the apron onto the announcers’ table to take both of them out. Breakker sends Sheamus over the barricade, where he rises up for some forearms to their chests.

The double clothesline off the barricade has Sheamus in control but Kaiser grabs the shillelagh. Sheamus drops him with ease and goes inside to slug it out with Breakker. The Celtic Cross gives Sheamus two but Breakker is back with the Frankensteiner. Sheamus avoids a charge into the chair in the corner though and the Brogue Kick connects, only for Kaiser to pull the referee out.

Kaiser unloads on him with the shillelagh but Sheamus is back with the knee to the face for two. Kaiser hits a Regal Roll on Sheamus and hits him in the bad ribs, setting up the wind up DDT. Breakker spears the heck out of Kaiser and does it again to Sheamus for the pin at 14:22.

Rating: B+. This was what I wanted out of a match like this, with Breakker looking like an absolute freak of nature. I could have seen any of them leaving with the title here and that is a great feeling to have on the way in. Sheamus almost has to win the title one day just to pay off the buildup, but for now it’s Breakker’s time and that’s what it should be. Heck of a match here.

We recap Gunther defending the Raw World Title against Damian Priest. This is more about the wrestler vs. the brawler, with Priest getting inside of Gunther’s had by messing with his confidence.

Raw World Title: Damian Priest vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending. They go technical to start with Priest grabbing an armbar and knocking him outside. Back in and Priest fires off some kicks, followed by a faceplant but Priest’s shoulder gives out on him so Gunther can have an opening. Gunther starts in on on the arm and takes it outside for some rams into various things. Back in and Gunther slowly starts kicking away at the arm, seemingly being happy that he is getting to take the fans out of this.

The double arm crank has Priest screaming but he fights up and scores with a kick to he head. Back up and Priest hits the running elbow in the corner into the lifting Downward Spiral for two with just the one arm. The arm gives out on the Razor’s Edge attempt though and Gunther grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up so Priest hits a super hurricanrana into the Razor’s Edge for two.

South Of Heaven is loaded up but the arm gives out, allowing Gunther to grab a Kimura. Priest gets over to the rope for the save but Gunther knows Priest is in trouble. Gunther takes his time going after him, allowing Priest to come back with a clothesline for a delayed two. Priest goes up top but has to shove Gunther down, only to crash out to the floor. Cue Finn Balor with a Coup de Grace off the steps to crush Priest, allowing Gunther to grab the sleeper for the win at 19:13.

Rating: B-. It was good enough but the ending being almost the same as the one from Summerslam didn’t help things. You can only get so much out of doing something so similar, but this does at least get Gunther past Priest and on to whomever is next. That’s a good thing to accomplish, as Priest can have his big blowoff with Balor once and for all.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

We get NFL style intros for the participants in the main event.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. The new Bloodline is running roughshod over Smackdown so Roman Reigns, the Usos and Sami Zayn have risen up to fight them. The Bloodline got Bronson Reed to help them, so Reigns called Paul Heyman to get CM Punk’s help. The idea is that if the Bloodline isn’t stopped here, they can’t be stopped.

Men’s WarGames

Bloodline/Bronson Reed
Roman Reigns, Usos, CM Punk, Sami Zayn,

Jey and Tama start things off and they take their time going after each other. Jey starts swinging away but misses an enziguri, allowing Tama to hit a sliding lariat into a powerslam. The slingshot hilo connects and Tama hits a splash before going for a cover out of instinct. Another basement lariat misses and Jey hits the running Umaga Attack in the corner. Bronson Reed is in next and he grabs a bunch of chairs, with Jey throwing them at Reed.

Some of them stagger Reed but he knocks another out of the air. Tama is back up and Jey gets dropped, with Reed hitting a big backsplash. Jey gets crushed again but it’s Jimmy Uso coming in to even things up. Jimmy doesn’t even bother with weapons but starts striking away and runs both of them over. Tama is sent into the cage and the Usos hammer away in the corner. Reed is sent into the cage as well and it’s….Jacob Fatu in on Solo Sikoa’s orders.

As he tends to do, Fatu wrecks everything in sight (well everything not on his team at least), including running Jimmy over. Jey is held up and taken down with a flipping slam and it’s all Bloodline. CM Punk is ready to enter, but Roman Reigns cuts him off and has Sami Zayn go in instead. Zayn hammers on Reed in the corner and stomps on him in between the rings. Fatu pulls a high crossbody out of the air but Jimmy hits a superkick to make the save, setting up the big hug with Zayn.

Fatu’s implant DDT plants Jimmy though and the Bloodline is in control as Tonga Loa comes in. Some tables are thrown in and the Bloodline slowly hammers away as the pace lowers a lot. Fatu hits a springboard moonsault and Jimmy is sent into the cage. Roman Reigns is ready to come in but CM Punk walks in front of him to even the score again. Punk looks back at Reigns, who shakes his head, before Punk grabs a toolbox. A bunch of toolbox shots to the head stagger the Bloodline and Fatu is dropped onto the toolbox…but he pops up and hits the Samoan drop to plant Punk.

Zayn is beaten in the corner and it’s Solo Sikoa in to complete the Bloodline. Sikoa slams the door onto Zayn’s head and then does the same thing to the Usos. A chain is brought in and the Usos are stacked up for Fatu’s double springboard moonsault. The Tsunami crushes Zayn as Sikoa is rather pleased. Punk tries to get up but gets beaten down, leaving Sikoa to use the chain to lock the door (Sikoa: “HEY ROMAN! YOU AIN’T GETTING IN HERE!”).

Reigns comes to the cage but can’t get in through the door so he climbs the wall and punches away to get inside, even diving onto all five at once. All ten get up and Reigns goes to glare at Punk. Cue Paul Heyman to say work together…and sure we’ll do that. We get the ten way slugout between the rings with the Bloodline getting beaten down. The Usos hit stereo Superfly Splashes on the Tongas.

Fatu and Sikoa wreck the Usos and go to slug it out with Reigns and Punk. Reigns ducks the Samoan Spike and spears Punk by mistake, allowing Sikoa to hit the Samoan Spike for two. Reed hits the Death Valley Driver but Fatu messes up the springboard moonsault and hurts his knee. Reigns is back up with a low blow to Fatu and a spear to Sikoa but Reed hits a superkick. Reed puts him on the table and climbs the cage (uh oh) but Punk makes the save, leaving Reed to crash through the table (which exploded).

Fatu breaks up the big handshake but gets Superman Punches. Sikoa hits a pair of Samoan Spikes but Jey makes the save, suddenly remembering that he’s in the match. The Usos superkick Fatu and give him the 1D, followed by Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb to Tama. Jimmy goes all the way to the top of the cage and, eventually, hits a Superfly Splash to drive Fatu through the table. Sikoa is left alone, leaving him t turn down the chance of acknowledging Reigns. A parade of finishers into the spear gives Reigns the pin at 41:55.

Rating: B. As usual, this match was far longer than it needed to be, but they didn’t rely on the weapons nearly as much as they did in the opener. At the same time, there was way too much laying around waiting to get something else going. That meant making the match go longer than it needed to and that is the case with almost every WarGames match. The ending felt like a pretty strong closing of the door on Sikoa, but there is a very good chance that the story could keep going. For now though, the good guys needed a win and then got one.

Post match Reigns and Punk show respect and Punk hugs Heyman, saying he’ll ask for the favor one day. Works for Heyman. The winners pose together to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, this show was built around two matches but in this case only one of them worked. The main event was rather good while the opener was pretty weak. The good thing is the three matches in between boosted up the rest of the card, making a good show that was done in about three and a half hours. The heroes won in the two major matches, which is a nice feeling at a bigger show. Good stuff here, with the main event working as well as it could have given the circumstances.

Results
Naomi, Iyo Sky, Bayley, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair b. Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae – Super Riptide through a table to Morgan
Shinsuke Nakamura b. LA Knight – Kinshasa
Bron Breakker b. Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser – Spear to Sheamus
Gunther b. Damian Priest – Sleeper
Roman Reigns/Usos/Sami Zayn/CM Punk b. Bloodline/Bronson Reed – Spear to Sikoa

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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It’s time to go north of the border as we’re in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the match and as has been the case for a few years now, the show is centered around WarGames. We have a men’s and women’s edition, with the men’s centered around the Bloodline civil war, with CM Punk and Paul Heyman being added in to really spice things up. That should be enough to make the show work so let’s get to it.

Intercontinental Title: Bron Breakker(c) vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser

This is the continuing saga of Sheamus trying to finally win the Intercontinental Title, which has been set up for years now before WWE actually pulls the trigger. That opens up the possibility of WWE going there this time around, though I’m not sure if that is what they’re going to do. Breakker holding onto the title is certainly a possibility, but Kaiser has been ding some very nice work recently as well.

I think I’ll go with Breakker retaining here as you don’t want him losing the title again so soon, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be stunned to see Kaiser steal the belt. Sheamus almost has to win the title at some point, which could make for a heck of a WrestleMania moment if that is where they want to go. For now though, I’ll take Breakker to retain, as it’s the best option at the moment.

United States Title: LA Knight(c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Here we have the other midcard title match, which is a bit less complicated, as Nakamura returned and went after the title, even misting Knight in the eyes. Knight isn’t happy and is ready to fight, as is Nakamura most of the time. Knight is in a weird place as he’s a fighting champion but this feud was just kind of dropped into place out of nowhere with little connection between them. On the other hand, Nakamura has been gone for months so he needs something to do.

I’m not sure what to do here but I’ll go with Knight retaining the title, possibly via DQ, as I don’t think this is it for the two of them. Knight shouldn’t be losing the title so soon but Nakamura shouldn’t be losing his first big match back. We’ll say Nakamura mists Knight again for the DQ to set up a rematch where Knight can go over clean, but for now they do something to extend the story.

Raw World Title: Gunther(c) vs. Damian Priest

This is a rematch from Summerslam where Gunther beat Priest for the title, albeit with help from Finn Balor. This time around it should be a bit more of a straight up match, though in this case Priest is getting inside Gunther’s head. Gunther seems to be questioning whether he can actually beat Priest, who has shown that he is capable of winning a fight rather than a match.

That being said, I can’t imagine the title changes here, as Gunther seems poised for some major matches going forward. We’ve already seen Priest having a major run with the belt so he can lose here to give Gunther the clean (well likely cleaner) win that he didn’t get at Summerslam. I’m not sure what is next for Priest at the moment, but he doesn’t need to get the title back. Yet.

Women’s WarGames

Now we get to the focal point of the show, as a pair of ragtag groups come together in the biggest team match that WWE has all year. Bayley is a last minute replacement for the (possibly) injured Jade Cargill and that has the radar going up. Someone attacked Cargill and there is a good chance that the attacker will be revealed during the match. That very well may cost the team, and odds are that’s where this goes.

I’ll take Team Jax to win here, likely through some kind of betrayal when the attacker reveals themselves. Bianca Belair herself would be a likely way to go (likely, not necessarily logical), with Naomi possibly taking the fall. Either way, this is going to be about what happened to Cargill and odds are we find out a big piece of that puzzle this week, especially with the last minute change having to take place.

Men’s WarGames

This is the big one though, as CM Punk and Paul Heyman are back to help cut off the Bloodline once and for all. I’m not sure how that is going to go, but at the end of the day it is going to be the latest chapter in the big drama. Heyman very well could turn on Reigns or they could fight off the Bloodline again. Either way, we could be in for something rather big, which is the point of the whole thing.

I think I’ll go with Reigns and company winning here, just because the team has been beaten down so many times lately. At some point they have to win something back and beating the Bloodline in WarGames would be a good place to start. I’m not sure where it goes from here, but for now, the Bloodline takes a loss, likely with one of the Tongas getting pinned to help preserve Sikoa’s status.

Overall Thoughts

This show is absolutely stacked, with three title matches and a pair of WarGames matches. That’s a pretty good lineup for one night and I want to see how it goes. We’re getting into the interesting time in WWE’s calendar as we have this, then two weeks before Saturday Night’s Main Event and then it is time to get ready for the Royal Rumble. This show is both part of the end and part of the beginning and the pieces are there for a rather awesome show if everything goes as planned.

 

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Smackdown
Date: November 29, 2024
Location: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and we’re taped after last week’s show. This week still has some implications for the pay per view as we’re going to need a replacement for the injured Jade Cargill in WarGames. That and the rest of the show will probably get some featured time so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of CM Punk and Paul Heyman returning to save Roman Reigns and company last week.

Here is Team Rhea Ripley, now with Bayley replacing Jade Cargill, for a chat. Ripley talks about how the team isn’t a bunch of friends, but they all have someone they want to get their hands on in WarGames. The rest of the team (Naomi, Bayley, Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair) agree but Team Liv Morgan interrupts.

Nia Jax brings up all of the other team’s past issues, with Morgan accusing Bayley of attacking Jade Cargill. Ripley cuts her off and says Morgan is going to have to face her. Various threats are made and the brawl is on in thee aisle. And on the stage. Some in the ring too. Security and referees make the save. Bayley makes as much sense as anyone else but there is always the chance that she’s up to something nefarious

Andrade vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura, now with some face paint, strikes away in the corner but gets taken down with a middle rope crossbody. That doesn’t get him very far as Nakamura hammers away again but Nakamura kicks him down, with the fans being rather pleased. Nakamura goes up and gets knocked to the floor with a springboard dropkick, setting up a moonsault to drop him again.

We take a break and come back with Andrade elbowing him in the face and grabbing a dragon screw legwhip. Nakamura catches him on top but gets elbowed down, setting up the double moonsault for two. Andrade misses a shot to the face but ducks Kinshasa, setting up the spinning backfist to the face for two more. Two Amigos connect, with the third suplex sending Nakamura into the corner. The running knees in the corner miss, with Nakamura pulling them turnbuckle off to make the crash even worse. Kinshasa finishes for Nakamura at 10:34.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of win that Nakamura needed to show that he’s still quite the threat, including possibly being able to take out LA Knight at Survivor Series. That’s the right way to present him and the match worked here, with Andrade putting in some effort. Nakamura looking good was the point though and him winning the title isn’t out of the question.

Post match LA Knight runs in to jump Nakamura but gets mist in the face.

Nick Aldis bans the Bloodline from ringside for Jacob Fatu’s WarGames advantage match.

Tommaso Ciampa rants at Johnny Gargano about how things have changed and now he wants to get the Tag Team Titles back. Gargano has one more week to figure this out or it’s Ciampa’s way.

Kevin Owens explains his history with the Bloodline, with everything he’s been through, only for his former friend, Cody Rhodes, to TEAM WITH ROMAN REIGNS. Now it’s time for revenge, with the title match being set for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Cody Rhodes vs. Carmelo Hayes

Non-title. Before the match, Hayes says Owens was right about Rhodes turning his back on his friends. Who needs enemies when you have friends like Rhodes? They lock up to start before trading rollups for two each. Hayes manages to knock him to the floor and then gets in a dropkick to the knee on the way back in. Rhodes is fine enough to hit a Disaster Kick and we take a break.

Back with Rhodes hitting a delayed superplex but Hayes grabs a spinning faceplant for two. Rhodes goes in a new direction with a running powerslam into a Figure Four, with Hayes making the ropes in a hurry. Hayes goes for the knee and breaks up the Disaster Kick but has to get out of a Cross Rhodes attempt. The Cody Cutter works better and now Cross Rhodes finishes Hayes at 11:17.

Rating: B. They started slowly but the pace picked up and it turned into a nice, fast match near the end. That’s all it needed to be, with Hayes being a good enough test for Rhodes. With Saturday Night’s Main Event coming up for Rhodes, he’s going to need to get in the ring time and Hayes has been needing something to do anyway.

Earlier this week, Paul Heyman held a sitdown interview with Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Naturally Punk showed up late to get on Reigns’ nerves, eventually showing up to say he’s here for Heyman rather than Reigns. That doesn’t work for Reigns, who doesn’t like anything about Punk.

Heyman says it’s over without Punk, and if Punk doesn’t help, he’ll be next for the Bloodline. United, at best, they survive. Punk still doesn’t care about Reigns but he’s here to avenge Heyman. If Reigns wants to revisit this after Survivor Series one on one, Punk is all ears. For now though, their wise man owes Punk a favor. Punk leaves and Reigns asks Heyman about the favor. Heyman will tell him if they get through WarGames. Well that’s ominous, and now we get to see where it goes from here. In other words, more good drama.

Women’s United States Title Tournament First Round: Piper Niven vs. Michin vs. Lash Legend

Chelsea Green is here with Niven, who gets hit in the face to start. Niven is fine enough to faceplant Michin and splash her for two with Legend making the save. A dropkick sends Niven to the floor and Michin sends Legend outside with a hurricanrana. That means a Lionsault to take the other two down but here is B-Fab to cut off an interfering Green. Legend kicks the distracted Niven in the face and we take a break.

Back with Niven hitting Michin with a cannonball and Legend having to make a save. Legend backbreakers Michin and chokeslams Niven for two (that was impressive), followed by a powerbomb for two on Michin. A super Piper Driver is broken up and Niven misses a middle rope backsplash misses, allowing Legend to hit the Lash Extension. Michin comes off the top for the save though and steals the pin at 10:19.

Rating: B-. As has been the case recently, Legend got to showcase her power here and it worked very well, with her throwing Niven around being rather impressive. Michin’s rise up the ranks continues and she is a dark horse to win the title. Niven was good as the monster to offer some issues, but Michin winning was a good way to go.

LA Knight is still ready for Shinsuke Nakamura, mist or no mist.

Survivor Series rundown.

Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso give Jey Uso a pep talk but Nick Aldis says it’s one on one.

Jey Uso vs. Jacob Fatu

For the WarGames advantage. Fatu shoulders him down to start and chokes in the corner. Back up and a running clothesline sends Fatu outside, where he tosses Jey into and over various things. We take a break and come back with Jey fighting out of a nerve hold and sending him into the corner. Fatu misses a charge into the post, setting up the running Umaga Attack for two.

Back up and Fatu plants him down, setting up a handspring moonsault for two of his own. The pop up Samoan drop gets two more but a Swanton hits raised knees. The Superfly Splash gives Jey two and Fatu rolls outside, with a suicide dive knocking him over the announcers’ table. Fatu Samoan drops him onto the announcers’ able (THUD), setting up the springboard moonsault for the pin at 13:49.

Rating: B-. This is what it should have been, as Fatu was making his singles debut and got to smash his way through someone with quite the level of success. Beating Uso feels like a big deal and it even has an impact on WarGames. This was a great way to get Fatu in the ring on his own for the first time and he more than held up his end.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a heck of a show, with nothing but good matches and an intense as heck Reigns/Punk/Heyman segment. I want to see what is going to happen at Survivor Series and that is a great feeling to have less than a day before the event. WWE is getting really good at hitting their stride before their big shows and they are doing it again here with an awesome Smackdown before Survivor Series.

Results
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Andrade – Kinshasa
Cody Rhodes b. Carmelo Hayes – Cross Rhodes
Michin b. Piper Niven and Lash Legend – Lash Extension to Niven
Jacob Fatu b. Jey Uso – Springboard moonsault

 

 

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Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

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

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

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

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

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

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

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

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

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

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

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

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

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

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

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

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

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

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

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

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

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NXT – 2

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

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

NXT Title: Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne

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

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

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

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

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

Team Smackdown argues over who should be the captain.

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

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

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

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

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

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

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

NXT – 1

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

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

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Standings:

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

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

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D

Redo: D+

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+

Redo: C

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B

Redo: B

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B

Redo: B

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-

Redo: B+

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B

Redo: C+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+

Redo: C

Overall Rating:

Original: B+

Redo: B+

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

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

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

 

 

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