IMG Credit: WWE

It’s finally, and I do mean FINALLY, here. After what feels like a thirty seven and a half year build, it’s finally time for Money in the Bank. Just like last year we have two ladder matches and just like most years, a majority of the people involved in the matches have no realistic chance of winning the briefcase. There are some other matches on the card as well though and hopefully the show is as entertaining as these have the potential to be. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Bludgeon Brothers(c) vs. Anderson and Gallows

We’re starting off with one of the most obvious endings on the card. Anderson and Gallows are former Tag Team Champions but haven’t really done much of late. Granted that might be due to WWE being unable to focus on much more than the champions and their #1 contenders at the same time, but what else can you expect from such a poor, helpless (and endless) creative team?

I’ll take the Bludgeon Brothers to retain of course, as there’s nothing going on with Anderson and Gallows while the champs are looking rather dominant. At this point I’m not sure who is actually going to take the titles from them as no one on the roster stands out. I do however know that it won’t be Anderson and Gallows, at least not for a long time. This is just going to be your usual ten minute Kickoff Show match with the champs retaining and that’s all it needs to be.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Carmella(c) vs. Asuka

Now on paper, this should be one of the squashiest squashes in the history of squashing. However, that’s not how WWE tends to roll and given how they’ve completely drained the energy from Asuka since WrestleMania alone, I’m not expecting her to get the title here. Throw in rumors of a certain chinless wonder returning to help Carmella and we have all the makings of one of the dumbest things that WWE could possibly do.

And unfortunately, that’s exactly what I expect them to do. I’ll take Carmella to retain with the help of James Ellsworth as Asuka loses her second singles match to someone who barely belongs in the same company as her, let alone the same ring. Carmella maybe a ball of energy, but after so many years of being undefeated, Asuka deserves something a lot better than losing to Carmella, who only has the title because of a match she won a year ago. They’re also likely to shout about how important the briefcase was and how it’s led Carmella to a win over Asuka, just in case the idea hasn’t been hammered in enough yet.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins(c) vs. Elias

This one intrigues me as you really could go either way wit h the thing. On one hand, Rollins is on fire and capable of having a good match with anyone or anything right now. Elias on the other hand has a heat all his own and has taken one of the more classic concepts in wrestling (insulting the live crowd) and turned it into a near art form, making him one of the best villains on the entire show. If he had the in-ring abilities to back it up (and he’s not the worst by any stretch), he could be World Champion by next year.

I’ll take Rollins to retain here, but I can’t imagine he holds the title much longer. With Summerslam coming up in about two months, it’s going to be high time to move him up to the next level and that means giving him a shot at the Universal Title. I can’t imagine them having it be champion vs. champion (though it wouldn’t shock me) and having Rollins lose to someone significantly lower on the card than him would be a major hit to someone who has been on the kind of roll he’s on. Rollins retains here, but his days as champion are coming to a close.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

They wouldn’t would they? I know this company loves to set up trilogies for whatever reason but egads tell me they’re not going to have Bryan lose here to someone like Big Cass. I like Big Cass, but there’s no reason to have him go over Bryan. Again, with Summerslam coming up in the near future, Bryan needs to be geared up for a big match, perhaps against the Miz. Therefore, unless Miz is out there costing Bryan the match, I don’t want to see anything but Bryan winning by whatever means.

Therefore, in what I hope is a show of good faith proven right, I’ll take Bryan here, probably via the heel hook that they’ve been building up as a finisher. The long legs would be a perfect target and it’s not like Big Cass doesn’t have it coming to him. Bryan doesn’t need the win but a loss would be a pretty bad blow to him. The fact that I have to worry about WWE having Bryan take the loss here is rather sad, but that’s the WWE that we live in today. Bryan goes over, at least I hope.

Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Ember Moon vs. Sasha Banks vs. Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana

Like I mentioned in the opening, there are various people who just aren’t going to win the ladder matches but have to be in there because Heaven forbid these things only have six people each. Therefore, you can write off Lana, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and probably Becky Lynch. At the end of the day, they’re all coming into this cold and there’s no reason to believe they’re going to pull down the briefcase.

With the remaining names, I’ll go with what should feel obvious and take Natalya, who is likely coming after her new best friend Ronda Rousey. It’s one of those stories where WWE has beaten us over the head with their ideas of subtlety, leaving little doubt of what’s going to happen. Or they’ll give it to someone completely random like they did with Naomi at the Women’s Battle Royal back at WrestleMania. But yeah I’ll take Natalya, which takes us to our next match.

Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax(c) vs. Ronda Rousey

Remember when Jax did that big speech about bullying and it sounded kind of ridiculous because she’s three times Bliss’ size and yet still took ten minutes to beat her both time? Remember how that seemed like something that would crush her momentum because it really didn’t work on any level? Well Jax is already back to mediocrity and now the only question is whether or not this show actually closes the show.

So yeah of course I’m going with Rousey to win here, and I think it might actually close the show. Well actually I think it ends with Natalya cashing in to take the title from her in all of ten seconds because Rousey isn’t used to wrestling and Natalya was just following the rules that Rousey didn’t know. That can set up the big rematch in Brooklyn, even if Natalya is one of the least interesting people you could possibly put the title on. Rousey should be fine, but this could go badly if she can’t handle someone of Jax’s size and lack of experience. But yeah, Rousey wins, as she should.

Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal

Let’s get this thing out of the way before I get buried by the booing from the crowd. I have no idea who the fans are going to go for here, but somehow it might wind up being Mahal, just because he’s not Reigns. What worries me more is that we might not be done seeing these two fight, meaning this is only going to be the first match in a series. But hey, if Reigns isn’t cheered here, maybe he can be cheered next time.

I’ll take Mahal to win here, likely through some form of shenanigans, which will set up a rematch at Extreme Rules which won’t be well received either. I’m really not sure what either of these two are expected to get out of a feud against each other but that’s what we’re stuck with. The more interesting thing here is going to be the crowd reactions though, as this match might even befuddle the Chicago fans. Either that or it’s going to be a new level of rejection and hatred, the latter of which is the more likely of the two.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

I know I’ve said this before, but Nakamura has to win the title here right? I mean, this is the fifth match these two have had against each other and there’s no reason for him to not get the belt already. This is a Last Man Standing match and that would seem to favor someone with a hard hitting finisher like the Kinshasa. Given how this story has been going though, it wouldn’t shock me if they went to a draw and we somehow got another match out of the thing.

With that being a possibility, I’ll hold out hope that Nakamura FINALLY wins the title here, as I can’t imagine how far he’ll fall if he goes 1-4 in the feud and never even wins the title. Styles has the longest reign with the title since Brock Lesnar’s reign that started when he beat John Cena at Summerslam 2014. The other problem is Styles being out of someone to fight, meaning it’s time to move the title on from him. Nakamura wins, as he should have done two months ago.

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn

The worst part about the whole build to this match? It should actually be pretty good. These two are more than capable of having a good match and Zayn has been such a great heel in the whole thing. There’s only so much they can do with this kind of terrible material though and Lashley never seeming to get upset in the whole thing hasn’t done them any favors.

Of course Lashley is going to win here, because he needs to give Zayn what’s coming to him or whatever, even though the story has been such a mess that I’ve forgotten why they’re fighting in the first place. Lashley should be moving on to something bigger, but Zayn deserves a big run of his own. I’m sure he’s too small to count in WWE though, especially when you have someone Lashley’s size. In other words: this continues to be a big mess and it’s not likely to get much better after the match is over.

Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. Xavier Woods/Big E/Kofi Kingston

The list of people involved in a match shouldn’t go on for three lines. That has to be a rule somewhere. Just like in the women’s version, there are some names here who aren’t going to win. Therefore, we can drop Roode, Balor, Rusev and whoever goes in from the New Day. I’d almost say Strowman is a stretch as well because they’ve built him up as too unbeatable to actually give him the win.

I’m going with Samoa Joe to win the briefcase. First of all, what’s the point in putting the briefcase on Monday Night Raw when they don’t actually have a World Champion most of the time? Samoa Joe comes off as the kind of guy who could be downright menacing with the thing and make himself out to be a real threat. Miz would be fun too, but I’ll go with Samoa Joe, just for the sake of really wanting to see him get the World Title which he’s deserved for so long.

Overall Thoughts

I’m not exactly thrilled with this show, though it has a tendency to be one of the more entertaining shows of the year. The problem is there’s only so much that you can get out of a show that had such a dull and boring build. The ladder matches are always worth a watch and there’s enough potential later on down the card to make it work out a little better. If the show is at least good, everything should be fine. Just not fine enough to warrant the excessively boring buildup.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 7, 2018
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

I’m actually more interested than usual in this show based on how different this week’s television shows went. Monday Night Raw was such a disaster while Smackdown was a perfectly watchable wrestling show. I’m not sure how they’re going to pull off a highlight show when almost nothing interesting was going on Monday but they’ve pulled off something similar before. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Mike Kanellis

Kanellis is still alive. Who knew? They fight over a lockup to start and Jose scores with a hiptoss. Some forearms in the corner have Jose in trouble and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Kanellis takes way too much time yelling at the conga line and Jose is back up with a clothesline. A superkick gives Kanellis too (with a blown kiss as he’s dedicated to this ridiculous gimmick) but Jose’s pop up right hand is good for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: D. There’s only so much you can do here and while Kanellis isn’t anything special, it’s nice to see some fresh blood on the show. As long as Maria gets back in the next few months (or whenever she’s ready to be back), Kanellis might have a fighting chance. Jose’s presence here makes more sense as he’s almost destined to be a house show opener at best, even if he has some potential to do more than that.

Now we’re often told what’s coming up next, but in this case we’re being told that two different matches are up next. A mystery is afoot and we have some actual drama! I mean, it’s as low level drama as you can possibly have and it’s likely going to be done by the time I’m done typing this but what else am I supposed to talk about on this thing?

From Raw.

Natalya vs. Nia Jax

Non-title with Ronda Rousey on commentary. Nia runs her over and knocks Natalya to the floor as we take a break. Back with Natalya fighting out of a chinlock and scoring with a jawbreaker. A discus clothesline puts Nia down for two but Natalya hurts her knee on the step over into the dropkick. The Samoan drop ends Natalya in short order at 7:22.

Rating: D. I’m still not sure why I’m supposed to be interested in seeing if Ronda can armbar Nia when she’s already armbarred HHH but you can’t expect them to keep continuity for a full two months. Nia’s rather abrupt heel turn and Rousey suddenly being friends with Natalya are both stretches but I’ve seen worse from this company before. Just keep the match at Money in the Bank short and they should survive.

Post match Nia checks on the downed Natalya and Rousey comes in to keep things safe. Natalya is all frustrated as Rousey helps her out. Nia didn’t get physical after the match and looked concerned.

And from Smackdown.

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

The threat of a Disarm-Her sends Charlotte outside so Becky settles for a headlock back inside. That’s escaped as well and it’s a standoff until they both catch kicks to the ribs. A double knockdown sends us to a break. Back with Becky going for the arm again but getting caught in a backbreaker for two instead. Lynch drops her one more time and gets two off a top rope legdrop but gets sent into the corner. The moonsault hits raised knees and the Figure Eight is countered twice in a row. The second counter is pulled into the Disarm-Her for the tap at 8:11.

Rating: C+. I’d love to believe that this is going to lead towards Becky getting into the title picture again as I have no idea why she hasn’t been a long reigning champion already. She has the look, the talking ability, the skill and whatever else might be needed to make a long reign work. Unfortunately since it’s Money in the Bank season, this win isn’t going to move her up the rankings but rather just be a momentum builder, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Lynch helps her up and everything is cool.

From Raw again.

Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

Owens easily takes him down to start and asks if that was too sweet. A headlock has Balor slowed down and we switch to a chinlock to really mix things up. Balor fights up into an armbar but Owens whips him hard into the corner to cut him off again. Back from a break with Owens holding another chinlock and Balor fighting up in short order. The kick to the head looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Owens rolls outside.

A snap of the arm over the rope puts Balor in more trouble and it’s off to an armbar. Balor fights up with an elbow to the face but gets superkicked back down. The shotgun dropkick knocks Owens into the corner, only to have him pop back up to crotch Balor. Owens stomps away and that’s a DQ at 18:34.

Rating: D-. So yes, after this horrible show, we’re really supposed to be interested in a DQ finish to a long and really boring match. These two are capable of so much more but since it’s Money in the Bank season, it’s time to sit around and do the boring matches for the sake of building momentum or whatever nonsense we’re supposed to care about this week.

Post match Owens hits the frog splash and climbs the really big ladder. He takes forever teasing the big splash off the ladder but Balor gets up and pulls him down. A Coup de Grace off the ladder crushes Owens and Balor pulls down a briefcase to end the show.

Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak

Feeling out process to start before Tozawa hits him in the face a few times. We take an abrupt break and come back with Gulak hitting a backbreaker and cranking on the arm. Gulak mixes it up with a second chinlock before just stomping away. That doesn’t sound like submission based wrestling, meaning I doubt it’s going to go anywhere.

Tozawa fights back so let’s cut to the crowd, then back to the ring, then back to the crowd in about ten seconds. A missile dropkick gives Tozawa two and he grabs something like AJ’s Black Widow. That doesn’t last long (of course) and Tozawa misses a charge into the corner, setting up the Gulock for the tap at 10:13.

Rating: C-. They need to do something with Gulak sooner rather than later as he’s getting this submission stuff over and could be a great foil for a variety of people, mainly the Cruiserweight Champion. I mean, we’ve established that he couldn’t go onto the other shows and do his submission stuff there because he’s just a cruiserweight and that would never work.

We’ll wrap it up on Smackdown.

New Day vs. Miz/Rusev/Samoa Joe

Woods wastes no time in forearming Miz down for an early two and it’s New Day alternating with elbows and splashes for two more. Joe tags himself in to face Big E. and this is already feeling bigger. Big E. suplexes him down and it’s off to Woods to try his luck. That would be bad luck as an enziguri puts him down and we take a break. Back with Woods fighting out of Miz’s chinlock but getting pulled down by the hair.

Joe comes in and gets kneed in the head, allowing the double tags to Miz and Kofi. Everyone else fights to the floor and the Boom Drop has Miz in trouble. Joe breaks up Trouble in Paradise and the DDT gives Miz two. Big E. comes back in and gets whipped into the Rock Bottom out of the corner. Rusev gets low bridged to the floor and Woods hits a big flip dive over the top.

Joe gets sent outside as well and Kofi hits a springboard trust fall to drop him again. Big E. spears Miz to the floor (that’s going to be a bad injury one day) and the Midnight Hour is broken up as Joe pulls Woods into the Koquina Clutch on the floor. Kofi dives into the Machka Kick and Miz posts Big E. The villains come back in….and Miz grabs the pancakes, which he throws at Joe and Rusev by mistake. One Machka Kick and a backsplash later and Miz is left down and alone. Kofi comes back in and the Midnight Hour is good for the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C+. I liked this one though it wasn’t as good as the New Day’s match from a week or so ago. They’ve certainly lost some steam but they’re still one of the best trios around. That Trust Fall alone, which looked like a springboard to Miz, was enough of a cool visual to make this work. The pancakes….not so much but that’s their thing and it’s not going away at the moment.

Overall Rating: D+. Yeah this show didn’t do much good after what we had this week. It’s not interesting TV and that’s been the case for a long time now. If they want to make people more interested, give us something more worthwhile to watch. Mike Kanellis was one of the highlights of this week’s show and that should tell you everything you need to know about what’s going on in WWE right now.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: June 5, 2018
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

Please just let it be better than last night’s show. With three TV shows between the two brands until Money in the Bank, it’s hard to say how much worse things could get. Last night’s Monday Night Raw was really not that well received but maybe the extra hour is what brought them down. It should be interesting to see how things go with just two hours and maybe less of a focus on the ladder matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Carmella to open things up. After demanding her praise from the crowd, it’s time to talk about Asuka. She knows Asuka is revered and that is more than enough to be intimidating. We see a video on Asuka’s best moments and Carmella says that’s impressive. Next though, we see the real Asuka, which was exposed at WrestleMania. Now she’s just the defeated Asuka, including losing her first match on SmackDown.

Cue Asuka, but before she can say anything it’s Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville interrupting. Mandy talks about getting close to defeating Asuka and knowing that she can be beaten. Sonya says Mandy left just enough for her to take out but here’s Paige to interrupt. Paige makes the matches around here so Asuka can pick who she wants to fight. That would be both of them of course and that’s next. Asuka needs to wreck these two as somehow she’s in need of some momentum. You wouldn’t ever expect that from someone like her but WWE managed to make Asuka lose momentum.

Asuka vs. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville

Carmella is on commentary. An early kneebar attempt has Sonya bailing to the ropes as Carmella eviscerates Saxton on commentary. Saxton: “If I were you Carmella….” Carmella: “THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE NOT!” Mandy gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Sonya hammers away in the corner to take over. Asuka fires up and hits some hip attacks but Carmella offers a distraction so Sonya can run Asuka over from behind.

The Moon Walk on the desk takes us to a break. Back with Asuka and Mandy slugging it out again until Asuka dropkicks the heck out of her. Stereo kicks to the face drop Asuka and Sonya but Deville is right back with a heck of a spear for two. With Mandy on the floor, the Asuka Lock makes Deville tap at 11:31.

Rating: C. Not bad here and thankfully Asuka didn’t lose again. I’m fine with her having to sweat a bit against these two but odds are she loses to Carmella (a new enforcer costing her the match wouldn’t shock me) and we get more of the same Carmella promo over and over. She’s good at it, but jumping from where she was to pinning Charlotte clean didn’t work for me then and it isn’t now either.

Post match Asuka has to deal with Mandy, allowing Carmella to hit her with the belt.

Miz is in the back practicing Mizjitsu when New Day comes in. They want some help revealing their member….Miz: “Rephrase.” They mean reaching in and pulling a name out of a hat, which Miz agrees to do. Miz reaches in and finds….pancake batter I think? He threatens them all with violence in tonight’s six man tag.

Karl Anderson vs. Harper

Harper hits him in the face to start and a forearm has Anderson down. A charge into the corner misses though and Anderson grabs a quick rollup for the pin at 2:18.

We look back at last week’s dance off.

Naomi promises to beat Lana and snatch the contract (no word on if that will render the contract bald).

Jimmy Uso/Naomi vs. Aiden English/Lana

The men start things off and English is already singing about Rusev. That goes nowhere and everything breaks down in a hurry with Naomi hitting a big dive over the top to take them both out (with English saving her from a broken neck as she was going to land on her head otherwise).

Back from a break with English offering a distraction so Lana can forearm her in the back to take over. A double arm crank keeps Naomi down and she can’t dive over to the corner. Naomi does manage a faceplant to put Lana down though and it’s the hot tag to bring in Jimmy. Everything breaks down and Naomi hits a high crossbody on English, setting up a superkick to the throat for the pin at 10:33.

Rating: D+. Just a match really but this is where Smackdown completely outshines Raw: they’ve put together this mini feud between Lana and Naomi to give them a reason to fight heading into the ladder match. Instead of just having them wrestle matches for the sake of wrestling matches, there’s something a little more personal and it makes things a mixture of a little more interesting and a lot easier to sit through. Now why can’t Raw get that?

We go to the back where Paige is moderating the contract signing between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles. After Paige explains the idea of Last Man Standing, AJ says this feels like it’s been going on forever with all of Nakamura’s tricks and mind games. It ends at Money in the Bank with AJ as the last man standing. AJ signs but Nakamura says the pen is out of ink. Paige has another one but Nakamura wants AJ’s. That one is broken and AJ is ready to fight with Dean Malenko and Adam Pearce holding him back. AJ gets in a hard slap anyway and leaves as Nakamura pulls out his own pen to sign.

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

The threat of a Disarm-Her sends Charlotte outside so Becky settles for a headlock back inside. That’s escaped as well and it’s a standoff until they both catch kicks to the ribs. A double knockdown sends us to a break. Back with Becky going for the arm again but getting caught in a backbreaker for two instead. Lynch drops her one more time and gets two off a top rope legdrop but gets sent into the corner. The moonsault hits raised knees and the Figure Eight is countered twice in a row. The second counter is pulled into the Disarm-Her for the tap at 8:11.

Rating: C+. I’d love to believe that this is going to lead towards Becky getting into the title picture again as I have no idea why she hasn’t been a long reigning champion already. She has the look, the talking ability, the skill and whatever else might be needed to make a long reign work. Unfortunately since it’s Money in the Bank season, this win isn’t going to move her up the rankings but rather just be a momentum builder, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Lynch helps her up and everything is cool.

Samoa Joe asks what you see when you look at him. Maybe a vicious man or a backwards moral compass? Tonight New Day will find out that those things are true but he wants more than that. He wants people to see a man who keeps his promises. Last week he climbed the ladder and pulled down the briefcase, just like he said he would. The people saw the future and they know it’s the truth. Any man who calls himself WWE Champion is a marked man and very soon, everybody gets it. Sweet goodness this man is awesome.

We get an old school platform interview with Big Cass, who brags about being tall. Years ago when he was in NXT, he was backstage at Wrestlemania XXX and once the show was over, he was getting his bag when he saw Daniel Bryan. All Cass could think was “really?” That should be him because a good big man will always beat a good little man.

We see a clip of Cass laying Bryan out and Cass brags about how big (with the camera looking up at him in a smart production choice) and smart he is and how he holds a grudge like no one else. At Money in the Bank, he’ll beat Bryan down and embarrass him, breaking his arms and legs so there won’t be any more heel hooks. Then Bryan can go be a garden gnome on Total Bellas because a little man like him will never survive in a big man’s world.

Sin Cara isn’t sure what happened to Andrade Cien Almas when Zelina Vega comes up. Almas accomplished nothing when Cara was his role model but Vega taught him to respect no one. She’s gone to Paige to set up a match between Cara and Andrade for next week and here’s Andrade to jump him.

New Day vs. Miz/Rusev/Samoa Joe

Woods wastes no time in forearming Miz down for an early two and it’s New Day alternating with elbows and splashes for two more. Joe tags himself in to face Big E. and this is already feeling bigger. Big E. suplexes him down and it’s off to Woods to try his luck. That would be bad luck as an enziguri puts him down and we take a break. Back with Woods fighting out of Miz’s chinlock but getting pulled down by the hair. Joe comes in and gets kneed in the head, allowing the double tags to Miz and Kofi. Everyone else fights to the floor and the Boom Drop has Miz in trouble. Joe breaks up Trouble in Paradise and the DDT gives Miz two. Big E. comes back in and gets whipped into the Rock Bottom out of the corner. Rusev gets low bridged to the floor and Woods hits a big flip dive over the top. Joe gets sent outside as well and Kofi hits a springboard trust fall to drop him again. Big E. spears Miz to the floor (that’s going to be a bad injury one day) and the Midnight Hour is broken up as Joe pulls Woods into the Koquina Clutch on the floor. Kofi dives into the Machka Kick and Miz posts Big E. The villains come back in….and Miz grabs the pancakes, which he throws at Joe and Rusev by mistake. One Machka Kick and a backsplash later and Miz is left down and alone. Kofi comes back in and the Midnight Hour is good for the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C+. I liked this one though it wasn’t as good as the New Day’s match from a week or so ago. They’ve certainly lost some steam but they’re still one of the best trios around. That Trust Fall alone, which looked like a springboard to Miz, was enough of a cool visual to make this work. The pancakes….not so much but that’s their thing and it’s not going away at the moment.

Overall Rating: B-. Holy Taylor Made Man of the 90s what a difference a night makes. This was a fun show with some good matches and stories that didn’t want me to let my hair grow so that it was long enough to pull out. It’s not great or anything but it didn’t have me begging to change the channel and after last night, that’s a major upgrade. Just having stories that tie into the ladder matches but aren’t exclusively about the ladder match makes a world of difference and the show was that much better as a result. Do this more often and I could downright tolerate Money in the Bank season.

Results

Asuka b. Sonya Deville/Mandy Rose – Asuka Lock to Deville

Karl Anderson b. Harper – Rollup

Jimmy Uso/Naomi b. Aiden English/Lana – Superkick to English

Becky Lynch b. Charlotte – Disarm-Her

New Day b. Miz/Rusev/Samoa Joe – Midnight Hour to Miz

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: May 31, 2018
Location: The Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

Another week, another focus on Money in the Bank. There isn’t much else to focus on this week as both Raw and Smackdown ended with a focus on the qualifying matches. Hopefully that doesn’t dominate this week’s show, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me as WWE has a tendency to get hooked on a single concept. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Akira Tozawa vs. Tony Nese

As usual, hang on because Nese needs to show off the abs. Tozawa just shouts at him and hits the surprise right hand. Nese misses a moonsault press but nips up to avoid a clothesline and kicks Tozawa in the ribs. A kick to Nese’s face looks to set up the backsplash but it’s way too early so Nese rolls away. Nese is right back up and puts him in the Tree of Woe for the crunch kicks to the ribs.

They’re going back and forth a bit too much here. A reverse torture rack (with Tozawa facing down instead of up) stays on the ribs but Nese drops him, only to get caught with a Shining Wizard. The required suicide dive (I’m sick of that move from everyone) sets up a missile dropkick for two. A pinfall reversal sequence leads to Tozawa kicking him in the head but getting crotched on top. The running Nese is good for the pin at 5:46.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as no one really got control for very long and it didn’t let either of them get much of a flow going. It’s not like the match was bad and Nese winning is quite the surprise, even if it’s never going to mean anything for him in the short or long run. Just not a very well laid out match.

Quick look at Jinder Mahal attacking Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns last week.

From Raw.

Here’s Elias for a song. He insists on how everything needs to be nice and calm but first, he needs the lights brought down closer because he can’t stand looking at this ugly crowd. Elias makes sure the sound levels are right and we take a break. Back with Elias still in the ring and threatening to leave again. Cue Seth Rollins for his title defense and he throws Elias’ stool out. Rollins vs. Elias sounds very appealing.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal

Rollins is defending and wastes no time hammering away in the corner. A Sunil Singh distraction lets Mahal knock him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Mahal working on the ribs and grabbing an abdominal stretch. Rollins sends him into the corner and then outside for the required suicide dive. Back in and a fireman’s carry gutbuster (Darren Young’s old Gut Check) gets two but the Khallas is countered. The Stomp misses as well and Rollins rolls him up for tow.

The low superkick into the Falcon Arrow gets two as well and dang it they’re doing the crowd reaction shots again. Sunil offers another distraction and gets ejected but it allows Mahal to chair Rollins in the ribs for two. The ejected Singh is back five seconds later so Rollins buckle bombs him into Mahal. That’s enough for Seth and he chairs Mahal for the DQ at 12:21. Please tell me they’re not going to do this match again next week.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t that bad and Rollins is still something close to a miracle worker but the ending has me worried that we’re seeing more of Mahal getting title shots. If they’re not continuing the feud though, I have no idea why Mahal didn’t take the Stomp for the pin. Then again I’m not sure why Mahal is still here anyway.

Post match Rollins chases Mahal off with a chair but gets guitared down by Elias.

Post break, Rollins is being put on a stretcher but gets up and walks to the back on his own as two fans sing Happy Birthday.

Quick look at the Women’s Title matches at Money in the Bank.

From Raw.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Gauntlet Match

Before the match, Bayley says numbers don’t add up and she’s going to Money in the Bank. Bayley is in at #1 and Liv Morgan is in at #2 with the Bayley to Belly getting rid of Morgan in ten seconds. Sarah Logan is in at #3 and blocks the suplex, only to fall victim to a rollup for the pin at 1:50. Logan and Morgan double team Bayley before leaving and it’s Ruby Riott in at #4.

Back from a break with Riott having survived and sending Bayley into the corner. The Riott Kick gets rid of Bayley at 7:01 and it’s Dana Brooke in at #5. Brooke gets sent into the corner and the Riott Kick is good for the pin at 8:44. Hometown girl Mickie James is in at # 6 and sends Riott into the post for an early two. A dropkick gets two and we take a break. Back with Mickie getting two off the middle rope knees, only to get rolled up with trunks for the pin at 15:32.

Sasha Banks is in at #7 (the last entrant) and starts fast with some rollups. The Bank Statement doesn’t work and Ruby gets two off a faceplant. Riott starts the trash talk so Sasha hits her in the face. Another faceplant gives Ruby two and Sasha’s top rope double knees get the same. The Bank Statement is broken up again so Ruby tries a monkey flip, only to bounce off the ropes into a tornado DDT for two. One heck of a powerbomb out of the corner gives Sasha two and here’s the Riott Squad for the distraction. Sasha fights them off with ease and the Bank Statement makes Ruby tap at 20:50.

Rating: D. Well that was terrible. I can’t stand gauntlets where the falls take such little time more often than not. If you can win a fall this fast, why do regular matches take ten minutes? They would have been better off just doing Riott vs. Banks and let them have a good match but, as usual, quantity means quality. I’ll take it over another meaningless singles match though.

Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose

Main Event gets its first conga line. Mojo jumps him during the entrance and charges him at the bell to put Jose in even more trouble. A clothesline and some right hands give Jose his first offense and he pounds Rawley down in the corner to even things up a bit. We get some Steve Austin inspired offense with a Thesz press into the right hands and Rawley bails to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Jose getting chop blocked and more stomping in the corner. Rawley scores with a splash in the corner and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Mojo misses a splash, allowing Jose to grab him by the head for a jumping neckbreaker. Jose loads up the pop up right hand but gets sent into the corner for Rawley’s running right hand and the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. I know Rawley isn’t going anywhere with this stuff as it’s not like they have room for someone fresh in the midcard on Raw (not when you can keep using the same people over and over again). Still though, it’s good to see him getting some ring time and some wins, even though he lost a few weeks back to make this momentum seem like a more recent decision.

And from Smackdown.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan

Cass gets stomped down in the corner as we get a rare Joe/Bryan alliance. With Cass on the floor, Bryan can’t moonsault over Joe so Joe suicide elbows Cass instead. Bryan dives onto both of them and we take a break. Back with Bryan getting kicked in the head and Joe’s backsplash getting two. Cass drops Joe and sends Bryan outside for a toss over the announcers’ table and it’s back to one on one.

Back in and Cass puts Joe on top but here’s Bryan to take Cass down and snap off a super hurricanrana on Joe. Cass takes Bryan’s head off with a hard clothesline for two and pounds away with some hard intensity as we take a break. Back again with Cass chopping Joe in the corner followed by the Empire Elbow for two.

The East River Crossing gets two on Bryan with Joe making the save. Bryan starts in on Cass’ knee but has to slip out of the Koquina Clutch. Joe gets sent outside but breaks up the YES Lock on Cass. There’s a flying knee from the apron to drop Joe and a missile dropkick to Cass back inside. The running knee hits Cass but Joe comes in and chokes Bryan out for the win at 21:11.

Rating: C+. The important thing here is they got the ending right. Joe was the right call to send to the ladder match and while I didn’t need to see Cass in the match, it was the right ending and that’s what matters most. I’m sure we’ll get Cass vs. Bryan again at Money in the Bank and hopefully that should finish things up. Decent enough match.

Overall Rating: C-. I still don’t care for Money in the Bank but maybe we can move on to anything else now that the qualifying matches are all set. However, there’s also the chance of more meaningless matches under the name of “building momentum”. If we’re really lucky, they’ll show it over and over again on Main Event too, because that’s all that matters at the moment. Run of the mill show here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: May 29, 2018
Location: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s dream match night on Smackdown as we have the final Money in the Bank qualifying match between Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe. I’d think that alone sums up the perks of tonight but we also get some more build between AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. This should be their final showdown but stranger things have happened. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Samoa Joe, despite being scheduled to wrestle later tonight. He pulls a ladder out and sets it up in the ring for a climb and takes down the green briefcase. Joe talks about the ladder being a connection between the earth and the Heavens. Jacob looked at his ladder and saw angels smiling down, but Joe’s ladder has no salvation. There will be no smiling, but after Money in the Bank, he’ll be smiling because he has this ladder.

Tonight, Joe will prove to Daniel Bryan that there are things far worse than forced retirement. Bryan needs to call Brie and have her tell their daughter a story. Brie needs to tell their daughter that Bryan will be home for Money in the Bank but he won’t be the same man. Bryan will be a man full of doubts and that’s because of a man named Samoa Joe.

Cue Bryan to say Joe crossed a line that he shouldn’t have. Bryan has his own vision and that’s Joe with a broken leg if he mentions Bryan’s family anymore. The fight is almost on but here’s Big Cass on a crutch. Cass expected nothing less from the shrimp and the blimp but that should be Cass’ briefcase. He’s tired of all this second chance talk and by word of General Manager Paige, Joe vs. Bryan isn’t happening.

Instead, Cass will be taking Bryan’s spot when Cass is cleared, which has already happened. Cass breaks the crutch over Joe’s shoulder so Bryan hammers and kicks away, only to be sent into the ladder. A briefcase shot to the head drops Joe and Cass poses. They were this close to something special there if they just started Bryan vs. Joe then but something that interesting seems beyond them.

Nakamura is walking through the back with cards numbering from one to ten, which he counts and drops as he walks.

Paige runs into Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, who accuse Paige of making mistakes. Like giving Asuka another chance when she doesn’t need it. Mandy thinks there are more deserving women out there so Paige gives her Asuka tonight. They leave and Renee Young comes up to ask about the Money in the Bank match. Say it with me: triple threat.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tye Dillinger

Tye goes after him to start but misses a charge and gets kicked to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Tye fighting out of a chinlock but getting kneed right back down. More knees in the corner set up the running knee in the corner but Tye gives him the Perfect 10 sign. Nakamura is done with this and hits the middle rope knee, setting up Kinshasa for the pin at 8:52.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here and I can go for that far more than having another staredown or brawl with AJ. This wasn’t a great match or anything (not that it was designed to be) but it was a way that we haven’t seen in far too long and it’s been effective for as long as wrestling has been around. Perfectly fine story building here.

Post match Nakamura hits another Kinshasa and counts to ten.

AJ Styles says this is a scary time for him because he’s up against a dangerous opponent in a match suited to the striker like Nakamura. That’s cool with AJ because he’s the last man in the arena, the last man to give up and at Money in the Bank, he’ll be the last man standing. Good stuff from AJ here.

Rusev Day sings Lana to the ring for a dance off with Naomi. We’re not ready quite yet though as here are the Usos to back Naomi up. They both dance with Lana doing her more traditional stuff and Naomi doing her standard dancing, they lock hands and dance at the same time, Lana takes her down with a neckbreaker and the fight is on. Lana slaps Jimmy though and Rusev Day is cleared out.

New Day and Miz/The Bar train for tonight’s six man with both teams using pancakes. Moving on.

New Day vs. The Bar/The Miz

They start fast with Woods being sent outside and we take a very early break. Back with the Bar taking turns on Kofi but Cesaro gets sent to the floor. Miz misses a charge but distracts Big E. so Cesaro gets back in to knee Kofi in the face. The SOS gives Kofi enough of a breather to dive over to Woods and the pace picks way up. Using Sheamus as a springboard, Woods takes Cesaro down with a flip dive to the floor.

Everything breaks down with Kofi diving onto Miz but getting dropped by Cesaro. A belly to back suplex/top rope ax handle combination gets two on Woods but it’s back to Big E. for the power. Miz makes a blind tag and hits a DDT for two with Kofi making a save. The slingshot dive is caught and Woods gets dropped onto the barricade. Kofi dives onto the Bar and the Big Ending puts Miz away at 12:06.

Rating: B. This was slow to start but once Woods came in, they were off to the races and tearing the house down. Just six talented guys going at full speed to have an entertaining match. Big E. getting the pin is a nice surprise and I’d love to see him getting the spot in the ladder match.

New Day looks up at the briefcases but still don’t say who is getting into the ladder match.

The Good Brothers are ready to win and Karl Anderson brags about his abs. At Money in the Bank, they’re going to beat the Bludgeon Brothers like a couple of….hang on as the Bludgeon Brothers come up on screen to say they’re going to destroy the Good Brothers by liquefying their bodies.

Mandy Rose vs. Asuka

Carmella is on commentary. Graves: “I feel like I’m in a park watching a beautiful baby chipmunk and there’s a falcon about to dive in!” Phillips and Carmella: “WHAT?” Hang on though as Deville jumps Asuka from behind. Asuka says ring the bell anyway and a gutwrench suplex gives Mandy two. A dropkick puts Asuka down again as Carmella is wondering when she’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Back from a break with Asuka fighting back and hitting the hip attack in the corner. There’s the missile dropkick but the Asuka Lock is broken up. The second attempt works and Mandy taps at 5:36. Not enough shown to rate but it was perfectly fine for what it was supposed to do.

Post match Carmella comes in and stares Asuka down.

Becky Lynch and Carmella argue over who is winning the ladder match. Paige comes in and brings up Team PCB before having the idea of tea time. I’m assuming that means a match at some point in the future.

Next week: Naomi/Usos vs. Rusev Day/Lana and Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch.

Andrade Cien Almas leaves the locker room and runs into Sin Cara, who says hello. Zelina Vega comes in and yells, saying Cara is a nobody. Cara says he and Almas go way back but Almas tells him to leave him alone.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan

Cass gets stomped down in the corner as we get a rare Joe/Bryan alliance. With Cass on the floor, Bryan can’t moonsault over Joe so Joe suicide elbows Cass instead. Bryan dives onto both of them and we take a break. Back with Bryan getting kicked in the head and Joe’s backsplash getting two. Cass drops Joe and sends Bryan outside for a toss over the announcers’ table and it’s back to one on one.

Back in and Cass puts Joe on top but here’s Bryan to take Cass down and snap off a super hurricanrana on Joe. Cass takes Bryan’s head off with a hard clothesline for two and pounds away with some hard intensity as we take a break. Back again with Cass chopping Joe in the corner followed by the Empire Elbow for two.

The East River Crossing gets two on Bryan with Joe making the save. Bryan starts in on Cass’ knee but has to slip out of the Koquina Clutch. Joe gets sent outside but breaks up the YES Lock on Cass. There’s a flying knee from the apron to drop Joe and a missile dropkick to Cass back inside. The running knee hits Cass but Joe comes in and chokes Bryan out for the win at 21:11.

Rating: C+. The important thing here is they got the ending right. Joe was the right call to send to the ladder match and while I didn’t need to see Cass in the match, it was the right ending and that’s what matters most. I’m sure we’ll get Cass vs. Bryan again at Money in the Bank and hopefully that should finish things up. Decent enough match and that’s all it had to be.

Post match Cass kicks Bryan in the head to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I had a good time with this show and they got through a fair amount of stuff in two hours. If nothing else it was a good idea to shift the focus away from the World Title match, which is pretty much set up for good at the moment. Other than that the rest of the pay per view was getting some good focus and that’s what it needed. Better show than usual as of late and that’s a very nice thing to be able to say for once.

Results

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Tye Dillinger – Kinshasa

New Day b. The Miz/The Bar – Big Ending to Miz

Asuka b. Mandy Rose – Asuka Lock

Samoa Joe b. Daniel Bryan and Big Cass – Koquina Clutch to Bryan

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: May 22, 2018
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

We’re getting closer and closer to Money in the Bank and this week is going to be all about some major announcements. In this case, that would mean the announcement of which New Day member will be participating in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, along with the stipulation for AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Miz in the ring with MizTV to get things going. Miz starts off with the big news that his reality series Miz and Mrs. will debut on July 24, right after Smackdown. With that out of the way, it’s time to bring out his guests, the New Day. After insulting their taste in television for not being sure if they’ll watch Miz and Mrs., Miz asks which of them will be in Money in the Bank. Their answer: Me!

Woods lists off everything Miz has done and praises his success but Miz asks why Kofi has never won Money in the Bank. Kofi won a lot of titles but six of those matches in and it hasn’t gotten him anywhere. Big E. has crazy amounts of charisma and power but hasn’t gotten the spotlight. Then you have Woods with his YouTube empire. Miz can’t remember the name of the game Woods might stream, but imagine if it was streamed with him as WWE Champion.

New Day each picks a different member to get the shot so Miz yells at them to pick something. Kofi picks Big E. but Woods says they’re talking about tonight. Miz says no match because they won’t give him what he wants. That makes them shame him, which means throwing pancakes at Miz to send him running. Once Miz gets to the back, Paige sends him back to the ring to face Big E. right now.

Big E. vs. The Miz

Woods is on commentary as Graves asks how Miz can be prepared to compete. Woods: “He’s in his gear!” Big E. tosses Miz into the corner but gets kicked in the ribs. The abdominal stretch cuts Miz off and the spanks are thrown in for some humiliation. Big E. even scores with the apron splash but Woods says that’s the round. Kofi pulls up a chair and pours some syrup into Big E.’s mouth like a boxer would do between rounds, even down to the spit bucket.

Miz sends him into the barricade though and we take a break. Back with Kofi now on commentary and still not picking who is going to the ladder match. Big E. charges into a knee but here’s the Bar to go after Woods. Kofi dives onto both of them but the distraction lets Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 10:47.

Rating: C-. I could go for a Big E. push but that doesn’t include him losing to Miz. Then again, this could probably be classified as building momentum and that means he can lose all he can and then win the ladder match. Or they could go with whichever member of New Day doesn’t lose a match on the way to the show.

We look at Daniel Bryan beating up Big Cass last week, who isn’t cleared to compete.

Bryan talks about dealing with Big Cass and now he’s ready to get another shot in Money in the Bank by beating Jeff Hardy tonight and moving on to face Samoa Joe in a qualifying match next week.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Billie Kay vs. Lana

Aiden English introduces Lana and sings the Lana Song. Not to be outdone, the Iconics sing a duet about Lana being a loser. The bell rings and Aiden pulls out a LANA DAY sign as Tom mentions that Lana has never won a singles match. Royce slaps Aiden so Lana slaps Billie and the fight is on. Back in and Lana scores with a kick to the head, followed by a sloppy facebuster for the pin at 1:12. A big LANA DAY chant breaks out.

Zelina Vega wants more respect for Andrade Cien Almas.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. ???

Almas laughs in his face to start and punches him down. A few elbows give the jobber a breather so Almas elbows him in the face. The running knees in the corner set up the hammerlock DDT to give Almas the pin at 1:53.

Carmella says she’s ready to beat Asuka because she’s not ready to slip and fall. Charlotte shattered the Asuka myth at Wrestlemania and she’s beaten Charlotte twice. Therefore, she’s twice as good as Charlotte. Stick to screaming champ.

Here are AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura o announce the stipulation for Money in the Bank. Nakamura doesn’t understand what a stipulation is but can show us a clip of him defeating Styles last week. He’s been thinking very carefully and wants to dishonor Styles at Money in the Bank. Nakamura picks a pillow fight, which AJ doesn’t think much about. Not that it matters as Nakamura wants to dishonor AJ at Money in the Bank.

The fight is on with AJ blocking the low blow and taking it outside. A chair shot misses as well and Nakamura gets sent into the crowd. AJ tries a springboard off the barricade but gets chaired down, allowing Nakamura to hit Kinshasa. Nakamura makes it a Last Man Standing match. Makes sense given most of their matches.

Usos vs. Anderson and Gallows

The winners gets a title shot at Money in the Bank. After some trash talking before the bell, the fight is on with the Usos knocking them both to the floor for a big dive from Jimmy. Back with Jey kicking Anderson in the head but knocking him into the corner for the tag off to Gallows. That just means another kick to the head and a Superfly Splash for two. Gallows hits his own superkick and the Magic Killer sends Anderson and Gallows to Money in the Bank at 5:20. Not enough shown to rate but it’s high time to give the Bludgeon Brothers some fresh competition.

The Last Man Standing match is confirmed.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Naomi vs. Sonya Deville

Naomi starts fast with some rollups for two each as we see other qualifiers watching in the back. Sonya gets in some right hands and a shot to the back for two. A spinebuster gives Sonya two more but Naomi comes back with some kicks. They trade enough kicks for a double knockdown, only to have Naomi grab another rollup for the pin at 4:21.

Rating: D+. Naomi is the right call as she’s a bigger star and has the crazy athleticism needed to make something like the ladder match fun. I’m not sure what Sonya did to warrant getting a second chance at getting into the match but at least they got the winner right, which isn’t always the case.

Jeff Hardy is excited for a chance to be in the ladder match because he can do a lot with ladders.

Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan

The winner gets Samoa Joe, on commentary here, in a Money in the Bank qualifying match next week. Feeling out process to start until Bryan shoulders him down for two. The moonsault over Jeff into the running clothesline is countered with an atomic drop. Bryan rolls outside and we take a break. Back with stereo crossbodies putting both of them down again.

Its Bryan up first and kicking Jeff to the floor but missing the apron knee. Jeff scores with a running clothesline from the apron but takes too long going up top. The delay allows Bryan to tie him in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick. Jeff blocks a belly to back superplex though and scores with a Whisper in the Wind for two. The Twist of Fate is countered and Bryan kicks away, only to get caught with the Twist.

The Swanton hits knees (with a great bounce off the crash) so Bryan kicks him in the head for two more. Another Twist is countered into a dragon screw legwhip and Bryan slaps on a heel hook for the tap at 11:23. That would be the second time that the US Champion has lost clean in Money in the Bank matches.

Rating: B. Champion losing again aside, this was a fun match with both guys looking like stars who could have gotten the win. Bryan needed the win to get back on track after the Rusev loss, but I’m not sure I can picture him beating Joe next week. Then again I’m not sure I can picture Joe losing to Bryan either, and that makes for a much more interesting match.

Post match Joe says Bryan gets him next week. Joe goes to the back and says next week, Bryan goes to sleep. Yes yes yes.

Overall Rating: C. I never thought I’d have to say this, but it’s amazing how much better a show is without a segment involving men in drag pretending to be Bobby Lashley’s sisters. It also helps to have some of the matches actually mean something, which is a big place where Raw failed. Having more qualifying matches tonight made the show feel important and with a big main event next week, Smackdown is already looking like it’s in the lead against Raw.

Results

The Miz b. Big E. – Skull Crushing Finale

Lana b. Billie Kay – Facebuster

Andrade Cien Almas b. ??? – Hammerlock DDT

Anderson and Gallows b. Usos – Magic Killer to Jimmy

Naomi b. Sonya Deville – Rollup

Daniel Bryan b. Jeff Hardy – Heel hook

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

When a D- is too generous.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-reviewing-review-backlash-2018/

IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2018
Date: May 6, 2018
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Jonathan Coachman, Tom Phillips

Yes it’s another big show as we’re closing in on the end of the longest month in WWE history. This is the third part of the Wrestlemania and Greatest Royal Rumble trilogy, meaning it’s time to redeem Roman Reigns. Again. Other than that we have AJ Styles defending the Smackdown World Title against Shinsuke Nakamura for the third time this month. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Ruby Riott vs. Bayley

The Riott Squad is in Ruby’s corner and there’s no Sasha Banks, despite Bayley asking her to be here. They fight over a headlock to start but Bayley takes him down, only to miss an elbow. A Sarah Logan distraction lets Ruby get in an STO and we take a break. Back with Ruby dropping a knee and grabbing a chinlock. Logan offers another distraction to cut off a comeback, followed by Riott sending Bayley face first into the middle buckle.

It’s off to a cravate for a bit until Bayley manages a double springboard crossbody (which only kind of hits) for two. Bayley slides outside for a hurricanrana on Logan and snaps Ruby’s throat across the ropes. The top rope elbow gets two but Liv Morgan gets on the apron, allowing Ruby to hit the Riott Kick for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C-. This was a story advancing match and that’s fine for what they had here. They basically had a Raw match and made it clear that Bayley needs Sasha around to help win this fight, even if they don’t get along. That was accomplished in about ten minutes and the crowd is warmed up rather than doing two battle royals and a title match over the course of an hour and a half. See how much better that is?

The opening video asks what Backlash is, which transitions into a discussion about how everything changes tonight with the shows being co-branded. You know, unlike Wrestlemania and Greatest Royal Rumble, which totally weren’t co-branded.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz

Miz is challenging and this is Raw vs. Smackdown. Cole already makes me scratch my head by saying the last person to switch brands with the title was Rob Van Dam in 2002. By what I can find, there have been about five such instances in between, including Dean Ambrose last year and MIZ the year before that. They fight over a wristlock to start with Rollins getting the better of it but getting kicked off the top to the floor.

Miz sends him face first into the announcers’ table and it’s chinlock time. A knee to the ribs sets up a DDT for two on Seth and it’s almost all Miz early on. Miz hits a running crotch attack to the back but Rollins sends him into the corner. A suicide dive has Miz in even more trouble and a rollup gets two. The Blockbuster gets the same and Rollins is rolling until Miz pulls him face first into the apron.

Not that it matters as Rollins kicks him down and scores with the frog splash for two. Another suicide dive is broken up with a forearm so it’s time for a slugout on the apron. The ripcord knee hits the post though (sick thud) and Miz grabs the Figure Four. With the announcers guaranteeing a new champion, Rollins turns it over for a bit but is turned back over, sending him straight to the ropes for the break. The Skull Crushing Finale is broken up and Rollins nails the enziguri.

Rating: B-. They were going for the big epic match here and that went flying out the window as soon as the Skull Crushing Finale didn’t work. At that point you knew Rollins wasn’t losing here (you could argue that was the case as soon as this was announced as brand vs. brand) and the rest was just Rollins limping between doing all of his usual stuff while WWE talked about how amazing he was. It was still good enough but nowhere near what WWE is going to present it as being.

We recap Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss. Nia won the title at Wrestlemania after dealing with Alexa bullying her for months. This turned into Bliss saying that Nia was the real bully, including some hilarious PSA style vignettes of Bliss talking about Nia being a horrible person. Tonight is the rematch with Bliss trying to get the title back.

Raw Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

Nia is defending. Bliss goes straight for the knee (she must have been watching the previous match) and tries a quickly broken sleeper. Nia bends the arm back and throws Bliss around but a kick to the head puts the champ down. A little trash talk gets Bliss in trouble as Nia puts her on her shoulders (and calls a ton of spots) until Bliss rakes the eyes.

Nia is still able to toss her off the top and then throws her from corner to corner three straight times. Egads at least don’t look like you’re stalling. Bliss shoves her off the top to break up a Vader Bomb though and a DDT on the steps knocks the champ silly. Back in and Nia tries the super Samoan drop but gets kicked in the leg to give Alexa two more. Twisted Bliss takes too long though and the Samoan drop retains Nia’s title at 10:37.

Rating: D. I get that they have to fill in time but my goodness they couldn’t miss the point with this feud any more if they tried. The two matches have combined to be about twenty minutes and they should have been about a tenth of that. Bliss shouldn’t be any sort of a physical threat to Nia but they had her get close to beating Nia multiple times, which is as dumb as you could get. The fans weren’t into this and I can’t blame them a bit as I wasn’t either. Nia isn’t an interesting champion but we’ll stick with her holding the title for now because….something about bullying.

Post match Nia says that was for everyone who has been bullied. So the solution to bullying is to grow to twice the bully’s size and beat them up?

We look at Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in the cage match at Greatest Royal Rumble.

Samoa Joe says he’ll beat Reigns tonight.

US Title: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Orton is challenging after winning a triple threat match a few weeks back. Jeff gets elbowed in the face to start and a shoulder puts him down for an early two. Back up and Jeff sends him outside for the clothesline from the apron, only to get dropkicked for two back inside. Orton sends him into the Tree of Woe and stomps away as the “methodical” pace continues. They head outside with Jeff hitting Poetry In Motion off the steps and there goes the shirt.

Back in and Orton dropkicks him outside again, setting up three straight drops onto the barricade. Inside again and this time Orton drops him onto the top rope to change the pace a bit. We hit the chinlock and the announcers bring up Orton losing the Smackdown World Title to Jinder Mahal at this show last year. In case the match wasn’t dull enough you see. The RUSEV DAY chants begin so I’m guessing you can pencil him in to lose in two minutes on Tuesday.

Jeff finally fights up and hits a basement dropkick to set up Whisper in the Wind (with Orton standing there and staring at him even as Jeff was climbing the ropes). The Twist of Fate and RKO are both countered so Orton settles for two off the powerslam. Jeff misses the slingshot dropkick in the corner (the Hardiac Arrest, which I kind of like) and Orton gets to stand there a bit longer. The hanging DDT connects but the RKO is countered into a Twist of Fate. Jeff drops the Swanton to retain at 12:02.

Rating: D. Nope. I’ve seen Orton put in more effort at a house show. This was a match I’d send back to the cook and ask him to actually try this time. It was clear that they weren’t even trying here and that makes for a very long match when there’s not much of a story in the first place. And yet, somehow this was better than the original idea of Orton vs. Mahal.

Here’s Elias for a song. Before he starts though, he talks about being friends with Bruce Springsteen, who calls him the boss and regrets being from New Jersey. Elias told Bruce to tune in tonight because Bruce is going to like his song. The fans keep applauding to prevent Elias from singing. He gets up and teases leaving over and over to draw some BOO/YAY chants until New Day cuts him off with Big E. carrying a marching band drum.

Elias: “You guys want some autographs or something?” New Day wants to walk with Elias but that means a solo performance. Elias tells Jojo to introduce him again but here’s Aiden English to cut them off with a song about how New Day needs to stick with the merchandise and Elias plays a nice guitar but today is Rusev Day.

Rusev says this isn’t about the bootleg Bob Dylan but Elias says this is his night and tells Jojo to introduce him again. Now it’s No Way Jose interrupting with a conga line, including Titus Worldwide and Breezango. Elias looks like he wants to shoot himself (I feel for you buddy) and even Graves is feeling sorry for him. Elias says cut the music and Jojo does her intro for the fourth time. This time Bobby Roode interrupts with a Glorious DDT and everyone leaves in the conga line. Well except English who Rusev cuts off.

By the way, it’s about 9:30pm EST and we have five matches left. This show is on the east coast so yes, they’re really expected to just be in the arena until after midnight on a Sunday night.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass. Bryan is back in the ring and Cass came over to Smackdown in the Superstar Shakeup. Cass is a bully to someone Bryan’s size and wants to show him how a superstar should be. For reasons unclear, Cass isn’t Miz’s new bodyguard yet.

Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan kicks at the knee to start (this is the second match of four tonight to focus on bullying and the third of four to include someone working on the knee) and tries the YES Kicks until Cass spinebusts him. Due to reasons of being rather horrible people with no taste in wrestling (or life in general), the fans want Enzo.

Cass stops to pose before hitting a loud chop up against the ropes. Bryan slips out of an over the shoulder powerbomb and kicks away in the corner but gets sent up into the air for a big crash. A running clothesline turns Bryan inside out for two but Cass misses the big boot. That’s enough to set up the big kick to the head and Bryan takes him down, hammers at the side of the head, and grabs the YES Lock for the very fast tap at 7:57.

Rating: D+. Yes that’s really it for Bryan’s single return on pay per view: a TV match with Bryan pretty easily dispatching of someone he should have pretty easily dispatched of. I’m as shocked as you are, but remember that they had to come up with something to make up for the time that was spent on the HILARIOUS segment that came between the matches.

Post match Cass beats Bryan up even more and hits the big boot.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match. Carmella cashed in Money in the Bank to take the title from Charlotte on the Smackdown after Wrestlemania and Charlotte is trying to win the title back from the less talented champion. The Iconics have been running around tormenting Charlotte as well.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Carmella vs. Charlotte

Carmella is defending and they trade struts to start. Charlotte misses a big boot so badly that I had to rewind to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. That sends Carmella to the floor (presumably with the wind knocking her down) and she tries to leave with the title, only to be sent back inside. Charlotte sends her outside but gets caught with a superkick for two. We hit the chinlock with Carmella telling the referee to ask her. She’s not Canadian enough for that.

A lot of screeching ensues, followed by Carmella cranking on both arms at once. Charlotte kicks her away but gets slammed head first onto the apron to cut her off again. Back in and Carmella tries the Staten Island Shuffle but gets speared in half. Carmella is right back with the Code of Silence (the leg Crossface) but Charlotte powers out. Charlotte goes up top for the moonsault, tweaks her knee, gets kicked in said knee, and gets rolled up for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: D. That would be four out of five matches involving a knee injury. Carmella winning clean helps a bit but every day she has the title is another day that someone like Becky Lynch doesn’t, which is rather irritating. She’s a very good character, but I’m over the “this person could be beaten at anytime” champion. The match was as tolerable as it was going to be, and that’s about as much praise as I can give the thing.

We recap the Smackdown World Title. AJ Styles beat Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the title at Wrestlemania but Nakamura turned heel and has abused Styles’ groin ever since. Tonight is No DQ with Styles wanting revenge.

And yes, this means Reigns is headlining. Again.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Styles is defending, there are no disqualifications, and this is the third time they’ve had a big match in four weeks, making it a recurring dream match. Nakamura channels his inner Kevin Owens and bails to the floor at the bell. AJ will have none of that and sends him into the barricade, followed by kicks to the back inside. They fight to the floor again with Styles sending him face and ribs first into the barricade.

Nakamura comes back by GOING AFTER THE KNEE (take a freaking shot) and hits some running knees to the head as the fans are split again. The pace slows and Nakamura gets two off a knee drop. A hard kick to the head drops AJ again and it’s off to a front facelock. The No DQ rule has only been a factor for a little bit so far and hasn’t meant anything since they’ve been back inside. The hold is let go and Nakamura kicks him to the floor. AJ starts a comeback until another shot to the knee cuts him off, followed by a dragon sleeper back inside.

That’s escaped as well and Nakamura hits a running knee in the corner. The jumping middle rope knee gets two on AJ and it’s time for a chair. AJ knocks it away but gets kicked in the head for his efforts. The reverse exploder onto the chair gets two but AJ chucks the chair at Nakamura’s knee (with the chair bouncing back into AJ’s face, drawing blood from his knee). The Calf Crusher goes on but Nakamura reverses into a triangle choke.

AJ powers up and hits a running forearm to the back of Nakamura’s head for two. There’s the low blow but AJ hits one of his own to even things out. They fight to their feet and stereo low blows take both guys down. The referee gets to ten and that’s a double knockout, meaning AJ retains at 21:12.

Rating: B-. This is where the Greatest Royal Rumble hurts things. That finish would be fine in the second match of a feud but it’s the second draw in nine days. There was zero reason to not give Nakamura the title here and now we probably have to wait for Money in the Bank for the big blowoff. The No DQ thing wasn’t much of a factor here, but that’s to be expected in something like this. I enjoyed what I saw but egads stop stretching things for the sake of stretching things.

Bobby Lashley/Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens

Fallout from some recent tag matches, including the first match between these teams a few weeks ago on Raw. Sami hides from Lashley to start before headlocking him for little success. Owens comes in, gets suplexed, and hands it back to Sami who gets sent into the announcers’ table. A dropkick knocks Lashley off the apron and the beating begins, including Sami’s chinlock. Lashley comes back with a Downward Spiral but Owens breaks up a hot tag attempt.

The actual hot tag comes in a few seconds later and it’s Strowman coming in to clean house. The chase is on with Strowman running Owens over, catching Sami to throw him into the barricade, and then running Owens over again to continue the rather running (ahem) gag. Sami loads up a Helluva Kick but opts to walk out instead. Owens talks him back into staying, but Sami throws Owens back in to face Strowman. Sami tries his luck and bails again, leaving Owens to take a spinebuster from Lashley. The delayed vertical suplex pins (the illegal) Owens at 8:20.

Rating: D. Yes, this got time on pay per view, and yes a former World Champion just got pinned by a vertical suplex. Somehow this felt even less interesting than I was expecting it to, even if it was about the same thing they did on Raw a few weeks ago. That’s this show in a nutshell though: we’ve seen it before and it’s not as interesting this time around.

Post match Sami yells as Owens takes a running powerslam.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe. In short, Roman is all sad because he can’t beat Brock Lesnar so Joe is going to choke him out of his misery.

Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns

Joe jumps him before the bell, drawing even stronger cheers than he had earlier. They fight to the floor and Joe Rock Bottoms him through the table before the match actually starts. Reigns gets thrown over two announcers’ tables but makes it into the ring, saying he can go. The bell rings and Joe hammers away in the corner, followed by a knee drop. Cole’s analysis: Reigns doesn’t want to lose tonight. We hit the neck crank with Joe saying Reigns just has to go away. So Joe is the new voice of the voiceless.

Reigns fights up but eats an enziguri in the corner for two. It’s off to another chinlock as the BORING chants start up. Joe sends him outside for the suicide elbow and we hit the armbar because this hasn’t felt long enough already. The fans try a THIS IS BORING chant before just going with the booing. Reigns fights up and hits a big boot, followed by the apron dropkick. Some clotheslines (running and corner variety) have Joe in trouble but he knocks Reigns down and gets two off the backsplash. Fans: “PLEASE DO SOMETHING!”

A spinebuster gives Reigns two but a second apron dropkick is countered into a choke. That’s broken up as well and Reigns gets two off the Superman Punch. The Rusev Day chants are cut off as Joe cuts off a spear with a kick to the head. The spear hits a few seconds later with Joe getting his foot on the ropes for two.

Another spear is blocked with another spear and the Koquina Clutch goes on. Reigns stacks him up into a rollup for two but an O’Connor Roll is countered into another Clutch. Reigns is almost out but fights up, which is enough to make Joe let the hold go for whatever reason. Back up and the spear ends Joe at 18:08.

Rating: D-. Reigns wins. Why? Because F*** YOU that’s why! This was a wreck with a huge chunk of the match being spent laying around in holds, possibly for the sake of being able to blame the bad match on Joe (Would that really shock you?) and then HAHA SPEAR FOR THE PIN. Reigns gets his win to make himself feel better while Joe loses again because who cares about Joe (or so says WWE). Totally terrible main event with the wrong ending in the wrong spot on the card in front of a crowd that did not care at all.

Overall Rating: D-. I wanted to call this a failure but the Intercontinental Title and Smackdown World Title matches just barely keep it afloat. The problem here wasn’t about the wrestling, which while bad, has been done far worse before. This was a combination of nothing happening (no title changes, little angle advancement, and AJ vs. Nakamura is continuing) and feeling like the company putting it together had never done a major show. There was never a point where I was excited or interested in what was going on here and the show felt like it was never going to be over.

Nine days ago, the Greatest Royal Rumble ran over five hours but this show felt longer. It really was so uneventful and so boring that I was trying desperately to find anything to care about by the end. I don’t know if creative is out of ideas (REALLY bad sign this close to Wrestlemania) or if the wrestlers are just spent but we’re right back where we were before Greatest Royal Rumble started. Other than Matt and Wyatt being Tag Team Champions, what has changed since then? We really are just going in a circle at this point and I’m not sure why Money in the Bank is going to make things any better.

This show was far from the worst thing I’ve ever seen but it was one of the biggest wrecks I’ve ever seen. There’s no flow to the show, there’s little logic in the booking, there’s very little that interests me, and now we’ll have to wait for Reigns to get his smile back or whatever it is that he’s doing while waiting on Lesnar’s next title match to be set up. There are some nice moments on here, but my goodness these people look like they just need a vacation soon. Let us have a nice break or change something up, because I haven’t seen them running on empty like this in a LONG time.

Results

Seth Rollins b. The Miz – Stomp

Nia Jax b. Alexa Bliss – Samoan drop

Jeff Hardy b. Randy Orton – Swanton Bomb

Daniel Bryan b. Big Cass – YES Lock

Carmella b. Charlotte – Kick to the leg

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura went to a double knockout

Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley b. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn – Suplex to Owens

Roman Reigns b. Samoa Joe – Spear

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Here we go again. In case you haven’t had enough big shows in the last month, it’s time for Backlash 2018, which isn’t exactly a show that I’m fired up to see. A lot of the matches have been done either at WrestleMania 34 or at the Greatest Royal Rumble, or even both in one case. The show doesn’t have any sizzle to it and the wrestlers seemed spent this week on TV. Hopefully things can pick up on the bigger stage though. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Bayley vs. Ruby Riott

Does anyone else think this third women’s match was added as an apology for the Greatest Royal Rumble issues? I’m not saying that’s good or bad but it feels like a very real possibility. This is a match designed to help advance another story in the form of Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and that’s perfectly acceptable. Banks vs. Bayley should be outstanding and they’ve both been dealing with Riott on the way there.

I’ll take Bayley here as she overcomes the odds of the Riott Squad (and potentially Banks) to set up the big match down the line. That’s going to be the case with another match later on the card and it’s not doing much to make me think that this is more than a pit stop on the way to something more important. This should be a fine match, but nothing that we wouldn’t see on Raw. In other words: it’s perfect for what it’s doing.

Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax(c) vs. Alexa Bliss

Assuming Bliss is capable of having the match after her recent cosmetic surgery, I’m not sure what to do here. I know the most logical move is to just have Jax squash Bliss once and for all to keep the title, but is that really necessary? Jax got her big win at WrestleMania and honestly, she’s not the most thrilling champion in the world. You get the idea of the character with one look at her and she doesn’t need to be champion to make that work. Bliss is the more versatile star and could be a top star for a long time to come.

I think I’ve talked myself into it so I’ll go with Bliss regaining the title here. Bliss is the more interesting option as champion and there’s no reason to keep the title on Jax. She got the big title win so just move us on and get back to Bliss having really good matches against the rest of the division. Jax can get the title back to recharge her career later, but the WrestleMania win is all she’s going to need for a long time.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

I’m surprised we haven’t found out that Cass is working for Miz yet. That’s what makes the most sense in the whole thing as Miz can easily say that Cass is an upgrade over the Miztourage (which he is) and that he’s sent Cass to deal with Bryan wanting revenge. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting to Bryan vs. Miz, which should be one of the most entertaining stories in a long time.

Of course I’ll go with Bryan though, as there’s no reason to have him lose for a LONG time. Let him go out there and make Cass look better than he has in his entire career and see what he can get out of the big guy. It makes perfect sense and as mentioned, it can keep things moving towards the important matches down the line. Just don’t let Cass kick Bryan in the head too hard. Please?

SmackDown Women’s Title: Carmella(c) vs. Charlotte

Please let me be right on this one. I really don’t want to see Carmella wasting our time as being the champion in over her head who still manages to escape the more talented challengers over and over. She’s the latest example of someone winning the title by way of the mythical briefcase and that’s almost never a good idea to bring someone up to the next level. I know Charlotte has held the title for a long time but I’d take that over Carmella as champion.

Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. As much better as Charlotte would be as champion, WWE isn’t likely to be wasting the Money in the Bank cash-in so close to the next Money in the Bank show. Odds are the Iconics cost Charlotte the match here to continue that feud and we move on the someone like Naomi challenging for the title. Hopefully we get the title back on Becky Lynch sooner rather than later, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes some time to get the thing off of Carmella.

Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens

Pick your favorite reason why this one does nothing for me. Is it because one of the teams has to lose? Maybe because we just saw this match a few weeks back on Raw? Or do you prefer that we could have had Lashley and Strowman win the titles at WrestleMania and skipped the whole Nicholas thing? Either way, I’m not exactly thrilled with this one as every day Strowman isn’t the World Champion or at least chasing the title is another wasted day.

I’ll go with the monsters winning, but there’s almost a guaranteed split to set up a feud coming up soon. I can’t imagine they’ll win the titles (Lashley is no Nicholas) but I’d rather go with the feud than wasting Strowman in a tag team for months on end. Zayn and Owens would be better options to go after the titles (on their way to the World Title scene that is, whenever Lesnar finally loses the stupid thing) down the line, though for now I’ll have to live with them losing.

United States Title: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. Randy Orton

Well, it worked ten years ago right? Hardy’s singles run is starting to take shape and if it’s anywhere near as successful as it was back in the day, the WWE is sitting on at least a silver mine. He’s still crazy popular and there’s money to be made in pushing him like this (assuming he doesn’t screw the whole thing up again of course). Orton is still flailing around like he’s been doing for years now and while that’s not good, he’s a good choice for this match.

As you might have guessed, I’ll take Hardy to retain here as he could use another big win under his red, white and blue belt. A nice run as US Champion could go a long way in making Hardy seem like a big deal again and if this leads to him getting back to the main event on his own, it could be a lot of fun for WWE and the Hardy fans. Orton losing isn’t going to do a bit of harm to him and it’s the right call here. Hardy retains, as he should.

Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe

Let’s get this one over with. I’m sure you know where this is going and that’s not the best thing in the world. Reigns recently lost in Saudi Arabia in another match that makes him look like the least successful undisputed top stars of all time. Now that he’s lost to Brock Lesnar (again, though this time due to being screwy rather than just getting pinned), it’s time to get him back on track and who cares what that costs to get him there.

So yeah, I’ll be going with Reigns over Joe here because that’s what WWE thinks will make me get more interested in the Raw main event scene. Samoa Joe could be ready to become one of the top stars on SmackDown Live but for some reason we’re likely getting another Reigns win to no reaction because that’s what matters in WWE, no matter what happens. The match will likely be very good as it usually is between these two, but Reigns wins because that’s what he does.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins(c) vs. The Miz

Egads can we get done with these interpromotional matches already? Either wait for after Backlash to set up the roster switches or don’t announce stuff for the pay per view until after the switches have been made. Things like this takes away from the drama (unless they have some big surprise switch in mind) as they’re not likely going to send the title back to SmackDown, or send Miz back to Raw, in such short order. Then again either of those things would make my head hurt more than anything else so maybe I should bet on them.

I’ll go with the hopefully sane choice though and pick Rollins to retain. WWE seems interested in pushing the heck out of him and it wouldn’t make a bit of sense to take the title off of him yet. Let Miz get ready for his Bryan feud and go from there while Rollins finds someone new to feud against. Rollins needs the title more at this point, though there’s no question that Bryan vs. Miz for the title is very appealing. But yet, Rollins retains.

SmackDown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This is No DQ and there’s not much of a reason to keep the title on Styles here. In theory this could be used to switch Styles over to a #1 contenders feud with Samoa Joe, which could set up a heck of a match for the title, though heel vs. heel would need to be addressed. They’ve built Nakamura up for months now though and having him lose in another title match wouldn’t make sense.

Again I’ll go with a decision that might come back to haunt me and pick Nakamura to walk out with the title. He’s been primed up to become champion for over a month now and if he loses again, I’m really not sure what else they can do to keep him back near the top. Go with the smart move here as Nakamura Kinshasas Styles low to win the title.

Overall Thoughts

I’m just burned out on the big shows right now. WrestleMania 34 was just a month ago and now we’re on a third major show since then (including a show whose presentation was on par with WrestleMania). There comes a point where it’s too much in such a short span and we passed that last Friday. It’s hard to make myself care about a bunch of people and matches that I saw on a bigger stage recently but that’s the WWE calendar for you.

I’m not sure how this show is going to fill in the extra hour, as eight pay per view matches don’t seem like enough for the time. Either they’ve got something planned or the four hours isn’t accurate. One way or another, it’s going to be a long night that hopefully gets wrapped up so the wrestlers (and fans) can have a breather.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: April 19, 2018
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

Things are finally starting to settle down around here but that means we have a bunch of highlights to get through first. In this case we have the full on Superstar Shakeup, which should fill in the show rather well. Other than that, we might be seeing some new names getting relegated to Main Event status. Let’s get to it.

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

In memory of Bruno Sammartino.

Opening sequence.

Karl Anderson vs. Curt Hawkins

Hawkins celebrates a headlock takeover and gets dropkicked down. Anderson gets pulled throat first into the top rope and we hit the stomping for two. The chinlock keeps Anderson in trouble until he suplexes his way to freedom. A running boot to the face gives Anderson two but he walks into a Michinoku Driver for the same. Hawkins is already done though and it’s a running kick in the corner, followed by the top rope neckbreaker to extend the losing streak at 5:15.

Rating: D+. Hawkins keeps getting in offense but there’s only so much you can expect from him when he’s losing this much. At this point there’s not much left to do other than giving him a win over someone or letting him go. The win alone will be worth at least a little something, if nothing else for the people who have been watching Main Event. So like eight people?

From Raw.

Here’s General Manager Kurt Angle to start things off. He gives us a quick introduction but here’s Sunil Singh to announce that Jinder Mahal is now on Raw. Jinder isn’t happy that he was brought here in an SUV because he only travels in a limousine with a motorcade. Angle doesn’t like some of this but wants to be treated like Brock Lesnar around here. Kurt suggests that Jinder email him his issues and gives Sunil his address: Kurt.Angle (which he has to spell) @ NOFREAKINGWAY.com. We settle things in the ring here so it’s time for a title match RIGHT NOW.

US Title: Jinder Mahal vs. Jeff Hardy

Mahal is defending. The fans are behind Hardy (because they have taste) as he slugs away in the corner. A dropkick to the back of the head and a clothesline off the apron rock Mahal and we take a break. Back with Jeff in a chinlock for a good while until a big right hand drops him on the apron. Jeff is fine enough to shove him off the top though and the Whisper in the Wind gets a breather.

Sunil gets dropkicked down (and hopefully shut up) and a basement dropkick gets two on his boss. Things are starting to pick up but a jumping knee to the face looks to set up the Khallas (which Cole calls a half nelson slam). Jeff slips out so a big boot to the face gives Mahal two more. A Twisting Stunner out of nowhere drops Mahal though and the Swanton gives Hardy the title at 11:27.

Rating: C-. Not a great match (to be fair, Mahal) but Jeff winning the title is a great way to get him back on the fast track (and to give hope to impaired drivers everywhere). Hopefully Mahal falls WAY down the ladder now, though I’m curious to see what happens to Orton’s title shot as a result. Just please not another triple threat. Is that too much to ask for?

From Raw again.

Here’s Roman Reigns to talk about how he’s here again tonight, unlike Brock Lesnar. He’ll win the title in Saudi Arabia and bring it back here full time. Cue Samoa Joe to say Reigns is a great talker but never talks about getting the job done. I remember him doing plenty of jobs. Joe talks about how Reigns can never put him away and at Backlash, he’ll put Reigns to sleep again.

We see a video of Lesnar destroying Reigns at Wrestlemania so Reigns wants to fight now. Joe comes down the ramp twice before walking away, as expected. Again: if they want Reigns as a big deal, DON’T PUT HIM OUT THERE WITH PEOPLE WHO SLAUGHTER HIM ON THE MIC!

And, from Raw.

It’s time for MizTV with some special guests who will change Raw forever: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, who Cole flat out said COULD NOT be included in the Shakeup. Cole brings it up again here but Coach and Graves basically tell him to get over it. The five of them have a group hug with Miz saying this is better than the NWO and calls the team better than the Avengers. They won’t be held down by Shane McMahon or Kurt Angle, the latter of whom comes out with a rebuttal.

Apparently this can’t happen but Owens says plans have changed. There was an email sent out earlier tonight and Sami has printed it out. With his glasses on (that’s funny for some reason), Sami reads that Angle’s decision on Sami and Kevin’s status has been overturned because Stephanie McMahon thinks they proved themselves last week.

Owens is thrilled but Angle has some news: Miz is now going to Smackdown, as per Daniel Bryan’s request. Miz takes it in stride but gets even more bad news: the Miztourage is staying on Raw. For a going away present though, the five of them can face Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman and someone making their Raw debut.

From Smackdown.

Miz didn’t like Daniel Bryan tweeting about wanting to punch him in the face. That’s not happening tonight because Miz is in Los Angeles with Maryse and his newborn daughter. He’ll be here next week and he’ll kick Bryan’s a….Maryse: “Mike! Language!” Miz: “You catch my drift.” That match is going to be awesome when it takes place.

Recap of who went where.

Gran Metalik/Lince Dorado vs. TJP/Ariya Daivari

Metalik flips away to start and kicks Daivari down for two. TJP comes in and kicks away, setting up something close to an Octopus Hold. That goes nowhere so Metalik bounces off the ropes for an armdrag. Dorado comes in for two off his falling splash and the masked guys tease a double dive as we take a break.

Back with TJP cranking on both of Metalik’s arms until a right hand breaks things up. Daivari sneaks around and pulls Dorado off the apron in a rare useful move. Not that it matters as Metalik backflips out of a double belly to back suplex for the real hot tag. TJP’s sunset flip gets two but the springboard Stunner into the shooting star gives Dorado the pin at 9:47.

Rating: C+. Another nice little match here, even if it’s something we’ve covered so many times before. If the cruiserweights do get the Tag Team Titles, I hope they’re defended here a few times (I know they won’t be) as the tag matches around here aren’t exactly interesting in the first place. Just give them a little something to work with and maybe this will get better.

We’ll wrap it up with some more Smackdown.

AJ Styles/Daniel Bryan vs. Aiden English/Rusev

Bryan wastes no time in taking English down into a surfboard so AJ can come in off the top with a shot to the chest. Rusev tries to come in and the threat of a double submission sends the villains bailing to the floor. Back with AJ fighting out of English’s chinlock but getting backdropped for two. Rusev comes in and stomps away as the fans aren’t as in to the RUSEV DAY chants as before. It’s almost like you can kill a crowd if you try.

It’s back to English who dives to keep Styles from the tag. That earns him a Pele and the double tag brings in Bryan and Rusev. Everything breaks down and Bryan scores with the YES Kicks on Rusev. Graves: “You can’t call them that because the Miz is coming to Smackdown Live!” Phillips: “Oh shut up.” There’s the running knee to Rusev but here’s Nakamura with a low blow to Styles. Cue Big Cass to kick Bryan in the head for the DQ at 12:38.

Rating: C. I heartily approve of this Cass push. I was a fan of the guy before he got hurt and now without the little fungus around him, there’s potential there. They must think something of him if they’re putting him with Bryan right off the bat, as Bryan can definitely get a good match out of him.

Cass stares down at Bryan and Nakamura still can’t speak English to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Like I said at the beginning, it makes sense to have some big stuff to focus on for a show like this. The big moments from Raw and Smackdown helped a lot as it made the show go by that much faster. On top of that though you had a pair of nice original matches, making this one of the better Main Events in recent memory.

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