IMG Credit: WWE

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I hope I can at least. These things have gone from one of the worst shows of the year to THE worst show of the year, somehow finding new lows to reach. Last year’s Crown Jewel was one of the worst things I can ever remember seeing for a wrestling show and I don’t see this one being a massive improvement. It isn’t about the wrestling content but rather about what kinds of stupid decisions they make and expect us to just accept. This could be a complete nightmare as it tends to be so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Battle Royal

This is one of those ideas that has been around since house shows began because it is something that will always work. The winner gets a shot at the United States Title later in the night so how bad can this be? Above all else, it feels like a bunch of lower level guys getting a chance to get a one off title shot so it isn’t like the winner is going to mean much in the end.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll go with Cedric Alexander winning, as his feud with AJ Styles is a few months old now and it would make the most sense to go back in time for a match like this. It’s easy, it’s inoffensive and the match will likely wind up being pretty good. Why mess with a formula that works? I mean, very little has worked on this show in the past but at least they might have something with Alexander winning.

US Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. ???

So yeah I think you get the idea here and unless you’re reading this out of order (I’ve heard worse ideas), you know where I’m going with the pick. What matters most here is giving the fans a good match and thankfully Styles is the kind of wrestler who can do that against anyone. There is no reason to rock the boat whatsoever on this one and they would be smart to just do what they have done so many times.

Therefore, just like he has every time, I’ll go with Styles to win and retain over Alexander. I’m sure the match will be fine and likely go about ten minutes, making it pretty much what they do on any given show. Alexander is someone you can easily buy as a viable challenger and his stuff will look good in a major stadium. Now all that you have to do is find a way to bring him back up after choking so many times in his big match.

Natalya vs. Lacey Evans

Just in case you needed more reinforcement in the concept of NEVER SAY NEVER. This is the kind of thing that I never believed could possibly happen and yet here we are. WWE did not announce this one until the day before the show, which sadly may have been to weaken the impact and culture shock that would come with it. It really is a big deal, though we’ll have to see if it is something that keeps going in the future.

I’ll take Natalya for the win here as she is the perfectly safe pick that WWE would love to push here. I know she isn’t the most interesting wrestler in the world and that has been the case for a long time now. On the other hand though, you’re going to get a steady match and that is going to be a better idea than putting Evans out there with someone who doesn’t have enough experience to make something work on the big stage.

Mansoor vs. Cesaro

Yeah we’re doing this again. I get that Mansoor is actually decent in the ring and I’ve liked a few of his appearances in NXT. He isn’t some incredible, can’t miss prospect or really even anything close to it, but he can handle himself in the ring and is someone that can be put out there to give the Saudi Arabian fans something to cheer about, but don’t pretend that he’s anything more than that. What they’re doing here isn’t a secret so let’s just get it over with.

Of course Mansoor wins here because it’s not like he’s around for anything else. Go with what makes sense from this show’s perspective and have Cesaro lose (AGAIN) so Mansoor can get the home country pop. I know it doesn’t mean anything because it’s on one of the Saudi Arabian shows, but they better realize that Cesaro is probably bailing from the company as soon as he can and this is just the latest reason that he’s running.

Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman

This would be another example of a match that is only taking place for the sake of the live crowd, because the Saudi Arabian government wants some star power for their money. Fair enough, and Fury has been a heck of a promo when he is given the chance, but this has a chance to be a serious disaster. Strowman isn’t the most graceful wrestler in the world and he hasn’t even been wrestling for that long, but now he’s supposed to be able to walk Fury through a match? In these conditions? That’s how this is supposed to work?

I’ll go with Strowman here, but I have a really bad feeling that it is going to go to Fury for the sake of the surprise. That being said, even if Strowman loses, does it matter? Last year’s match against Brock Lesnar at this same show is about as bad of a result as he could have had and now we’re just stuck waiting on him to do anything else because for some reason WWE doesn’t think that someone tripping at the goal line every time will ever hurt him. Strowman wins, but I have very little confidence in either the pick or his future.

Team Hogan vs. Team Flair

Here’s your legends match, as we are really supposed to pretend that Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair was ever a rivalry between two sides that were even close to equal. This feud has been dusted off in the WWF, WCW, Impact and now WWE again, plus on Hogan’s own tour of Australia. How we’re still doing this is beyond me, but at least this time there will be some other wrestlers there to share some of the spotlight. I mean, like 3% of it but it’s better than nothing.

Of course Team Hogan gets the nod here, as there is no reason for them not to. This is the kind of match that is designed for the legendary face to win while Flair, who has been bragging about being cleared to take a bump (because he’s nuts and no one will be sane and tell him no) gets to lose and kick his feet again, because that’s how this rivalry (and I use that term loosely) has gone for about twenty five years now. Hogan’s team wins, because that’s what he does when he faces anything associated with Flair.

Tag Team Turmoil

If there is one match that shows you how divorced from reality this series of shows really is, it’s this one. You have a rather ridiculous nine teams in one match, including both Tag Team Champions, and the prize is the title of BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD. Now one would think that would just be Revival vs. Viking Raiders, but why do that when you can do it MUCH FREAKING BIGGER???

Just for the sake of making my head hurt, I’ll go with New Day here, because they lost on SmackDown but since that doesn’t matter, they’ll win here and then not win the titles in their match on Friday. It makes the least sense possible from a narrative perspective so I find it to be the most likely outcome. This is probably going to get a lot more time than it needs, which tends to be the case with a lot of gauntlet style matches these days.

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar(c) vs. Cain Velasquez

I’m not sure what to say here as I get the concept, but it isn’t something that gets me overly interested. Normally I would say that there is no chance Velasquez wins, but at the same time we’re going to be seeing a women’s match in Saudi Arabia so that line of thinking isn’t quite viable. It’s been about nine years since Velasquez mauled Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Title and Lesnar is out for revenge, while Velasquez is fighting for Rey Mysterio and Dominick, both of whom were injured at Lesnar’s hands.

I’m going to go with what makes sense here and pick Lesnar, but I have this feeling in my gut (which is almost never right) that they might give it to Velasquez. The biggest problem I see with that though is what in the world they could do with Velasquez, who has wrestled less than three career matches, after that. I’ll take Lesnar here, but a freaky ending that sets up a WrestleMania rematch wouldn’t shock me.

Universal Title: Seth Rollins(c) vs. The Fiend

And then….this. It takes a lot to actually make me annoyed about a wrestling show but their first match did the trick. For reasons that only WWE could explain to you, they felt the need to not only put their hottest act in the Cell, but have him lose in the least intimidating way possible. It was booed out of the building and WWE hasn’t been the same since that took place. Now it’s the rematch and the question is how can they mess this up again?

I’ll go with Rollins here, because it’s the dumbest thing that they could do. Fiend is in trouble after everything that has happened to him as of late and the best thing possible for him would be to no sell the Stomp and win this in about two minutes. WWE loves having the title on Rollins too much for that to happen though, so Rollins retains here and WWE gets to spend even longer trying to figure out why their audience is shrinking and why the Fiend keeps getting weaker reactions.

Overall Thoughts

Does anyone actually want to watch this show? The entire series has become a nightmare for WWE fans, though I’m sure the company doesn’t mind due to the crazy checks they receive for them. The wrestling has rarely been the problem here, but there is a real chance that we are going to be in for some of the worst booking decisions of the year, because WWE either thinks that no one pays attention or that they’re brilliant enough to get themselves out of it. I doubt it can be worse than last time, but remember: never say never.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 24, 2019
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin, Mickie James

It’s time for the weekly recap show, which is a good idea as I’m not even remembering what happened on the show. That is such a big problem around…well most of wrestling in general lately. Maybe it’s just me, but so little leaves much of an impact anymore. Hopefully this can fix that up a little bit. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose

Hold on though as Mojo grabs a mic (on THIS show?) to insult the members of the Conga Line. There is a grown man in a cheeseburger costume and they’re following Jose? They need a real athlete and someone who earned his MBA at 21 years old. They slug it out to start until Mojo gets hiptossed to the floor. Back in and a high crossbody gives Jose two….but Mojo is right back with the running right hand in the corner for the pin at 1:28. What the heck was that? You’re cutting a MAIN EVENT match short? Normally I would have some hope for a story around here but I’ve moved on from something like that.

Post match Mojo says the Conga Line needs a real leader but he beats up the cheeseburger man for not following him. Mojo orders everyone else to leave and they eventually go. Dude did they just do an angle on this show???

Video on Bayley’s heel turn.

From Smackdown.

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

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

Video on Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman.

We look at the OC jumping the Street Profits.

From Raw.

Street Profits/??? vs. OC

The Profits do their big, high energy entrance and the fans….don’t seem to care. It gets a bit better but this thing was tailor made for a small place like Full Sail and it doesn’t work here. There’s no mystery partner so the OC mocks them, suggesting that he’s invisible or imaginary. We see a clip of the brawl that set up the match and take a break. Back with….no one as a partner so AJ is on the floor to start.

The Profits waste no time in clearing the ring so it’s gallows coming in for a big boot. Everything breaks down and Ford comes in to clean house, only to get thrown over the top for a crash. Anderson hits a running knee from the apron to take him down again and we take a break. Back with Ford not being able to dive over and get the tag to Dawkins so the beating can continue. The chinlock goes on but Ford fights up and hits a double clothesline. Anderson gets a blind tag but gets sent outside, allowing the hot tag to Dawkins.

House is cleaned but Gallows pulls Anderson out of a Doomsday Device. Anderson’s spinebuster gets two on Ford but AJ gets yelled at for interfering. That means an ejection…..and here’s Kevin Owens to fight AJ, presumably being the third man. Anderson is so stunned that he backdrops Ford to the floor, with Dawkins making the tag on the way through the air. The big frog splash finishes Anderson at 13:03.

Rating: C-. They put WAY too much into this at once as you had a crowd who didn’t know the Profits and then the focus was taken off of them twice. This was spent looking to see who the partner was going to be, wondering why it was then a regular tag match and then having Owens come out to get the attention off of the Profits again. Giving them the win was the right call and the match wasn’t bad, but it was too much going on to showcase them properly.

Crown Jewel rundown.

Natalya vs. Sarah Logan

Natalya is no Dana Brooke. They take turns going to the mat for some early grappling until Natalya gets in an armdrag and strikes a pose. A rollup gives us an early standoff so Natalya grabs a quick abdominal stretch. Sarah smiles so the leg is picked up to make it even worse. The basement dropkick gives Natalya two but Logan kicks her to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Natalya fighting out of the chinlock but getting choked on the ropes for her efforts. The chinlock goes on again so Natalya fights out again for a double clothesline. The belly to back faceplant sends Logan to the apron and she gets in a kick to the face. Natalya blocks the Cloverleaf and kicks her away, setting up the Sharpshooter for the tap at 9:48.

Rating: D+. This is one of those matches that was technically fine but still not something that was going to be anything beyond a standard match. Logan has had nothing to do since the Riott Squad broke up while Natalya will be around WWE until the end of time. She’s going to be on and off of Raw every week and while that is acceptable, it may not be the most thrilling thing.

Video on Seth Rollins vs. the Fiend, starting in the Cell and moving on to Rollins lighting the Firefly Fun House on fire.

Here’s Rey Mysterio, still with his arm in a sling, for a chat. Rey thanks everyone for the love and support he and his family have received since Brock Lesnar took him out. He was thinking about retiring but now he has a new way of thinking because he wants to see Cain Velasquez take the WWE Championship and put another scar on Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman pops up on screen to ask if Mysterio would say the same things if Lesnar was there in person.

Mysterio thought he had the perfect choice to go after Lesnar but Brock has spent nine years waiting for that day. Rey yells in Spanish but here’s Shelton Benjamin to ask how Cain got a title shot. Just for defending Rey’s kid when Rey couldn’t do it? Shelton and Brock are friends too because they roomed together at the University of Minnesota. Rey says Shelton has it all wrong but Shelton wants to know what happens if he shoves Rey around. Maybe one shove is a US Title shot and two is an Intercontinental Title shot.

Shelton asks where Cain Velasquez is….and here he comes, with Shelton realizing that he’s screwed up. Shelton can’t take him down so Cain tosses him to the mat a few times and hammers away, eventually choking Shelton for a quick tap. That….wasn’t very impressive and the fans don’t seem to care all that much.

Overall Rating: D. I can understand the idea of recapping a lot of the stuff from Raw and Smackdown but this show did little more than to remind you just how uninteresting Raw and Smackdown have been as of late. The stories haven’t worked and it’s like there is nothing to get excited about. Putting big wrestlers against outside athletes isn’t something that is going to get me fired up and the rest of the main stuff is looking towards Crown Jewel, which has a set of problems all its own. Bad show here, as somehow the Mojo Rawley thing interests me more than anything else.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 28, 2019
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin, Jerry Lawler

It’s the second go home show for Crown Jewel and most of the card seems to be set in stone already. This time around we’ll be seeing some of the final touches put on, including Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt’s old friend Erick Rowan in a falls count anywhere match. The show’s audience is just miserably bad at the moment but maybe they can turn it around a bit tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Paige to open things up. She’s so proud to have advised the Kabuki Warriors and to have been a small part of their success. Cue the Warriors, with Paige introducing them, only to have Asuka mist her in the face. As Paige begs for water for her eyes, here’s Becky Lynch to beat up both Warriors and set up her announced match against Kairi Sane.

Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane

Non-title. Sane’s ribs are banged up before the bell but she’s fine enough to strike Becky down into the corner. Becky fights back with a bulldog into an Oklahoma roll for two. An armdrag is blocked and Becky takes her down into something like Tommaso Ciampa’s former flipping armbar.

Back up and Becky can’t get the Disarm-Her as Sane bails out to the floor for a breather. That means a dive to take Sane down again but Becky goes after Asuka, allowing Sane to kick her into the steps as we take a break. Back with Becky spinning out of a bow and arrow hold but getting kneed in the face. Becky kicks away, with Lawler wondering if her snapping like this can be classified as a ginger snap.

Sane pulls her down into something like a cross legged Boston crab, which is pulled back so hard that their heads are almost touching. That has to be let go and a double knockdown gives Becky a breather. Sane kicks her down again but the Insane Elbow is broken up. The middle rope legdrop gives Lynch two and she kicks Sane in the head. Asuka gets kicked away as well but Sane hits a spinning backfist for two. Becky is fine enough to pull Kairi straight down into the Disarm-Her for the tap at 14:47.

Rating: B. This was the kind of hard hitting match that it needed to be and you can pencil in Becky vs. Asuka from here. That’s one of the money matches they have in the division and I’m really not sure how it would go. Lynch continues to be one of the biggest names on the roster and under the right circumstances, she could be the big star that Raw needs. I mean, it’s not like they have anyone else in that spot at the moment, do they?

Here’s R-Truth for a match with Buddy Murphy, but he isn’t sure Murphy is his buddy. As for the Singh Brothers, he was sure there were more than one of them so he got some glasses. Now he can have both eyes on the prize of becoming a 52 time champion. Murphy comes out and says Truth is remembering everyone, except Australia’s finest.

Buddy Murphy vs. R-Truth

Murphy hammers away to start and gets up a boot in the corner. The twisting forearm gives Truth two and he hits the side kick for two. Cue the Singh Brothers with the 24/7 Title and the mob gives chase. Truth joins in, running in front of the champ for a bit before coming back in and eating a knee to the face to give Murphy the pin at 2:46. And that’s how Murphy gets his big Raw win: beating a comedy guy and needing seven people to help him do it.

Here are the Street Profits for a chat. They’re proud of their first win last week and are so thankful for Stun Owens Stun. Ford liked kissing the baby last week but Dawkins remembers kissing some woman at the after party. If anyone wants to fight them, they can come on because they want the smoke. That gives us a WE WANT THE SMOKE chant and they head into the crowd again. The fans are starting to get into them and that’s a good sign after last week’s not so warm reception.

Back from a break with Ric Flair already in the ring and Hulk Hogan/Jimmy Hart in mid-entrance. What is with Hogan and Flair not getting full entrances lately? Are they that desperate to get past this stuff? Anyway they’re here for a preview of Thursday’s match.

Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre

Ricochet dives onto McIntyre before the bell and then does it again after the bell, though the second one aggravates Ricochet’s taped up ribs. Drew drops him ribs first onto the top and kicks said bad ribs to make it worse. An overhead suplex drops Ricochet on the ribs again, setting up the big boot and legdrop. McIntyre goes outside to get in Hogan’s face, possibly offering him a nice Shirley Temple.

Back in and the abdominal stretch goes on, followed by the release suplex to drop Ricochet on his back again. One heck of a backdrop (with Ricochet doing his crawling through the sky motion) and a Razor’s Edge buckle bomb lets McIntyre mock Hogan’s pose. Drew charges into two boots in the corner and a kick to the face gives Ricochet two as we take a break.

Back with Ricochet making the comeback with strikes to the face and an enziguri for the double knockdown. The springboard clothesline into the Lionsault gets two but Ricochet can’t get him in a fireman’s carry. Instead it’s the reverse Alabama Slam to give Drew his own two and the Glasgow Kiss drops Ricochet again. Drew throws him off the top but the Claymore is cut off with a jumping superkick. The 630 misses so here’s Randy Orton for the RKO on Ricochet for the DQ at 17:01.

Rating: B-. It’s another good match but this was a long match to set up the DQ finish to get us towards a ten man tag that will come and go at Crown Jewel. They both have the kind of star power that the show needs and once they get done working to make Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan happy before they go away again, maybe we can see the talent better utilized. In other words, Crown Jewel needs to be over already.

The OC didn’t think much of Humberto Carrilo’s debut match last week and if he wants to face the real champion, he can fight AJ Styles later.

War Raiders vs. Chicago Cubs

Non-title and that would be Rizzo and Bryant, two guys in Cubs jerseys. Rizzo bails to start (Lawler: “They’ve already gone to the bullpen.”) and the beatdown is on in a hurry. The jersey is ripped off during the beatdown and the fans are rather pleased. The powerbomb/World’s Strongest Slam plants the Cubs at the same time and it’s the Viking Experience for the pin at 2:01.

Sin Cara is ready for his rematch with Andrade and brings in a luchadora named Carolina to counter Zelina Vega.

Andrade vs. Sin Cara

Cara dives over Carolina to get in the ring. An early headscissors puts Andrade on the floor but he gets shoved off the top. Zelina even gets in the Tranquilo pose on the floor for a great bonus. An other the shoulder backbreaker sets up a seated abdominal stretch. Andrade’s running knee hits buckle though and he crashes to the floor, setting up the big dive from Cara. Back in and something like a spinning Canadian Destroyer hits Andrade but the women get in a fight on the floor, with Vega being sent into the barricade. Andrade uses the distraction to grab a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: C-. It wasn’t bad while it lasted, though I’m not sure we needed a rematch in the first place and debuting a new manage for Cara as he loses is a weird situation. They were smart to keep it short here though as Andrade beat him last week and, at the end of the day, it’s Sin Cara. Just putting him on a different brand doesn’t change his rather limited history of success. Kind of confusing booking here, but they got the right ending so it’s fine.

IIconics vs. Charlotte/Natalya

Charlotte chops away at Peyton to start and it’s a double suplex to give Natalya two. Billie comes back in for an armbar on Natalya and it’s back to Peyton for a half nelson with her legs in the ropes. A spinning kick to the face gives Peyton two more and the bulldog onto Billie’s knee gets the same. Billie goes after Charlotte though and Natalya gets in the Sharpshooter for the tap at 4:45 with Charlotte spearing Peyton down.

Rating: D+. Just seeing Natalya in there took away any energy this thing had. She is a talented in-ring worker but the vacuum of charisma is too much to overcome. On the other hand you have the IIconics, who are as annoying of a pair of heels as you can have, in a good way. Nothing to the match, but I’ll take this over Natalya vs. Lacey Evans or Becky again.

Seth Rollins is ready to get fired up for Crown Jewel by facing Erick Rowan in a falls count anywhere match tonight. Rollins is going to have to beat the Fiend because no one will be able to stop the match.

Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan

Non-title and falls count anywhere. Rollins charges at him to start and gets tossed into the corner for his efforts. A low bridge puts Rowan on the floor, where he is fine enough to send Rollins into the barricade a few times. The big boot gives Rowan two on the floor and they fight into the crowd.

They fight into the concourse with Rollins hitting him with a metal post. That’s fine with Rowan, who Rock Bottoms him through a merchandise table for two as we take a break. Back with Rollins hitting a suicide dive and sending Rowan into the steps. Rowan sends him into the steps as well and hits a splash off the apron for two. The powerbomb into the post gets two more and they head up to the stage.

Rowan clears the announcers’ table but gets caught with the Stomp onto said table for the delayed two. Rollins finds a chair and they fight into the back with Rowan sends him into a pile of pipes. A ladder to the ribs takes Rowan down and the Stomp onto the ladder sets up….the Halftime Heat finish as Rollins has a fork lift lowered onto Rowan for the cover and the pin at 15:05.

Rating: C+. Well at least we didn’t get the fork lift camera angle. They did a lot of good things here but at the same time, I’m not sure how smart it is to have Rollins need this much effort to beat someone three days before a title match that he should lose. I mean, he’ll win but he shouldn’t given the circumstances. Rowan’s push seems to be close to ending, though he got in a lot here.

Aleister Black wants another fight and promises to give them an intimate relationship with fear.

We look at Brock Lesnar attacking Rey Mysterio and Cain Velasquez on Smackdown.

Crown Jewel rundown.

AJ Styles vs. Humberto Carrillo

Non-title. Carrillo starts with the flipping and hammers away in the corner, setting up a springboard headbutt for one. A Disaster Kick gets two and they head outside with AJ driving him into the barricade. The tornado DDT on to the floor knocks Carrillo silly and we take a break.

Back with Carrillo fighting out of a chinlock and hitting another springboard kick to the face. The Aztec Press gets two on AJ but he’s right back with the reverse DDT for two of his own. Carrillo drops him again though and a huge moonsault gets another two. It’s back to the air but this time AJ shoulders Carrillo in the knee on the way down. The Calf Crusher makes Carrillo tap at 9:24.

Rating: B-. Thus we continue the theory of wins meaning nothing as they try to bring up these new talents but rarely let them win anything. Carrillo and Sin Cara are now 0-4 on Raw, and hopefully that means they’re just going to be jobbers to the stars. Of course that begs the question of why Carrillo was their best option to bring up, but I’m not one to question WWE’s genius.

Post match AJ disrespects Carrillo and gets hit in the face, only to have AJ kick him in the leg. The Styles Clash plants Carrillo. The beatdown seems to be on from the OC but the Street Profits make the save. The OC bails, suggesting that Kevin Owens, the big main event surprise from last week, won’t be on the show.

We recap Bobby Lashley and Lana’s affair to destroy Rusev and Lana’s marriage.

It’s time for the King’s Court with Lana and Rusev, the latter of whom is still wearing his wedding ring for the sake of some hope. Lana says she is tired of being harassed by the fans but the truth is that their marriage was all about Rusev wanting sex. Rusev: “Well can you blame me?”

Apparently Rusev is a sex addict who just wanted to impregnate her. That isn’t happening because she won’t be able to get modeling work if she’s pregnant. Oh and Rusev cheated on her, which Lashley told her about. Rusev denies the whole thing so here’s Lashley, with Lana running off. The fight is on with Lashley going into the steps and they head back inside.

Lashley’s spear is cut off with a superkick and Samoan drop, allowing Rusev to take off the wedding ring. He asks Lana if this is what she wants and stuffs the ring in Lashley’s mouth. Lana finds a kendo stick and hits Rusev for no effect so he yells at her, allowing Lashley to hit him low. Kissing ensues to end the show. They’re getting better with Rusev fighting back and he doesn’t look as bad if Lana believed that he was cheating on her, but this feels like a bad daytime talk show closing out the last ten minutes of Raw.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s one of their better shows in a long time, but you could feel the firm ceiling above everything. It feels like they’re running with an anchor right now and it’s shaped like Saudi Arabia. The fans and company both seem to understand that nothing of note is (likely) happening there and we’re not getting suckered in again.

At the same time, we are coming up on the start of the rapid fire Survivor Series build so that’s another stretch where nothing gets to be set up properly. The show was entertaining enough and the wrestling was good, but there are a lot of things limiting the enjoyment and they’re doing a lot of damage.

Results

Becky Lynch b. Kairi Sane – Disarm-Her

Buddy Murphy b. R-Truth – Knee to the face

Ricochet b. Drew McIntyre via DQ when Randy Orton interfered

War Raiders b. Chicago Cubs – Viking Experience to Bryant

Natalya/Charlotte b. IIconics – Sharpshooter to Kay

Seth Rollins b. Erick Rowan – Pin under a fork lift

AJ Styles b. Humberto Carrillo – Calf Crusher

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 17, 2019
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Mickie James, Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin

Since everything has been so hectic in the last week, this is coming out a bit later, which can make for an interesting watch. A big part of the problem with this show is that it just reminds you how bad the previous week’s show was but now that we have moved on a bit, maybe it won’t be as bad. I mean, it probably will be but you have to have some hope. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder

It never ends. Rawley shoves him around to start but charges into a boot in the corner. A quick Pounce gives Rawley two and the beatdown is on. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Rawley elbows him down again and stops to fling sweat at the crowd. The distraction lets Ryder get in a running clothesline and a middle rope dropkick, setting up the Broski Boot for two. A Downward Spiral gets two more but Mojo sends him into the corner for the running right hand. The Alabama Slam finishes Ryder at 5:10.

Rating: D. This is another instance where I just don’t get it. I know neither of these two are going anywhere so why keep Rawley as the big deal around here? Ryder isn’t anything of note but he’s a bigger deal than Rawley. If you’re not going to do anything with Rawley, and it’s clear that they won’t, why not let Ryder get a boost before he does something (as minor as it will be) on Raw?

We look at the Raw and Smackdown rosters.

From Smackdown.

Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a chat. Heyman talks about how WWE is trying to make Brock Lesnar repeat October 23, 2010, when Cain Velasquez conquered Lesnar. Brock has never made an excuse for that because he has no excuse. That brings Heyman to last week, when Lesnar won the WWE Championship and then had to face the ghost of his past. Lesnar embraces his fears because he conquers them, which he will do at Crown Jewel on October 31.

You can roll this clip back in a few weeks and find out that this is a….moment that is being interrupted by Rey Mysterio and Velasquez. Rey shows us some stills of Velasquez massacring Lesnar in their UFC fight and busting him open, leaving a scar on Lesnar’s face. Cain promises to give him a matching scar on the other cheek at Crown Jewel.

From Smackdown again.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending. Bayley has cut her hair and doesn’t have it in a ponytail anymore, plus has a new theme. She also doesn’t dance on the way to the ring….but she does pull out an ax and DESTROYS THE BAYLEY BUDDIES! Bayley starts fast and gets knocked right back down. They head outside instead with Charlotte being sent into the steps and we take an early break.

Back with Bayley grabbing a headlock to keep Charlotte in trouble. That’s broken up with Bayley being sent outside for a slingshot dive and it’s time to start in on the knee. Some kicks to the leg put Bayley on the floor and Charlotte hits a moonsault off the barricade. Back in and Bayley grabs a quick Bayley to Belly for two, followed by the top rope elbow for the same. Bayley freaks out and gets caught with Natural Selection, but the Figure Eight is countered into a small package to give Bayley the pin and the title at 11:25.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing but thank goodness they got Charlotte another title reign of five days so she can be a ten time champion. Bayley’s heel turn was a very hard one and that’s a good thing in her case. It didn’t make a ton of sense for her to be upset and then come dancing out there so making her a harder heel is the right move. Not as right as giving her the title back, but a right one nonetheless.

Post match, Bayley grabs the mic and says “B******. Screw all of you!” Well that’s a hard shift.

Dana Brooke vs. Sarah Logan

FOR THE LAST TIME EVER!!! Brooke flips around and dropkicks her down to start, followed by a headscissors into the corner. The chinlock goes on as Mickie is sounding more comfortable with the analysis. Logan powers out and we take a quick break, coming back to Logan putting Brooke on top and hammering away. Brooke shoves her down and hits a suplex, followed by an enziguri. The cartwheel splash gets two but Logan dropkicks her to the floor. Back in and Logan pulls her off the top, setting up the standing Cloverleaf for the tap at 8:33.

Rating: D+. And that’s it for the feud because they’ve just run out of things to do. Unfortunately that was the case a month ago but no one seemed to notice. I still feel really sorry for Brooke, but this is the kind of thing she needs to do: get in the ring and learn how to work a match. The problem is she spent years wrestling above her head and all she is learning is how to wrestle Logan. At least it’s something though.

From Raw.

It’s time for the contract signing between Braun Strowman and Tyson Fury. Jerry Lawler recaps everything and brings the two of them out for the big staredown. Strowman talks about how big of an ego that Fury has and that’s why he was at the premiere of Smackdown. He isn’t letting Fury use him to advance his career so he’ll beat him at Crown Jewel.

Fury says he isn’t out of his element in any ring and Strowman will be looking up at him after Fury knocks him out. They stand up and Fury snaps the pen before leaving. Fury is a good promo but Strowman is still one of those forced promos where the writers have to get in their lines that they think sound good because they don’t know how humans communicate with each other.

Video on Seth Rollins vs. the Fiend inside the Cell.

From Raw.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House to end the show. Bray thinks Rollins is smart but the Fiend never forgets. Ramblin Rabbit says Rollins is on his way but Wyatt doesn’t think much of it. Rollins comes in and jumps Wyatt from behind so the beatdown is on (with the friends freaking out in a nice little touch). Seth breaks the pictures but Bray gets up and asks why Seth is doing this.

They go through a wall off camera and Rollins gets an evil look on his face. He says burn it down….and then lights Bray’s table on fire. The wall catches fire and the pictures burn as the Fiend starts to laugh to end the show. I mean, the character was in trouble anyway so they might as well get rid of the thing. Then again, odds are he’ll find a way back before losing to Rollins (again) in Saudi Arabia.

Overall Rating: D. Yeah this didn’t help anything and made me wonder how bad Crown Jewel is going to be. The show just is not looking good and having this show focused on the Draft shows without looking at the Draft itself shows you how worthless those shows really was. It was a bad show, but that’s because it was recapping bad stories and there isn’t anything Main Event can do to fix that.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 21, 2019
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Dio Maddin, Jerry Lawler, Vic Joseph

It’s time to see what this roster can do on its own after the Draft, but it also means that it’s time to deal with the fallout from the destruction of the Firefly Fun House last week. Unfortunately that means we’re building towards Crown Jewel, as we have ten days before the show. I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing tonight but I’m not expecting the most thrilling show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt, including Rollins burning it down.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Ric Flair to announce his final pick for Crown Jewel. After talking to some Cleveland Browns, Flair talks about going to Saudi in two weeks (because not knowing the date of a show is a problem for legends too). Here’s his final member, who has kissed every girl in this town and made them cry: Drew McIntyre. Drew says Flair to grab a seat for a Crown Jewel preview.

Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre

Ricochet goes straight at him and gets knocked outside as Flair is rather pleased. Back in and Drew hammers away as the announcers make sure to point out that Ricochet beat Drew in their previous match (points for continuity). Drew brings him back inside and stomps away before cranking on an armbar. A shot to the face sets up the armbar’s sequel as Ricochet can’t get anything going.

Ricochet fights up but gets muscled up into a suplex, only to knee his way to freedom. McIntyre elbows him to the floor but Ricochet switches places with him for a running flip suicide dive. Back from a break with Drew grabbing another armbar so we go to a quick interview with Flair, who wants Hogan to be at Smackdown in whatever city they’re going to. Ricochet gets out and dropkicks Drew out of the air to finally get a breather. An enziguri staggers Drew and it’s a springboard clothesline to take McIntyre down.

There’s the running shooting star press for one and a Lionsault for two but McIntyre ax handles him out of the air as well. A Razor’s Edge buckle bomb sets up a sitout powerbomb for a rather close two. The Futureshock is countered and Ricochet kicks him in the face, setting up a Death Valley Driver. The shooting star press gets two more but the Recoil is countered with a nasty backdrop to the floor. McIntyre posts him and there’s the Claymore for the pin at 17:42.

Rating: B. They had a heck of a match here as these two have some very solid chemistry together. McIntyre comes back with a clean win which will hopefully move him up to the next level. That being said, I’ve been hoping that is the case for a long time now and nothing has ever happened so I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Either way, very solid match here between two guys who are awesome at what they do.

Post match Flair struts and McIntyre lays Ricochet out with a heck of a Futureshock. The reverse Alabama Slam into the steps leaves Ricochet like a bug on a windshield.

We recap the OC attacking the Street profits to set up a six man tag with the Street Profits bringing in a mystery partner.

The OC thinks the Street Profits should earn their keep around here and don’t like the team being the unofficial hosts of the show. They don’t like being in Cleveland and don’t care about who is going to be the Profits’ partner.

Video on Andrade, Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy.

Aleister Black is full of rage and wants a fight.

Aleister Black vs. Jason Reynolds

Black starts in with the kicks to the leg and a legsweep lets him sit down. A spinning elbow to the face drops Reynolds but he’s back up with some forearms to the back. That just gets on Black’s nerves and he knees Reynolds in the face. Black Mass is good for the pin at 1:45.

AOP says Raw signed them not to compete here but to keep them away from Smackdown. The next chapter in tag team history will be written in pain.

Jerry Lawler is in the ring for the King’s Court. He recaps the Bobby Lashley/Lana situation and brings out Rusev for his first comments on the situation. Lawler says marriages should be kept private but brings up some of the things that Lana has said about Rusev: he sends too much money back to Bulgaria, he interferes with her modeling career and he has cut down on the amount of money that he gives her.

Rusev blames Bob Lashley and promises to crush him, which brings Lashley and Lana to the screen. They are out at dinner, as Lashley needs to take care of her needs. Lana puts some whipped cream on his nose before saying Rusev would never take her here after asking so many times.

Lashley took her here though and she loves him. The feed cuts out and Rusev looks distraught, again. Rusev knows where they are and wants to go deliver that message personally. He runs off, presumably to….whatever city the two of them are in and happen to be sitting there for however long it takes Rusev to arrive, despite saying they were done with their meal.

Andrade vs. Sin Cara

On the way to the ring, Zelina Vega talks about how awesome Andrade is. Other than the Super ShowDown battle royal, this is Cara’s first televised match in fifteen months. Cara knocks Andrade outside and hits a suicide dive, followed by a high crossbody for two. A backbreaker out of the corner gives Andrade two but Cara sends him right back to the floor for a moonsault.

We take a break and come back with the slugout going to Cara and a springboard crossbody taking Andrade down. A Death Valley Driver puts Andrade down but he sends Cara hard into the corner. Andrade plants him with a tilt-a-whirl reverse powerbomb and hits Three Amigos. The Eddie dance looks to set up a frog splash but Cara is up there with a sunset bomb for two of his own.

Cara gets crotched on top though and the running knees in the corner get two. A backdrop puts Andrade on the floor and there’s a slingshot hurricanrana to take him down again. Zelina offers a distraction though and it’s a hurricanrana from the apron. The hammerlock DDT ends Cara at 12:00.

Rating: C+. This had no business being entertaining and wound up being a pretty nice match. Cara is 42 and does more than well enough in his matches, though I’m not sure how much he’s going to do other than something like this. He looks good enough and can fly around fairly well so he’s fine in this role. They got the ending right too so it’s hard to complain all that much.

Humberto Carrillo is watching from the back and wants to face Andrade. He wants to be Universal Champion and even mentions Seth Rollins. Stop playing above your head man.

The Street Profits talk about the OC being mother lovers but insist that their mothers love them more. Tonight, they’re in the main event and yes they have a mystery partner. Ford thinks it might be Ric Flair but he’s already at the after party. It won’t be Booker T. either because he hasn’t knighted Angelo Dawkins. The guy doesn’t like AJ though and he’s just like them. It’s going to be rather disappointing if it’s just Cedric Alexander.

R-Truth is hiding in the back but runs into Sunil Singh, who offers a distraction so Sumir Singh can roll Truth up and steal the title. Thankfully they are called the Bollywood Boyz, as they should have been for months now.

Crown Jewel rundown.

Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins wonder if they’ll get pyro tonight.

Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins vs. War Raiders

Non-title and no they don’t get pyro. The Raiders don’t waste time and run them over to start with Erik driving Ivar into Ryder in the corner. Things settle down and an STO/Russian legsweep combination puts Erik down to put the champs in trouble. Erik isn’t having a chinlock though and powers up for the hot tag to Ivar. Eric gets slammed onto Ryder and a big knee sends him outside. The Viking Experience finishes Hawkins at 3:43.

Rating: D+. This is exactly what it needed to be as Hawkins and Ryder shouldn’t be a threat to the monster champions. Until the AOP gets here for the mega hoss fight, no one should be making the Raiders sweat even a bit, which has been the case so far, save for Ziggler and Roode to a small extent. Dominant performance here, as it should have been.

Lashley and Lana are still at the restaurant when presumably the manager comes up and asks them to leave before Rusev shows up and makes trouble. So either someone either called the restaurant to warn them or someone at the restaurant was watching the show and saw Rusev was coming? And again, this is certainly a Cleveland restaurant or somewhere nearby, or this whole thing makes no sense, assuming Rusev shows up.

Post break, Rusev arrives at the restaurant and the fight is on as Lashley is not only a homewrecker but also doesn’t listen to management. Security splits them up as screaming ensues, including extra from Lana as Rusev is taken away.

Here’s Rey Mysterio, still with his arm in a sling, for a chat. Rey thanks everyone for the love and support he and his family have received since Brock Lesnar took him out. He was thinking about retiring but now he has a new way of thinking because he wants to see Cain Velasquez take the WWE Championship and put another scar on Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman pops up on screen to ask if Mysterio would say the same things if Lesnar was there in person.

Mysterio thought he had the perfect choice to go after Lesnar but Brock has spent nine years waiting for that day. Rey yells in Spanish but here’s Shelton Benjamin to ask how Cain got a title shot. Just for defending Rey’s kid when Rey couldn’t do it? Shelton and Brock are friends too because they roomed together at the University of Minnesota. Rey says Shelton has it all wrong but Shelton wants to know what happens if he shoves Rey around. Maybe one shove is a US Title shot and two is an Intercontinental Title shot.

Shelton asks where Cain Velasquez is….and here he comes, with Shelton realizing that he’s screwed up. Shelton can’t take him down so Cain tosses him to the mat a few times and hammers away, eventually choking Shelton for a quick tap. That….wasn’t very impressive and the fans don’t seem to care all that much.

Seth Rollins is ready for the Fiend and will burn it down again. He pauses though and goes over to Humberto Carrillo, who doesn’t seem to understand what it takes to be a champion. Rollins would burn it down again so let’s have a match tonight.

We see a parade in Saudi Arabia, featuring Undertaker on a huge WWE float.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title. Carrillo armdrags him a few times to start but Rollins gets him on the mat for a quickly broken reverse chinlock. A half crab sends Carrillo to the ropes again so he’s right back with the high springboard into an armdrag. They head outside with Rollins snapping off a suplex to send us to a break. Back with Carrillo fighting out of a chinlock and flipping out of a belly to back suplex.

A springboard kick to the head staggers Seth again and it’s a springboard armdrag to bring him off the mat. The big running flip dive drops Seth on the floor but Seth is right back in to Falcon Arrow Carrillo for two. The springboard knee to the head gives Seth two, followed by the low superkick for the same. Carrillo gets in his own kick to the face and a great looking moonsault gets two, but a second attempt hits raised boots. The Stomp gives Rollins the pin at 12:03.

Rating: C+. I know it won’t mean anything going forward but I can’t help thinking about how many Stomps the Fiend got out of when it takes one to put Carrillo away. They’re not on the same level but when someone can survive a finisher eleven times (and then loses the match), it’s taking away the impact that it has while also making anyone who falls to it look weak.

Seth shows respect post match.

R-Truth rolls up the wrong Singh Brother in an attempt to get the title back. The real champ runs off. Truth: “SO THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!”

The Firefly Fun House is back on Friday. I certainly hope so.

Street Profits/??? vs. OC

The Profits do their big, high energy entrance and the fans….don’t seem to care. It gets a bit better but this thing was tailor made for a small place like Full Sail and it doesn’t work here. There’s no mystery partner so the OC mocks them, suggesting that he’s invisible or imaginary. We see a clip of the brawl that set up the match and take a break. Back with….no one as a partner so AJ is on the floor to start.

The Profits waste no time in clearing the ring so it’s gallows coming in for a big boot. Everything breaks down and Ford comes in to clean house, only to get thrown over the top for a crash. Anderson hits a running knee from the apron to take him down again and we take a break. Back with Ford not being able to dive over and get the tag to Dawkins so the beating can continue. The chinlock goes on but Ford fights up and hits a double clothesline. Anderson gets a blind tag but gets sent outside, allowing the hot tag to Dawkins.

House is cleaned but Gallows pulls Anderson out of a Doomsday Device. Anderson’s spinebuster gets two on Ford but AJ gets yelled at for interfering. That means an ejection…..and here’s Kevin Owens to fight AJ, presumably being the third man. Anderson is so stunned that he backdrops Ford to the floor, with Dawkins making the tag on the way through the air. The big frog splash finishes Anderson at 13:03.

Rating: C-. They put WAY too much into this at once as you had a crowd who didn’t know the Profits and then the focus was taken off of them twice. This was spent looking to see who the partner was going to be, wondering why it was then a regular tag match and then having Owens come out to get the attention off of the Profits again. Giving them the win was the right call and the match wasn’t bad, but it was too much going on to showcase them properly.

Overall Rating: D+. We hadn’t seen people like Carrillo, Sin Cara or the Profits around here much before and I think this show explained why. Their matches were fine to good but it was really hard to get hyped up about them. The whole show felt underwhelming and while it did a decent job of setting up for Crown Jewel, it doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence for the future of Raw. The show wasn’t the worst but it just wasn’t that interesting and nothing stood out aside from the opener and the lack of a women’s match (or even an appearance from the major women). I hope it gets better because this was dry.

Results

Drew McIntyre b. Ricochet – Claymore

Aleister Black b. Jason Reynolds – Black Mass

Andrade b. Sin Cara – Hammerlock DDT

Viking Raiders b. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder – Viking Experience to Hawkins

Seth Rollins b. Humberto Carrillo

Street Profits b. OC – Frog splash to Anderson

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 14, 2019
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Dio Maddin, Vic Joseph

It’s time for another big episode here, because we just can’t have a regular show these days. This time around it’s the second night of the Draft and that means maybe we can find out how WWE can manage to screw it up again. They’ve gotten really good at that in recent weeks and there is no reason to believe they won’t do it again. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the Fiend vs. Seth Rollins, including everything that happened at Hell In A Cell. Normally I would say “they’re really just moving on like that wasn’t a big deal” but of course they are, because WWE knows that they can get away with it, which they of course will, even running another Cell show next year and talking it up as the ultimate evil which it hasn’t been in the better part of twenty years. Nothing ever changes, which is the biggest problem around here.

Opening sequence.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat. She’s proud to be the #1 overall draft pick but it turns out that Sasha Banks isn’t here because of the beating Becky gave her in the Cell. We have a replacement on hand though and it’s a woman Becky just can’t get away from. She’s ready to rip an arm off though so let’s do this.

Charlotte comes out and says maybe she can be drafted to Raw so they can fight forever. She doesn’t want the people to think she’s selfish though because she doesn’t even want to fight Becky. Instead, she would rather the two of them be friends again. Then she hits Becky in the face again and the fight is on in the corner. Referees break it up and we take a break before the opening bell.

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Non-title, the winner’s show gets the first pick. They slug it out to start with Becky’s forearms beating Charlotte’s chops, only to have Charlotte pull her down by the hair. We hit the figure four necklock, complete with some faceplants to send Becky into the mat. Back up and Charlotte forearms her in the back of the head, only to get dropkicked down. Becky sends her to the apron and then kicks her to the floor but gets posted as we take a break.

We come back with Becky hitting some clotheslines, plus a missile dropkick for two. Charlotte shrugs it off and grabs a Boston crab before switching to a failed Figure Four attempt. Becky’s middle rope forearm misses though and Charlotte hits Natural Selection for two more. A big boot gets another two so it’s time to go for the leg. Becky kicks her into the buckle for two off a rollup and the middle rope legdrop gets the same. Charlotte gets in a spear but Becky crucifixes her ala Wrestlemania, meaning Charlotte’s shoulder is up as the referee counts the pin at 14:43.

Rating: B-. I’m thinking Becky needs to drop the crucifix as she can’t keep shoulders down no matter what she does. The match itself was the usual good back and forth stuff between these two, though Charlotte is absolutely right about these two fighting each other so many times that it stops having any impact.

We explain the Draft rules.

Seth Rollins is happy that it’s Draft night and he’s ready to keep things going with Bray Wyatt. He isn’t happy with what he did in the Cell but he isn’t ashamed of it either. Tonight, he’ll find Wyatt and end this by burning it down. That would imply there is something positive that can be burned and that is not the case here.

Jim Cramer of Mad Money (a stock show) goes over draft picks.

We see the War Rooms again and…..yeah the overacting is still strong.

Here’s Stephanie McMahon for the first round picks:

Raw – Seth Rollins

Smackdown – Brock Lesnar

Raw – Charlotte

Smackdown – New Day

Raw – Andrade/Zelina Vega

The expert panel (Samoa Joe, Renee Young, Booker T., Beth Phoenix) talks about the picks.

Andrade vs. Ali

On the way to the ring, Zelina Vega talks about how everyone on Raw will learn to suffer a loss to Andrade. Joined in progress with Ali hitting a dropkick but getting crushed in the corner. Andrade shoves him off the top and out to the floor in a heap so the posing can begin. Ali gets sent shoulder first into the post and then the arm gets bent around the rope for a bonus.

As the armbar goes on, we get breaking news: THERE WILL BE A NEW FIREFLY FUN HOUSE TONIGHT. That’s uh, quite the huge story there commentators. The arm gets bent over the top rope this time but Andrade misses a charge and falls out to the floor. Vega offers a distraction so Ali jumps over her for the big flip dive. The referee distraction lets Zelina hurricanrana Ali from the apron, setting up the hammerlock DDT to finish Ali at 5:48.

Rating: C. This was an extended squash as Ali continues to go nowhere in WWE after a big debut. I get that it happens to a lot of people but it can be a little saddening when someone shows that much heart in their matches. On the other hand, Andrade is someone who has seemed ready to move up to the next level for a long time now and maybe this is his chance after a long time waiting around.

More picks:

Raw – Kabuki Warriors

Smackdown – Daniel Bryan

Raw – Rusev

Smackdown – Bayley

Raw – Aleister Black

It is made clear that the Women’s Tag Team Titles will still be defended on both shows. So they’re already having loopholes in the thing.

The Saturday Night Live guys from the Wrestlemania battle royal talk about how awesome this is. I refuse to believe that these things have any kind of a significant impact on the show’s audience as I would hope that people aren’t that dense.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode vs. Viking Raiders

The Raiders are challenging and start fast with a running dropkick into the corner. Roode gets sent to the floor for a dive and a top rope splash gets two on Ziggler with Roode making a save. Ziggler gets back up with a chop block to Erik and a posting makes it even worse. Something that was supposed to be a Zig Zag sends Erik into the timekeeper’s area and we take a break.

Back with Erik fighting out of a chinlock but a pull of his beard breaks up the hot tag attempt. Roode dropkicks the knee out and Ziggler adds the elbow drop. A few shoves are enough to annoy Erik, who forearms the heck out of Ziggler for the double knockdown. It’s off to Ivar for the house cleaning as everything breaks down.

The Zig Zag/spinebuster combination gets two on Erik and a Fameasser gets the same. Ziggler avoids a charge to send Erik into the post and it’s a superkick into the Glorious DDT for two with Ivar making a save. Ivar hits a double handspring elbow to both champs and it’s the Viking Experience to Ziggler for the pin and the titles at 12:06.

Rating: C-. Well that was about….forever overdue. The Raiders have been one of the most dominant teams in years and it made little sense to leave them on the sidelines or toiling against nothing teams while a makeshift team like Roode and Ziggler held the titles. The match was a little boring at times, but the right team won and that’s what matters most.

NHL analysts talk about wrestlers making good hockey players.

The War Raiders are ready to defend their titles. They list off the titles they have won before, including the IWGP and Ring of Honor titles. The raid is here.

More picks:

Raw – Cedric Alexander

Smackdown – Shinsuke Nakamura with Sami Zayn

Raw – Humberto Carrillo

Smackdown – Ali

Raw – Erick Rowan

Aleister Black vs. Eric Young

Young goes straight at him to start but has to bail to the floor to avoid Black Mass. Back in and some kicks to the chest set up the dragon sleeper (the Dark Ritual) to finish Young at 1:36.

More picks:

Raw – Buddy Murphy

Smackdown – Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

Raw – Jinder Mahal

Smackdown – Carmella

Raw – R-Truth

The Street Profits are glad to be on Raw when the OC comes up. They could be better hosts of Raw and the beatdown is on with the Profits being left laying.

Ricochet vs. Shelton Benjamin

Ricochet hits the dropkick to start so Shelton snaps off the belly to back suplex to send him outside. Back in and a big boot takes Ricochet down and we hit the chinlock with a bodyscissors. Ricochet fights back up with a kick to the face and a springboard clothesline. The 450 is broken up but Ricochet flips over him from the top and this the Recoil for the pin at 4:45.

Rating: D+. Ricochet has as much potential as anyone in WWE at the moment and it would be nice to see him get a big push on Raw. That being said, I’m not sure how you put him on Raw when he belongs on a bigger stage like Smackdown. Maybe he’ll have a better chance to shine on Raw though and that’s what matters in the end.

Video on Tyson Fury.

Lana is getting a massage at a spa. She likes the deeper rubs, so here’s Lashley to handle the rest. Rusev was never as good as he is so the towel is removed and she flips over so Lashley can get the other side.

It’s time for the contract signing between Braun Strowman and Tyson Fury. Jerry Lawler recaps everything and brings the two of them out for the big staredown. Strowman talks about how big of an ego that Fury has and that’s why he was at the premiere of Smackdown. He isn’t letting Fury use him to advance his career so he’ll beat him at Crown Jewel.

Fury says he isn’t out of his element in any ring and Strowman will be looking up at him after Fury knocks him out. They stand up and Fury snaps the pen before leaving. Fury is a good promo but Strowman is still one of those forced promos where the writers have to get in their lines that they think sound good because they don’t know how humans communicate with each other.

Al Roker talks about changes in the company like it’s a weather report.

More picks:

Raw – Samoa Joe

Smackdown – The Miz (the FOX war room lets off confetti)

Raw – Akira Tozawa

Smackdown – King Corbin

Raw – Shelton Benjamin

So to clarify, the pecking order in WWE goes Humberto Carrillo, Samoa Joe, the Miz, Akira Tozawa, King Corbin.

Buddy Murphy vs. Cedric Alexander

Well it worked on 205 Live. Cedric spins out of a wristlock to start so Murphy does the same as neither can get anywhere. Murphy is smart enough to pull him down by the hair so they take turns sweeping the legs until we get a staredown. An elbow to Cedric’s head sets up a whip into the middle buckle, followed by a drop onto the top turnbuckle for a fall to the floor.

Back from a break with Murphy kneeing him in the face to block the springboard Downward Spiral. Murphy hits the big flip dive and the top rope Meteora gets two. Cedric is right back with a shot to the face and the suicide dive to the floor. Back in and the springboard Downward Spiral connects this time around but Murphy catches him with a kick in the corner. The Powerbomb out of the corner sets up Murphy’s Law for the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C+. Yeah this was entertaining like their previous matches were, though it still isn’t enough to make me believe that WWE is going to push either of them with anything that sticks. Cedric came close but then was put in his place by AJ and the OC while Murphy just vanished after a few weeks of what looked like a huge push. Hopefully it’s different this time around, but I can’t bring myself to believe it.

Crown Jewel rundown, including Seth Rollins defending against the Fiend in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

The Street Profits are ready for the OC and want the smoke.

Hosts of the NBC Premiere League show compare chants from both sets of fans.

The final picks:

Raw – Rey Mysterio

Smackdown – Shorty Gable

Raw – Titus O’Neil

Smackdown – Elias

Raw – Liv Morgan

The expert panel talks again.

Kabuki Warriors vs. Natalya/???

Non-title. Natalya has been asked to pick a partner so she has picked someone who has taken her to the limit. Say it with me: Lacey Evans. I actually laughed because this match might miss the point more than anything since….well since the end of Rollins vs. Wyatt really, though that doesn’t make this any better.

Joined in progress with Lacey in trouble and being knocked outside for a spinning backfist from Kairi. Back in and Kairi hits her in the face again, allowing Asuka to come in for some Kawada kicks. Lacey fights up and makes the ice cold tag to Natalya, who snaps off a release German suplex to Asuka. A kneebar has Natalya in trouble but she rolls through, only to get rolled up by Asuka for two each.

The Sharpshooter has Asuka in trouble until Sane makes the save with a bulldog. Asuka’s hip attack sends Natalya to the floor and we take a break. Back with Natalya fighting out of Asuka’s Octopus Hold and scoring with a basement dropkick. Asuka breaks up the hot tag attempt and ties up the leg while pulling the arm back (kind of the first half of a surfboard crossed with half of a camel clutch).

That’s broken up so Asuka grabs a regular armbar as the fans are eerily silent. Sane comes back in for a double suplex for two and we hit the chinlock. These women were sent out there to die and they are achieving it to near perfection. Natalya muscles her up for a suplex and makes the hot tag to Lacey to clean house.

The slingshot Bronco Buster into the slingshot dropkick rocks Sane for two but Lacey gets caught in the corner. Sane hits an Alberto top rope double stomp for no count as Natalya makes the fast save. The sliding forearm hits Lacey in the corner and Asuka tags herself in. The Woman’s Right knocks Sane out on her feet but Asuka rolls Lacey up for the pin at 15:26.

Rating: D-. What in the world was THAT? They set up Lacey as some big partner for Natalya and then they have a match that went on far too long (I was very surprised when they went to a break) where Lacey just gets pinned? No angle, no title hunt, nothing of the sort. It’s like they were experimenting with something and didn’t realize that it was taking place on Raw. On top of that, the match was incredibly boring with one hold after another as we waited on Lacey Evans, who we’re now supposed to cheer for, to get the hot tag. This feels like they tried something and forgot the ending, leaving it as a total mess.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House to end the show. Bray thinks Rollins is smart but the Fiend never forgets. Ramblin Rabbit says Rollins is on his way but Wyatt doesn’t think much of it. Rollins comes in and jumps Wyatt from behind so the beatdown is on (with the friends freaking out in a nice little touch). Seth breaks the pictures but Bray gets up and asks why Seth is doing this.

They go through a wall off camera and Rollins gets an evil look on his face. He says burn it down….and then lights Bray’s table on fire. The wall catches fire and the pictures burn as the Fiend starts to laugh to end the show. I mean, the character was in trouble anyway so they might as well get rid of the thing. Then again, odds are he’ll find a way back before losing to Rollins (again) in Saudi Arabia.

Overall Rating: D. Maybe it was the extra hour but this had most of the same problems that Smackdown had yet felt even longer. The picks make next to no sense in places (Carrillo over Mysterio, Corbin, Samoa Joe and Miz?), the War Room stuff was still stupid and the wrestling was just something they threw out there to stretch out the shows.

In a way this felt like a go home show, as it isn’t this week that matters, but what you’re seeing set up this week. The fans were completely done with this show after about an hour and can you blame them? It was a bunch of nothing matches, a token title change to make the show seem important, and Stephanie trying to make Akira Tozawa and Liv Morgan sound like important picks. WWE has been doing things like this a lot recently and they need to get back to normal so we can have something enjoyable for a change. This was really bad and I don’t see single branded shows being their big way out.

Results

Becky Lynch b. Charlotte – Crucifix

Andrade b. Ali – Hammerlock DDT

Viking Raiders b. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler – Viking Experience to Ziggler

Aleister Black b. Eric Young – Dark Ritual

Ricochet b. Shelton Benjamin – Recoil

Buddy Murphy b. Cedric Alexander – Murphy’s Law

Kabuki Warriors b. Lacey Evans/Natalya – Rollup to Evans

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: October 11, 2019
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

So since we’re starting things new around here, it’s time to reset the roster with the annual Draft. Now that could be interesting this time around as well, with a bunch of non-wrestling celebrities and a big question of who is going to be brought over from Raw. This is only going to be the first half though as things keep going on Raw. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence. Dang that thing looks cool.

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title and Smackdown vs. Raw with the winner’s brand getting the #1 pick. Feeling out process to start with Seth’s headlock being blocked so he goes with a headlock takeover instead. That’s broken up so they head outside with neither being able to hit a big running strike, meaning it’s time to get back inside for the staredown. They start the shoving with Reigns knocking him down and we take a break.

Back with Reigns blocking the Stomp (oh dang that could have been like 1/10th devastating) and hitting a sitout powerbomb for two. Rollins fights back up and sends Reigns outside for back to back suicide dives (the most common move in wrestling these days). The springboard knee to the head sets up the frog splash for two but the Stomp misses again.

Rollins hits the Buckle Bomb but Reigns bounces out of the corner with the Superman Punch. The spear is countered into a Pedigree (same sequence from Money in the Bank 2016) for two….and we’ve got a Fiend. He pulls Rollins down into a hole in the ring with the Mandible Claw but Seth crawls back out as the lights come back on. Fiend pokes his head out and the lights go out again, with Fiend appearing on the stage. I guess that’s a no contest at 14:43 as Reigns must have stepped out for a hot pretzel.

Rating: C. This was just a match but the important thing here is the Fiend. They’re actually keeping the thing going after Rollins beat the Fiend clean via stoppage? Why? There shouldn’t be any rematches in a match after a disaster like that, but picking it up again so soon is a little surprising.

So officially Rollins won via DQ, even though the bell never rang. They really need to work on that stuff.

Here’s Stephanie to announce the first picks from each show. After asking why no one is booing, we get the following picks:

Raw – Becky Lynch

Smackdown – Roman Reigns

Raw – OC

Smackdown – Bray Wyatt

Raw – Drew McIntyre

The expert panel (Samoa Joe, Renee Young, Booker T. and Beth Phoenix) don’t have much to say.

FOX’s Troy Aikman and Joe Buck talk about the importance of being a #1 draft pick, with Aikman saying his finisher would be a piledriver because it has served him sell over the years. Buck: “I’m Joe Buck, and like all of you, I’ve just learned a lot about Troy Aikman.”

King Corbin vs. Shorty Gable

The real sports show has a guy named Shorty. Before the match, Corbin talks about wanting to sit in his castle because the peasants disturb him. They go outside in a hurry with Corbin sending him into the barricade, only to have Gable start back in on the leg. It heads straight back to the floor with Corbin chokeslamming him onto the announcers’ table as we take a break.

Back with Deep Six being countered into a bulldog and the rolling Liger kick sending Corbin outside again. They head back in with Corbin avoiding the moonsault but getting German suplexes for two. Some rolling German suplexes set up the ankle lock to put Corbin in more trouble but he rolls out without much trouble. The End of Days is good for the pin at 9:17.

Rating: D+. I know it’s old news at this point but EGADS WHY ARE THEY CALLING AN OLYMPIAN SHORTY??? This is just infuriating at this point as you have someone who could be a solid midcard (if not more) talent and you give him a name that belongs in a 1930s gangster movie.

The panel from the NFL on FOX pre-game show talk about the importance of building through a draft. They talk about some of their old favorites, including Dusty Rhodes and Bruno Sammartino.

More picks:

Raw – Randy Orton

Smackdown – Sasha Banks

Raw – Ricochet

Smackdown – Braun Strowman

Raw – Bobby Lashley

Unless I missed it, there is no reason given for the male World Champions not being drafted yet.

The panel talks again.

We look at Braun Strowman and Tyson Fury’s issues. They fight at Crown Jewel.

Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a chat. Heyman talks about how WWE is trying to make Brock Lesnar repeat October 23, 2010, when Cain Velasquez conquered Lesnar. Brock has never made an excuse for that because he has no excuse. That brings Heyman to last week, when Lesnar won the WWE Championship and then had to face the ghost of his past. Lesnar embraces his fears because he conquers them, which he will do at Crown Jewel on October 31.

You can roll this clip back in a few weeks and find out that this is a….moment that is being interrupted by Rey Mysterio and Velasquez. Rey shows us some stills of Velasquez massacring Lesnar in their UFC fight and busting him open, leaving a scar on Lesnar’s face. Cain promises to give him a matching scar on the other cheek at Crown Jewel.

New Day brings out two sisters, one of whom survived breast cancer. They get pink title belts for a nice moment.

New Day vs. OC

Gallows knocks Woods down to start and it’s a double teaming on the floor to make it even worse. We take a break fifteen seconds in and come back with Kofi coming in off the hot tag to clean house, including the Boom Drop to Styles. The high crossbody gives Kofi two and everything breaks down. Woods hits the big flip dive onto Anderson and Gallows and Kofi dropkicks AJ. The Calf Crusher is broken up but AJ rolls Kofi up for two. The fireman’s carry backbreaker is countered as well and it’s Trouble in Paradise to pin Styles at 6:20.

Rating: C-. That was barely enough to rate but egads man. The entire point of having Anderson and Gallows out there is to take a fall here and let Kofi get some momentum back. I could go for Kofi vs. AJ, but there is a real chance that isn’t going to be the case given the Draft.

More picks:

Raw – Alexa Bliss

Smackdown – Lacey Evans

Raw – Kevin Owens

Smackdown – Revival

Raw – Natalya

Raw – Viking Raiders

Smackdown – Lucha House Party

Raw – Nikki Cross

Smackdown – Heavy Machinery

Raw – Street Profits

The panel gets in one more chat.

NFL analyst Jay Glazer lets us know that trades are possible.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending. Bayley has cut her hair and doesn’t have it in a ponytail anymore, plus has a new theme. She also doesn’t dance on the way to the ring….but she does pull out an ax and DESTROYS THE BAYLEY BUDDIES! Bayley starts fast and gets knocked right back down. They head outside instead with Charlotte being sent into the steps and we take an early break.

Back with Bayley grabbing a headlock to keep Charlotte in trouble. That’s broken up with Bayley being sent outside for a slingshot dive and it’s time to start in on the knee. Some kicks to the leg put Bayley on the floor and Charlotte hits a moonsault off the barricade. Back in and Bayley grabs a quick Bayley to Belly for two, followed by the top rope elbow for the same. Bayley freaks out and gets caught with Natural Selection, but the Figure Eight is countered into a small package to give Bayley the pin and the title at 11:25.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing but thank goodness they got Charlotte another title reign of five days so she can be a ten time champion. Bayley’s heel turn was a very hard one and that’s a good thing in her case. It didn’t make a ton of sense for her to be upset and then come dancing out there so making her a harder heel is the right move. Not as right as giving her the title back, but a right one nonetheless.

Post match, Bayley grabs the mic and says “B******. Screw all of you!” Well that’s a hard shift.

Overall Rating: C-. It didn’t have the energy that last week’s did but it also felt like they had a point, which is a good sign. It’s still not a very good show but you can tell that it’s a big deal and thankfully the FOX celebrities didn’t sound like buffoons who were miserable to be there. Things can settle down next week, though hopefully that makes the show more interesting as it just seems like a regular show on a bigger budget.

Oh and as a bonus: WWE managed to spoil the Draft order on their own website yesterday. Check this out:

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wow-wwe-spoiled-almost-entire-smackdown-side-draft-maybe-monday-night-raw-well/

Results

Seth Rollins b. Roman Reigns via DQ when the Fiend interfered

King Corbin b. Shorty Gable – End of Days

New Day b. OC – Trouble in Paradise to Styles

Bayley b. Charlotte – Small package

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

The ending to the Cell show was bad.  Here’s why.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-three-strikes-one/

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 3, 2019
Location: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin, Mickie James

This could be a different kind of show as there is no Smackdown material here as the show had not taken place yet. That will be taken care of when next week’s show airs, but thankfully this week’s Raw was a big enough deal that everything should be fine. Well I mean Raw wasn’t all that great but maybe the highlights will be better. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose

Jose dances a lot to start as Mickie talks about how much she wants in on the Conga Line. Rawley gets shoved into the corner and glares at him, allowing Jose to hit a running corner dropkick. That’s enough to put Rawley on the floor but he’s right back in with a jawbreaker. Some right hands keep Jose in trouble and it’s time to choke on the rope. The required chinlock goes on but Rawley lets go so he can pose. Jose hits a dropkick and a running clothesline in the corner, setting up a high crossbody for two. A missed charge in the corner sets up the running right hand to give Rawley the pin at 5:30.

Rating: C-. I know I say something like this every single time but these two almost always have a decent match against each other. For the life of me I’d love to see Jose get a chance to do something fresh as he is more than talented enough to make something bigger work. That won’t happen as Jose is slotted into his spot, but it’s a spot that isn’t likely going anywhere anytime soon, which isn’t the worst thing in the world.

From Raw.

It’s time for MizTV with Miz offering condolences to Rey and his family. He can’t imagine what it would be like to have something like that happen to his child. As for tonight, he has two legends for his guests. That would be Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) and Ric Flair, with Ric not seemingly happy with Hogan. Ric complains about hearing Real American for thirty years. Hogan: “WOO!” Miz: “We’ve been hearing those even longer!”

Flair goes on a rant about how Hogan may be the biggest legend but no one can hold a candle to him in this ring. They’re ready to fight with Flair slapping his shoulders and Hogan doing the point…so Flair backs down. Hogan talks about how they’re not spring chickens anymore, but they want to have one more page on their resumes. Miz knows how they can do that, with Flair wanting just one payday like Hogan’s in his career. They have an idea though, which will take place at Crown Jewel: Team Hogan vs. Team Flair in a ten man tag match with the legends as the coaches.

Hogan brings out his captain in the form of Seth Rollins, but Flair has his own captain in Randy Orton. Randy wants Seth’s undivided attention so can he please crawl out of Hogan’s a** for a second. Randy to Flair: “Can I get a WOO?” They’ll be picking their teams together over the next few weeks but for now, let’s have a captain’s match. Flair was all over the place here and seemed a bit out of it, or at least rambling with some off the cuff comments.

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

I think this is non-title….and here’s King Corbin to interrupt. The bell never rings as Corbin and Orton double team Seth, including a scepter shot. Rusev of all people saves and I smell a tag match. Actually we don’t as Rusev clears the ring and we seem to have a second member for each team.

From Raw.

Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss

Hang on though as here’s Becky Lynch to join commentary. Bliss gets knocked to the floor to start and it’s already time for the trash talk from the ring. Becky gets on the table and yells back as we go split screen for a Gears of War ad. Back in a hurry with Becky still standing and taping her fists. An ambulance siren goes off in the arena, which I would assume would be Dominick’s ambulance leaving. Bliss slaps away but a DDT is broken up, leaving Banks to beg off. She calls for Bayley (not here) and the distraction lets her kick Bliss in the leg and grab a rollup for the pin at 4:25.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here other than a nice hope of having the stories bleed between segments for a change. The ambulance leaving gives me some hope, as there is no logical reason to have everything come to a halt because another match starts up. The ending was a little odd as it seemed to focus more on the Tag Team Title stuff than the Raw Women’s Title on Sunday.

Post match Becky comes in for the fight but Banks bails into the crowd, where a fan has the most bugged out eyes.

Quick look at Brock Lesnar destroying Rey Mysterio and Dominick.

Lucha House Party vs. EC3/Eric Young

Are they just running the same matches that they saw on previous shows? Kalisto is the odd man out for the House Party here. Dorado armdrags Young into a standing moonsault for two to start. Metalik, in his full bodysuit, comes in and climbs onto Dorado’s shoulders for the splash. Double dropkicks put Young and EC3 on the floor as we take a break.

Back with EC3 stomping Dorado down in the corner and handing it back to Young for a chinlock. The moonsault misses though and an enziguri to EC3 is enough for the hot tag to Metalik. Everything breaks down and Young’s top rope elbow hits EC3 by mistake. Metalik’s elbow into the shooting star from Dorado is enough for the pin at 8:52.

Rating: C. Another match where they were working hard and trying, which is starting to become more of a thing around here. Don’t worry though as I’m sure WWE will manage to crush their spirits soon enough and let them know that this is Main Event and that’s not what they’re supposed to do around here. I’d be curious to know how low on the card whoever runs this show is, as it must be the busy work for some agent backstage more than anything else.

From Raw one more time.

Raw World Title: Rusev vs. Seth Rollins

Rusev is challenging and gets a jobber entrance as Orton and Corbin are watching from the stage. Rollins tries to start fast but has to bail from the Accolade. The fall away slam starts working on the back as we take a break (with the Fiend appearing to say Let Me In). Back with Rollins fighting out of the bearhug and sending Rusev to the floor for the suicide dives. Rusev rolls through a high crossbody but Rollins rolls through his roll through for two.

Rusev kicks him in the head and gets two off a swinging release Rock Bottom. Rollins is back up with the Falcon Arrow for two but the Stomp misses. The springboard knee hits part of a superkick…..and here’s Bobby Lashley. He waves someone out though and here is…..Lana, as Rusev is crushed. Kissing ensues with Lana almost crawling on top of Lashley as Rusev just glares. There go the lights and the Fiend Mandible Claws Rollins in a no contest at 11:30.

Rating: D+. This was just a backdrop for the double angles and I’d rather they do that here than wasting what could have been a big match with Mysterio. Rusev not losing is a great sign and he has a feud set up instantly. I’m curious about the story behind the whole thing so at least they have something going on already.

Laughter ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. The weird schedule changed some stuff around here but for what it was, this wasn’t too bad. They got in the bigger stuff from Raw, but it’s a strange situation because Raw was possibly the fourth biggest show of the week. That may sound strange, but it could very well become the new norm around here, which is going to take a lot of getting used to. Better than average show here, but that’s on the Main Event scale.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Hell In A Cell 2019
Date: October 6, 2019
Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin, Jerry Lawler

So what happens if WWE holds a show but forgets to put it together? Until late Friday night, this was a three match card, though they added four more on Sunday afternoon so the show wouldn’t be an hour and fifteen minutes long. The big question tonight is can the Fiend take the Universal Title from Seth Rollins so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Lacey Evans vs. Natalya

So yes, of all things they could add, they picked THIS for the warmup match. Lacey wristlocks her to start so Natalya uses something pretty close to Owen Hart’s spinning escape to take Lacey down instead. A hammerlock keeps Natalya down as Lawler goes into his HILARIOUS material about Lacey’s time in Afghanistan. Lacey takes her down for some choking but has to fight out of a Sharpshooter attempt.

Natalya gets sent outside and we take a break. Back with Lacey’s slingshot elbow getting two and the chinlock going on. Some shots to the face let Lacey start stomping on the knee but the Sharpshooter attempt is kicked away. Back in and Lacey takes her down again but misses the double jump moonsault. Natalya gets the Sharpshooter and Lacey taps at 9:17.

Rating: D. Sure why not. This feud has been one of those nightmares that just won’t end with a fight that no one cares about and matches that aren’t any good either. I don’t know why we needed to see, what was this, the fourth match between the two, but it felt like a warmed over leftover match on a house show.

Post match Natalya punches Lacey out for some revenge.

The opening video talks about how evil the Cell is and how it changes lives, even though it has barely done that in years. The big matches get their usual attention as well.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is defending inside the (RED) Cell. Sasha jumps her before the bell though, meaning the Cell isn’t even on the ground yet. That means a beating on the floor as the Cell completely lowers so Sasha goes inside as Becky pulls herself up outside. Becky rams the door into her face before taking it inside for the opening bell. Hang on again though as Becky grabs the chain and hits Sasha with it before raking her face across the Cell.

With Banks down, Becky chains the Cell shut, only to have Banks send her face first into the wall. They bust out a table, a ladder and a chair as it’s already time to tease the December rematch. Banks gets sent face first into a chair back inside but manages to dropkick it into Becky’s face for two. The Bexploder sends Banks outside and a baseball slide sends her into the wall. It works so well that Becky does it twice more but Sasha Meteoras her into the ladder for the big knockdown.

With the shots to the head no longer being enough, Banks puts the arm out of the Cell and slams the door onto it for two back inside. The arm gets sent into the chair and Banks unloads with forearms to the face. Another Meteora puts Becky through the chair for two more and Becky is looking shaken. A quick rollup gets Becky out of trouble and she kicks the chair into Banks’ ribs.

Becky dropkicks her into the Cell again and the Bexploder into the Cell makes it even worse. Back in and a bulldog onto the bottom of an open chair gives Lynch two and she can’t believe the kickout. A missile dropkick sends the chair into Banks’ face for another two and it’s time to bail to the floor. It’s time to get creative with Becky wedging some kendo sticks in the Cell wall and putting a chair on top, with Sasha going on top of that. Becky dropkicks her into the corner to complete the cool yet long to set up crash.

Back in and Becky gets two off the top rope legdrop but it takes too long to set up the table. That means a Backstabber to Becky and the top rope Meteora through the table gives Banks two. The Bank Statement with the kendo stick sends Becky crawling underneath the ropes. Becky gets the stick away and beats the heck out of Banks with it, only to whipped into a chair hanging in the Cell wall. Banks throws in about a dozen chairs and uses one on Becky’s arm. It takes her too long to go up though and a super Bexploder onto the chairs sets up the Disarm-Her for the tap at 21:26.

Rating: B. I liked the spots and they felt like they were hurting each other enough, though I’m scratching my head at Lynch retaining. This almost has to mean the return of Rousey right? If not, who in the world is supposed to take the title from Lynch? She has cleaned out the entire division (or at least all of the realistic challengers), so it’s either Rousey or the long awaited Horsewomen four way right? Or we could just do the same thing because the Cell is no longer a blowoff match.

We recap Erick Rowan/Luke Harper vs. Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns. Rowan was revealed to be an evil genius who wants to destroy Reigns. He doesn’t like Bryan for thinking they were mental equals and Harper is here for the extra muscle.

Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan/Luke Harper

Tornado Tag so it’s a brawl to start with Reigns and Rowan heading out to the floor, meaning Bryan hits the suicide dive. There’s a Superman Punch to Rowan as Harper is favoring the knee. Ever the nice guy, Bryan starts kicking at the knee, leaving Reigns to Samoan drop Rowan for two inside. Harper’s knee is fine enough to block the spear with a superkick for two.

Bryan comes back in but gets double teamed, as does Reigns in the same corner. A steps shot to the face keeps Roman in trouble on the floor, meaning Bryan gets beaten down again. Reigns pulls Harper to the floor though and Bryan rolls Rowan up for two. That leaves Rowan to yell at Bryan for embarrassing him but Bryan gets the LeBell Lock.

Harper makes a save of his own, allowing Rowan to Jackhammer Bryan for two more. Reigns and Rowan head to the floor, with Roman having to dive back in for a save after Harper’s Michinoku Driver. Another drop to the floor leaves Bryan to kick away at Harper’s arm and then chest in the corner, followed by a dropkick to the knee. Harper is back up to knock Bryan to the floor, setting up the suicide dive to Reigns.

It’s time to load up the announcers’ table so the German announcers jump over the barricade. Instead though, Reigns gets knocked down so Rowan can slam Harper onto him. To mix it up a bit, Rowan starts ripping up the barricade and then moves back to the table. Bryan escapes a double powerbomb by hurricanranaing Harper off the table, leaving Reigns to spear Rowan off said table.

Reigns is holding his knee though, leaving Bryan to hit the running dropkicks on Harper in the corner. The super hurricanrana is countered into a superbomb for two on Bryan and they’re both down. Harper is back up with a suplex but Bryan slips out, allowing Reigns to come back in for the Superman Punch. The running knee into the spear finishes Harper at 16:46.

Rating: B. Back to back good matches to start the show with these guys beating the heck out of each other throughout. This felt like they were hitting the brakes on Harper and Rowan, though I’m not sure if they’ll hit them as hard on Rowan as they do on Harper. At least they had a good match though and that’s something that helps a lot.

Post match Bryan pulls himself up and wants a hug. That’s exactly what he gets too and the fans are rather pleased.

Seth Rollins is ready for the challenge from the Fiend and promises to retain the title.

Randy Orton vs. Ali

Bonus match and Orton points at the Cell during his entrance. Orton works on the armbar to start before taking it outside for a drop onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Orton stomps away back inside before sending Ali hard into the post, leaving a NASTY bruise on the ribs. Something close to an abdominal stretch stays on the ribs back inside, followed by the required chinlock. That’s broken up and they head outside with Ali hitting a dropkick and diving over the announcers’ table onto Orton.

Ali’s rolling X Factor and Orton’s powerslam get two each but Ali is right back with a spinwheel kick. The tornado DDT sets up a missed 450 and Orton hits the handing DDT. The RKO is countered with a handstand into a crucifix for two as Orton is surprised. Another rolling X Factor is loaded up but Orton catches him with the RKO for the pin at 12:13.

Rating: C+. Yeah I don’t think anyone really expected Ali to win here and that’s the problem for him most of the time, just like so many others. It’s pretty clear that WWE isn’t interested in giving him any serious kind of push and that makes his matches a bit harder to watch. He’s trying hard, but it doesn’t seem to be getting him any higher up the card. At least he’s appearing on the show though, which is more than he’s been doing.

Tomorrow night: Lacey Evans vs. Natalya, Last Woman Standing. I’d love to know their rejected ideas.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Kabuki Warriors

The Warriors are challenging with Asuka hitting a sliding knee to Cross’ face for two. It’s off to Bliss for the running slap in the corner and Cross comes back in for a jawbreaker. Sane comes in and beats up Bliss a bit before handing it back to Asuka for a choke. Bliss blocks what looked to be an ankle lock attempt but gets knocked right back into the corner. Sane pokes Cross in the eye to knock her off the apron but it means the referee doesn’t count off the sliding lariat in the corner.

Bliss escapes another ankle lock and brings Cross in off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and Sane has to break up a quick cover. The Insane Elbow hits raised knees so it’s back to Asuka for the kicks to Cross’ face. Cross blocks a big kick, so Asuka busts out the green mist of all things to blind her rather well. The big kick finishes Cross for the pin and the titles at 10:27.

Rating: D. I was fighting to stay awake during this one as the match just was not interesting no matter what they were doing. Going full on evil Japanese monster with Asuka is kind of interesting, though it’s about a year too late. It could have been worse, but it did a very bad job of keeping me interested and that’s not a good sign with about two hours left.

Here’s a video on Smackdown.

OC vs. Viking Raiders/???

The Raiders need a mystery partner so here’s Braun Strowman to complete their team. Anderson headlocks Ivar to start so Ivar quickly reverses into the Whoopee Cushion out of the corner. Gallows comes in to hammer on Ivar, who goes up top to dive over Gallows and roll over for the tag to Erik. House is cleaned with Gallows being sent to the floor but Styles tags himself in to get in a few shots to the head.

The Pele connects for two but Erik fights out of the corner, only to walk into the spinebuster from Anderson. A backdrop is finally enough to bring Strowman in for the destruction, including the running shoulders on the floor. Back in and Strowman’s shoulder goes into the post, allowing AJ to chop his block. Erik breaks up the Calf Crushes and Ivar clotheslines Gallows. The running powerslam is broken up with another chop block and it’s a triple teaming on Braun for the DQ at 8:15.

Rating: D+. Total TV match, complete with a TV main event because we need to protect Anderson and Gallows from the Strowman and the Raiders. This was a watchable match that didn’t belong on pay per view, which has been the case with more than one match on this show. Strowman isn’t likely to be bothered by the loss as he’s doing something with Tyson Fury soon, but for now, this wasn’t much to see.

Post match the beatdown keeps going until the Vikings send Gallows and Anderson to the floor. Double suicide dives connect and Strowman is back up with a knockout right hand to drop Styles. Anderson and Gallows pick Styles up and have to tell him what day it is after that right hand.

The Street Profits do their thing. Tamina pops in and pins Carmella for the 24/7 Title. Tyler Breeze comes up and gets knocked out, leaving R-Truth and Carmella to split up to look for Tamina. More on this, meaning Carmella or R-Truth will get the title back, later.

We recap Baron Corbin vs. Chad Gable, which started with Corbin beating him for the King of the Ring, so Gable broke his throne.

Chad Gable vs. King Corbin

Hold on though as Corbin has to make some short jokes. Corbin even dubs him Shorty Gable. That’s too far for Gable, who goes straight at him with crossfaces to the jaw and a quickly broken sleeper. Corbin sends him shoulder first into the post and chest first into the buckle for two. The chinlock is broken up so Corbin clotheslines the heck out of him for two more. Gable fights up and gets in a missile dropkick, followed by another kick to the head.

Corbin is down on his knees so Graves can praises Gable for finally being taller than someone. Gable shouts a lot and forearms away, followed by a German suplex for two. The rolling Liger kick in the corner is countered into a powerbomb to give Corbin two more but Gable is right back with a cross armbreaker over the ropes. Gable walks into Deep Six for another near fall but End of Days is countered into a running flip neckbreaker.

The moonsault gets two and sets up the ankle lock but Corbin makes the rope. They head outside with Corbin hitting a chokeslam onto the apron before going to grab the scepter. That’s taken away and Gable rolls him up for the pin at 12:18. Ring announcer: “Here is your winner: SHORTY GABLE”!

Rating: C. I like this company. I really and truly do. I’ve watched it for over thirty years and I care about WWE more than any other wrestling company. Then they do nonsense like this, all for the sake of Vince thinks it’s HILARIOUS to call a guy short over and over again. You get a talented guy, who can talk, has charisma and is an Olympic wrestler. What do you do with him? Name him Shorty, soon to be changed to Shorty G. I love WWE, but they don’t make this easy.

We look at Charlotte making Bayley tap on Smackdown.

We do the international announcers’ row and Tamina runs in to use Funaki as a human shield. She throws him at R-Truth to cut him off but walks into Carmella’s superkick….so Truth can get the pin and the title back, at Carmella’s insistence.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending and misses some early chops, allowing Charlotte to show her how it’s done. A crossbody misses and Charlotte goes for the Figure Eight, sending Bayley rolling outside. Bayley pokes her in the eye but Charlotte chops away again. This time Bayley gets smart by taking out the leg and sending her outside for a crash. Charlotte’s leg gets sent into the LED ring skirt and then gets wrapped around the rope/post.

The half crab goes on but Charlotte slips out, meaning it’s time for Bayley to try the Figure Eight. That isn’t going to work either as Charlotte wraps the leg around the post for a change. Natural Selection gives Charlotte two and the knee is fine enough for the moonsault to hit Bayley’s raised knees. A rollup with feet on the ropes gives Bayley two but the referee catches her. The big boot into the Figure Eight gives Charlotte the tenth title at 10:12.

Rating: C-. You had to know this was coming sooner rather than later as it had been more than a month since Charlotte held a title so WWE had the bad itch again. Charlotte winning is fine enough as I’m numb to it after this many times, but hopefully this moves us closer to a Horsewoman four way as it’s not like they have many more interesting/fresh ways to go.

For your eye roll line of the match, Cole: “We may have to start considering Charlotte as one of the all time best.” Bayley sits on the floor and asks why it’s always her.

In the back, Gable accepts the Shorty moniker because all he cares about is winning. Corbin called him a loser but tonight, Gable was the bigger man. Corbin jumps him from behind because this feud must continue.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. the Fiend. Bray Wyatt has come back and become a monster under his new persona, earning himself the shot here. Rollins is terrified of the Fiend but is ready to fight and survive, as he always does.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend

Inside the Cell with the Fiend challenging. The creepy entrance with the human head lantern are back too. We get the old Kane red lights as Fiend goes right after him to start. Seth hammers away and gets knocked to the floor for his efforts. Back in and Fiend knocks him down again as they head outside for the second time. A whip sends Rollins into the Cell wall as the slow beating continues.

Fiend goes looking for plunder but Seth gets in a shot with the steps for a breather. A table is sent in but Seth scores with a pair of suicide dives and a whip into the steps. Another suicide dive is countered into Sister Abigail into the Cell and the table is set up inside. Some kicks put Fiend on the table and the frog splash puts Wyatt down again. Seth hits the Stomp and Fiend is right back up with another Sister Abigail for two.

With Seth down on the floor, Fiend busts out the big mallet. Seth knocks him away and hits another Stomp onto the mallet but Fiend is back on his feet inside. A springboard knee to the face and a superkick won’t put Fiend down so it’s a third Stomp into a fourth Stomp. The fans are openly booing Seth as he hits a fifth Stomp but Fiend is still getting up. The Pedigree sets up a sixth Stomp….for one. Stomps #7, #8, #9 and #10 all connect but he’s still getting up.

We get #11 to put Fiend down for a bit but Seth gets a chair instead of covering. A huge chair shot to the head only gets one so let’s bring in a ladder. The chair is placed on the Fiend’s head and crushed with the ladder for two. Fiend stays down as Seth finds a toolbox. The chair and ladder are put on Fiend’s head and Seth crushes it over and over with the toolbox, which he then puts on top of the pile. That’s not enough for a cover as the booing is getting even louder now. Seth pulls out the sledgehammer but the referee won’t let him use it. Seth stops but then crushes Fiend with it…..

AND

THAT

IS

A DQ!!!!!

INSIDE THE CELL!!!

AT 17:22!!!

Rating: F. They killed the Cell. I’d think that’s enough for a failure, wouldn’t you?

The Cell is raised and medics come out but Fiend pops up and puts on the Claw. Sister Abigail connects on the floor as we get a RESTART THE MATCH chant. Another Sister Abigail on the exposed concrete knocks Rollins cold and it’s the Claw again. The lights go out and laughter ends the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Once this show ended, I actually sat at my computer for a bit and just stared. I’ve spent a lot of time watching this company and I’ll defend almost anything they do. Tonight, I felt like they wasted my time and laughed at me for watching their show. It was bad enough that WWE showed how much they cared by announcing over half of the card on the day of the event, but then we get to the two main points.

Then we got to what might have been the most annoyed I’ve gotten at WWE in years: Shorty Gable. That nickname, which seems to be sticking around, is a fine example of WWE ignoring every bit of talent that a wrestler has and going with a stupid joke name designed to do nothing more than amuse their writing staff, or probably Vince himself. There are probably a dozen interesting ways to push Gable (he should have been Angle’s son, he’s a wrestling machine, he’s ticked off at the short jokes and hurts people, you could have made him King of the Ring and the list goes on.

But no. Instead, we get him being called Shorty like he’s in some 1930s gangster movie, because that’s the kind of amusement that we need around here. It’s a one note gimmick that is going to allow Graves to make as many short jokes as he can think of and then Gable will be forgotten because he’s the guy who has a stupid name designed to make people laugh. That’s the kind of thing you expect out of Vince Russo and we’re getting it here in 2019.

Then there’s the…..man this hurts to even say again. My all time favorite wrestler is Mick Foley, who is best known for the insanity he went through in the Cell. That’s what they always bring up every time one of these matches takes place (at the same time of course, because that’s what the match has become: a spot on the calendar instead of the be all end all gimmick match) and now…..it’s a match where you can have a DQ.

WWE decided that they had booked themselves into a corner and instead of coming up with a smart finish or anything good, they decided to just cut through the rules and go against the entire concept of a match that has been a big deal around here for over twenty years. It’s stupid, it’s shortsighted, it’s lazy, it’s kicking the fans between the legs and telling them to keep paying their money next year when they probably run this show again with the same premise.

This was WWE laughing at its fans and saying “yeah whatever, we know you’re going to keep coming back.” The Cell is built around the idea that anything goes and it is the ultimate battle ground. Well now it’s any given match because you can go too far and the match can be stopped. The one thing about the Cell that is supposed to make it special is now gone, because WWE, with its army of writers and creative people, couldn’t think of something else.

I can’t call the show a failure because the first two matches were really good, but then it became a mix of house show rematches, literally turning a wrestler into a joke and then pulling the plug on the company’s top violent match that this show was named for. WWE took your money/time and laughed at you for watching their show tonight, and I’m sure tomorrow everything will be fine because that’s how WWE works. This bothered me, as it’s one of the first times in a long time that I felt like I did something stupid by watching a show. That shouldn’t happen, but it did tonight.

Results

Becky Lynch b. Sasha Banks – Disarm-Her

Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan b. Luke Harper/Erick Rowan – Spear to Rowan

Randy Orton b. Ali – RKO

Kabuki Warriors b. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross – Kick to Cross’ head

Braun Strowman/Viking Raiders b. OC via DQ when the OC triple teamed Strowman

Chad Gable b. Baron Corbin – Rollup

Charlotte b. Bayley – Figure Eight

The Fiend b. Seth Rollins via DQ when WWE lost its mind

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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