Clash Of Champions 2019: I Drove Six Hours For This?

IMG Credit: WWE

Clash Of Champions 2019
Date: September 15, 2019
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

Even though titles are an everyday part of wrestling, we have here a full show all about them, because most shows need to have a theme these days. There are a lot of matches crammed onto this show, though thankfully they have moved King of the Ring to Raw tomorrow to save some space. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck opposite the hard cameras.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Drew Gulak vs. Lince Dorado vs. Humberto Carrillo

Gulak is defending. Every match is getting Big Match Intros and they’re lowering the lights during the introductions, which is a really cool visual that I hope becomes the norm. Also, cool shot from Gulak just sitting on the ropes and holding up the title because it’s all that matters. Gulak wastes no time in dropkicking Carrillo into the corner at the bell but both challengers go after him at the same time.

Carrillo’s half of a double dropkick misses but he makes up for it with a springboard armdrag to take Gulak down (that always looks great). Dorado sends both of them to the floor for a springboard crossbody, followed by a hurricanrana off the barricade to the champ. Gulak takes Dorado down though and goes back inside, where Carrillo’s flips offer some frustration. The armbar goes on, which just does not seem like a good idea in a triple threat.

Dorado comes back in with a crossbody on Carrillo for two with Gulak not being able to get there in time anyway. A gutbuster cuts Dorado down though and it’s something like a full nelson/abdominal stretch hybrid to stay on the ribs. Carrillo is back in with a dropkick and a COME ON, which is rarely a good sign for someone trying to fire up the crowd. Another dropkick puts Gulak on the floor again, where he catches Dorado in an electric chair. That’s fine with Carrillo, who dives onto both of them for a nasty crash.

Back in and the missile dropkick gives Carrillo two more with Gulak making a proper save this time around. Carrillo goes up for a moonsault but Gulak raises boots, which Carrillo catches and reverses into a modified Sharpshooter. That’s broken up as well so it’s the exchange of rollups gets a bunch of two counts.

Everyone is down again until Carrillo heads up top, with Gulak launching Dorado for a dropkick. Gulak is knocked outside, leaving Dorado to miss a shooting star press. Carrillo hits a Disaster kick into the Aztec Press, only to have Gulak come in and suplex Dorado for the pin (only after the referee tells Dorado that his shoulders are up, causing Dorado to drop down) to retain at 10:06.

Rating: C+. Exactly what you should be going for with this match in this spot as the fans are more fired up than they were before. Gulak retaining wasn’t exactly shocking but he is going to be the best choice if 205 Live moves to NXT as it is rumored to be (and should be doing). Carrillo could be something big in the future, but he isn’t ready yet. Dorado could have been almost any third person out there, which isn’t a terrible thing.

Kickoff Show: United States Title: Cedric Alexander vs. AJ Styles

Alexander is the hometown boy (and wearing the colors of the Charlotte Hornets) and challenging, meaning he gets quite the strong reaction, even though AJ was born in North Carolina as well. You can see what this means to Cedric and that’s not the kind of thing you can fake. AJ sends the Good Brothers to the back and is willing to go it alone. The bell rings and AJ charges straight at him, earning himself a Michinoku Driver for an early two.

The big running flip dive takes AJ down again and a Neuralizer gets two more. AJ breaks up a springboard though and takes him to the apron for a suplex. The Styles Clash on the floor knocks Cedric cold but AJ pulls him up at two for some reason. The Calf Crusher doesn’t stay on long so Cedric goes to the apron again, this time for a spinning elbow to AJ’s face. Cedric gets in the springboard Downward Spiral but AJ grabs a reverse DDT. With Cedric rocked, it’s the Phenomenal Forearm into the Styles Clash to retain the title at 4:55.

Rating: B-. They packed in a lot here and while I’m not sure I get the idea of having Cedric lose in his hometown in what should have been a layup, I can understand not letting him pin AJ for a title. Cedric had the crowd going here and that likely would have been the case in any city. Good match though, and a pairing I could go for more of in a longer form.

Post match AJ beats on Cedric some more, with Gallows and Anderson coming in to help. No one makes the save. I was expecting the Viking Raiders here but it was just a long beatdown instead.

The opening video looks at all of the titles and the people who hold them, which is exactly what it should be. Then it switches to Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan, which isn’t quite what I think of when I think of a show about champions. We switch into the usual opening hype video, as tends to be the case.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Braun Strowman/Seth Rollins vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler and Roode are challenging after winning the largest Tag Team Turmoil match in Raw history. So it’s on top of a list of…..probably five matches? That’s the second biggest/first time in history deal during the entrances as we heard about Rollins being the first person to defend the Tag Team and Universal Title in history. The title isn’t even forty months old yet and six people have been champion. Can we cool it with historic firsts for it for….I don’t know, until it has a history that matters?

Strowman stares at a scared Roode to start and a big shove sends Roode down. Ziggler comes in for the tried and false jump on the monster’s back sleeper with Strowman breaking it up and kicking him in the face. Now it’s off to Rollins, who has to fight off both villains at once. The running DDT plants Rollins on the floor though and the challengers take over back inside. Ziggler goes with the sleeper again, albeit from a standing position this time due to a lack of monster from Rollins.

The Fameasser gives Ziggler two more but Roode charges into a boot in the corner. Rollins grabs the Blockbuster but Ziggler is back in to prevent any hot tagging. Just to make sure he gets it in, Ziggler jumps on Rollins for another sleeper (he REALLY likes that move). That’s broken up again so Ziggler tries another running DDT, which is reversed into the Falcon Arrow. The hot tag brings in Strowman to clean house, including the running shoulders on the floor.

One big one knocks Roode into the barricade, with Cole saying he almost went into the FANS. That’ll be a fine, which Cole can count as Ziggler slips out of the powerslam. A rake to the eyes causes Strowman to go shoulder first into the post but he’s fine enough to break up the Glorious DDT. Rollins springboards back in with the springboard knee and a Sling Blade to Roode.

Ziggler gets knocked over the barricade and Roode uses the breather to come back with a spinebuster for two of his own. Strowman comes back in but knocks Roode into Rollins, allowing Ziggler to low bridge the monster to the floor. The Glorious DDT plants Rollins to give Roode the pin and the titles at 9:36.

Rating: C. The match was your standard Raw main event and that’s acceptable enough to open a pay per view. Strowman and Rollins were never going to be long for the titles so it’s not like this is some big shock. That being said, the fact that the World Champion has to get pinned in an opening match is another problem entirely, but that’s where they had to go to get out of this story, which absolutely needed an historic first double title defense.

Post match Strowman looks annoyed and Rollins looks up at the screen to see the replay of the loss.

In the back, Strowman says he didn’t get pinned and tonight he’s winning the Universal Title. Rollins might just get his hands.

Becky Lynch says she and Rollins will still be champions at the end of the night. In regards to meeting her match in Sasha Banks, it is Sasha who has questions to answer. Tonight we need to find out if Banks has what it takes to be great. Becky has accomplished more in WWE than any woman ever and she lists off a bunch of her accomplishments. Now Banks is complaining about Becky getting her spot, but Becky earned everything she has. Tonight, Banks finds out what happens when the Man comes around. Becky was bringing the fire here.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match. Bayley had been scheduled to defend against Charlotte but Sasha Banks turning heel prompted a double turn, meaning we get heel Bayley for the first time. I’m not sure what this is going to mean, but it could go a lot of ways.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Charlotte

Charlotte, of course the hometown girl, is challenging. The announcers talk about how awesome it is that Charlotte is going for her tenth title in just over four years because losing titles means nothing in this company. Charlotte boots her down at the bell for two in basically the same opening as Cedric vs. AJ. Some chops connect and it’s already time to go after Bayley’s knee.

Bayley rolls outside again and gets sent into various barricades as this is one sided so far. The fans are behind Charlotte as she drives Bayley into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. A knee to Bayley’s knee has her in more trouble but the Figure Four is countered into a small package. Charlotte boots her into the corner and stomps away until the referee pulls her off. That’s enough of a distraction for Bayley to unhook the buckle pad and send Charlotte head first into the steel to retain at 3:45.

Rating: D-. Well that’s a thing that happened. I’m glad Charlotte didn’t get the title again but having the champion getting squashed might not be the best idea in the world. That being said, I do like the idea of Bayley cheating to retain the title like this and it does offer something new for her, which is what she has been needing for a long time now. Felt like a TV angle more than anything else, but at least Charlotte isn’t champion so soon.

Bayley grabs her title and SPRINTS out of the arena as Charlotte has to smile a bit.

We look back at Shane McMahon firing Kevin Owens for Owens doing his job which wasn’t his job.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Revival

New Day is defending but they’re banged up after some recent Revival attacks. Woods, with his injured knee, starts with Dash, who is smart enough to go after the bad leg. The good knee hits Dash in the head and Big E. runs Dawson over on the floor for a bonus. Big E. comes in legally to Rock Bottom Wilder out of the corner for two as it’s almost all champs so far. The Warrior Splash is broken up though and Wilder hits a clothesline to knock Big E. off the apron for a big crash.

Back in and the double teaming begins, which is where the Revival tends to shine. The belly to back legdrop gives Dawson two as Graves is all over Saxton again, which is making me long for the FOX move so these two can be away from each other for good. Dawson’s chinlock with a bodyscissors keeps Big E. down but you can’t fight thighs like his forever. The belly to belly plants Wilder and the hot tag brings in Woods to pick up the pace. Woods hits the bottom rope springboard DDT for two as the knee gives out again.

Big E.’s spear through the ropes misses so Wilder tries his own suicide dive, which is pulled out of the air. That’s fine with Dawson, who heads outside for the Shatter Machine. Woods is left to get double teamed, which includes a wise chop block. Another Shatter Machine hits Woods and it’s a reverse Figure Four to make Woods scream. With that out of the way, Woods finally taps away the titles at 10:03.

Rating: C+. Pretty formula based match here but it was a good example of Revival being a better team than most. They knew what they needed to do here and used their better teamwork to get rid of the big monster and then take out the injured man. This made a lot of sense and was well executed, which is what the Revival tends to do. Not a great match, but one that made perfect sense.

Post match Revival grabs the mic and says the titles have been revived. Later tonight, Randy Orton is taking the WWE Championship from Kofi Kingston. What a weird place for a promo.

Alexa Bliss (back to the Harley Quinn look) and Nikki Cross are ready to retain the Women’s Tag Team Titles. The boom mic comes down….because R-Truth and Carmella are running the production. R-Truth: “I’m sorry other Carmella!” Truth praises Bliss’ voice, which she uses to speak into the microphone that R-TRUTH IS ON THE SET SO COME GET THE 24/7 TITLE! The chase is on.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Fire & Desire

Fire & Desire is challenging and Graves is having his usual Bliss vs. Mandy issues. Mandy slams Cross to start and cartwheels over her, only to be clotheslined right back down. Cross does a weird dance, which Renee declares as the sexiest thing she has seen on WWE TV in years. I’d say Cross is good looking but egads with the hyperbole already.

It’s off to Sonya as Cole is trying to compliment Nikki like she just achieved her lifelong dream and the dream of everyone else who has been told she can’t do it. She’s a pretty, professional athlete who danced (or something close to it), in a wrestling ring for five seconds. Stop acting like she’s Marilyn Monroe winning a Nobel Prize for physics. Graves and Renee make Twitter jokes as Bliss suplexes Sonya for two.

Mandy comes in and Graves is quickly silent, which is just disturbing on a variety of levels. A slap to the face puts Mandy down so she shouts about being gorgeous, which at least cuts off Renee vs. Graves. Hang on though as here are R-Truth and the Mob, with Bliss rolling Truth up for two, which sends them running off again. We settle down to Sonya kicking Bliss in the ribs for two more and hitting the short form chinlock. Bliss gets double stomped in the corner and it’s off to a bodyscissors to keep her down.

That means a LEXI chant (or at least something close to it) so Mandy talks more trash, setting up a double knockdown. That’s enough for the hot tag to Cross, who suplexes and crossbodies Sonya for her own two. Everything breaks down and Sonya pulls Bliss off the top by the hair. A High/Low gets two with Cross having to dive in for the save, earning herself some nice applause. The hanging Purge to Bliss retains the titles at 8:06.

Rating: D. This was like some weird combination of a pretty lame match with comic relief thrown in for a bonus. The commentary made it even worse with everyone running their mouths the whole time and barely paying attention on the match because it wasn’t as important as their petty squabbling. That happens way too often these days and it gets really annoying, even in a low level match like this.

Kickoff Show recap.

Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz

Miz is challenging after calling out Nakamura for a title shot a few weeks ago. Hold on though as Nakamura’s injured mouthpiece Sami Zayn has something to say. Zayn rants about the level of disrespect around here, including from the Undertaker, who chokeslammed him on Smackdown. We even see a clip of it during Nakamura’s entrance. Just in case that isn’t enough, Zayn has a live mic during the match, which can be either awesome or a nightmare.

They trade arm control to start (with Sami describing Miz’s armdrag as “a decent armdrag at best.”) until Nakamura misses the big kick to the face. Sami’s mic is cut and Phillips is elated. An exchange of COME ON’S lets Nakamura get in the strikes, including the knee to the face as Miz hangs over the apron. Back in and Nakamura kicks away, only to have his leg kicked out from underneath him in a smart move. I mean, it’s not a move that tends to work but it’s smart.

Miz’s own kicks in the corner set up some running clotheslines and the ax handle gets two. The Figure Four is countered into a cross armbreaker but Miz stacks him up to escape. Miz’s big kick is countered into a rollup for two and the spinning kick to the head rocks Miz again. The sliding German suplex makes it even worse but we’re nowhere near enough teased finishers for Kinshasa to connect.

Instead Miz sidesteps it and slaps on the Figure Four until a rope is grabbed. Sami offers a grab of the leg though and it’s a running knee to the back of Miz’s head for two. Kinshasa is countered into the Skull Crushing Finale for a close two but Sami distracts the referee. This time the distraction lets Nakamura hit a kick to the head, followed by Kinshasa to retain at 9:34.

Rating: C-. I bought Miz has having a chance coming in but once the match started, it was rather clear that it wasn’t going to be happening here. Sami is making for a good help to Nakamura and I could go for having them together for a good while. Not a terrible match but it wasn’t exactly must see stuff.

Smackdown is coming to FOX and the Draft is coming on October 11/14.

We recap Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch. Banks came back for the first time in four months since Wrestlemania and she isn’t happy with all of the BECKY cheers. She beat up Natalya and Becky made the save, earning herself a beating. Becky called out Sasha for never being the star she thought she should be, but more importantly she wanted a fight, which got us here.

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

Becky is defending and slaps the trash talk out of Sasha’s mouth. It’s too early for either submission so Banks rolls to the floor in a wise move. For no logical reason whatsoever, Banks poses with her back to the ring, earning herself a baseball slide to the back. Becky’s middle rope legdrop is broken up though and Banks gets in the heelish kicks, setting up more gloating. The Meteora gets two on the champ as Cole suggests that the Four Horsewomen moniker might be an homage to the Four Horsemen.

What looked to be a middle rope Meteora is dropkicked out of the air and they’re both down. Becky is up first with the Bexploder and the fans are getting back into things, which has been lacking for a lot of this show. Another one sets up the middle rope legdrop but Becky’s superplex is broken up and the middle rope Meteora gets a quick two. The kickout draws screams but the Bank Statement is blocked.

The Disarm-Her isn’t though and Banks has to go to the ropes for the break. A running dropkick against the ropes has Banks in more trouble and a missile dropkick gives Becky two. Banks is right back with a pair of Backstabbers into the Bank Statement so Becky rolls into the ropes for the break. Both of them have bad shoulders now though so Banks grabs a chair to make things a little easier. She gets smart though by sliding the chair in for a distraction, meaning she can hit Becky in the ribs with another chair for the near fall (makes sense as Banks is a known Eddie Guerrero fan).

Sasha grabs the chair again but the referee takes it away, allowing Becky to pick it up. A pretty weak chair shot hits the referee and the fight heads into the crowd. Becky hammers away and grabs the Disarm-Her in a handrail, which would make no difference on the hold but looked cool.

They fight through the concourse (where Becky pours mustard on her) and down into another part of the arena with both of them getting knocked down the steps. Back at ringside, Banks drives her back first into the barricade as we’re told that Becky was disqualified for hitting the referee. This isn’t announced in the arena, but we’ll say the match is over at about 15:00.

Rating: B-. Out of everything on the show so far (and likely throughout the rest of the show), this was WAY better in person than it came across here, as there was good action but not the most fire. Banks winning the title was a strong possibility and she probably gets it in the end, but the ending brawl was the annual “here’s a feud that suddenly belongs in the Cell” because it’s September/October and that’s what we need to do.

Post match Becky beats her up even worse, including the Disarm-Her in a chair. The DQ is announced and Becky doesn’t seem to mind as she leaves.

We recap Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton. Kofi snapped at Summerslam and beat Orton up with a kendo stick for glaring at his family, so Orton has declared Kingston stupid. Orton is inside his head and wants to prove that he can beat Kofi one on one. If he had to beat Kofi up to get here, so be it. New Day has been beaten down and Kofi isn’t happy with his family and close friends being attacked. They had a pretty awesome segment on Smackdown where Kofi recreated his famous Boom Drop in Madison Square Garden, which would suggest that he is in trouble tonight.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton

Orton is challenging. Feeling out process to start with Orton taking him down by the arm and stopping to smile. A headlock takes Kofi down again so he’s back up with the double leapfrog into a jumping back elbow. Kofi hits a forearm in the corner and Orton bails to the ramp, only to have Kofi strike Orton’s pose to bring him back in. I can always go for some mind games.

Back in and Kofi chops away in the corner but a poke to the eye cuts that off in a hurry. A throat snap across the top sets up a shoulder to send Kofi into the barricade, with Orton following instead of standing around. You can’t let Orton get that close to a table so he drops Kofi back first onto the announcers’ table twice in a row for a pair of twos back inside.

With frustration setting in, Orton sends him shoulder first into the post and strikes the real version of his pose. They head outside again with Kofi going face first into the steps, which just seems to trigger the comeback. Kofi hits a dropkick and the jumping clothesline, followed by the Boom Drop to put Orton in trouble for a change.

Trouble in Paradise is countered into the backbreaker though and Kofi is cut off again. The hanging DDT is countered with a backdrop to the floor and Kofi’s no hands dive puts Orton down. Back in and Orton hits his perfect dropkick for two but Kofi’s SOS is good for the same. Kofi gets crotched on top and the snap powerslam gives us the next near fall.

The hanging DDT knocks another item off of Orton’s to do list and the RKO connects, with Kofi right next to the ropes. Since RKOing a groggy Kofi is out of the question, Orton loads up the Punt. We’re not seeing that one though and Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise to retain at 20:48.

Rating: B-. This was more long than good, though it did have some moments. They could have gone either way here so the match wasn’t the most predictable. Kingston has pretty much plateaued as champion though and that means he needs a new challenger. Since Orton has been defeated, an Orton destroyer might be possible and I think you know where that is going.

The Street Profits preview the King of the Ring finals, including Ford singing the Circle of Life from Lion King. This includes Ford confusing Rafiki with Rikishi, but here’s King Booker to interrupt. Booker talks about the King of the Ring and Dawkins wants to be knighted. See, it sounds good in the club to call yourself the Dark Knight. Booker tells them to get their minds right but comes back for a catchphrase.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan, which thankfully is not main eventing the show as was rumored. Reigns was attacked several times by a mystery assailant, eventually revealed to be Rowan. Daniel Bryan was involved for a time as well but now it seems to just be about these two, at least at the moment.

Erick Rowan vs. Roman Reigns

No DQ. They go straight to the fight here, as they should, with the brawl going to the floor, including Reigns being sent face first into the announcers’ table. Rowan drives himself into the steps, so he picks the steps up and hits Reigns instead. They hit each other with various things before making it back to ringside, with Reigns nailing the apron dropkick. Reigns stops to load up the announcers’ table though and gets run over again in a big crash.

They go back inside with Rowan running him over and kicking him in the face as this has been rather physical so far. Reigns clotheslines him to the floor but Rowan lands on his feet and beats Reigns up some more. The steps are brought in but it takes a little extra time so Reigns muscles him up for a Samoan drop. A shot with the steps and the Superman Punch give Reigns two in his best shot yet.

They head outside again with Rowan waking up in a hurry to powerbomb him through the table for two back inside. It’s back into the crowd as they seem to be repeating stuff for the sake of filling in time, which is never a good idea. They mix it up a bit by going to the tech area for a claw slam through a table to knock Reigns out again, allowing Rowan to put him on the stage.

Rowan grabs the camera again but Reigns pulls out….what looked like a spiked club to hit him in the ribs. The camera hits Rowan and so does a Superman Punch but the spear is cut off by the returning Luke Harper, who gets quite the reaction as soon as people realize who he is. The discus lariat sets up Rowan’s Iron Claw for the pin at 17:24.

Rating: C+. There were good and bad parts to this one and the good just outweighs the bad. First of all, they were very smart to make this a fight instead of a match because not only does it make more sense, but it made for a better showing. Harper was a great surprise too and a pretty welcome return. The problem though is the length, as this could have been cut in half to make things better. Rowan looked like an unstoppable monster though so well done for making something new.

Seth Rollins says the loss earlier wasn’t on him. He slayed a beast at Summerslam so tonight, let’s add a monster to the collection.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is challenging and runs Rollins over at the bell because that’s the theme of the night. An early running powerslam attempt is escaped and Rollins starts in on the knee. Three straight superkicks into the frog splash don’t even get one and Rollins is stunned (fair enough). Strowman throws him down again and says Seth is tougher than this.

Rollins avoids a charge and hits back to back springboard knees to the head. A third is countered with a shot to the chest though and the champ is down on the floor. Strowman runs him over once but a second attempt is countered with a drop toehold to send Strowman over the announcers’ table. A suicide dive connects and Rollins puts him on the announcers’ table, but Strowman runs the steps to shove him off the top.

Rollins can’t superplex him so Strowman shoves the champ off the top, setting up a heck of a top rope splash for two. Strowman banged up his knee on the crash though so Rollins grabs a sleeper. With Strowman down, the Stomp connects for two. Then the Stomp connects for two and then the Stomp connects for two, then a Pedigree sets up a fourth Stomp to retain the title at 10:54.

Rating: B-. I know it’s not the biggest surprise as Strowman manages to come up short again, but they didn’t exactly hide that this was just a pit stop on the way to the real match with the Fiend next month. Strowman’s big man offense worked well as usual, but there wasn’t exactly much doubt about the ending. What we got was entertaining though, with that splash looking great. It’s good, but it’s nothing memorable, much like the show as a whole.

Post match Rollins poses on the stage but the lights go out and we’ve got a Fiend. Sister Abigail onto the stage sets up the Mandible Claw and various gyrations to leave Rollins laying and end the show with an evil laugh.

Overall Rating: C. This was a tricky one to grade as it’s certainly not a terrible show, but it’s one of the least interesting or memorable ones that I can remember. Above all else, watching it a second time made it feel really long. It felt like I watched this thing for the better part of a month and it wasn’t that great in the first place.

Nothing on here is going to stick with me beyond maybe a day or two more, which isn’t a good sign when I’ve watched it twice in less than five days. It felt like nothing happened here, with only the Tag Team Titles changing hands. That hasn’t meant anything in years so I need more than that to make for a good show. It’s watchable once at best, but don’t expect to see anything that hasn’t been done better before.

Results

Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode b. Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman – Glorious DDT to Rollins

Bayley b. Charlotte – Ram into an exposed turnbuckle

Revival b. New Day – Reverse Figure Four to Woods

Nikki Cross/Alexa Bliss b. Fire & Desire – Hanging Purge to Rose

Shinsuke Nakamura b. The Miz – Kinshasa

Sasha Banks b. Becky Lynch via DQ when Lynch hit the referee with a chair

Kofi Kingston b. Randy Orton – Rollup

Erick Rowan b. Roman Reigns – Iron Claw

Seth Rollins b. Braun Strowman – Stomp

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

Clash Of Champions 2019 Preview

IMG Credit: WWE

It’s time for one of those shows that shouldn’t be all that novel of a concept yet it apparently only matters one night a year. Titles are usually what matter most in wrestling and they are defended on every single show, but in this case we have a show dedicated to them. That doesn’t mean the show will be bad (as it shouldn’t be) but the show isn’t exactly a novel concept. Let’s get to it.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross(c) vs. Fire & Desire

I know this hasn’t been announced for the Kickoff Show yet but it’s tailor made for the show. Bliss and Cross are suddenly real friends and faces, which means they aren’t likely to hold the titles for very long. What interests me more than anything else here is how the titles have gone from complete afterthoughts to something that actually matter in the span of a few weeks, all because they’ve been treated like something people want. Funny how that works no?

I’ll go with new champions here as Bliss and Cross are fresh faces and therefore must be crushed immediately. WWE has been wanting to push the heck out of Rose forever now and Deville shouldn’t be that far behind her. Giving them the titles lets some more teams chase them, possibly while even getting some more people back on the show (like Asuka, as her rehabilitation needs to begin). New champs here, though it’s far from a guarantee.

Cruiserweight Title: Drew Gulak(c) vs. Gran Metalik vs. Humberto Carrillo

This is another match that hasn’t been announced for the Kickoff Show but you can all but guarantee it’s going to be there. Just for the sake of tradition if nothing else. Metalik was added to this match a few weeks ago when people realized that the idea of Carrillo vs. Gulak on their own wasn’t the most thrilling thing in the world. Then again, does it really matter at this point?

We’ll say Gulak retains here as it seems like the perfect kind of match to have the challengers get in the way and then likely blow it in the end with Gulak stealing the pin. Odds are the title is moving to NXT in the near future (where it should have been in the first place) and they might as well put Gulak in there so Kushida or Isaiah Scott can take the title from him.

SmackDown Tag Team Titles: New Day(c) vs. Revival

This is the forgotten match on the card as New Day has been laid out by Revival and Randy Orton so many times now. In theory that should mean new champions as New Day is not only banged up, but they also don’t have any reason to keep the titles. The team has done everything they can do now so they might as well just change the titles and get it over with.

So yeah Revival wins here, as there is just no reason for the New Day to hold onto the titles any longer. There’s a case to be made for giving them their revenge but Revival has been held back so many times that they need a win where they can keep the titles for a long, healthy reign. New Day is far past the point where they need the belts so just give them to the Revival already.

US Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Cedric Alexander

Now this one interests me as there are a lot of factors to consider. First of all, it is clear that Alexander is one of Paul Heyman’s pet projects. They want to push the heck out of him, which seems to be a very similar story to what they did with Ricochet. Now Ricochet got the title, but I’m not sure if that is what they are going to do here with Alexander. Couple that with Alexander being the hometown boy and it isn’t clear how this is going to go.

I’ll go with Alexander winning the title in a fluke for a feel good moment. At some point you have to pull the trigger on someone and see what you have with them. It seems that they did that with Ricochet and then he lost the title just a few weeks later. Maybe Alexander does the same thing, but he needs a reign to establish himself more than Ricochet did. Either way, Styles doesn’t need the title at the moment so he can drop it without a problem.

Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan

This is the only non-title match on the card but it’s also one of the most personal. Rowan was recently revealed as the attacker who had been going after Reigns, which makes him a lot more interesting than he has been in years. Rowan seems to be the only villain at the moment, but Daniel Bryan being added to the story would make a lot of sense in the near or far future.

That being said, I think you have the match end with something other than a clean finish. If Reigns wins, the story is over in a hurry as he beats Rowan the first time out. Therefore, I’ll go with Rowan, as there is little benefit to having him lose, unless they want to blow the thing up already. There is no reason to go there, so Rowan wins with the biggest singles moment of his career.

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

Oh I’m worried about this one. Bayley is getting better as champion and has held the thing for a nice reign now, but you can never count out WWE’s ability to give Charlotte the title, again in her hometown. What better way to make everyone happy than to give her the title again because she hasn’t held one in over five months now (which might be a record for her).

I’ll go with Bayley retaining here, though I have no reason to believe she holds onto the title much longer. WWE is annoyingly obsessed with having Charlotte as the dominant champion and it would be quite like them to cut the newly heel Bayley off at the knees less than two weeks after her turn. Let Bayley keep it a little while longer and maybe build up someone fresh for a change instead of going with the same women and matches over and over again.

Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. The Miz

This is one of those matches that looks one sided on paper but at the same time, you could also look at the bigger picture and see something complete different. There is no reason to have Nakamura lose here as he and Sami Zayn are starting to get somewhere and Nakamura needs to reestablish himself as a player with something like a long Intercontinental Title reign.

At the same time though, I’ll take Miz for the sake of tying Chris Jericho, then have them trade the title again so Miz can make it to ten and then go the other three weeks he needs to set the record for most combined days as champion. I know it sounds ridiculous, but would you put it beyond WWE to do something this petty? It’s not what I would do, but WWE has done something like this before for the sake of something that silly.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman(c) vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

Now this one might be the easiest pick all night long. Rollins and Strowman are meeting later in the night for Rollins’ Universal Title, so why in the world would they be trying to work hard to defend these titles? I know the idea of any title means something but it doesn’t make much sense for Strowman to break his neck to retain these titles. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him turn on Rollins, as he should in one sense.

So yeah this one is the obvious title change as the titles should go to Roode and Ziggler. Why in the world would you go with anything else here? I know they’re just another pair of heels thrown together with nothing else to do but in this case, they’re going after some champions who are the face version of the same thing. New champs, hopefully with the Viking Raiders crushing them for the titles like, the next night.

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

Again, this one depends on what you’re looking at for the future. Lynch is the biggest star the women’s division has at the moment and is one of the marquee stars of the company. Banks on the other hand can be a heck of a heel champion if she FINALLY gets to retain the thing for more than a few weeks. She’s been awesome in her return, but I’d be skeptical about handing her a title just a few weeks after she took so much time off.

I think WWE goes with a new champ though, as Lynch going to SmackDown Live wouldn’t shock me, meaning she needs to lose the title sooner rather than later. Let Banks get her title win here (possibly with Bayley helping) and go from there. Lynch is going to be a star no matter what and she doesn’t have anyone else to feud with on Monday Night Raw anyway.

SmackDown World Title: Kofi Kingston(c) vs. Randy Orton

Egads man I don’t know. What you can all but guarantee is that Kingston isn’t champion when the first SmackDown Live on FOX ends, but the question is who does he lose it to? Is it here vs. Orton or LESNAR SMASH on SmackDown Live? Kingston has already had a FAR longer reign than I would have expected so the title change does make sense.

And I think that’s what we’ll be getting. Orton hasn’t been World Champion in a very long time now and having him win it here wouldn’t be the biggest stretch. Go with what makes sense here and put the title on Orton. If WWE absolutely has to, and something tells me that they much, they can go with Lesnar soon enough, because it’s been….well just over a month since he was champion at this point, which is more than long enough.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins(c) vs. Braun Strowman

I’m rarely a fan of a lame duck title match but that is what we have here. Bray Wyatt is going to be getting the title match next month inside the Cell and that is the big money match at the moment. That leaves the question of who should get to face him, which is kind of a debatable point here with two viable options.

While they’ve both viable, WWE just isn’t going to put the title on Strowman. If they were going to do it, they would have done it by now and since they should have pulled the trigger over a year ago, it would seem to be the time to do it again. That’s why I’m going with Rollins: it makes sense to put the title on Strowman, so WWE won’t do it here.

Overall Thoughts

This show is uh, heavy. There is a lot to digest on a single card and that could become a big problem in a hurry. The show offers no room to breathe and I’m worried about what that is going to mean for the show. I’m sure there are going to be several title changes, but how many of them are going to matter with SmackDown Live on FOX looming as much as it is? It looks good enough on paper, but it seems like a show that could be rather exhausting in execution.

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

Monday Night Raw – September 9, 2019: Their Best Foot Forward

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 9, 2019
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re in the World’s Most Famous Arena this week for the first of two shows. They’re also the last two shows before Clash of Champions, which is looking like quite the lame duck show given the Bray Wyatt match being all but confirmed for October. Oh and Steve Austin is here too. Let’s get to it.

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

We’re not wasting time this week as here’s Austin to open the show for some beer consuming. Before Austin gets to the point, we take a trip down memory lane and hear about some of his great moments in MSG, including Survivor Series vs. Bret Hart, the first Stunner to Vince and Summerslam vs. Undertaker, complete with Austin being knocked silly. With that out of the way, it’s time to get down to the contract signing between Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins.

Strowman comes out first and stares Austin down, drawing a heck of an AUSTIN chant. Strowman offers a handshake but Austin introduces Rollins instead, with some extra bass in his voice. Rollins wants to sign but first has to talk about how awesome it is to be in the Garden with Austin. See, Strowman thinks there is something going on here and Austin might have it in for him. Rollins isn’t sure if that’s the case or not but gets in on the WHATs for a bonus.

Austin says we need to sign the contract so Rollins says he’ll win on Sunday and then signs. Strowman says he respects Austin but a rattlesnake is still a rattlesnake. He won’t turn his back on Rollins because he loves being Tag Team Champions. He’ll love being Universal Champion more though and promises to give Rollins these hands. Strowman signs….and here’s the OC to interrupt.

Styles mocks a bunch of Austin catchphrases and threatens Steve a bit, with Styles not exactly buying it. AJ rips on New York a bit so Austin tells him to put some bass in his voice. The OC gets in the ring with AJ asking how Strowman got a title match so easily and calls Austin old. Austin moves the table and it’s Strowman and Rollins fighting the OC as Austin looks on. AJ dodges the Stomp and sends Rollins outside, only to turn into the Stunner to blow the roof off the place.

AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander

Non-title and Cedric starts fast as AJ is banged up. AJ gets sent into the barricade early on and Alexander’s anklescissors has him in more trouble. A pair of dropkicks gets two and the Neuralizer puts AJ on the floor for the big flip dive. Back in and AJ pulls on the bad arm to take over as we go to a break. We come back with Cedric fighting out of a chinlock and snapping off the Michinoku Driver for two. An enziguri from the apron looks to set up a springboard but Karl Anderson grabs Alexander for the DQ at 8:26.

Rating: C+. The match was entertaining while it lasted but what makes me happier here is how the booking. In theory this sets up Cedric for the US Title shot on Sunday but they did it without having him pin Styles. It’s another case where you can do this kind of thing and protect your champion, which WWE has been doing better lately (for the most part). I could go for more of Cedric vs. Styles, especially in Cedric’s hometown on Sunday.

Post match the beatdown is on but here are the Viking Raiders to go after the OC and lay out AJ.

Sasha Banks and Bayley are glad they’re back together because nothing is stronger than the two of them.

Conor’s Cure video.

Here’s Roman Reigns to talk about battling cancer last year and how he wanted to use his platform to bring awareness to the issues cancer patients face. That’s why he’s been going to a bunch of children’s hospitals and tonight, they’re getting to come out here in front of all of you. Five children come out in homemade wrestling gear, each with their own wrestling name. This is always cool and you can hear the sincerity in Reigns’ voice as he talks about it.

Video on Bayley’s heel turn and a good chunk of the women’s division being dragged into it.

Bayley/Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte/Becky Lynch

Charlotte and Becky are ticked about having to team with each other so they charge to the floor to start the fight in a hurry. Charlotte gets sent into the barricade and it’s Becky getting double teamed before the bell. Charlotte clears the ring with a chair and we take a break before the match starts. Back with the bell ringing (thank you) with Banks bailing instead of having to face Becky. That’s fine with Becky, who sends Bayley into the barricade and hands it off to Charlotte to keep up the beating.

Charlotte fights out of the corner in a hurry and hands it back to Becky for a jumping kick to the face. Banks comes back in and grabs a suplex for two on Becky. They don’t waste time on the hot tag though as Charlotte comes in and kicks Bayley off the apron. The neckbreaker gets two on Banks and the Figure Eight goes on. Becky tries the Disarm-Her on Bayley, who sends Becky into Charlotte for the save. The Meteora off the apron hits Charlotte and we take a break.

Back with Charlotte getting knocked into the corner but getting up a knee to stop a charging Bayley. The hot tag (the sequel) brings in Becky to clean house with the Bexploder to Sasha. Bayley can’t get the Bayley to Belly so Sasha hits the Backstabber instead. Charlotte big boots Sasha and Becky adds a double missile dropkick. The moonsault actually hits Bayley (though Charlotte almost landed in a pushup) but Banks breaks up the cover at two.

Becky gets the Disarm-Her on Banks on the floor with Bayley making the save. That means a baseball slide from Charlotte….but there is no one there so it was just an over enthusiastic dive to the floor. Bayley suplexes Becky into the barricade and German suplexes Charlotte on the floor before taking it back inside. The top rope elbow hits raised knees and Natural Selection pins Bayley at 17:27.

Rating: B. This was an energetic match and the crowd was hot for it throughout. You could tell they were fired up to have the Horsewomen in the same match and we had a good one here. It’s a tag match so the champ getting pinned isn’t the worst thing, though I’m hoping it means Bayley retains on Sunday as there is no need to put the title on Charlotte again just yet.

The OC isn’t happy with what happened but they run into Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler. Roode and Ziggler laugh it off but bring up having mutual enemies. They offer to join forces but want to know where the OC stands. Fists are bumped and we have an alliance for….whatever is planned for later.

Rey Mysterio vs. Gran Metalik

They exchange some quite wrist control to start so Metalik tries a headlock. The battle over a monkey flip ensues and Metalik starts flipping around and counters a hurricanrana. An anklescissors looks to set up the 619 but Metalik ducks and grabs a rollup for two. Metalik sends Rey hard to the floor and nails the step up flip dive.

Back in and a slingshot hilo gets two, followed by the required chinlock. Rey fights up in a hurry and headscissors Metalik into the middle buckle, setting up the top rope seated senton. Metalik hits his rope walk dropkick and a hurricanrana gets two. Code Red gives Rey two more and it’s the springboard frog splash to put Metalik away at 6:25.

Rating: C+. They were energized here and the match worked well as a result. The idea here was to show that Mysterio can still go, which is exactly what he did throughout the match. Metalik got to showcase himself as well and it made for a rather nice, albeit short, match, which is what they were looking for.

The Street Profits hype up the rest of the show, including a ten man tag later tonight. Oh and Angelo Dawkins seems to approve of Sasha with the blue hair.

Video on Erick Rowan destroying Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan on Smackdown.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Ricochet vs. Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin

The fans are VERY into Joe. Corbin gets sent outside to start and it’s a headscissors into a dropkick to put Joe outside as well. Back in and Corbin shoulders Ricochet down to some rather warm heat. That’s fine with Ricochet, who kicks Corbin in the face and hits the running shooting star press for two. A hurricanrana off the apron takes Corbin down as well and we take a break.

Back with everyone down and the fans going back and forth on Corbin. Ricochet goes outside to go after Ricochet and sends him face first into the post with a reverse powerbomb. Joe’s suicide elbow drops Corbin and a big boot gives him two with Ricochet making the save. A snap powerslam gives Joe two on Ricochet but the Tower of Doom is broken up.

Corbin turns Ricochet inside out with a clothesline but Joe kicks Corbin in the face for the three way knockdown. Back up and Corbin big boots Ricochet, followed by Deep Six for two with Joe making the save. The Koquina Clutch has Corbin in trouble on the floor, with Joe taking him down. Ricochet hits the shooting star off the apron onto both of them and everyone is down again. Back in and Ricochet has to flip out of the Clutch, setting up the Recoil to Joe. The 630 connects (with Ricochet leaving it a bit short and landing back first onto Joe’s stomach) but Corbin pulls Ricochet to the floor and steals the pin at 14:07.

Rating: B-. So our hopes are now down to Elias and a guy called Shorty G. I’m sure we’ll be getting King Corbin and then have to hear about him for the next several months, because why not try something again and again when it hasn’t worked well in the first place? The match was fast paced, but seeing Corbin win just sucked the life out of the whole thing, as it almost always does when Corbin is involved.

Lacey Evans vs. Natalya

Rematch from last week where Evans knocked Natalya cold. Evans powers her into the corner to start so Natalya hits a slap to the face and some right hands of her own. It’s already time to go after Evans’ leg with a weird leglock making it worse. That’s broken up so it’s an attempted Sharpshooter to send Lacey outside. This time Lacey gets in some shots to the face and wraps the ring skirt across her face.

Back in and a slingshot elbow gets two but the double jump moonsault only hits mat. The discus lariat is countered with a kick to the ribs though and Lacey sends her face first into the mat a few times. That means a napkin to wipe down the face so Natalya kicks her in the ribs. The Sharpshooter makes Lacey tap at 5:05.

Rating: C. Natalya? Winning clean on Raw? Over someone who main evented a pay per view earlier this year? Does WWE really see value in a Natalya vs. Lacey Evans feud? I know Evans has fallen a lot in recent weeks but come on. Anyway it was another energetic match as the Garden is bringing out the work in a lot of people tonight.

Before Raw went on the air, former New York Knick Enes Kanter won the 24/7 Title from R-Truth. He then revealed his Boston Celtic jersey, only to get rolled up to give Truth the title for the fifteenth time.

Clash of Champions rundown.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House. Bray is speaking with a Spanish accent so here’s Ramblin Rabbit to say he’s experienced STRANGER DANGER. Wyatt thinks that might be Steve Austin, with the rest of the friends confirming the identity. That’s not something Bray is going to deal with because the Fiend took care of everyone else. Everyone keeps saying stranger danger so Bray shouts for QUIET.

You’re supposed to take turns talking in the Fun House, so Bray fixes Abby’s clock (stuck on 3:16) with a hammer. See, Austin is a rattlesnake and you can’t blame a rattlesnake for doing rattlesnake things. Strangers are just friends you haven’t made yet. Think of Strowman and Rollins tonight. They met the Viking Raiders and now they’re all friends. The problem is that friends won’t help you because the Fiend never forgets. See you in h***!

Cedric Alexander/Braun Strowman/Seth Rollins/Viking Raiders vs. OC/Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

Rollins and Ziggler start things off because we can never see these two fight enough. A hiptoss into an armbar has Ziggler in trouble and Erik slams Ivar onto him. Everything breaks down for a wild fight and Strowman chokeslams the heck out of Ziggler. We take an early break and come back with Cedric in trouble in the corner. Cedric gets in a faceplant but AJ takes him down by the bad arm and brings Gallows in. The New York fans, getting AJ, the OC and more in the main event, respond with the Wave.

Roode comes back in to work on an armbar and slams the arm into the mat for two. Cedric fights up and knocks Roode down, allowing the hot tag off to Rollins. House is cleaned, including the springboard knee to Anderson for two. The parade of strikes to the face begins with Rollins superkicking Styles to the floor to clear the ring. It’s off to Strowman for the running shoulders around the ring. The running powerslam gets two on Anderson with Roode and Ziggler shoving Seth into the cover for the save.

Strowman isn’t happy with Rollins and we take a break. Back with Anderson spinebustering Rollins for two but Rollins grabs a Blockbuster for a breather. The buckle bomb to Ziggler allows the tag to Strowman and house is cleaned again. Strowman goes shoulder first into the post (it’s a tradition) and Erik comes in to beat people up and shout a lot. Ivar goes up top and hits the big flip dive onto the pile. That leaves Cedric to Lumbar Check Styles for the pin at 19:35.

Rating: C+. The ending makes sense and is a lot more acceptable than having the champ get pinned in a singles match. It was the big spectacle match to end the show with everyone in there at once so it’s hard to complain about what they went with for a main event. Sometimes it’s better to go with the big match instead of some singles match that we’ve seen before and that’s what they did here.

Post match here’s Austin again and a lot of beer is consumed to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was one of the better shows they’ve done in a very long time with everyone working hard and the feel of the Garden making things seem that much better. The idea here was to make the show feel like it was a big deal and that was what we got. Now the problem is I doubt a lot of people actually watched the show because Monday Night Football premiered, but at least those who watched it had a good time. There was nothing bad and the show flew by with everyone working harder than usual. Very good show and the kind that you almost never get from Raw these days.

Results

Cedric Alexander b. AJ Styles via DQ when Karl Anderson interfered

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Bayley/Sasha Banks – Natural Selection to Bayley

Rey Mysterio b. Gran Metalik – Springboard frog splash

Baron Corbin b. Ricochet and Samoa Joe – 630 to Samoa Joe

Natalya b. Lacey Evans – Sharpshooter

Cedric Alexander/Braun Strowman/Seth Rollins/Viking Raiders b. OC/Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – Lumbar Check to Styles

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

Main Event – September 5, 2019: Even Byron Saxton Finds It Absurd

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 5, 2019
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Renee Young, Byron Saxton

We’re another step closer towards Clash of Champions and that means it’s time to look back at the foot print that the week has left. I’m not sure what to expect this week, though you can probably guess on a few highlights. Maybe that can include some more from the King of the Ring, which isn’t getting the most attention on this show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley

Jose knocks him down a few times to start as Renee thinks some liquid courage could get her into the conga line. A clothesline puts Rawley on the floor but he’s right back with a Pounce for two back inside. Rawley hammers away in the corner for two but the chinlock doesn’t last long. Two Stinger Splashes connect so Jose is ready for a third. Rawley charges into a boot and a Backstabber puts him on the floor. A flip dive from the apron and a high crossbody give Jose two but Rawley rams him into the corner again. The Alabama Slam gives Rawley the pin at 6:03.

Rating: C. This was roughly 385% better than I was expecting with both guys working hard in a match that means a grand total of nothing. I understand why both of them are on Main Event as neither has been able to make anything stick on the main shows, but they can still get in a surprising match like this if they are given a chance.

King of the Ring chat. Much better than showing it of course.

From Raw.

Here are Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins to open things up with a contract signing. Rollins knows they can work together to beat Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler but his intentions are to walk out of Clash as a double champ. Strowman says he’ll win but Rollins brings up slaying the beast to win the Universal Title, which is something Strowman doesn’t know about. At Clash, he’ll slay the monster.

Seth signs but here’s the OC to interrupt before Strowman can do the same. AJ explains the double title concept and asks who he’s going to face. He’ll just walk around showing off his title because that’s how you get a title shot around here. AJ wants to know why the Good Brothers aren’t getting their title shot and threatens to slap Cole’s teeth down his throat. Once inside, he rips up the contract that Strowman hadn’t signed, so the table is turned over and the fight is on.

Also from Raw.

Braun Strowman/Seth Rollins vs. OC

Non-title and joined in progress with Rollins kicking at Anderson before it’s off to Gallows for the power. Strowman comes in and kicks Gallows down without much trouble so it’s back to Anderson for an armbar on Rollins. Seth gets sent outside and into the barricade for a knockdown as we take a break.

Back with Rollins hitting an enziguri on Gallows and bringing Strowman in for the house cleaning. The running powerslam is broken up and everything breaks down, with AJ getting on the apron for a distraction. That’s broken up and Rollins grabs a rollup to finish Anderson at 11:43.

Rating: C-. Just a match here with the break in the middle breaking up the momentum. That being said, I’m much happier with the champs winning instead of having them lose so soon into their title reign. I know they’re not going to be long term champions or anything, but there is no need to have them lose here. For once WWE gets that and doesn’t have the champs lose, which is nice for a change.

Post match Strowman does the run around the ring shoulders but hits Rollins by mistake. Cue Roode and Ziggler to help with the beatdown as all five lay out Strowman and Rollins.

We look at Sasha Banks’ explanation, setting up Bayley’s heel turn on Monday Night Raw.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Bayley to open things up with her usual entrance, including the tube men. The fans are rather happy to see her after what she did. Bayley doesn’t understand what people expected because she gives her whole heart out there very time. She wants the fans to feel the way she did when she was a kid and she’s trying to show the younger fans what it means to be loyal. That’s why she had Sasha’s back last night when it got rough.

She’ll prove that when she beats the selfish Charlotte at Clash of Champions, so here’s Charlotte to interrupt. Charlotte admits to being selfish but what you see is what you get. There is no hugging so Bayley should hug the title goodbye. Cue Sasha so Charlotte decks Bayley before fighting Banks. Bayley comes in with the chair though and they both beat Charlotte down.

Clash of Champions rundown.

Dana Brooke vs. Sarah Logan

ROUND SEVEN!!! Even commentary is pointing out how well these two know each other by now. Logan dropkicks her before the bell, likely wanting to get on to anything else as well. Some early stomping has Brooke in more trouble and Logan knees her to the floor without much trouble. We hit the chinlock for a bit until Dana fights back and hammers away, including sending Logan outside. Back in and Dana’s Swanton gets two so Logan pops up and hits a running knee to the back of the head for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: D+. Yeah they certainly can do that match. I mean they’ve done it so many times now that it would be hard for them to not know how to do it. Is this supposed to help develop either of these two? I’m not sure why WWE thinks having them face each other time after time is going to help things but they certainly see some kind of benefit to this booking. It isn’t benefiting the people who watch this show, though I think the half dozen of them or so will get over their issues.

Long video on Roman Reigns’ attacks, including Erick Rowan being revealed as a possible attacker.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Daniel Bryan to demand an apology from Roman Reigns. The fans rather approve of Bryan, who thinks it means they finally understand him. People think that Bryan is guilty by association but now we know he had nothing to do with it. Bryan has never lied to anyone and he hates liars of all kinds. Therefore he wants and gets Reigns out here but Erick Rowan jumps Reigns from behind. A powerbomb sends Reigns into the post and the claw slam makes it even worse.

Rowan grabs the mic and says Daniel had nothing to do with this. He yells at Bryan for thinking he can control Rowan and offers to fight Bryan right now. Come slap him again like he did last week. Bryan isn’t sure what to do so Rowan talks about being proud of what he did to attack Reigns, which included attacking him with the car. What makes him most proud though is the pain that Reigns is going to feel at Clash of Champions. Rowan throws him outside and hits him with the steps, drawing Bryan over to slap Rowan again. The claw slam puts Bryan through the table to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The recap game was strong this week with a nice balance of Raw and Smackdown. The most important thing to come out of this week though was how the stories crossed over a bit more. If you want to blur the lines between Raw and Smackdown, having the stories go from one show to the other is a good way of doing things. That worked here, though it isn’t going to mean anything in just a few weeks. Still though, fine use of an hour here, assuming you aren’t totally fed up with Logan vs. Brooke.

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

Monday Night Raw – September 2, 2019: What Am I Watching?

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 2, 2019
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

The King of the Ring continues as we find out the final names on the Raw side. This time around it’s Ricochet vs. Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin vs. Cedric Alexander, meaning you should be able to guess where both matches are going. Other than that we’ll likely get some more build to Clash of Champions. Let’s get to it.

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

Braun Strowman/Seth Rollins vs. OC

Post match Strowman does the run around the ring shoulders but hits Rollins by mistake. Cue Roode and Ziggler to help with the beatdown as all five lay out Strowman and Rollins.

Post break the OC lays out Cedric Alexander before he can give an interview. Cedric seems to have a bad arm injury.

Dolph Ziggler/Bobby Roode vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Ziggler starts fast on Hawkins with Ryder getting knocked off the apron. Roode drops Hawkins ribs first across the top rope but an elbow to the face lets Ryder come in off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and it’s a superkick into the Glorious DDT to finish Hawkins at 4:01.

Rating: D. Just a squash for Roode and Ziggler, which is a fine way to do things. It’s nice to give them a chance to establish themselves a bit more as they have only teamed together once so far. It’s not like beating Hawkins and Ryder means much either way but it’s better than having a team go from debuting to the title match with nothing in between.

Natalya vs. Lacey Evans

Natalya jumps Lacey from behind during the entrances and takes her down to start. They head outside early on and a whip into the barricade has Natalya in trouble for a change. Back in and Lacey calls her a nasty before throwing on the chinlock. The double jump moonsault misses so Natalya hits a discus lariat for two. Lacey grabs a tissue and throws it at Natalya though, setting up the Woman’s Right for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: D. I get that Natalya was angry and emotional, but the cat ears took something away from the emotion they were going for. This felt like a way to get Evans back on track, which she certainly needs, though a win over Natalya isn’t meaning as much as it has before. Evans is a good heel, though she needs someone to feud against.

Here’s Becky Lynch to respond to Sasha Banks. Becky wants to know where Sasha is after she heard a bunch of reasons Sasha left after Wrestlemania last week. She remembers Sasha being a star in NXT while Becky was off to the side. Then Sasha and Charlotte came up to the main roster while Becky was trying to get TV time. Sasha even got bouquets of flowers after her matches. Then Sasha left after Wrestlemania and Bayley has done just fine without Sasha, which has to sting her a bit.

Sasha should be the center of attention, just like Becky is now. If Sasha wants to do this right now, come out here right now you little blue haired freak. Cue Sasha, who laughs off the idea of wanting to be Becky. Sasha: “Haha I wish Nia Jax broke my face so people cared about me!” Becky offers to fight right now but Banks laughs it off because she isn’t fighting for the people. She’ll do it for the paycheck at Clash of Champions. Becky accepts and Sasha promises to make the man the Boss’ b****. Banks is much better as a heel and already the best challenger Becky has had since she won the title.

The Street Profits aren’t sure what to think about that so they send it to commercial.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Cedric Alexander vs. Baron Corbin

Cedric’s arm is injured coming in and Corbin promises to win. Corbin starts fast with the slide under the ropes for the heavy clothesline but Cedric scores with a dropkick. The Neuralizer sends Corbin outside and a springboard clothesline gets two back inside. Corbin has had it with this and sends him arm first into the post twice in a row as we take a break. Back with driving elbows into the shoulder and cranking on the chinlock. Alexander fights up and hits a corner dropkick but the springboard Downward Spiral is countered into Deep Six for two.

Cedric gets back up and sends him shoulder first into the post four times in a row, followed by some hard kicks in the corner. The running flip dive to the floor hits Corbin again and a missile dropkick gets two (not bad as it barely connected). The Michinoku Driver is good for the same but another springboard is broken up. Corbin gets serious and finishes with End of Days at 14:30.

Rating: B-. Easily one of the better Corbin matches to date, though I have little faith in him to keep this up. At the same time though, it’s the problem of everything that he’s done over the last few months being a bit harder than that to shake off. Having him come back and win three or four matches doesn’t make up for the horrible last nine months, but I have a feeling WWE will see it differently.

Corbin sits on the throne again.

Long video on the attacks on Roman Reigns.

We look back at the opening segment.

Bayley has no comments on Sasha Banks. Yeah they’ve talked about what is happening lately and their conversations are personal. Banks left but Bayley stayed and took the opportunities. Tonight she is teaming with Becky so ask her a question about that. She isn’t worried about Becky overshadowing her tonight because she’s the Smackdown Women’s Champion.

Viking Raiders vs. ???/???

Before the match, the jobbers say they came all the way from Pittsburgh and are going to make the Raiders look like some Balti-morons. German suplex/springboard clothesline, crossbody against the barricade to another, Razor’s Edge toss sends one into the other and the Viking Experience is good for the pin at 1:24.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet

The winner faces Corbin next week. Before the match, Joe promises to make this his kingdom. Ricochet on the other hand talks about always redefining what is possible. Ricochet goes for the arm to start so Joe kicks away at the knee to take him down. The comeback out of the corner lets Ricochet get in some shots of his own but a sunset flip doesn’t work.

A low bridge to the floor does though and Ricochet’s moonsault off the barricade drops Joe again. Back in and Joe goes after the knee again by slamming it off the mat and putting on the half crab. Ricochet grabs a rope and is fine enough for two off a Lionsault (that’s a fast healing knee). Joe doesn’t like the lack of selling so he takes it outside for a suplex into the barricade.

We hit the neck crank before a toss across the ring has Ricochet in trouble. Back from the break with Ricochet fighting out of another chinlock and hitting the springboard clothesline. The running shooting star press gets two and Joe is sent outside for the Space Flying Tiger Drop. Back in and Ricochet goes up, meaning it’s the Koquina Clutch from Joe. Ricochet drops back for the big crash though….and it’s a double pin at 16:00.

Rating: C. The knee being fine after the break was a bit much but I’m more worried about where this is going. This sounds like a way to get Corbin to the finals while not having Ricochet lose and other than him, I don’t see anyone stopping Corbin in the whole thing. It’s going to be a long Clash if that’s where we’re going and I have a feeling it is.

The referee goes outside to get a headset and seems to call another referee for a ruling. That ruling….will come later so Ricochet beats up Joe a bit more.

Strowman isn’t happy that Steve Austin is back to moderate the next contract signing next week. Rollins laughs off the idea that he and Austin are in this against Strowman, so Strowman threatens to give Austin these hands.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with Bray saying that what the Fiend did to Finn Balor was super duper rude. He apologizes to Balor on behalf of everyone here but it’s Demon Vince popping in to say Bray shouldn’t have challenged the Universal Champion at Hell in a Cell. It’s almost time to be fired but Bray pulls out the money he has been making and feeds it to Vince.

That’s enough for Vince, leaving Bray to say Seth and Braun aren’t a great team but they stole something from him before. We see Bray’s team, which is all of his puppet friends. They help him cope with pain but the Fiend helps him inflict it. Bray: “See you in h***. Let me in. BYE!”

The official decision: a triple threat match next week with Corbin involved.

Rey Mysterio talks about Dominick convincing him not to retire. They had a father and son talk about what it means for Dominick to grow up in the WWE family. It’s a parent’s responsibility to push their children to pursue their dreams but Dominick is pushing him to pursue him. Rey isn’t done because he has more to accomplish.

The Miz vs. Cesaro

The running uppercut gives Cesaro two at the bell and another uppercut gets the same. Miz comes back with some YES Kicks, only to get uppercutted down again. To mix things up a bit, Cesaro uppercuts him off the top and busts out the apron superplex. We hit the armbar for a bit until Miz fights up with kicks in the corner. Swiss Death cuts Miz off for two more but his grab of the rope gets him caught. Miz slugs away but gets uppercutted again, only to come back with the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 5:05.

Rating: D. As much as Cesaro showed over in the UK, it was nothing but uppercuts here and that got a bit annoying. Can you blame him though? He has a rather good match over at NXT and comes here to put over Miz before another run at the Intercontinental Title in five minutes. I know someone had to take the loss, but can we find ANYONE other than Cesaro? The fans have long since caught on that he isn’t going to get a big win so the returns are going to diminish in a hurry.

Bayley/Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

Non-title. It’s a brawl to start with Bliss and Cross being knocked down on the floor…and here’s Sasha early on. Back with Bayley in trouble as Cross and Bliss take turns throwing clotheslines and splashes in the corner. Cross cuts off a diving tag attempt, drawing in Becky for the double stomping in the corner.

The Stunner over the ropes but Bliss cuts off the tag this time around. That’s not enough to cut the tag off three times though as it’s Becky comes in to clean house with MMA style strikes. A middle rope legdrop gives Becky two and she unloads on Bliss in the corner, only to have Banks come in for the DQ at 10:53.

Rating: D+. This was tag team formula stuff until the ending and I can give them a few extra points for not having a champion get pinned (they’ve been doing a bit better about that as of late). Banks vs. Lynch could be an interesting match and certainly feels bigger so the ending works well in that area.

Post match Banks grabs a chair but Bayley takes it away….and turns on Becky with chair shots of her own. The beating continues to end the show. Now that’s interesting as Bayley is more likely to retain over Charlotte while also throwing in a curve ball to Becky vs. Banks. Smart booking choice there, and it’s not like face Bayley was working anyway.

Overall Rating: C-. What an odd show with mostly bad wrestling, good creative and….Baron Corbin with the match of the night? Huh? Anyway, it’s nice to see the champions getting a focus for a change, though it’s kind of annoying that it takes the calendar to make them feel extra special. It’s quite the mixture of good and bad overall but there were a few too many instances of wondering when something was going to end to tilt it down just a bit. That being said, I’ll take them getting rid of the especially annoying stuff and replacing it with slightly uninteresting stuff so they’re moving in the right direction to an extent.

Results

Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman b. OC – Rollup to Anderson

Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode b. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder – Glorious DDT to Hawkins

Lacey Evans b. Natalya – Woman’s Right

Baron Corbin b. Cedric Alexander – End of Days

Viking Experience b. ???/??? – Viking Experience

Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet went to a double pin

The Miz b. Cesaro – Skull Crushing Finale

Bayley/Becky Lynch b. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross via DQ when Sasha Banks interfered

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

Main Event – August 22, 2019: 6/10

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 22, 2019
Location: XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentators: Renee Young, Byron Saxton

Things are starting to get interesting in WWE again as the King of the Ring Tournament kicked off this week, plus we move closer to finding out who attacked Roman Reigns. The World Title pictures are both getting into some interesting territory as well. Now let’s see how Main Event messes it up. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Dana Brooke vs. Sarah Logan

Counting this show, these two have fought on six of the last ten Main Events (and they were in a tag match two weeks before that). Feeling out process to start, because these two don’t know each other well enough yet. Brooke sends her into the corner for the handspring elbow and the cartwheel splash gets two.

Logan is right back with some rolling suplexes for two and goes nuts with right hands near the corner. That’s not cool with Brooke, who is right back with her own forearms in the corner and on the mat. She shouts about hating Logan, which you almost have to after facing her so many times in a row. The Swanton hits knees but Brooke small packages her for the pin at 4:25.

Rating: D+. Normally I would say something like NOW NEVER FIGHT AGAIN but maybe if I don’t, we can get something new. It amazes me how we can’t possibly have anything other than these two fighting more often than not as there are so many people on the roster. It’s not even like the matches are any good, though they did throw something in here with the aggression.

From Smackdown.

King of the Ring First Round: Elias vs. Kevin Owens

Non-title. Elias’ music now has his catchphrase at the start and sounds like him singing. Owens doesn’t waste time in clotheslining him out to the floor but Elias walks away before the big flip dive. A whip sends Owens into the barricade but he’s right back with the Cannonball for two. Cue Shane to watch from ringside as we take a break. Back with Elias holding a chinlock and throwing in a rake to the eyes for a bonus. Owens fights up and gets caught with a jumping knee to the face for two.

The chinlock goes on again but Owens gets out even faster this time, setting up a DDT. A middle rope dropkick sets up the backsplash for a quick two. The pop up powerbomb is broken up and Elias hits an electric chair into a sitout powerbomb. Elias can’t hit a superplex as Owens knocks him down but the Swanton hits knees. Owens is right back to knock Elias outside for a flip dive off the apron…and it’s Shane pulling off his shirt to reveal a referee shirt. Shane slides in as Owens’ Stunner is blocked, allowing Elias to grab a rollup with Shane counting a very fast pin at 13:12.

Rating: C. This story just won’t end. I’m not sure why it needs to keep going, but WWE certainly sees value in having Shane do the same stuff he’s done for months now. I’m sure we’ll see a rematch, possibly all the way at Hell in a Cell for a rematch from two years ago. The match was just waiting around for Shane to reveal the shirt, because that’s the only way it could have ended.

Long recap of Roman Reigns being attacked, along with the involvement of Buddy Murphy, Rowan and Daniel Bryan.

From Smackdown again.

Reigns comes in to see Bryan and Rowan to find out who is under the hood. The hood comes off and it’s….someone who looks like Rowan plus twenty years. Nothing is said to end the show. So I guess Murphy was confused and thought it was the Rowan lookalike, who we’ll have explained to us later? That’s certainly a different way to go with things.

Video on Sasha Banks returning last week.

From Raw.

Natalya has just seen the WWE doctor again but needs to rant about Sasha for interrupting her last week. Cue Banks to jump Natalya again and send her into an anvil case. Banks: “Go to h*** Nattie. And tell your daddy I say hi.” That was a good line. There’s something hilarious about Natalya trying so hard to be serious and just getting destroyed every week because people don’t care about her.

Lucha House Party vs. Eric Young/Robert Roode

Mexico vs. Team Canada with Kalisto as the odd man out. Commentary mentions the history between Roode and Young as Dorado’s flying mare takes Young into the corner. A headscissors sends the Canadians into each other and we take a break. Back with Young punching Dorado in the face for two and Roode breaks up the tag to keep Dorado in the corner.

The chinlock doesn’t last long as Young lets go to knock Metalik off the apron. The hot tag goes through a few seconds later and Metalik comes in with a middle rope dropkick for two on Roode. Metalik’s rope walk elbow is nearly botched as he almost loses his balance but Roode is there to shake the ropes and bring him down. The Glorious DDT finishes Metalik at 8:38.

Rating: C-. This was looking like a nice little tag match so I wonder how good the full version was. Main Event has those weird commercials that come in the middle of nowhere and they never feel like they’re supposed to be in there at the moment. Roode and Young would be fine enough to reform as a lower card tag team, but it’s not like that’s likely to happen.

We look at Randy Orton and the Revival injuring Xavier Woods’ leg on Raw.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Randy Orton to open things up. After a clip from last night’s attack on the New Day, Orton talks about Kofi cheating to get out of a fight with him at Summerslam. But Kofi isn’t done yet because Kofi is stupid. Last night was fun but here’s New Day’s music, with Kofi sneaking in from behind with Trouble in Paradise to drop Orton. Kofi grabs a chair and wraps it around Orton’s ankle but here’s the Revival for the save. That’s fine with Kofi, who cleans house with the chair as the villains run.

From Raw.

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman vs. OC

The OC is defending and has AJ with them. Strowman runs Gallows over to start and it’s off to the taped up Rollins to work on Gallows’ arm. Anderson comes in but a quick tag brings Gallows back in, meaning Rollins has to knee him to the floor. A running kick to the head puts Anderson outside as well but the numbers catch up with him.

That means Gallows gets to drop Rollins ribs first into the barricade a few times and we take an early break. Back with Anderson hitting a spinebuster on Rollins, but Anderson gets knocked off the top. That means the Blockbuster, but Rollins bangs up the ribs again. With the hot tag near, Gallows is smart enough to post Strowman and cut him off. Gallows comes back in as everything breaks down, with Rollins getting to clean house again.

A low bridge puts Gallows on the floor, leaving Anderson to take the Falcon Arrow for two. The numbers catch up with Rollins again as AJ crotches him on top but it’s Strowman back up to run over AJ and Gallows. Back in and Rollins rolls over for the hot tag to Strowman and it’s time to wreck things. Rollins cuts Styles off with the Stomp and Strowman hits the running powerslam on Anderson for the pin and the titles at 12:04.

Rating: B-. Good match here with a surprise ending and that’s not a bad thing. This seems to be the way to set up the Strowman vs. Rollins match next month so odds are we’ll be seeing the OC get the titles back pretty soon. It’s a booking trope that has been done for years and it’s going to work fine enough here.

Overall Rating: D+. Main Event is kind of amazing in a way. Some times it can be a nice recap show with a passable match in there, but at times it goes absolutely nowhere with the same warmed up match that we’ve seen time and time again. Then you have this show, which is somehow a mixture of both. I know the wrestling means nothing but would it really hurt to do a minor story in here? With the 485 writers they have, no one can be asked to do the three minutes of storylines that this show would have? Or just let the wrestlers do what they want? Impossible it seems, and I’m not sure why.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – August 19, 2019: It’s Nice For A Fresh Feeling

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 19, 2019
Location: XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Renee Young

It’s royalty night with the first round of the King of the Ring tournament kicking off. That means we should be in for some good wrestling, but it could also mean that we’re in for some annoying booking. This would also apply to the likely announcement of NXT moving to USA to fight off the combined forces of Marko Stunt, Orange Cassidy and Sonny Kiss. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to open things up. After we see a long recap of the whole Whodunit story, here’s Dolph Ziggler before anything can be said.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

Hang on though as Ziggler insists that he is NOT a Twitter warrior like the fans and is worried about what is happening to Reigns. Ziggler goes into a rant about how he was beaten up at Summerslam and even lost to Maryse’s husband last week. Now it should be him, and there’s a superkick to Reigns before the bell.

Reigns takes his time getting up for the bell but manages to knock Ziggler outside. The clothesline off the steps misses though and Ziggler hits the Zig Zag on the floor as we take a break. Back with Reigns backdropping him to the floor and hitting the apron kick. A big boot drops Ziggler again but Ziggler scores with the running DDT for two.

The Fameasser is countered into a powerbomb attempt with Ziggler slipping over the back and hitting the Zig Zag for two more. The superkick (with Cole calling it Sweet Chin Music) is blocked with a Superman Punch. Back up and the spear is countered into the Fameasser for two as it’s the friendly exchange of moves. Ziggler shouts about being better than Reigns and how Roman blew his chance. The Stinger Splash is cut off by the spear to end Ziggler at 10:55.

Rating: C+. Yeah fine. This was pure Ziggler and that’s why the interest wasn’t there. It’s the EXACT SAME THING that Ziggler always does to the completely nothing returns. I know he’s been around for a long time now but what does WWE see in Ziggler from a character standpoint? I don’t remember the last time he did anything different and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Video on Sasha Banks returning last week and attacking Natalya and Becky Lynch.

Becky talks about how everyone is coming for the title, including Banks, who just vanished for four months. It took Becky a few interviews to do what Banks never did: become the top dog in the division. Why did it take Becky to unleash the real Sasha? The real great ones don’t need to be provoked. This is a cat and mouse game and Becky is going to give Sasha something to go home and cry about.

Here’s Jerry Lawler in the ring for the King’s Court. Before he brings out Sasha Banks as his guest, he talks about the King of the Ring and how important it has been to some careers. We see the bracket, with Lawler picking Cedric Alexander and Ricochet on the Raw side….and there go the lights for Bray Wyatt. Lawler is smart enough to bail before the lights go out in full but the Fiend pops up behind Lawler on the stage. Cole: “TURN AROUND KING!” Yes so the Fiend can give him the Mandible Claw, which is exactly what happens.

Vic Joseph has replaced Lawler on commentary.

Ricochet/The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre/Baron Corbin

On the prospect of Baron being King, Renee says “for the love of God, someone please stop Baron Corbin.” Ricochet starts fast with a springboard crossbody to McIntyre as there is some weird red light in the ring. The fans are happy when it goes off as the villains are sent outside. Ricochet adds the big middle rope moonsault and we take a break. Back McIntyre throwing Miz with a suplex and cranking on the arm.

It’s off to Corbin, who is now in a black tank top, which looks at least somewhat less stupid. Corbin does the slide around the post for the clothesline to set up McIntyre’s spinebuster for two. Miz gets in a DDT and brings in Ricochet for the fast paced kicks. A rolling dropkick gets one on Corbin and the running shooting star gets two.

McIntyre is back in to throw people around but the Claymore is broken up. The Skull Crushing Finale hits McIntyre but Corbin chokeslams Miz. Another chokeslam to Ricochet is broken up so Corbin settles for two off the Deep Six instead. Miz pulls Ricochet out of the way of a charge in the corner though and the Recoil finishes Corbin at 10:20.

Rating: C-. Baron Corbin, who main evented pay per views earlier this year, has made his biggest impact by changing his shirt. What does that tell you about the level of interest this guy has? I have a bad feeling he’s going to go far in the tournament though and him winning it wouldn’t be out of the question. It would be out of the realm of something that makes fans happy, but that’s always the case with Corbin.

Booker T. joins us via Skype to talk about the Fiend being a monster. As for King of the Ring, he likes Drew McIntyre. There’s nothing significant to these interviews but they’re a nice little change of pace for two minutes a week.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Braun Strowman

AJ is defending and has the rest of the OC with him. This is fallout from Strowman running in last week to save Seth Rollins from a beatdown last week. AJ slaps him in the face to start and tries a chop block, which has no effect. A chase to the floor doesn’t work well and it’s Strowman backdropping AJ. The OC is knocked off the apron but Strowman charges into a boot in the corner. The Phenomenal Forearm is knocked out of the air but the OC comes in for the DQ at 1:50.

Post match the beatdown is on but Rollins runs in for the save. With the OC cleaned out, Rollins shakes Strowman’s hand, but Strowman takes his time letting go. Eventually he does and nods at Rollins, who doesn’t look sure about this.

Post break Rollins comes up to Strowman in the back and says Strowman should be the next challenger. Strowman sounds intrigued but tonight, Rollins thinks they should become Raw Tag Team Champions. Strowman growls in what seems like an agreement.

King of the Ring First Round: Samoa Joe vs. Cesaro

Joe says that he’ll win and let his actions do the talking. Cesaro says the tournament plays to his strengths so the King of Swing can be the King of the Ring. Cesaro’s running uppercut gets two about five seconds in so Joe elbows him right back. The springboard spinning uppercut gives Cesaro two more but Joe sends him outside and over the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Joe knocking him down again and cranking on the neck. The backsplash misses though and Cesaro kicks him in the face. A suplex gives Cesaro two more and the high crossbody is good for the same. Joe knocks him out of the corner though and drops the backsplash. That just earns him an uppercut into a Crossface but Joe slips out and pulls him into the Koquina Clutch for the win at 10:11.

Rating: C-. Good, hard hitting match with Joe getting a not very surprising win. Cesaro is mainly in WWE to put people over these days so there is only so much that can be done to make him a convincing challenger. Joe winning the tournament isn’t out of the question as he is always a threat, which is a very valuable thing to have.

Cole talks about some matches coming up later and mentions the Wild Card Rule for the first time in probably a month.

Over the weekend, Drake Maverick tried to attack Elias in a recording studio and got beaten up.

Here’s Elias for a song. Hang on though as his microphone keeps messing up. With that out of the way, Elias says hang onto your loved ones because this is his farewell performance. He has too much going on, from the 24/7 Title to being King of the Ring that he doesn’t have time to perform. The guitar is out of tune though so he needs a replacement as the mic keeps messing up. The assistant gets in the ring and even Renee know what’s going on here. It’s R-Truth and a referee but the rollup only gets two. Truth gets smart by hitting the ax kick for two more but the big guitar shot misses. Elias bails and escapes for now.

Rey Mysterio talks about having a beautiful family and a wonderful career. He’s had the chance to meet people all over the world and considers them his friends. Things haven’t been clicking for him recently though and Andrade ripped his mask off. When he’s in the ring, he knows what he needs to do but his body isn’t responding to it.

His biggest fear though is that his injuries have caught up with him and he didn’t expect it to come so soon. It’s time for him to hang up the mask (big gasp for that) and let the new generation step in. Rey goes to unmask but his son Dominick stops him. With Rey crying, Dominick says he wants to be Rey’s partner. Rey says he’ll stay for Dominick. Good promo here, with Rey showing as much emotion as I’ve ever heard from him.

New Day vs. Revival

Non-title. Revival is wearing snake skin boots, courtesy of Randy Orton. Big E. shoulders Dawson in the corner to start and it’s off to Woods for a change. Everything breaks down early on and the Revival is clotheslined outside as we take an early break. Back with Big E. cleaning house and loading up the dive to the floor, only to have Orton run in for the RKO for the DQ at 6:20. Not enough shown to rate but the action was entertaining while it lasted.

Post match Kofi Kingston runs in to fight off all three of them but walks into the RKO. Woods gets back in but runs into a three man 3D. They’re not done yet though as Revival goes old school and crushes Woods’ knee, with Orton making Kofi watch.

Sasha Banks joins us from the back for an interview with Cole. Banks talks about how crazy of a week it has been for her and she would like to explain from the beginning. Last week she looked in the mirror and realized that blue is her color and now it’s all over social media. She looks good and feels even better. Cole: “No one is talking about your new hair.” When asked about attacking Becky and Natalya last week, Banks says you’re welcome and walks off. If that microphone offended her, it might be three months before we see Banks again.

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Fire And Desire

Non-title. Sonya gets some early rollups for two each on Bliss to start and it’s off to Mandy, who cartwheels over Bliss and poses a bit. Mandy gets knocked outside with Bliss not looking happy with her. It’s back to Cross for a crossarm choke but Bliss comes back in very quickly, earning herself a knee to the face from Mandy. The hot (?) tag brings in Sonya for some strikes of her own and a spinebuster to Bliss. Cross is right back with the Purge for a very sudden pin at 4:20.

Rating: D+. That ending was out of nowhere and it seemed like they were told to go home in a hurry. Bliss and Cross are already doing more with the titles than either of the previous champions and while I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing the titles on TV more, this is a lot better than what we’ve seen before from them.

Rollins tries to talk strategy with Strowman, who keeps looking at the Universal Title. They argue over who should follow who’s lead.

King of the Ring First Round: Cedric Alexander vs. Sami Zayn

Cedric says he’s a man of action and it’s time to raise the Age of Alexander. Sami says he’s been losing for months now and it turns around tonight. Zayn is aggressive to start and kicks Alexander down for some early one counts. A backbreaker gives him some near falls and we hit the chinlock. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Zayn goes with a Michinoku Driver for another two. Alexander fights back up and hits the spinning elbow to the face, followed by the anklescissors. That means a suicide dive to the floor and the Neuralizer connects back inside. The Lumbar Check finishes Zayn clean at 3:38.

Rating: C-. I like the Alexander push though my goodness whose dog did Zayn kidnap and sell for Pop Tarts cereal? He’s not just losing a lot but he’s losing in fast matches. At least he did get some offense in here though and looked aggressive, but it seems that they might be leading somewhere with these losses. I hope so at least.

The Street Profits (minus the NXT Tag Team Titles) check their brackets. Ford is 2-0 but Dawkins’ is already busted. They preview the rest of the first round but Dawkins wonders why we can’t have a tag team King of the Ring tournament. Ford: “We’re already kings.” I mean, he is wearing a crown. They’re ready for the Tag Team Title match tonight when Seth Braulins can win the gold.

AJ Styles gives the OC a pep talk.

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman vs. OC

Strowman and Rollins celebrate to end the show. There is NO announcement about NXT.

Overall Rating: C+. It was another acceptable show where it felt like things were happening. That’s what makes a show work so much better and the show never felt long. What mattered here was they’re setting things up for Clash of Champions and it feels like we’re seeing some fresh names getting a chance. For so long it was the same people over and over so that’s the best thing that could happen to the show. Good night here, and I’m curious to see where things are going for the first time in a long while.

Results

Roman Reigns b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

The Miz/Ricochet b. Drew McIntyre/Baron Corbin – Recoil to Corbin

Braun Strowman b. AJ Styles via DQ when the OC interfered

Samoa Joe b. Cesaro – Koquina Clutch

New Day b. Revival via DQ when Randy Orton interrupted

Nikki Cross/Alexa Bliss b. Fire and Desire – Purge to Deville

Cedric Alexander b. Sami Zayn – Lumbar Check

Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman b. OC – Running powerslam to Anderson

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Main Event – August 15, 2019: Who Needs Wrestling When We Can Talk About Wrestling?

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 15, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Sam Roberts, Byron Saxton, Renee Young

We’re FINALLY done with Toronto in any way shape or form and that means….well very little really as there isn’t much to get excited about on this show. The more I watch Main Event the more I wonder why WWE doesn’t put the slightest bit of effort into it when you have a free hour to do stuff every week. Even if it stays as a recap show, you can at least add in something with the matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Lacey Evans vs. Dana Brooke

Lacey can’t trip her down to start so Dana gets in a headlock, only to have Lacey land in some pushups. Not to be outdone, Dana does her own pushups and gets a bigger reaction than she does most of the time. Maybe she’s in the wrong business. Back up and Lacey pulls her down by the hair….which she then ties around the top rope. The slingshot Bronco Buster sets up an armbar and Lacey slams the arm into the mat. Dana fights up and uses the good arm for some clotheslines but cartwheels into a choke in the corner. The Woman’s Right finishes Brooke at 5:10.

Rating: D+. Dana is very slowly growing on me and is getting better in the ring. She’s very easy to cheer as she’s the pretty blonde in great shape and you can see what WWE sees in her. It’s not her fault that she was called up so soon and she’s never going to be a huge star but she’s slowly improving and I can go with someone trying to get better.

Video on Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

From Raw.

Here’s Rollins to get things going. He can’t believe he’s here because Lesnar is everything that he is touted to be. Lesnar is a freaking beast so we get a BEAST SLAYER chant, which sounded a lot like a HEATH SLATER chant at first. Last week he went somewhere he hasn’t gone before….and here’s the OC to interrupt. AJ says they wanted to be the first to congratulate Rollins, but he also wants to challenge Seth. That’s a yes, because Rollins doesn’t respect Styles anymore. They’re on for tonight. They shake hands and the Good Brothers tease a beatdown but smile instead.

From Raw again.

Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles

Non-title, the OC is here with Styles and Rollins has taped up ribs. Rollins starts fast by tying AJ in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick. An OC distraction lets AJ take it outside though and a belly to back faceplant drops Rollins’ ribs on the floor. Back from a break with AJ getting two off a suplex to send Rollins out to the apron.

The Styles Clash on the apron is broken up and Rollins sweeps the leg to send AJ into the apron. Back in and the Falcon Arrow gives Rollins two but AJ fights out of a reverse superplex. AJ charges into a superkick but Gallows breaks up the frog splash. While they aren’t caught, the OC gets ejected, only to come back in for the DQ at 9:21.

Rating: C+. This was fine and the ending was the way to go rather than having either of them take a fall of any kind. I was worried that we would see WWE make the titles look weak again but maybe they’re starting to learn their lesson. It’s better than having the same losses every week so hopefully things are changing a bit.

Post match the beatdown is on with Ricochet’s save attempt not working. The super Styles Clash is loaded up but Braun Strowman comes in for the real save. A pair of powerslams to Styles as Rollins isn’t sure what to think. Strowman picks up the title and hands it to Rollins before a handshake can end the show.

From Raw.

Here’s Natalya with her arm in a sling for a chat. She was in a fight last night but she wouldn’t change a thing she did or said to Becky and they’ll meet again. Last night after the show, she had a dream where her dad said he was proud of her. Her dad passed away one year ago….and here’s Sasha Banks for the first time since Wrestlemania.

She hugs Natalya and turns on her in nearly record time. The bad arm is sent into the corner and then the steps so here’s Becky for the save. Banks knocks her down with a right hand and gets in some chair shots to leave Becky laying. Graves rips Sasha apart for being selfish as the beating continues. Well Becky has been needing a top opponent so this is a good way to go.

EC3/Cesaro vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Cesaro headlocks Ryder to start and gets flapjacked for his efforts. It’s off to Hawkins who gets in an elbow drop, followed by a heck of a dive off the top to take both of them out. We take a break and come back with Hawkins suplexing his way out of trouble, allowing the hot tag to Ryder to clean house. The neckbreaker counters EC3’s suplex but Cesaro uppercuts Ryder into the Neutralizer for the pin at 6:53.

Rating: C. Another match that was cut off by time, which is annoying as they were trying to get something going with this one. Hawkins busted out a dive that had no business taking place on a show like Main Event but it’s always cool to see someone giving it a try like that. But hey, we must need more time for some other recap from Raw right?

Video on Roman Reigns being attacked.

From Smackdown.

Here are Rowan and Daniel Bryan for a chat. It’s clear that someone is out to get Reigns but neither of them had anything to do with the attacks. All that matters is Murphy is a liar but Bryan doesn’t blame him for what he said. Any one of you would cave if Reigns held you against a wall and Murphy had to give a name. The problem is Murphy gave the wrong name. The fans say Bryan did it and Bryan says that’s what’s wrong with society. A lie is spread all over social media and then it becomes the truth. They had nothing to do with it and tonight they’ll prove it.

From Smackdown again.

Buddy Murphy vs. Roman Reigns

Roman doesn’t like being shoved in the face to start so he hits an uppercut. Murphy is right back with a jumping knee to the face for an early two and the stomping is on in the corner. They head outside with Reigns being sent into the barricade a few times so he throws Murphy hard over the announcers’ table. Murphy sends him into the steps though and comes back with knees off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Reigns fighting out of a chinlock and hitting a powerbomb out of the corner. Reigns hits the clotheslines in the corner and a big boot puts Murphy down. The spear goes into the post though and Murphy gets two off a rollup. Reigns is sent outside for the big running flip dive (which looked great) and the top rope Meteora gets two back inside. A Superman Punch out of nowhere gives Reigns two but Murphy hits a series of knees to the face. The brainbuster gives Murphy two and he goes up top, with a Superman Punch knocking him back down. Reigns hits a spear for the pin at 13:40.

Rating: B. This felt similar to last night’s Cedric Alexander vs. Drew McIntyre match as a young star gets a chance on the show against a hard hitting big man. Ok so it sounds very similar but that’s a good idea when it makes for a good match on both nights. Murphy looked like a star here, though I’m not sure why it took four months for his first match.

Bryan and Rowan go into the locker room and tell everyone but Murphy to get out. Bryan gets right in his face and demands that Murphy admit that he lied. Rowan hits Murphy in the face and pins him against the wall, with Bryan wanting Murphy to admit that he lied. Murphy admits it and Rowan lets him go, but Bryan says he hates liars. That earns Murphy a trip into the garbage.

Roman comes in to see Bryan and Rowan, who have been conducting their own investigation. Next week, they’ll bring the one who did it to Reigns.

Overall Rating: C+. They packed a lot of stuff into this one but I don’t get putting the Reigns story, which is arguably the biggest thing on the show, at the very end. Also, we can’t even get a long video about the King of the Ring? There’s a lot going on in WWE at the moment and that’s a good thing, but this isn’t something that matters whatsoever and it could be done so much better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – August 12, 2019: The Sweet Summer Change

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 12, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re done with Summerslam and the big story coming out of last night is Seth Rollins regaining the Universal Tile from Brock Lesnar. That opens the door for Lesnar to get the title back as it’s been long enough since he’s held it already. Other than that, almost everything seems to be open as we head towards Clash of the Champions in about five weeks. Why does that length of time make me smile so much? Let’s get to it.

Here are Sunday’s results if you need a recap.

The Street Profits like the sound of the champion vs. champion match but Dawkins is a little tired after last night’s after party. Sami Zayn comes in to say enjoy it while you can because this place will suck the soul out of you. It happens to everyone, including Rollins and Becky Lynch. Look at where they started and where they are now.

Dawkins asks if that happens to someone like Samoa Joe. Sami says of course it does and laughs about Joe’s reaction to Roman Reigns’ attack last week. Joe, who happens to be right behind Sami, sets up a match between the two of them. Maybe Sami can show that he’s more than Kevin Owens’ water boy.

The King of the Ring Tournament is back next week. I could go for that.

Long video on Roman Reigns being attacked.

Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe

Sami jumps him to start and gets choked out in 45 seconds.

Post match Joe says he forgives Roman Reigns after what happened last week but he does not forgive the fans who accused him of being behind the attacks.

The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

Not so fast as Ziggler comes out in street clothes and holding his ribs. Ziggler calls this part of his master plan, because he got speared so many times yesterday that he isn’t medically cleared. Then he jumps Miz and seems fine as we take a break. We’re joined in progress with Miz taking a knee to the ribs but slugging away with left hands. More left hands in the corner set up the YES Kicks and the running dropkick connects. Ziggler scores with the Zig Zag for a close two but Miz goes for the leg and gets the Figure Four for the tap at 3:49.

Rating: D+. It involved Ziggler in pain so I can smile at this in peace. On top of that the near fall was pretty good so at least there was some usefulness to this one. The problem is that it’s been done so many times and almost anything involving Ziggler feels like a bad idea at this point. Or for the last few years that is.

Post match Miz leaves but Ziggler says Miz isn’t even the best wrestler in his family. There’s enough trash talk to bring Miz back for the Skull Crushing Finale to shut Ziggler up.

Becky Lynch says she respects Natalya but she’s here to deal with anyone who didn’t respect her. Your smart play is to get her before she gets you. Game on.

Here’s Elias for a performance but he says he’s not going to wait around to be interrupted this week. Just get out here, whoever you are this week. No one comes out so he gives them a second chance but no one comes out again. Elias starts playing and it’s Ricochet coming out, with Elias’ annoyed face being pretty funny. Ricochet says there’s a very good reason why Elias keeps getting interrupted: he sucks. Elias wants a referee out here right now.

Elias vs. Ricochet

Ricochet starts fast with the headscissors but Elias hits a crazy high backdrop for two. A headlock goes on for a bit but Ricochet kicks him out of the corner. Ricochet nails a dropkick and we get a little bit of a messy run of the ropes, leaving Ricochet to hit an enziguri. Elias rolls outside so Ricochet tries a running flip dive…with Elias stepping to the side so Ricochet crashes to the floor with nothing to break his fall. It’s time to grab the guitar but Ricochet gets in a kick to the head. A top rope sunset flip pins Elias at 3:27, though his shoulder was COMPLETELY off the mat, with commentary immediately calling it out.

Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade

2/3 falls. Rey starts fast and tries the 619 but gets rolled up with Zelina Vega holding the feet for the pin at 24 seconds. Rey goes up to start the second fall and snaps off a hurricanrana to the floor. That’s good for two back inside but Andrade starts stomping away in the corner.

The running knees miss though and Rey hits a slingshot Canadian Destroyer, with Andrade going down a bit too fast and landing with a thud. The 619 misses off a Zelina distraction and Andrade grabs a small package for two more. Now the 619 can connect but a frog splash hits knees. The hammerlock DDT gives Andrade the win in two straight falls at 6:32.

Rating: C+. They had to cram a lot into a short match but that’s as big of a win as Andrade can get. You have to wonder how much longer Mysterio is going to be in the ring so having him put someone over this hard is the best use for him. Mysterio is a legend at this point and isn’t going to lose that status no matter what happens to him. Andrade looked like a star here and that’s what they were shooting for.

We get a Skype interview with Steve Austin, who was impressed by Rollins’ performance last night. Rollins had a great match but what impressed Austin was Rollins saying that he was giving everything he had and showing who he was. Austin told him to stick with it because you’re going to have good days and bad days. Oh and watch Austin’s new show tonight after Raw.

Mysterio is upset over his loss and seems ready to announce his retirement but just says “my family”.

The Street Profits are worried about Mysterio. Well Ford is at least as Dawkins is almost asleep. A mention of Nikki Cross makes him smile and Ford asks him who he has in the Women’s Tag Team Title match. Dawkins is too busy chugging water to answer.

Drew McIntyre says his issues with Cedric Alexander end tonight. It ends in Toronto, but not with a big feel good moment. Instead, it’s going to be a boot to his skull. Like, he’s kicking Cedric so hard that it’s going through the skin and muscle.

Drew McIntyre vs. Cedric Alexander

Both are going to be in the King of the Ring, which will have eight Raw names and eight Smackdown names. Cedric starts fast and kicks Drew outside for the big flip dive. Back in and Drew hits the running Razor’s Edge buckle bomb, setting up a chinlock. Drew throws him over his head and grabs another chinlock, only to have Cedric come back up with the Neuralizer. A running DDT gets two on McIntyre and Cedric sits him on top.

That’s not a good idea as Drew hits a super swinging sitout Rock Bottom for two of his own and they head outside. Cedric hits a Lumbar Check on the floor for nine so it’s a suicide dive, only to have Drew suplex him again. Back in and Cedric falls down before Drew can try the Claymore so it’s a small package to give Cedric two. A super Spanish Fly gets the same and they need a breather. Another Lumbar Check is blocked and Drew hits the Claymore, with Cedric flipping over backwards, for the pin at 8:40.

Rating: B. This might not have been the highest quality match in the world but it was one cool spot after another with Cedric coming close to winning more than once. They’ve turned Cedric into a star on this show as of late, which makes all the more frustrating when he sat round doing nothing for so long.

AJ promises to win.

Robert Roode vs. No Way Jose

Roode takes him into the corner to start but charges into a boot. The spinebuster plants Jose and the Glorious DDT is good for the pin at 1:22. Just a squash.

Paul Heyman doesn’t think much of Rollins winning last night and Lesnar gets NO rematch. This doesn’t sit well with Heyman, who storms into Lesnar’s locker room.

Revival vs. Lucha House Party

Dawson takes over on Dorado to start and makes him mock the LUCHA chant. Hold on though as here are R-Truth and Carmella to run away from Drake Maverick as the match is thrown out at about 1:05.

Post match the Revival hits a Hart Attack on Truth to win the title as co-champions. Kalisto springboards in with a missile dropkick but Wilder makes the save at two. Carmella puts Truth on top for the pin and the title before the pair vamooses again. In the back, Truth and Carmella get into a clearing with Truth declaring himself the 72 time champion. That’s more times than Ric Flair and John Cena combined! Elias comes up from behind them with a guitar shot to the back for the pin and the title.

We look at the Reigns attacks again. That was a heck of a car crash. The other car hit Roman’s so hard that Roman’s was fine when they came back from a break.

Viking Raiders vs. Carter Mason/Sebastian Suave

Total destruction with the usual, capped off by the Viking Experience to Suave (Graves: “Thank goodness for socialized healthcare.”) for the pin at 1:35.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross are ready to defend their titles tonight because they’re fighting champions.

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

The Warriors are challenging though there’s no Paige due to her needing neck surgery. Sane slaps Bliss to start and it’s a quick bulldog to take her down. Everything breaks down and the champs get knocked down on the floor as we take an early break. Back with Sane fighting out of Cross’ chinlock and getting over to Asuka for the hot tag. The hard strikes begin and there’s a release German suplex to Cross. A blind tag brings in Bliss for the DDT and a near fall on Asuka but it’s back to Sane without much effort.

An Alabama Slam looks to set up the Insane Elbow but Cross rolls to the floor. You don’t do that to Sane, who takes her down with a high crossbody. Now the Insane Elbow can connect for two with Bliss making the save. Asuka’s kick to Bliss hits post instead and Bliss does the always smart thing of dragging Cross to the corner, only to have Sane make a save. The distraction lets Cross hit the Purge to set up Twisted Bliss for the pin to retain at 8:46.

Rating: C-. The thing I took away from this was a line Cole said right after the pin: Bliss and Cross continue to dominate the women’s tag team division. This sounds ridiculous after they’ve won three matches in eight days, but that doesn’t make it any less accurate. The division is four teams at most and Bliss/Cross are as dominant as anyone else. It’s almost like the titles don’t need to exist, but that can’t change around here because reasons.

Rollins says he’s beaten Lesnar twice so he’s already better than AJ. On top of that, he already beat AJ at Money in the Bank and he’ll do it again tonight.

Video on the King of the Ring and how many stars have won it over the years.

Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles

Overall Rating: B. The energy was back here and the show felt important for a change. That’s not the kind of thing you can expect every week (Sasha isn’t coming back and you can’t have a huge announcement like the tournament every time) but it was awesome to do it for a week. You can tell that Heyman’s influence has grown as some of the featured names are changing.

Ignoring the continued lack of Baron Corbin, it’s nice to see some other names getting a big push around here as sometimes you just need some fresh characters. I really liked this week’s show and it made me want to watch again next week. I can’t remember how long it has been since that was the case and hopefully it is a sign of things to come.

Results

Samoa Joe b. Sami Zayn – Koquina Clutch

The Miz b. Dolph Ziggler – Figure Four

Ricochet b. Elias – Top rope sunset flip

Andrade b. Rey Mysterio – Hammerlock DDT

Drew McIntyre b. Cedric Alexander – Claymore

Robert Roode b. No Way Jose – Glorious DDT

Revival vs. Lucha House Party went to a no contest when R-Truth interfered

Viking Raiders b. Carter Mason/Sebastian Suave – Viking Experience to Suave

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross b. Kabuki Warriors – Twisted Bliss to Sane

Seth Rollins b. AJ Styles via DQ when the Good Brothers interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Main Event – August 8, 2019: What Else It Could Be

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 8, 2019
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Renee Young

It’s the go home show for Summerslam and that means we could be in for…likely nothing out of the ordinary because WWE doesn’t care about this show. You would think they could throw this show to some lackey and let them do a small continuing angle around here or something but that might be interesting and a smart use of their time. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Dana Brooke vs. Sarah Logan

Given that this is I believe their fifth match in eight or so weeks, you can see what I mean about the company’s lack of interest. They fight over a top wristlock with Logan pulling her down by the hair. Brooke is right back with some rapid fire shots in the corner but gets pulled throat first into the middle rope for two. A sliding knee gives Logan two and it’s off to the standing Cloverleaf. That’s broken up but it’s a suplex out of the corner to drop Logan again. The cartwheel splash gets two but Logan is right back with a German suplex. Not that it matters as Brooke hits an enziguri into the Swanton for the pin at 6:17.

Rating: C. What makes this even worse is that the match was pretty good for their standards, probably due to the amount of practice they have against each other. The problem is they’re just thrown out there exclusively, meaning they have no way to learn how to do anything but do the same match over and over again. Again, because Main Event is nothing.

From Raw.

Becky Lynch/Charlotte vs. Trish Stratus/Natalya

Yeah this could work to start. Becky tries the Disarm-Her early on but Natalya blocks it without too much effort. Natalya’s cross armbreaker is reversed into a rollup, with a lot of Ronda Rousey references. Charlotte tags herself in and goes for Natalya’s arm but gets sunset flipped for two.

There’s a big boot to Natalya and Charlotte wants to fight Trish. The neck crank goes onto Natalya instead and Charlotte teases a tag to Becky before going right back to Natalya. A loud elbow to the face staggers Natalya but she kicks Charlotte into the corner off of a rollup. It’s a failed Sharpshooter attempt instead of a tag though, only to have Natalya clothesline Charlotte down.

That’s still not enough for the tag, as Charlotte knocks Trish off the apron. Becky tags herself in so Charlotte hits her from behind and walks out. Natalya gets the Sharpshooter on Becky but a rope is grabbed in a hurry, but Natalya doesn’t let go for the DQ at 7:10. Trish was never in the match.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here with Trish only being teased before Sunday. I still can’t bring myself to care about Natalya in the role though and really why should I really? It’s hard to believe that she’s going to win the title and after all these years of being indifferent to her, what’s the point in buying it here?

Post match Trish breaks the Sharpshooter but gets shoved away.

Video on Brock Lesnar destroying Seth Rollins last week.

From Raw again.

Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a chat. Heyman is here to educate everyone here both live and at home and that means it’s time for some questions. Wasn’t Seth Rollins supposed to be the Beast Slayer? The Conqueror’s Conqueror? The one who had Lesnar’s number? Rollins is supposed to be the big hero for the new generation. We see a clip of Lesnar annihilating Rollins last week and badly damaging his ribs. Back in the arena, Heyman talks about the beating from last week being near criminal. Rollins is here in Pittsburgh tonight though, which makes Lesnar smirk.

Cue Rollins, limping badly and holding a chair for support. Rollins gets in and is kicked right in the ribs as Lesnar takes the chair away. That means a chair to the ribs and Rollins gets driven hard into the corner. The slow beating is on with Rollins’ charge being cut off with another knee to the ribs. There’s the F5 and Lesnar poses with the title. They seem to be building towards Rollins getting the title back on Sunday but I don’t buy it.

Back in the arena, Rollins is still in the ring but isn’t interested in a stretcher ride. Instead he grabs the mic and says he’s gotten to the point of asking himself if this is worth it. His answer is yes because this is all he has. He’ll be at Summerslam and he’ll beat Brock. He guarantees a win and very slowly hobbles to the back.

Video on the attacks on Roman Reigns that even have Samoa Joe worried.

From Smackdown.

Roman Reigns goes into the locker room and tells everyone to get out….except Buddy Murphy. Reigns saw Murphy there last week near the fork lift and wants to know if he did it. Murphy doesn’t know what Reigns is talking about so Reigns threatens violence. If Murphy knew who did it, he wouldn’t tell Reigns a thing. Reigns punches him in the face and throws him hard onto a table, still asking who did it. Murphy says Rowan did it and he didn’t see Bryan involved. We cut back to the ring where Bryan and Rowan don’t say anything to end the show. That was a little lacking, but points for going with something a bit different than expected.

Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins vs. Revival

This is what the Shane McMahon association gets you. To mess with you even more, somehow this is a Wrestlemania rematch from just four months ago. Hawkins and Wilder start things off with a headlock having Curt in some trouble. A headlock takeover breaks that up and it’s off to Ryder as commentary actually tries to break this match down, which is far more attention than you would expect it to get. Revival heads to the floor and it’s a double dropkick through the ropes to send us to a break.

Back with Ryder in trouble, including a double slingshot into the middle rope. The chinlock keeps Ryder in trouble and it’s an assisted suplex for two. Ryder’s suplex into a neckbreaker gets him out of trouble though and it’s back to Hawkins to clean house. Everything breaks down and it’s a Shatter Machine to finish Ryder at 10:02.

Rating: D+. What even is the tag division anymore? These teams were literally fighting for the titles in front of 80,000 people four months ago and now they’re the warmup match for a show they’re rarely on. It’s a bad sign for what happens to tag teams and a good illustration of why a lot of indy teams would be nuts to come here.

We look at Dolph Ziggler accidentally signing to face Goldberg.

Video on Becky Lynch vs. Natalya.

From Smackdown.

Kofi Kingston talks about getting here in spite of Randy Orton. He was starting to stand out in his feud with Orton but then Orton might have used his influence to hold him back. Now Kofi has succeeded no matter what and he has proven that he is worthy to be here. We see Kofi going back to Ghana to show how far he has come but he wants vindication by beating Orton at Summerslam.

From Smackdown one more time.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show with Owens wasting no time in calling out Shane McMahon. Shane comes out and has Greg Hamilton do the intro, which Owens cancels in a hurry. Owens has been asked a lot of things over the last few weeks, as the fans are wondering why Shane’s career isn’t on the line as well. The answer is simple: he’s a McMahon and can do whatever he wants. Owens has an appeal to Shane though: put up his career against Owens and give the fans what they want.

That’s not happening as Shane has Owens where he wants him. Shane talks about how he could beat Owens in a variety of ways but Owens calls him out for a lack of testicular fortitude. They’re ready to fight right now but here’s Elias for a distraction. They head outside with another Elias distraction earning him a Stunner on the announcers’ table. That’s enough for Shane to get in some shots from behind and turn the announcers’ table on him. Shane dropkicks a chair into his face to leave Owens laying. Shane got to talk here and it was like a terrifying flashback.

Overall Rating: C. The wrestling was nothing (shocking I know) but the build to Summerslam worked well with most of the big matches getting some attention. As usual, this show is much more useful when they focus on both shows at once and that’s what they did here. This was the kind of show that they need Main Event to be, since they aren’t going to use it for anything but a recap.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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