Smackdown
Date: December 2, 2022
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We are done with Survivor Series and on the long road to the Royal Rumble, as there is somehow no major event between now and the end of January. That is a lot of time to fill and first up we are probably going to be seeing the Bloodline celebrate their WarGames win. Other than that, the World Cup wraps up this week so let’s get to it.

Here is Survivor Series if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is most of the Bloodline to get things going. After a WarGames recap, Sami Zayn praises the Usos but Jimmy cuts him off, saying tonight is about Zayn. On Saturday, Zayn was the MVP and the fans were chanting SAMI USO (as they do here). Jey says he didn’t like Sami for a long time but now Zayn has earned his respect and they won WarGames because of him. Jimmy asks Sami how he’s feeling and that would be pretty FREAKIN UCEY. We get a three way special handshake between the Usos and Zayn, who even dances a bit. Cue Sheamus to interrupt, saying he hates the idea of beating up a fellow ginger.

Sheamus vs. Sami Zayn

Their respective friends are here too as Sheamus runs him over to start. We get the Dublin Smile before Sami is sent outside, with Sheamus and company glaring at the Usos as we take a break. Back with Sheamus getting distracted by the Usos, allowing Sami to hit a DDT for two. A jumping kick to the face sets up the chinlock to keep Sheamus down, followed by a tornado DDT to give Sami two more.

In what doesn’t seem to be the best idea, Sami tries his own forearms to the chest, with Sheamus blocking them without much trouble. The powerslam and Irish Curse set up the Cloverleaf to put Zayn in a lot of trouble. A rope is grabbed and Sheamus is sent outside, setting up the running flip dive as we take another break.

Back again with Zayn grabbing a sunset bomb out of the corner for two. Sheamus grabs White Noise for two of his own and the ten forearms rock him again. The Usos offer a distraction so Sami can hit the Blue Thunder Bomb and the Brawling Brutes go after the brothers. Solo Sikoa comes in so the numbers came can beat down the Brutes. Sheamus hits the jumping knee and picks up Sami for no logical reason, allowing Jey Uso to superkick Sheamus into a rollup to give Sami the pin at 18:23.

Rating: B. They beat on each other rather well with Sami more than hanging in there until the finish. Sami beating Sheamus isn’t some huge upset but it does give him a win over a credible challenger. This got time and is a match that you don’t see that often, making this a rather nice opener as the fans continue to LOVE Zayn.

Santos Escobar and Legado del Fantasma are ready to prove how amazing they are, starting by winning the Intercontinental Title.

Kofi Kingston officially declares for the Royal Rumble and picks Ricochet to win the World Cup. Imperium comes in to mock Kofi, who is alone tonight but will fight either of them. Gunther pops up to accept that challenge and Kofi gets a bit more serious.

Bray Wyatt talks about how everyone has technology these days but we were all wild animals at one point. We were just creatures trying to survive and that includes him. He is not the man who hurt LA Knight, but if he had been, you would know, because there would be nothing of Knight left.

Emma and Madcap Moss make some googly eyes at each other in the back.

Emma vs. Shayna Baszler

Baszler doesn’t seem to think much of Emma, who grabs a rollup for an early two. A Russian legsweep gives Emma two but Baszler is right there on her arm. Back up and Emma uses the good arm for a clothesline, followed by a hanging neckbreaker for two. The Tarantula has Baszler in more trouble but she is able to catch Emma on top. The Kirifuda Clutch finishes Emma at 4:11.

Rating: C. Short and to the point here with Baszler weathering the storm and beating an opponent she should have beaten. Emma is in a story with Moss at the moment but that isn’t enough of a reason to have her beat someone like Baszler. At some point Emma is going to have to beat someone, but for now, Baszler getting the win makes a lot more sense.

Post match Shayna goes after her again but Shotzi runs in for the save. With Baszler about to break her arm, Raquel Rodriguez runs in for the real save.

Video on Lacey Evans training as part of the United States Marine Corps.

Video on Ricochet training to win the World Cup.

Kofi Kingston vs. Gunther

Non-title and Imperium is here with Gunther. Kofi strikes away to start but gets caught with a backbreaker. There’s a chop to put Kingston down but he low bridges Gunther to the apron. That doesn’t last long as Imperium offers a distraction. Cue Braun Strowman to take care of the two of them and the SOS gives Kingston two. We take a break and come back with Kofi fighting out of a sleeper and dropkicking the knee. A running forearm sets up the Boom Drop but Trouble in Paradise misses.

Instead Kofi kicks him in the head and hits a top rope splash to Gunther’s standing back. Kofi tries to go up again but this time gets chopped out of the air. A German suplex gives Gunther two and we hit the Boston crab. That’s escaped as well but another SOS is countered. The shotgun dropkick sends Kofi into the corner and the powerbomb….gets two. A powerslam (the Last Symphony) is enough to finish Kofi at 11:50.

Rating: B. I know Kingston can get some eye rolls for all of the rather goofy New Day stuff, but he can still wrestle a very good match against just about anyone. That is what you had here, as Kingston played a great David to Gunther’s Goliath. Gunther has figured out how to do this match as well as anyone right now, as he sells when he needs to sell and goes into a monster mode as needed as well. This was a very good match and I even bought that Kingston could get the big upset off that SOS.

Sami Zayn is ready to go eat and the Usos sent Solo Sikoa to watch his back. Jimmy and Jey can’t believe he has been accepted, but they’re willing to overlook him lying to Jey’s face last week. Sheamus runs in and beats them down with the shillelagh. Sheamus says he and Drew McIntyre will be waiting for them. Usos vs. Sheamus/McIntyre would be great for a big time TV main event.

Here is Damage Ctrl for a chat. Bayley rants about how they fought in WarGames and complains about how little respect they get for what they did. As for tonight, she isn’t impressed with the roster….but here is Liv Morgan to interrupt. 3-1 seems fair to Morgan so she charges the ring to fight all of them at once. This works for all of ten seconds until the beatdown is on. Cue the returning Tegan Nox for the save, with Morgan grabbing a kendo stick to even things up a bit more. That’s a cool return as Nox is another star who never got a real chance on the main roster.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett use tarot cards to say they’re coming for Rey Mysterio.

Here is what is coming on various shows, but Uncle Howdy interrupts to suggest that Bray Wyatt is a monster.

World Cup Finals: Ricochet vs. Santos Escobar

Legado del Fantasma is at ringside and Zelina Vega is on commentary. An early Legado distraction doesn’t work as Ricochet springboard dropkicks him to the floor, setting up a suicide dive. Back in and another Legado distraction works a bit better, as Ricochet’s springboard is broken up. That’s enough for mass ejections, leaving us one on one.

We take a break and come back with Ricochet fighting to his feel until stereo crossbodies put them both down. Escobar rolls to the floor so Ricochet follows and charges on the barricade. Things start going too fast and Ricochet has to put the brakes on, allowing Escobar to snap off a hurricanrana. Back in and Escobar tries another off the top, only to get shoved down.

Escobar rolls away before Ricochet can launch anything before going up top with Ricochet at the same time. A super hurricanrana doesn’t work on Ricochet as he sticks the landing, allowing him to take Escobar down again. The Lionsault gives Ricochet two and he dropkicks Escobar into the corner. The 630 only hits knees though in a rather nice fake out. Escobar’s poisonrana gets two more so they both go up top, with Ricochet hitting a super poisonrana. That’s enough to set up the 630 for the pin and the title shot at 21:47.

Rating: B+. Now that is a TV main event as you had two guys leaving everything they had in the ring because they were fighting for a prize. Ricochet winning was a strong moment as he plays the underdog so well, while Escobar looks like someone who can give anyone a run for their money around here. This version of Ricochet vs. Gunther could be great and I had a blast with the whole thing. Great match and an awesome end to the tournament.

Post match Ricochet gets the cup and Gunther comes out for the staredown (and the announcement that the title match is in two weeks) to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. You don’t get this kind of a TV show very often as it had three very good matches crammed into two hours. They went with the wrestling heavy show here after weeks of building up Survivor Series and it worked very well. With nothing to build to for weeks they are going to need a show or two like this and the good thing about WWE is they have the roster depth to make that work. Excellent show here and one of the better WWE TV shows in a good while.

Results
Sami Zayn b. Sheamus – Superkick from Jey Uso
Shayna Baszler b. Emma – Kirifuda Clutch
Gunther b. Kofi Kingston – Last Symphony
Ricochet b. Santos Escobar – 630

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Smackdown
Date: November 25, 2022
Location: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and we have a big time main event. This week it’s the Usos vs. Sheamus/Drew McIntyre for the WarGames advantage and what wouldn’t surprise me as a big preview for a future Tag Team Title match. Other than that, we’ll find out the final member of Team Belair, so let’s get to it.

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

Team Damage Ctrl is in the ring to start and Bayley doesn’t want to waste any time. She wants to know who the fifth member of Team Belair is right now, so here is Team Belair in a hurry. Belair doesn’t waste time and introduces the fifth member of her team: the returning Becky Lynch. The brawl is quickly on, with Team Belair clearing the ring.

Smackdown World Cup Semifinals: Butch vs. Santos Escobar

The rest of their teams are at ringside and Zelina Vega joins commentary. Escobar takes him down fast to start but gets pulled into an armbar for his efforts. That’s reversed into an armbar from Escobar as Vega is sounding very cocky. Butch fights up again and goes to the top, only to be shoved down onto the apron for a nasty crash.

We take a break and come back with Dunne hammering away and knocking Escobar off the top to the floor this time. Butch hits a great moonsault onto the rest of Legado. Stereo clotheslines put them both down and we see Team McIntyre and the Bloodline brawling in the back. Zelina gets on the apron for a distraction, allowing Legado to make a save so the Phantom Driver can give Escobar the pin at 9:03.

Rating: C+. Escobar winning is an interesting way to go as he continues to get a bit of a push around here. I’m not sure how far that is going to go for him but even a little shine is better than nothing. Butch is a far more made man than Escobar, but it’s still strange to see him losing after so much dominance earlier in his career. Good opening match and I think I like the result.

Long video on LA Knight vs. Bray Wyatt over the last two weeks.

Here is Bray Wyatt for a chat. He talks about everything he has gone through and how everyone wants to see the monster. Everyone wants to see the Fiend. That is not what he wants though, because he did not attack LA Knight last week. Uncle Howdy pops up on screen to show us clips of Wyatt’s past before saying everyone lies. So the split personality continues? I think?

LA Knight had a horrible Thanksgiving because of his injuries and now he has to hear Wyatt lie like this. When he gets the chance, he’ll beat Bray up. Yeah.

Hit Row vs. Viking Raiders

B Fab and Valhalla (Sarah Evans’ official new name) are the respective seconds. Adonis gets pulled into the corner to start and the double teaming clubbering is on. Ivar loads up a suplex but Adonis slips out and brings in Dolla to clean house. That doesn’t last long as Adonis comes back in, misses a dive, and gets Ragnaroked for the pin at 2:45. Pretty much a squash.

We look at Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley invading Rey Mysterio’s house and beating the daylights out of him in a rather effective assault.

LA Knight has been attacked again.

Smackdown World Cup Semifinals: Ricochet vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman powers him around to start but Ricochet turns up the speed. A quick dropkick gets Ricochet out of trouble and he knocks Strowman outside. That’s fine with Strowman, who whips him into the barricade, followed by the big toss back inside. Cue Imperium for a distraction though, allowing Ricochet to steal the crucifix pin at 3:46.

Rating: C. It was pretty much get rid of Strowman here or have him win the whole thing so this was the better of the two choices. Strowman vs. Gunther seems likely no matter what else they do so this way they can set up someone else to get there first. Strowman saves some face by losing clean and Ricochet gets a nice win for once, making this a nicely put together match.

Post match Imperium comes in to go after Strowman but Ricochet makes the save. Strowman has to save Ricochet though and Imperium bails, leaving Strowman to show respect and help Ricochet up.

We look back at Kevin Owens being revealed as the fifth man on Team Brawling Brutes for WarGames.

Sami Zayn is heading to the Bloodline’s locker room when Owens cuts him off. With Jey Uso listening at the door, Owens tells him to turn on the Bloodline before they can do it to him. Owens says see you tomorrow and leaves. Jey comes out and asks who Sami was talking to, but Sami says no one. Uh oh.

Becky Lynch wants to hurt Damage Ctrl for putting her on the shelf.

Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey jump Shotzi and Raquel Rodriguez in the back, with Rodriguez’s arm being crushed in an anvil case. Referees arrive just too late.

Post break here are Rousey and Baszler to gloat, only to have Shotzi want to do it alone.

Shozi vs. Ronda Rousey/Shayna Baszler

Shotzi charges in and tries to start fast but gets caught in an armbar over the ropes. Baszler adds her own armbar on the mat….and here is Rodriguez, favoring her arm, to make it an even match. Shotzi gets over to Rodriguez to clean house with one arm, only to have Baszler take her down by said arm. The stomp set up Rousey’s armbar for the win at 3:18.

Rating: C-. This was more of an angle than a match as Rousey and Baszler get to beat up Rodriguez to make up for her getting involved with them last week. Other than that, Shotzi gets to look like she is standing up to the bullies before she gets crushed by Rousey on Saturday. That is about as good as she is going to get and Rodriguez is probably set up as a future challenger.

Post break Shotzi swears vengeance.

Usos vs. Sheamus/Drew McIntyre

Non-title but for the WarGames advantage with the rest of the rest of the WarGames teams, minus Roman Reigns, at ringside. Sheamus throws Jey around to start and a double clothesline puts him on the floor. We get the big staredown on the outside and take an early break. Back with Sheamus being low bridged to the floor but he manages a knockdown back inside. The tag brings in McIntyre for some house cleaning, including a spinebuster for two on Jimmy.

Jey has to break up the Claymore attempt and Jimmy knocks Drew to the floor, setting up back to back Uso dives. McIntyre gets sent into the steps and we take a break. Back with Jey hitting the running Umaga Attack in the corner but McIntyre runs Jimmy over. The hot tag brings in Sheamus to clean house, including seventeen forearms to Jey’s chest.

There’s a knee to Jimmy’s face for two but Jey manages to knock Sheamus down. Sheamus pulls Jey off the top for a crash as everyone else brawls on the floor. McIntyre takes them out so Sami grabs a belt, which is taken away by Owens. The referee pretty easily sees Sami with the belt in the ring and that’s an ejection. The Brogue Kick finishes Jey at 17:18.

Rating: B. It would not surprise me a bit if this was a preview for a Tag Team Title match (it should be with the champs losing) but it is a little weird to see the good guys with the advantage going into WarGames. That isn’t how things usually go, but now we might be in for something all the more interesting with Sami Zayn possibly having some differing loyalties.

Overall Rating: C+. The main focus here was on the men’s WarGames match, but they also had something big with the return of Becky Lynch. I’m more interested in what is happening at Survivor Series than I was coming into this week’s show and that is the best sign from a go home show. The Bloodline saga could get a lot more interesting tomorrow if they go in a certain direction and now I want to see if that is what they do. If that is what WWE was hoping to accomplish tonight, they did it very well.

Results
Santos Escobar b. Butch – Phantom Driver
Viking Raiders b. Hit Row – Ragnarok to Adonis
Ricochet b. Braun Strowman – Crucifix
Ronda Rousey/Shayna Baszler b. Raquel Rodriguez/Shotzi – Armbar to Rodriguez
Sheamus/Drew McIntyre b. Usos – Brogue Kick to Jey

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

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Smackdown
Date: November 18, 2022
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

Survivor Series is next week and odds are we find out what we are going to be getting in the men’s WarGames match. You can probably guess one of the teams but we are going to need another team to oppose them. The rest of the show could use some work too though and we might be getting something like that tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are the Brawling Brutes and Drew McIntyre for a chat, likely about their officially announced WarGames match against the Bloodline. Sheamus checks his mic in a callback to last week before asking how many times he and McIntyre have been to war. They have known each other for twenty years and it has created respect between them. Sheamus even had McIntyre as the best man at his wedding three weeks ago.

The fans chant UCEY but Sheamus says they want a Brutey. Drew: “Did you just say Brutey?” Sheamus wants McIntyre to be an honorary Brute in WarGames and McIntyre is down. Cool moment, though it might have been a bit better if they hadn’t shown McIntyre in the graphic when they came to the ring. They’re ready for WarGames, but they need a fifth member. That will be….interrupted by Sami Zayn, calling them “his dogs”.

Sami says the Bloodline is feeling pretty ucey about WarGames because you’re talking to the master strategist, the Honorary Uce and…..Ucey In The Sky With Diamonds. He guarantees that the Bloodline will win WarGames and if Butch is ready, they can go earlier than expected tonight. Sheamus thinks Sami will have a problem with the fifth man, because it’s the last person he’s going to expect. Sami continues to mine gold with Ucey, but they better have someone good for the fifth man.

Smackdown World Cup First Round: Mustafa Ali vs. Ricochet

Ali has taped up ribs after Bobby Lashley wrecked him on Raw and is wrestling against doctor’s/Ricochet’s recommendations. Ricochet takes him down to start and Ali’s ribs are already bothering him. Ali grabs him in the corner but a reluctant Ricochet elbows his way out of trouble. That doesn’t work for Ali, who hits him in the back of the head to take over. A top rope Backstabber sends Ricochet outside and we take a break.

Back with Ali in trouble off a superplex during the break but still managing a headscissors. A running dropkick sends Ricochet to the floor and a good looking sling shot dive….is pulled out of the air. Ricochet Michinoku Drivers him on the floor (ouch) but the Phoenix splash misses inside.

Ali’s Koji Clutch sends Ricochet over to the ropes so he blasts Ali with a heck of a discus lariat. A moonsault gives Ricochet two and he goes to the ribs to cut off Ali’s comeback. The ribs are fine enough to grab a tornado DDT but the 450 takes too long to set up. Ricochet goes up as Ali is getting to his feet and hits a shooting star crossbody (Kind of?) to finish Ali at 11:02.

Rating: B-. Ali was selling the heck out of his ribs here and even teased going to the dark side to compensate for his injury. That being said, there was no reason to have Ricochet even come close to losing here so they went with the smart idea. Ricochet was even mocked by Gunther last week so he has a personal reason to keep moving forward.

Respect is shown post match.

Jey Uso yells at Sami Zayn for speaking for the Bloodline and guaranteeing a win in WarGames. Jimmy finally gets involved and says they need to be on the same page before Roman Reigns arrives. Sami is told to chill and seems ok, complete with a special handshake with Jimmy as Jey glares.

We look at the Usos retaining over the New Day last week.

New Day is disappointed but Imperium comes in to say New Day is everything wrong with wrestling. Woods says they’ll get a partner.

Emma gives Madcap Moss some water as Moss is upset over getting choked out three weeks ago. She seems to believe in him.

Madcap Moss vs. Karrion Kross

Scarlett is here with Kross. Moss goes right after him to start and stomps away in the corner as we get a graphic with both of their names and faces. Simple, effective, tells fans who they are without wasting any time. Do more things like that. Back up and Kross runs him over, setting up a release tiger suplex. Scarlett even gets in a slap, which fires Moss up enough to run Kross over with a shoulder. Some running shoulders in the corner have Kross in trouble but a Scarlett distraction lets Kross get in a cheap shot. The Krossjacket goes on and Moss can’t power out, setting up the tap at 3:45.

Rating: C. This was more about dealing with Moss having troubles lately and needing someone, perhaps like Emma, to help him with those troubles. At the same time, Kross seems destined to move on to something bigger so there was no reason for him to be in trouble here. Moss did his thing but Kross weathered the storm and won, like he should have.

Kross takes his time letting go and Emma runs down to check on Moss.

Here is Bray Wyatt to make amends. Bray talks about being conditioned a certain way and it makes you feel like changing is impossible. Then last week he got a little too violent on LA Knight and wants to apologize. Cue Knight, who says that he might have earned some respect by not being afraid of Wyatt last week. Knight says respect is the most valuable quantity around here and slaps Wyatt in the face. That makes them even but Wyatt looks ready to snap.

Wyatt says ok, they’re even, and he’s going to fight the urges of what he wants to do to Knight. Now though, Knight has a decision to make that will affect the rest of his life. Wyatt extends his hand but Knight slaps him again, saying he has been waiting all week to do that. Wyatt stares him down as the Titantron behind Knight starts to go all wacky. This should work well for Wyatt’s first match back.

We look back at Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey beating down Shotzi last week.

The Usos ask Karrion Kross if he is the fifth member but Jimmy doesn’t think so. Kross says he isn’t a follower but he’ll come for Roman Reigns’ titles on his own time.

Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi

Ronda Rousey is here with Baszler. Baszler knocks her down to start and strikes away until Shotzi fights up. Rousey trips Shotzi up though and the beating is back on. Shotzi fights up again but this time Rousey messes with the hair. An enziguri gets Shotzi out of trouble but she goes after Rousey, allowing Shayna to grab a German suplex.

Shotzi makes her third comeback with the hip attack against the ropes but Rousey offers her fourth distraction so Shayna can knocks Shotzi into the corner. Cue Raquel Rodriguez to even things up so Shayna yells at her. That’s enough of a distraction for Shotzi to avoid the arm stomp and roll Shayna up for the pin at 4:55.

Rating: C+. The action here was just ok but they put the match together well. Yes Shotzi won off a distraction rollup, but it was a case of her fighting through a lot of cheating before winning when things evened out a bit. Also note that Rodriguez didn’t do anything to Baszler, who got mad all on her own. This kept Shotzi looking strong, even if she is going to get smashed by Rousey.

LA Knight tries to leave, but he is NOT scared of Bray Wyatt.

Post break and Knight is out cold in the back with a bunch of stuff on top of him.

Imperium vs. New Day/Braun Strowman

The brawl is on before the bell and Kofi tries the trust fall, only to get pulled out of the air. Imperium drops him onto the apron so Woods loads up a dive of his own. Gunther cuts that off with a chop but Strowman comes in and we ring the bell. That’s enough for Gunther to bail as we take an early break.

Back with Woods fighting out of trouble and kicking Kaiser away, allowing the tag off to Strowman. Gunther comes in as well and Strowman chases him around the ring, shouldering various people down on the way. Back in and Gunther has to escape a powerslam, setting up the big chop. A spinebuster gives Strowman two but Gunther slips out of the Monster Bomb. The double tag brings in Kaiser and Kofi but a blind tag allows Woods to hit the Midnight Hour for the pin at 7:21.

Rating: C+. This was a fun one with Strowman coming in as the wrecking machine that even has Gunther thinking twice. They are doing a very nice job of tying the tournament in to other stuff so that it feels more important, along with teasing people going after Gunther. Some interference next week to cost Strowman the match wouldn’t shock me and WWE planted the seeds for it here.

Strowman heads to the back where he runs into Ricochet, who doesn’t think Strowman is winning the tournament. Ricochet dubs himself a flippy flipper (Ricochet: “Your words not mine”) and says Strowman will have some trouble with him.

Smackdown World Cup First Round: Sami Zayn vs. Pete Dunne

The respective groups are here too. Butch hammers away to start but charges into a powerbomb. That’s enough for Dunne to be sent outside but he’s right back in with a tornado DDT for two. Sami knocks him outside and we take an early break. Back with Sami hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb as everyone else gets in a fight on the floor. Sami cuts off a comeback with an exploder suplex into the corner but Sheamus throws Jey Uso inside, breaking up the Helluva Kick. The Bitter End gives Butch the pin at 7:49.

Rating: C+. There is only so much you can get when such a big chunk of the match was taking place during the break. Butch winning is going to cause some problems with the Bloodline and that is where things should get interesting. Sami is someone who can lose a match or two and not be hurt, so Butch going forward was the right move.

Post match the big brawl stays on but Roman Reigns comes out to wreck things. McIntyre takes the shirt off and wants the big fight but Solo Sikoa offers a distraction. The spear drops McIntyre so Sheamus wants a fight of his own. The slugout is on with Reigns hitting a Superman Punch….and it’s Kevin Owens (limping a bit) for the staredown with Reigns, apparently as the fifth man.

The knee is good enough to hit a superkick on Jimmy Uso before Owens goes inside for the fight with Reigns. After Roman is cleared out, Sami comes in for the big distraction, allowing Reigns to hit the Superman Punch on Owens. The spear is cut off though and it’s a Stunner to Reigns to end the show. They’re doing a great job of building up an army of people who could take the title from Reigns. The walls might be starting to close in.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a show where it was more about setting things up for later rather than what was going on here. That is the kind of show you need at times and they made it work well this week. What mattered here was setting up WarGames but also making the tournament feel that much more important. Tournaments matches are tied into something else or at least build up in some way and now that is paying some dividends. This might not have been the best show, but it was a very well set up one.

Results
Ricochet b. Mustafa Ali – Shooting star press
Karrion Kross b. Madcap Moss – Krossjacket
Shotzi b. Shayna Baszler – Rollup
New Day/Braun Strowman b. Imperium – Midnight Hour to Kaiser
Butch b. Sami Zayn – Bitter End

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

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AND

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Smackdown
Date: November 4, 2022
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

It’s time for a taped show as everyone else is already in Saudi Arabia. The main event this week is Gunther defending the Intercontinental Title against Rey Mysterio in a match that has some potential. Other than that, we probably get the final push towards Logan Paul challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Title, because celebrity. Let’s get to it.

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

Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville

No DQ. It’s a brawl to start with Deville grabbing some kendo sticks and driving Morgan into the apron. Back in and Deville unloads with the stick but Morgan is smiling. Morgan fights up and sticks her down, meaning it’s table time. That’s broken up and Deville puts the table back under the ring. Back up and Morgan hits a suicide dive to drop Deville and then she does it again. Now we can get the table set up with Liv driving her through it as we take a break.

We come back with a bunch of chairs in the ring and Deville hitting a running knee, followed by a middle rope knee for two. Liv fights back and hits a springboard Codebreaker for two but Deville powerbombs her onto the chairs for her own near fall. Another Codebreaker staggers Deville and Oblivion onto the chairs finishes for Morgan at 13:48.

Rating: C+. Good brawl, though I still can’t get into Hardcore Liv. It’s better than what they were doing with her as champion but it still doesn’t feel like the right way to go. Granted she is still getting reactions and the matches are good enough, so there might be something here if they keep developing the idea. The match was a pretty good brawl, but nothing that hasn’t been done a dozen times this year alone.

We look back at Emma’s return last week as she lost to Ronda Rousey.

Emma is excited to be back but Xia Li interrupts. Li calls her weak and is promptly shoved down.

Logan Paul’s brother Jake Paul will be in his corner at Crown Jewel.

Video on Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul, including a clip of Jake Paul showing up at the press conference.

The Viking Raiders are still coming back.

Ricochet vs. LA Knight

Before the match, Knight mocks the ring announcer’s intro, allowing Ricochet to take him down. Ricochet throws him in and we get the opening bell, with a kick to the back rocking Knight. A few shots take Ricochet down though and Knight loads up a top rope Lionsault, only to crash hard. Ricochet knocks him to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Knight stomping away in the corner and hitting the jumping neckbreaker for two. Knight goes up but spends too much time talking, allowing Ricochet to jump up for a super hurricanrana. The running shooting star press gets two but Knight rolls him up with tights/the rope for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: C-. Hey look Ricochet loses again. That’s just one of those things you have to get used to these days, though I can appreciate Knight getting a boost. Having him cheat in two ways is a good way to go and I like the ending, but the match wasn’t exactly thrilling on the way there.

Sami Zayn hypes the Usos being ready to set the all time Tag Team Title reign but Jey Uso doesn’t like his advice. Jey says they were champions before Sami and they’ll be champions after him. Jimmy: “He’s got a point Sami.” The Usos leave and Sami asks “my dogs” to come back.

Bray Wyatt says he isn’t used to sharing his feelings. It’s new to him and he doesn’t like people playing with him like that. We pause for an interruption from someone with a box and, after the camera gets hacked, Bray talks about getting annoyed at a driver who cut him off. The camera keeps cutting to the Wyatt logo as he rants about how he wants to break things because he can’t handle himself.

Bray wants the guy to reach down into his soul and apologize to him for interrupting. The camera interruption gets a bit longer and the man apologizes, with Bray seemingly accepting and asking him to leave. We see a graphic saying Wyatt will be at Crown Jewel, which was announced on Raw. So are the camera cuts and weird graphics Bray’s inner evil trying to escape as he tries to hold it back?

Here are the Usos for a chat. They are ready to become the longest reigning Tag Team Champions and, after an UCEY chant, we hear about how the next step is getting by the Brawling Brutes. Cue the New Day to say they’re cheering for the Brutes tomorrow but if the Usos retain, the New Day has next. Cue the Brawling Brutes for the beatdown so Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn come in for the save. Butch comes back up with some shillelagh shots but Sikoa takes him down and the Bloodline stands tall.

Rey Mysterio loves wrestling and is ready to fight back to win the Intercontinental Title.

Shayna Baszler vs. Natalya

Ronda Rousey is here with Baszler. Natalya gets taken down to start but manages to reverse the arm stomp into a rollup for two. Baszler goes right after the arm again though and takes Natalya down, where Natalya is made to scratch her own head. That’s broken up and Natalya hits the discus clothesline, only to get pulled into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 4:09.

Rating: C. This was just a step above a squash for Baszler as she is heated up again. It would not surprise me to see her as the eventual challenger for Rousey, especially with Rousey as her inspiration. It’s a different direction for Rousey and that is something she has desperately been needing. Now just give Baszler some women to crush and we should be fine.

Post match Natalya gets up and is blasted right back down.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross.

Here is MVP to introduce five unnamed opponents for Braun Strowman. Cue Strowman to run all five over and then chase MVP off. MVP’s cane shot is shrugged off and Strowman breaks it in half. The running powerslam plants MVP as a way to keep him from being at Crown Jewel. No match.

Gunther is ready to beat Rey Mysterio and nothing will change because he will retain his title.

Legado del Fantasma isn’t impressed by Shinsuke Nakamura helping Hit Row last week so it’s time for some revenge.

Intercontinental Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Gunther

Gunther, with Imperium, is defending. The champ starts fast by going with the power and knocking Mysterio outside for an early break. Back with Rey being sent stomach first to the floor but coming back in for a crucifix bomb. Mysterio grabs a sleeper and Gunther is in trouble, so he climbs to the middle rope and crashes backwards to free himself and send us to another break.

We come back again with Rey managing a knockdown and hitting the top rope seated senton. A Lionsault gives Rey two and he counters a powerbomb into a hurricanrana for two. Another powerbomb attempt is countered into a Code Red for two more and Gunther has had enough.

The running dropkick in the corner finally lets Gunther hit the powerbomb….for two, and Gunther is livid. Another powerbomb attempt is countered into a 619 attempt but Gunther kicks him away with a heck of a big boot. The big clothesline knocks Rey silly and retains the title at 18:17.

Rating: B+. These two know how to do the big man vs. little man stuff very well and they made it work here. Mysterio started off as an annoyance to Gunther and then became a threat near the end until Gunther went into beast mode to take him apart. That’s a well told story with talented people doing their thing. What more could you ask for in a TV main event?

Overall Rating: C+. The main event helped this show a lot but there was only so much that could be done with a taped show before a pay per view that is all but set and not that great in the first place. Crown Jewel needs to come and go so we can move on to something else, which should be the case after Saturday. This show wasn’t all that great, though Gunther vs. Rey was a rather strong main event.

Results
Liv Morgan b. Sonya Deville – Oblivion onto chairs
LA Knight b. Ricochet – Rollup while holding tights and the rope
Shayna Baszler b. Natalya – Kirifuda Clutch
Gunther b. Rey Mysterio – Clothesline

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

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Smackdown
Date: October 28, 2022
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

We are less than eight days away from Crown Jewel and Roman Reigns is actually here this time. Odds are he’s going to be talking about Logan Paul, but there is always the chance that he will be giving us some hints about what he is going to be doing at Survivor Series. Other than that, I’m sure Bray Wyatt will be running around. Let’s get to it.

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

Brawling Brutes vs. Solo Sikoa/Sami Zayn

In the back, Sami asks Jey Uso to keep things calm, as Roman Reigns isn’t here yet and the first thing he needs to see is the team being successful. Butch and Zayn start things off with the former hitting a rather hard clothesline. Holland comes in to help Butch out with some forearms to the chest but they don’t exactly look great.

Jimmy gets in a cheap shot to Butch from the floor but he’s fine enough to send Sami outside. A running knee off the apron drops Zayn but Sikoa runs Butch over as we take a break. Back with Sikoa Samoan dropping Holland for two but getting caught with the Al Snow trapping headbutts (Best offense strong A, U+B can buy. At least out of Create A Wrestler.).

Butch tries the Cloverleaf on Sami but has to glare at Jimmy. An enziguri rocks Sami in the corner, leaving him to argue with Jey on the floor. Sikoa comes over and reminds them of a match, allowing Holland to run all three over. Back in and Holland small packages Sami for the pin at 11:44.

Rating: B-. Good start to the show as the Brutes get built back up at the expense of the top stable in the company. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Brutes getting a big title shot soon, perhaps even at Crown Jewel. The Bloodline continuing to have issues is a great thing and we could be in for some even more interesting stuff going forward.

Post match arguing ensues….and here’s Roman Reigns to interrupt (Sami’s scared face is great). Post break Reigns has the fans acknowledge him but he’s tired of the team messing up. Reigns says if the team wants to act like children, he’ll treat them like children. He wants them to put everything on the line, so Sami apologizes for everything and asks if he and Jey can bury the hatchet once and for all.

Sami extends his hand and Jey thinks about it before saying Sami needs to get that hand out of his face. Jey talks about everything he doesn’t like about Jey, including pretending to be part of the Bloodline when he isn’t blood. Jey is willing to bleed for his family but Sami will never be part of it. Sami: “The Tribal Chief wants peace!” Jey: “I DON’T GIVE A D*** WHAT THE TRIBAL CHIEF SAYS!”

As Reigns slowly turns around, everyone knows that Jey is pretty much dead. Sami again tries to play peacekeeper and says Jey (who can’t look at Reigns) is going through a lot and hasn’t been very Ucey lately. Reigns smiles and asks if that is what is going on around here. Reigns: “Jey is that the problem? It’s that you’re not feeling……..UCEY?”

Jey tries to leave but a smiling Reigns puts his arm around him and says stay right there. Reigns says if Jey can’t find his honorary Ucey, he’s going to do something Jey doesn’t like. If Jey can’t figure this out, Sami goes from being an honorary Uce to a full one, with a new name of Sami Uso. Sami looks like a three year old on Christmas morning as Paul Heyman says that’s about it and plugs Reigns vs. Logan Paul at Crown Jewel.

This is still the most interesting character stuff in wrestling, with multiple paths this could take. The reaction when Jey went too far was amazing because that was getting in way over his head and he knew it. Great segment here as it continues to be the highlight of the WWE week.

New Day vs. Maximum Male Models

In an inset interview, New Day isn’t sure if the New Day is more Rick Martel/Tyler Breeze or Billy and Chuck. Kofi starts in on Mansoor’s and hands it off to Woods to work on the arm. Mace takes Woods down from the apron though and the villains take over. That doesn’t last long and the hot tag brings in Kofi to clean house. The Midnight Hour finishes Mansoor at 3:40.

Rating: C. Just a quick match to get New Day back on track as they are probably heading for a showdown with the Usos over the Tag Team Titles, probably with the record on the line. The Models were never going to be big stars in the division so this is hardly some devastating loss. New Day can still work well with anyone and this was fine enough.

Sonya Deville doesn’t think much of Liv Morgan, who runs up and attacks her.

Braun Strowman loves the idea of Omos as a challenge.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. ???

Rousey is defending in an open challenge against….Emma. Yes that Emma, though this time it’s very much in the Tenille Dashwood mold. We start after a break with Rousey kicking her to the floor but missing a charge into the steps. Back in and Emma grabs the Tarantula, followed by a high crossbody for two.

Rousey pulls her down to the mat but Emma fights up and hits a running clothesline. A Russian legsweep drops Rousey for two but she’s right back with the ankle lock. That’s countered into a wheelbarrow suplex so Rousey uses a distracted referee to rake the eyes. Piper’s Pit sets up the armbar to make Emma tap at 6:51.

Rating: C+. It was nice to see Emma being back and I’m curious to see what she can do as the serious version on the main roster, assuming she is sticking around. Thankfully there is nothing in the way of Emmalina to be seen, as that was a career killer. Also, having Rousey beat a surprise challenger makes her look good, which is a good way to get her back on track.

Newly announced for Crown Jewel: Bayley vs. Bianca Belair, Last Woman Standing for the Raw Women’s Title and Usos defending the Tag Team Titles against the Brawling Brutes.

Jey Uso tries to talk to Roman Reigns but Heyman says he’ll take care of it. Jey is pleased but Heyman seems to know Jey is in trouble.

Shayna Baszler congratulates Ronda Rousey on her victory when Natalya pops in. Natalya says she would have won if she had answered the challenge and is immediately choked out by Baszler. Well that makes Baszler look a lot better.

Legado del Fantasma vs. Hit Row/Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura is a mystery partner and Zelina Vega/B Fab are the fourths. The brawl is on with Hit Row cleaning house, leaving the four of them to hit a Nakamura COME ON as we take a break. Back with the bell having run during the bell and Adonis in trouble. Del Toro adds a top rope splash for two but a tag bring sin Nakamura to clean house, including the sliding German suplex to Escobar. Top Dolla comes in for the World’s Strongest Wasteland (thanks Barrett) and a rope running chop to the head (cool) knocks Wilde silly. Kinshasa finishes at 4:19.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure how much I can get behind either of these teams at the moment, as Hit Row is nowhere near as good without Swerve and Legado is already getting beaten up. Nakamura is kind of thrown in there out of nowhere and I’m not sure how much Hit Row gets out of the win with Nakamura doing the main work.

Paul Heyman shows Roman Reigns some of Logan Paul’s boxing, which Reigns sees as a waste of time. Heyman knows that Paul has metal pins in his hand to knock people out, but Reigns says IT’S HIS THIRD MATCH! Heyman: “Brock Lesnar won the UFC Heavyweight Title in his third match!” That’s a bit too far for Reigns so Heyman runs off to do something else.

LA Knight doesn’t think much of SmackDown so Ricochet comes in to offer him some advice. Knight isn’t impressed and a match is likely.

Karrion Kross vs. Madcap Moss

Scarlett is here with Kross. They fight over a lockup to start and Moss knocks him down for a bit. Back up and Kross knocks him into the corner, only to charge into an elbow. A middle rope shoulder and a clothesline put Kross on the floor and we take a break. We come back with Kross stomping away in the corner and hitting a clothesline for two.

A suplex gets another two but Moss makes the rope to avoid a cross armbreaker. Moss fights up and hits a spinebuster but Scarlett gets up on the apron for a distraction and Kross kicks him in the face. There’s the Doomsday Saito and the running forearm to the back of the head finishes for Kross at 11:39.

Rating: C+. They had a good brawl but it’s weird to see Moss getting beaten up like this. He was on a rather nice run and had cooled off a bit, but I didn’t think he was ready to get beaten up by Kross this decisively. Kross vs. Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel will be good, though I’m not sure how much of a chance McIntyre has.

Post match Kross chokes out Moss and grabs the mic, saying Drew McIntyre is a much weaker fighter. Kross will always stand for the new beginning and McIntyre is done at Crown Jewel.

Crown Jewel rundown.

Rey Mysterio is ready for Gunther when Imperium jumps him. Gunther hits the big chop to leave Rey laying.

Here is Bray Wyatt for a chat. He could get used to those reactions because it is like pure adrenaline. Bray says this isn’t him behind a mask or with any smoke and mirrors because this is Bray, the real man. He is here today and plans on doing some spectacular things. For the majority of his life, he has had no control and he has done some horrible things. There is a part of him that likes to do horrible things and there will be a time when he is asked to do that again….and then the video feed is taken over.

We see the same man who said Howdy last week (looks like Bray with a lot of makeup) but this time he says he is the ghost of the man who sold the word. There is a reason why you (presumably Bray) is a shell of who he once was and while he claims to not wear a mask, that is not true. Bray will never be able to hide from him, his Uncle Howdy. End of show.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling was pretty much in the middle and I wasn’t wild on the ending, but that Bloodline segment was more than enough to carry this to a sold week. The Bloodline is on an absolute roll right now and delivering the best story in wrestling. Crown Jewel and Logan Paul feel like little more than a pit stop because that’s more or less what it is, but you can feel something big coming at Survivor Series and that should be great.

Results
New Day b. Maximum Male Models – Midnight Hour to Mansoor
Ronda Rousey b. Emma – Armbar
Hit Row/Shinsuke Nakamura b. Legado del Fantasma – Kinshasa to Wilde
Karrion Kross b. Madcap Moss – Running forearm to the back of the head

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

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Clash At The Castle
Date: September 3, 2022
Location: Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the first stadium show in the United Kingdom in over thirty years and that means it is time for one of the biggest WWE shows of the year. The main event is a showdown between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title, with McIntyre almost having to win. Other than that, Sheamus vs. Gunther should be a heck of a hoss fight. Let’s get to it.

The stadium looks very good as the place is massive and looks packed.

Kickoff Show: Street Profits/Madcap Moss vs. Alpha Academy/Austin Theory

Dawkins and Gable run the ropes to start and it’s an armdrag to take Gable down. Ford comes in and gets his ankle locked but Theory sneaks in for a cheap shot to take over. Gable grabs an armbar but Ford hits a double DDT for the escape. Moss comes in to clean house until Dawkins tags himself in to do the same.

Everything breaks down and the American Automatic gets two on Dawkins. Otis gets fall away slammed by Moss and Dawkins saves Ford from getting German suplexed off the apron. That leaves Ford to hit a running flip dive Doomsday Blockbuster (GEEZ) to drop Gable onto the pile. Back in and the frog splash finishes Gable at 6:30.

Rating: C+. Exactly what you want out of an opener as they flew through everything and didn’t let the fans get bored. Ford continues to be amazing to watch and showcased himself very well, with that Blockbuster being an incredible thing to see. Dawkins is on quite the level himself and doesn’t get the attention he deserves and that could serve him well when Ford becomes a solo star.

The opening video looks at various shots of Wales, plus everything on the six match card.

Alexa Bliss/Asuka/Bianca Belair vs. Bayley/Dakota Kai/Iyo Sky

Bayley doesn’t like the fans singing to her to start and decks Asuka on the apron. The six way brawl is on until we’re down to Bayley vs. Belair. Bayley gets dropped but Kai and Sky break up the handspring elbow. The villains come in for a double suplex attempt but all six get back in, with Belair and company hitting a trouble suplex. Belair’s handspring moonsault hits Sky and Kai, sending the two of them outside for a conference with Bayley.

Back in and we settle down to Bliss taking Sky down for the Insult To Injury. Sky takes her into the corner though and it’s time to start the alternating stomps. Bliss manages a drop toehold though and it’s Asuka coming in for a bulldog. The middle rope missile dropkick hits Bayley but Sky comes in with the springboard missile dropkick. The slingshot knees in the corner get two but Asuka gets up and manages the hot tag to Bliss.

A running flip dive takes Bayley down outside, only to have Sky hit a running dropkick into the barricade. Back in and Bliss gets beaten down in the corner, with Kai even mocking Belair’s kiss it deal. There’s a flapjack to Bliss but she Code Reds her way out of the corner. Kai isn’t having that though and kicks Bliss in the face, allowing the tag back to Bayley. Everything breaks down and Bliss is able to get over for the hot tag to Asuka. House is quickly cleaned but the numbers take Asuka down, with a sliding lariat giving Bayley two.

Asuka Codebreakers her way to freedom though and the next hot tag brings in Belair. The pace picks up and it’s a spinebuster into the standing moonsault for two on Bayley. Belair throws Kai into Sky bu*t misses a charge into….Bayley’s legs as she sits on top in front of the post. Asuka/Bliss are right there though and base off Belair’s back for the double superplex to bring Bayley crashing down.

With Asuka and Bliss outside, Sky hits a heck of a moonsault to take them both down. Back in and Kai misses the running kick in the corner but Sky breaks up the KOD. Bayley grabs Belair’s hair to hold her in place for Kai’s running kick, setting up the Rose Plant into Sky’s Over The Moonsault to give Bayley the pin at 18:41.

Rating: B-. Good way to start as Bayley gets set up for the next title match, as she should be. Belair needs a fresh challenger and this is about as good of an option as she has at the moment. They kept this moving and didn’t bother letting things slow down, which is a good idea for an opener. Nice stuff here, even with the villains winning.

Tyson Fury wishes Drew McIntyre luck.

We look at the main event of Summerslam 1992.

Bret Hart is here.

Intercontinental Title: Gunther vs. Sheamus

Gunther is defending and has Ludvig Kaiser in his corner and introduces Giovanni Vinci, as Imperium is back for a big debut. The rest of Imperium and the Brawling Brutes get in a fight as the other two have the staredown ala last week on Smackdown. Butch moonsaults onto Imperium and they all brawl to the back as the bell rings to start the slugout. Forearms and right hands set up the big boot to drop Sheamus but he’s right back with a suplex.

The forearms to the chest are broken up and they head outside with Sheamus sending him into the steps. Back in and Sheamus pulls himself to the top rope, only to have Gunther blast him with a chop to the floor. Gunther slams him onto the steps and takes it back inside for the chops. A big boot sets up more chops and Sheamus is rocked again. The Boston crab goes on to send Sheamus to the ropes, leaving Gunther to chop him in the back.

Sheamus fights up anyway and the slugout is on again with Gunther getting the better of things. They fight to the floor with Sheamus being thrown over the announcers’ table but coming back with the ten forearms to the chest. Back in and the more traditional forearms to the chest put Gunther in more trouble until he falls back out to the floor. That’s fine with Sheamus, who puts him over the barricade for even more forearms to the chest.

Back in and Sheamus’ top rope knee gets two but the Irish Curse is blocked with some elbows to the head. The sleeper is countered into White Noise for two and Gunther hits most of a powerbomb for two, leaving both of them down. Sheamus catches him on top and hits a Razor’s Edge for two for a double knockdown. The Brogue Kick doesn’t work as Sheamus’ back gives out, setting up the powerbomb for two. Back up and Gunther BLASTS him with a clothesline to retain the title at 19:31.

Rating: A-. This was exactly as advertised and they beat the fire out of each other with one hard hitting shot after another. Gunther getting to retain the title over a big star is a great way to go and they did what you would have expected. Sheamus isn’t going to be hurt whatsoever by a loss like this and Gunther can move on to whoever is next. Awesome fight here and that shouldn’t be a surprise whatsoever.

Post match Sheamus gets the standing ovation as he pulls himself up.

We recap Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler. Morgan cashed in Money In The Bank to win the Smackdown Women’s Title and has come off as a bit of a joke champion since. Now she is getting the chance to right the ship a bit, while Baszler is promising to do various painful things to her.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler

Morgan, in white for a change, is defending. Commentary talks about Morgan training with Riddle to prepare for the MMA style and takes Baszler down into a choke to start. Back up and Baszler goes after the bad arm, including taking her outside for a whip into the barricade. Baszler hits a German suplex into a kick to the chest for two as Morgan is rocked.

Morgan manages to get to the middle rope for a dropkick and a springboard spinning Codebreaker gets two. Another trip up top goes badly for Morgan as Baszler knees her out of the air, meaning the big stomp can be loaded up. Morgan pulls that into a cross armbreaker but Baszler powers out. A hard knee to the face gets two on Morgan and the Kirifuda Clutch goes on. Morgan slips out so Baszler grabs it again, only to to have Morgan roll back to escape. The Codebreaker into Oblivion retains the title at 11:01.

Rating: C+. They told a nice story with Morgan fighting from behind and surviving until the end, but my goodness this Morgan reign is not exactly working. They haven’t helped themselves by having her feel like an afterthought and adding her to the long list of people to beat Shayna Baszler isn’t the solution. They did the underdog thing here, but I can’t bring myself to care about Morgan anymore.

Adrian Street and Miss Linda are here for your legends moment.

We recap Edge/Rey Mysterio vs. Judgment Day. The team has gone after Edge and the Mysterios for months and it’s time for the big showdown. The wild card is Dominick Mysterio not seemingly being intimidated/controlled/something else by Rhea Ripley. It doesn’t help that Dominick seems annoyed about Rey picking Edge as his partner so there is some tension afoot.

Rey Mysterio/Edge vs. Judgment Day

Dominick Mysterio is here with Rey, while Edge wears a mask during his entrance. Rhea Ripley is here with Judgment Day to….well I would say even things out but would anyone put Dominick on Ripley’s level? Balor chops at Rey in the corner to start but a headscissors gets Rey out of trouble. Priest comes in and drops Edge with a single right hand but Rey blocks a whip into the corner, allowing Edge to hammer away.

Balor tries to do the same thing but Edge whips Priest into the other corner to keep him in trouble. Rey comes back in and gets caught in the wrong corner, with a backbreaker/running legdrop combination giving Priest two. We hit the chinlock before Priest kicks Rey in the head to cut off a comeback attempt. Balor hits one Amigo but stops before trying a second for a bit of a troll job.

The chinlock goes on for a bit but Mysterio fights up and takes it to the floor. Balor is sent over the barricade but Rey has to crotch Priest on the barricade, giving us a VERY over the top sell for a chuckle. Back in and the hot tag brings in Edge to make the comeback, including an Edgecution to Balor. Edge hits a 619 (not great but he tried) and Rey adds the springboard splash for two, with Priest making the save.

That earns Priest a spear through the ropes and out to the floor but Balor throws Rey outside. Balor Sling Blades Edge but Dominick offers a distraction, allowing Rey to hit a super hurricanrana. Ripley beats up Dominick but Rey dives onto both of them for the save. Dominick trips Balor back inside, setting up a 619 into a spear to give Edge the pin at 12:01.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here, which shouldn’t be a shock. I’m not wild on Edge getting another pin over the team but that is just how things go for him. The lack of a Dominick turn isn’t exactly a shock either as they have been teasing it for so long now, but it would be nice to actually get to the point with it. Judgment Day needs to start wrapping up if they aren’t going to get a big win though, as this isn’t doing anyone involved any favors.

Post match Dominick celebrates with Edge….and then kicks him low. Then a clothesline drops Rey, much to Judgment Day’s approval. Dominick leaves on his own and Edge and Rey get the big ovation. Yeah but it’s still Dominick.

The attendance is 62,296.

We recap Riddle vs. Seth Rollins. They were scheduled to fight at Summerslam but Rollins injured him beforehand. Since then Rollins has made it personal, including insulting Riddle for his family splitting up. Riddle has promised revenge.

Riddle vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins has flame themed attire, plus heart sunglasses and wings. The bell rings and Riddle goes right after him, setting up some rolling gutwrench suplexes. Rollins gets in a few shots before avoiding a charge to send Riddle crashing throat first into the ropes. They head outside with Rollins hitting a barricade bomb, setting up the suicide dive to put Riddle onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Rollins takes him down again, setting up the Falcon Arrow for two.

Riddle manages to get away and heads up top, only to get crotched back down. The superplex into the Falcon Arrow is countered into a fisherman’s buster to leave both of them down. Riddle catches him with a t-bone suplex to the floor, setting up the penalty kick into the springboard Floating Bro. Back in and the Bro To Sleep into a powerbomb into the Final Flash knee gets two on Rollins, leaving them both down.

The Floating Bro hits knees but Riddle is fine enough to pull him into a triangle choke. Rollins hits a Bro Derek for two but Riddle is back up with some kicks to the head. An enziguri into a Pedigree gives Rollins two and they’re both down again. Rollins shouts about Riddle being a loser, which is why his wife left him and now his kids are going to know it.

That sends Riddle over the edge but Rollins uses the anger to kick him in the face. Rollins loads up an RKO but Riddle pulls him into a choke. The beating is on, including Rollins being bounced off of the announcers’ table. They head back inside where Rollins hits a Stomp, followed by a middle rope Stomp to finish Riddle at 17:16.

Rating: B. This felt like a fight between two people who wanted to hut each other and that is how it should have gone. They played into the emotion at the end with Riddle’s anger costing him and likely setting up a rematch next month at Extreme Rules. What we got here was good though and came off like two angry men hitting each other, so points for getting the feeling right.

Tyson Fury talked to Roman Reigns earlier and is in the crowd.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett are in the crowd as well.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre in the big title showdown. Reigns has been champion for two years and McIntyre is the home kingdom boy, meaning the titles are in jeopardy.

Undisputed WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre is defending and gets a BROKEN DREAMS montage before he comes to the ring. They fight over a lockup to start with Reigns grabbing a headlock. A shoulder doesn’t do anything to McIntyre so Reigns bails out to the apron for a breather. Since there is no one outside with Reigns, he has to think about it on his own, which is quite different for him. Back in and Reigns hammers away, only to be taken back outside and whipped into the steps.

Hold on though as Karrion Kross and Scarlett pop up in the front row for a distraction, allowing Reigns to get in a cheap shot. Back in and Reigns hits the corner clotheslines, which knock McIntyre outside again. McIntyre gets back in and is dropped by a jumping clothesline for one, giving us the signature fast kickout. Reigns starts talking trash and knocks McIntyre down to cut off a comeback attempt. They fight over a suplex until Reigns knocks him down again….and gets a mic.

Reigns wants Cardiff to acknowledge him, allowing McIntyre to come back with the Glasgow Kiss. Back up and McIntyre starts the comeback, including the neckbreaker into the nip up. A running corner clothesline sets up a superplex but McIntyre gets knocked into the Tree of Woe. That’s fine with him, as he pulls up and hits the belly to belly superplex. Reigns bails to the floor at the threat of a Claymore before coming back in with a Rock Bottom for two. McIntyre fights back up and tries the Claymore, only to have it cut off with a Superman Punch for two more.

Back up and the spear connects for another near fall and Reigns isn’t sure what to do. The guillotine goes on and McIntyre’s ram into the corner doesn’t break it up. McIntyre breaks it up and posts him to the floor, where Reigns is speared through the barricade for a change. Back in and another spear gives Reigns another two and they’re both down again. Reigns stops to yell at and threaten the referee, allowing McIntyre to hit a Claymore from behind.

That’s enough to send the referee outside….and it’s Austin Theory time, with a second referee. The cash in is loaded up….and Tyson Fury knocks Theory cold from the front row (that was clever/great). Reigns grabs a chair but McIntyre hits the Claymore for a very near fall. They slug it out from their knees and then their feet until McIntyre hits another Claymore for two….and someone pulls the referee. It’s Solo Sikoa, which is enough of a distraction for Reigns to hit the spear to retain at 30:38.

Rating: B+. I believe the term here is “bold choice” as Reigns wins again. I’m not sure where he goes from here, but he is going to need something big to follow up. McIntyre gave this everything he had and the Sikoa debut was a nice surprise, but my goodness this was a surprise. Heck of a fight as these two work well together of course, though I’m not sure what the heck is supposed to be next for either of them.

Post match Tyson Fury gets in the ring and shakes Reigns’ hand. Reigns and Sikoa leave and Fury helps McIntyre up. Fury gets a mic and says McIntyre did his country proud. The fans were chanting for him and then Fury sings his signature American Pie song. McIntyre joins in on the chorus, including a guy in a shirt saying “Better Dad Than Chris Benoit”. McIntyre puts over the fans and sings Sweet Caroline before posing with Fury.

A highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: A. This was a great show with one awesome match after another, though the lack of anything major actually happening was a weird way to go. You can probably see a lot of the card for Extreme Rules from here and it should be good, but you would think something bigger would happen on a show like this. What matters here though is that they blew the roof off the place with an excellent show and it felt like a major event. This is worth the look, though the ending is going to be quite the sore spot for some.

Results
Bayley/Dakota Kai/Iyo Sky b. Bianca Belair/Asuka/Alexa Bliss – Over The Moonsault to Belair
Gunther b. Sheamus – Clothesline
Liv Morgan b. Shayna Baszler – Oblivion
Edge/Rey Mysterio b. Judgment Day – Spear to Balor
Seth Rollins b. Riddle – Middle rope Stomp
Roman Reigns b. Drew McIntyre – Spear

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This is one of those special shows as WWE will be holding their first stadium event in the United Kingdom in over thirty years. You would think this would mean a huge card but while the main event is a big deal, there are only six matches on the card. A bonus match would not surprise me but WWE is not exactly known for some very last second changes. Let’s get to it.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Liv Morgan(c) vs. Shayna Baszler

We’re not starting with a good one here as this feels like either character rehabilitation for Morgan or the end of a short and unsuccessful reign as champion. Morgan has been more or less a disaster since her cheat code title win and subsequent tap out in the next match. The charm is long gone and WWE continues to think that her just holding a belt is enough to make her a big deal.

I’ll take Morgan to retain here, just so she can have a clean win. That being said, how in the world has Baszler never won a singles title in WWE? I know she was stuck with Nia Jax for the better part of ever, but you would think there would be at least a token win in there somewhere. I would love to see it happen here, but unless WWE has completely given up on Morgan, that isn’t going to be the case.

Edge/Rey Mysterio vs. Judgment Day

Now this is one of those stories where you can see where things are going and that isn’t a bad thing. WWE has all but hit you over the head with the fact that Dominick Mysterio is turning on Rey here and since that has been teased since LAST YEAR’S Summerslam, I would call it well overdue. Whether it is because he enjoys being beaten up by Rhea Ripley isn’t clear, but the turn is going to happen.

Naturally Judgment Day takes this and hopefully they’re done with the Mysterios for now. I don’t think I can see Dominick joining the team and that’s probably a good thing, but ultimately they need to move on and fight someone other than Edge/Rey/Dominick. They could also use a win as a team and that is where this probably comes in, which should at least be a good match despite the lack of shock over the turn.

Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins

Yes Matt, as he got his first name back this week. This is a feud that has been going on for a few months now but they haven’t actually had a match yet. The good thing is that they have made it more personal this week on Monday Night Raw with Rollins’ lines about Riddle’s divorce. That should make things that much better, and now we get to see how the violence goes down.

As much as it seems like Rollins is probably going to win here, I’ll take Riddle to give him a victory and some personal revenge. That is a smart way to go as Rollins has been a made man for years and Riddle could still use a few more wins under his belt. If nothing else, just having the full name back makes him a bit more serious of a star and that is a nice thing to see after so long.

Bianca Belair/Asuka/Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley/Iyo Sky/Dakota Kai

Can we officially name the heels yet? The Control thing has been thrown around multiple times but it has never been used by anyone on TV. Anyway, this is a match that the villains need to win after Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah won the Women’s Tag Team Titles on Monday for whatever reason. The good thing is it seems WWE believes in these three so there is some hope to be had.

I’ll take Bayley and company to win, likely with Bayley pinning Belair to set up the next title match. Asuka and Bliss are still a team (I guess?) because we need to have a division to fight for the titles, meaning they can be set up against Kai and Sky down the line. For now though, this is Bayley’s chance to get a big win now that she is back in the ring and pinning Belair would certainly qualify.

Intercontinental Title: Gunther(c) vs. Sheamus

Of all the matches on the show, this one feels like the most fun. They aren’t trying to hide what they have here, as this is going to be nothing but two big strong men beating the tar out of each other. Gunther wants to face elite competition and Sheamus wants to win the one title he needs to complete the Ultimate Grand Slam. This isn’t complicated and it doesn’t need to be.

I’ll go with Gunther to retain in his hardest match to date. As someone who needs one title to complete the collection in WWE, I would think it’s safe to say that Sheamus doesn’t need the win. While I could see them giving him the win for the sake of history, I don’t think they want Gunther losing so soon so he should hold onto the title here. He’ll be rather banged up, but he’ll still be champion.

Undisputed WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Drew McIntyre

I believe you would call this shaky ground for WWE, because one thing has become clear in the last few weeks: McIntyre has to win this. The last time I felt like a star needed to win a title this badly was James Storm at Lockdown 2012 and that went very badly for both Storm and TNA when he didn’t. There is no reason to not pull the trigger here, even if it is for just one title (through some shenanigans) or even if he loses it soon thereafter (either to Austin Theory, Karrion Kross (stop laughing) or Reigns again). McIntyre could lose all four limbs and still needs to win this and that brings us to the problem.

Therefore, I’ll go with the logical step and say McIntyre wins the title, or at least part of it, here. Maybe something happens after, but WWE has put too much into the build of the once in thirty years deal and McIntyre in general to have him be the next name on Reigns’ list. WWE needs to be smart here and go with the corner they have booked themselves into and I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt by saying McIntyre wins.

Overall Thoughts

The more I think about this card, the bigger it feels, though it wouldn’t surprise me to see one more match added in to boost things up a bit. The show being a six match card doesn’t really sound impressive but having the World Title change hands over there would make up for some of the problem. Either way, we should be in for a good show as we see the first event with time to be built off the new regime. I’m interested, and that’s a nice thing to be able to say.

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Smackdown
Date: September 2, 2022
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

We’re on a rare taped show this week as the roster has already head over to Wales for tomorrow’s Clash At The Castle. This week is focused on Roman Reigns reaching two years as Universal Champion and that means we are likely to see Drew McIntyre pop up too. Other than that, there is a chance we could see something else added to the card, as there are only six matches so far. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

New Day vs. Viking Raiders

This is a Viking Rules match, meaning falls count anywhere and there is a bunch of viking themed stuff around the ring, including a big wooden mast of a ship extending from the ring into the aisle. New Day starts fast and stomps away in the corner, with some of the shields (yes shields) being knocked off the apron. The Vikings are sent to the floor so the big running flip dives take them down again. A running dropkick sends a shield into Erik’s face and Kofi adds a splash off the barricade for two.

We take a break and come back with Ivar hitting a running crossbody into the barricade for two on Woods. Back in and Kofi kendo sticks Erik, who hits a kind of Boss Man Slam for two of his own. Kofi knocks Erik to the floor and grabs a New Day themed mallet, which cracks Erik in the head for another two, because a mallet to the head is the same as a cover off a clothesline. Back up and the Vikings remember that it’s time to use the ship, with Kofi being slammed down hard onto the deck. A super World’s Strongest Slam gets two on Woods with Kofi making the save and we take another break.

Back again with two tables stacked up at ringside and Woods hitting a dropkick through the ropes. A discus forearm drops Erik and it’s a double stroke to send him through a chair. Ivar makes the save with a splash to the back (further crushing Erik in the process). Another super World’s Strongest Slam is broken up and Ivar misses a moonsault. Kofi’s top rope splash to the back sets up Woods’ rope walk elbow for two. They slug it out on the floor and Kofi is sent into the ship. The Vikings start swinging the shield to take over and Woods gets powerbombed through the two tables for the pin at 22:12.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and while there were goofy themed weapons included, they were having a serious fight. That makes almost anything like this work and it was a rather good match as a result, The other good thing is that the Vikings get the big win, which more or less leaves nothing for them to do but face the Usos. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem likely, but maybe they have something else in there.

We take our first look back at Roman Reigns’ time as Universal Champion, starting with the title win and alliance with Paul Heyman.

We look back at Sami Zayn trying to endear himself to Roman Reigns over the last few weeks.

Sami Zayn is ready to be the emcee for Roman Reigns’ two year celebration as Universal Champion. Jimmy Uso approves of the efforts but Jey doesn’t like that Zayn couldn’t help him against Kevin Owens.

Shayna Baszler promises to win the Women’s Title by making Liv Morgan suffer. Morgan comes in to say not only will she not tap out, but Baszler is going to tap. Baszler is amused.

Killer Kross is ready to hurt Drew Gulak, just like he hurts everyone else. Tick tock.

More on Reigns’ reign, including his sixteen pay per view main events.

Karrion Kross vs. Drew Gulak

Kross powers him into the corner, kicks him in the face, hits the Doomsday Saito and finishes with the KrossJacket at 1:15. Total dominance.

Then Roman Reigns smashed more people.

Here is Ronda Rousey with a piece of paper. The paper is an official statement from WWE and she wants Adam Pearce out here to hear it. Pearce comes out and says the suspension was never personal. The letter reads that Rousey has gone too far but nothing she did was criminal. She has paid the fines so while she is on probation, she is no longer suspended. Pearce is ticked off and says he would have fired Rousey, who laughs at the idea of the Board taking his side over her.

Rousey goes to leave but Pearce goes on a rant about how no one cares what happens to him while he runs two shows a week 52 weeks a year. He has to take care of two shows and a bunch of whiny stars like Rousey. Pearce has no problem with the Board but he has a big problem with her.

Heaven forbid everything doesn’t go her way so she isn’t the Baddest Woman On The Planet. No, she’s the single biggest b**** that Pearce has ever met. Rousey loads up the death stare and Pearce begs off, only to get armbarred in short order. The fans were way behind Rousey here, which WWE seemed to understand with Pearce not exactly endearing himself to the crowd.

Sami Zayn gets a delivery for Roman Reigns: a bouquet of black roses with a note saying TICK TOCK.

Hit Row vs. Maximum Male Models

B Fab and the Dupris are here. The Models are cleaned out to start but here are Los Lotharios for a distraction. B Fab kicks them both in the face, leaving the Models to take Adonis down. Mace walks over Adonis’ back and drops an elbow for two. Adonis is back up and gets over to Dolla for the hot tag. House is cleaned, including a running splash in the corner to Mansoor. The Heavy Hitter finishes for Adonis at 2:59.

Post match Hit Row gets beaten down but the Street Profits come in for the save.

Happy Corbin is tired of losing so it’s open challenge time.

Roman Reigns has beaten a lot of people in different kinds of matches.

Happy Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

In case McAfee couldn’t get any more excited. Nakamura starts fast and kicks him into the corner, setting up the choking. Another kick to the face looks to set up Kinshasa but Corbin reverses into Deep Six for two. End of Days is countered so Corbin tries the slide under the ropes, only to charge into Kinshasa for the pin at 2:18.

We look at Raquel Rodriguez winning the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament on Raw.

Connor’s Cure video.

Happy Corbin is in the back when a limo, with horns, comes up. A voice that sounds a lot like JBL asks what happened to Corbin and tells him to get in. They ride away together as commentary confirms that was JBL’s voice.

Butch vs. Ludvig Kaiser

The rest of the Brawling Brutes and Gunther are here too though Butch is in his Pete Dunne gear for a bit of an upgrade. Butch hammers him into the corner to start but Kaiser fights his way out and steps on Butch’s hair. Back up and Butch hits a clothesline before starting in on the arm. Butch cranks on the arm but gets taken into the corner for a slap to the face. Kaiser’s middle rope European uppercut is forearmed out of the air and falls outside, where he uppercuts Butch down hard as we take a break.

Back with Butch stomping on the fingers and kicking him in the head for two. Some forearms to the head keep Kaiser down but he catches Butch with a kick to the head in the corner. A reverse t-bone suplex gets two but Butch slams him down and hits a big kick to the head. There’s the finger snap and the Bitter End finishes Kaiser at 9:01.

Rating: B-. Sometimes you need two people put in the ring to beat on each other really hard. That is what you got here, as Butch and Kaiser can both hit hard and have a good match at the same time. It also lets them build up Sheamus vs. Gunther by proxy and I’ll absolutely take that over either of them losing.

Post match Sheamus is ready to fight Gunther but we’ll save that for later.

We look at Roman Reigns having the sixth longest World Title reign in company history.

Sami Zayn is ready for the big moment but Jimmy Uso has to keep Jey Uso and Sami from having more problems.

Here are Sami Zayn and the Usos for the big celebration, complete with blown up pictures of some great Reigns moments. Zayn starts his speech but Jey takes over and says how much Reigns has dominated over the last two years. After telling the people to be ready, we cut to the back where Reigns arrives….and is promptly Claymored by Drew McIntyre.

Now it’s McIntyre in the arena and cleaning house, setting up the big running flip dive over the top onto all three. Zayn gets a chair Claymored into his face and the Usos are put through the announcers’ table/the barricade. McIntyre says he isn’t going to stop and promises to kick Reigns’ head off of his body, leaving McIntyre looking up at the new Undisputed Champion.

Overall Rating: B. The energy continues around here as they did a heck of a job building to Clash At The Castle on a taped show. The opener was very good and McIntyre looks like a killer on the way to Cardiff. Throw in the JBL/Corbin stuff which has me a bit interested and I liked a good bit of this show. Rather strong go home show, and if they can stick the landing tomorrow on the big stage, WWE is doing a lot better than they have been in a good while.

Results
Viking Raiders b. New Day – Double powerbomb through two tables
Karrion Kross b. Drew Gulak – KrossJacket
Hit Row b. Maximum Male Models – Heavy Hitter to Mansoor
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Happy Corbin – Kinshasa
Butch b. Ludvig Kaiser – Bitter End

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Smackdown
Date: August 26, 2022
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are eight days away from Clash At The Castle and most of the card is set. There are still some things that need to be covered though and odds are we can get some of that this week. That would mainly include pushing the rest of the build to the matches we already have set, while probably adding in something else. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Ricochet vs. Happy Corbin

Ricochet starts fast and knocks him outside before backflipping into the superhero pose. Back in and a dropkick sets up a standing shooting star press for two on Corbin. The fast starts continues as Ricochet loads up a springboard, only to get knocked out of the air. Corbin pounds away a bit but gets knocked down for another flipping dive as we take a break.

Back with Corbin hitting something like a World’s Strongest Slam onto (not through) the announcer’s table before hammering away inside. Ricochet tries a handspring and is forearmed right back down as the power keeps working for Corbin. A spinning DDT gets Ricochet out of trouble and it’s time to kick away. Deep Six gives Corbin two but Ricochet kicks him down again. The shooting star press finishes for Ricochet at 12:13.

Rating: B-. This worked well because they followed a pretty simple formula of power vs. speed. Ricochet is able to fly with the best of them and it is great to see him getting a win here. Corbin losing again is a great thing to see and it is nice to see these emotional roller coasters that he lands on so often. Good start here and the rise of Ricochet is nice to see.

Post match, Corbin stays down in the corner, leaving McAfee to bust out the telestrator to explain what a horrible person he is.

The Street Profits meet Hit Row and seem rather cool with each other.

Long video on Drew McIntyre talking about the path his career has taken to get here. This includes a bunch of really cool footage of the early days of McIntyre’s career and his rise through the ranks, from the UK to FCW. McIntyre talks about his mom getting sick and hitting rock bottom when he was fired from WWE. More on this later.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett aren’t impressed because Kross could put his elbow through McIntyre’s head at anytime.

Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Natalya/Sonya Deville vs. Shotzi/Xia Li vs. Tamina/Dana Brooke vs. Doudrop/Nikki Ash

This is a one fall to a finish Last Chance match as Toxic Attraction was injured and a replacement was needed. Tamina superkicks Natalya off the apron to start and hits a Samoan drop on Deville, with Doudrop having to make a save. Li comes in to suplex Nikki into the ropes before dropping her throat first onto the top. Everything breaks down and it’s a parade of everyone being knocked down. With a big pile on the floor, Dana superplexes Nikki onto everyone else, with Nikki’s leg landing REALLY awkwardly. Sonya immediately throws her inside for the pin at 3:13 as I’d be shocked if we didn’t have a bad injury.

Rating: F. This was pretty terrible and I’m not even sure where to start. The biggest thing is Nikki’s leg, as she crashed hard at the end and very well might be in trouble. Other than that, Li looked lost and the match was an eight woman cluster with no one getting to shine. This was a total wreck and I’m not sure how much worse it could have been.

Video on Shayna Baszler.

Here are the Brawling Brutes, with Sheamus promising to beat the sauerkraut out of Gunther at Clash At The Castle to become the Ultimate Grand Slam Champion. Cue Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser, with Sheamus cutting Kaiser off because no one can understand him. Sheamus’ issue is with Gunther, because Sheamus is a ring general himself. Sheamus has beaten all kinds of stars around here and has won almost everything there is to win.

There are a lot of similarities between them and now Sheamus wants what Gunther has. Gunther says Sheamus is a man to be respected, but to protect the title, Gunther will teach him what violence really means. The staredown is on, even as Butch and Kaiser get in a fight. Ridge Holland is knocked outside and Kaiser and Butch are both knocked down, with Sheamus and Gunther not breaking their stare. Eventually they each grab their boys and leave, after one of the more amusing staredowns I can remember in a long time.

Sonya Deville and Natalya are ready for their semifinal match. As they talk, Nikki Ash and Doudrop are in quite the heated argument.

We look at the end of last week’s show with Sami Zayn taking the Claymore from Drew McIntyre to save Roman Reigns.

Zayn goes to see Reigns but finds the Usos instead. The Usos aren’t cool with McIntyre still walking but Reigns tells Zayn to come in. Reigns says Zayn lost but he appreciates what Zayn did to help him out. That’s something family would do and now, Reigns needs another family. He needs McIntyre distracted, which is cool with Zayn as he and McIntyre are facing each other tonight. Zayn says he has this and suggests making it a team effort. Reigns thinks this is all about Zayn though, which he can make work.

Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Raquel Rodriguez/Aliyah vs. Natalya/Sonya Deville

Bayley, with Iyo Sky/Dakota Kai behind her, is on commentary and Michael Cole looks crushed. Of note: the trio came to the ring before a break and the Zayn/Reigns stuff, meaning I was worried we would come back to them standing there. Instead, we came back to them at commentary, which was such a great relief that WWE stopped that dumb concept.

Anyway, Sonya gets knocked to the floor to start and Aliyah hits a Meteora off the apron. Natalya Michinoku Drivers Aliyah on the floor and we take a break. Back with Natalya breaking up the corkscrew Vader Bomb and kicking Rodriguez in the head. Rodriguez powers out of a choke but Aliyah has been knocked off the apron so Rodriguez knocks both of them down instead. The running splashes in the corner connect and there’s the corkscrew Vader Bomb to Deville. Rodriguez has to take out Natalya and gets kneed down by Deville for two. A big kick misses though and the Tejana Bomb finishes Deville at 8:13.

Rating: C. This was more or less a handicap match for Rodriguez and she continues to roll over just about anyone in front of her. That might be better to keep Aliyah away from the longer matches and let Rodriguez do just about anything. I can’t imagine they win the titles, but the title match should work out well enough.

Post match Sky and Kai come in for the staredown.

Maximum Male Models are having a photo shoot but Hit Row’s bus starts blaring music. No worries though as Maxxine has an idea.

Here is New Day, with Xavier Woods in a wheelchair (with his legs covered with a blanket) for their big return. They’re a bit serious here and talk about how they need to face reality: the Viking Raiders have been beating them up week after week. Then last week, the Raiders burned a bunch of their stuff and that has them thinking….that they’ll be interrupted by the Raiders.

Erik says this is pathetic because the New Day was giving a proper sendoff and yet here they are sniveling. The one thing a viking despises more than anything else is weakness and this groveling makes them sick. Violence is threatened but Woods whips the blanket off and the kendo stick underneath the blanket knock the Raiders outside. This could have been worse, but the feud needs to end already as it is already going too long.

The Maximum Male Models have painted HIT ROW SUCKS on the side of their bus, but Hit Row comes in to say it isn’t their bus. The Street Profits come out and glaring ensues.

Jey Uso yells at Sami Zayn to handle his business and never disrespect Jey in front of the family again.

We get the second half of the McIntyre video, featuring his return to WWE and rise to the top. Now he needs to get back to the top defeating Roman Reigns again. He promises to kick Reigns’ head off his f****** body. I’m not sure how this is going to work, but they almost have to change the title after setting up McIntyre this well.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn bails to the floor to start before catching McIntyre on the way back in. McIntyre knocks him outside though and it’s time to slug it out on the floor again. Back in again and Zayn kicks the rope into McIntyre’s leg, allowing him to hammer away. Zayn chokes away on the rope but McIntyre is getting annoyed. McIntyre unloads in the corner and there’s the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to put Zayn down again. Back up and Zayn manages a sunset bomb out of the corner to send us to a break.

Back with McIntyre snapping off an overhead belly to belly before snapping off an overhead belly to belly. There’s a neckbreaker to drop Zayn but here are the Usos for a distraction, allowing Zayn to grab the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. McIntyre shrugs that off and hits the Claymore for the pin at 10:26.

Rating: C+. This was almost guaranteed to be at least pretty good and that’s what we got here. McIntyre winning is no surprise as he has a major title match coming up. Zayn on the other hand is on a roll right now and doing some of his best work in years. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him change sides sooner rather than later, perhaps teaming up with Kevin Owens to go after the Tag Team Titles. Nice main event here though, and that’s all it needed to be.

Post match Roman Reigns comes in and the big beatdown is on, with the spear setting up a bunch of chair shots. McIntyre gets sent into various things on the floor, followed by Reigns guillotining him back inside. Reigns puts a chair over McIntyre and sits down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show was up and down, with the main focus being on the World Title match and everything else being a pretty hard step down. Other than a nice opener and the awkwardly amusing Sheamus/Gunther faceoff, there wasn’t much of value on the whole show. That four way women’s tag was just awful on every level and one of the worst TV matches I’ve seen in a long time. The show as a whole was ok enough, but the bad part was dreadful and the good didn’t bring it to a higher level.

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

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Smackdown
Date: August 19, 2022
Location: Bell Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

We’re north of the border for the 1,200th episode and odds are that is not going to be the biggest deal. We are only a few weeks away from Clash At The Castle and now we should be in for some build to the show. There is a lot that needs to be done for the card and maybe we can get some of that done tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Commentary talks about the 1,200th show, with McAfee name dropping Jim Cornette doing commentary on the first show (or at least the pilot).

Ronda Rousey walks in front of commentary and gets in the ring where she says her fine is paid so Adam Pearce needs to get out here and lift her suspension. Cue Pearce, with security to say that’s above his pay grade, so he asks her to leave peacefully. Pearce says that’s what she did last week and now it’s time to get violent. Security gets in the ring and gets beaten up. That’s too far for Pearce, who has the police come out and arrest Rousey. As she is taken to the back, she asks if this is on Pearce’s pay grade as she is put in the car.

The police car pulls away and Roman Reigns arrives.

Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Natalya/Sonya Deville vs. Toxic Attraction

Zoey Stark is hurt so Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin/Jacy Jayne) from NXT is taking her and Nikkita Lyons’ place. As a bonus, Bayley/Iyo Sky/Dakota Kai sit in the front row to yell at commentary. Natalya rolls Dolin up to start and it’s off to Deville for a spear of all things and a near fall. Jayne comes in and misses a charge into the post, allowing Jayne to hit a running flip dive to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Jayne loading up a Sharpshooter but getting knocked away by Deville. It’s back to Natalya, whose Sharpshooter is broken up as well. Deville is sent into the barricade in front of Bayley and company for some yelling as Jayne tags herself in. Natalya doesn’t notice and puts Dolin in the Sharpshooter, allowing Jayne to grab a rollup (clever) for the pin at 9:59.

Rating: C-. That’s how the match should have gone as there is no reason for one of the most successful NXT tag teams ever to lose to a makeshift team like Natalya and Deville. Not much of a match, but they did the right thing with Toxic Attraction moving forward. At the same time, it does make me wonder why they weren’t in the tournament in the first place.

Sami Zayn (hometown boy) goes in to see Roman Reigns, who asks how things have been going. Zayn talks about his recent issues with the Usos, especially Jey, who has been telling him to LEVEL UP. We hear about how Zayn took a Claymore for him last week and calls Jey ungrateful. Sami knows he went too far….until Reigns agrees with him. Reigns gets up and his phone rings, with Jey on the other end.

Reigns tells Sami to answer it, which doesn’t seem to go well with Jey. Sami says he’ll take care of it before hanging up. Apparently Jey was yelling about trouble at the border so the Usos won’t be here tonight. That has Reigns looking nervous, but Sami offers his services. He does have a #1 contenders match for the Intercontinental Title tonight and Reigns thinks that title would look good in the Bloodline.

Sami goes to warm up but Reigns asks about Kevin Owens. Sami says they’re still tight so Reigns says to tell Owens that Reigns doesn’t owe anyone anything. As Sami leaves, Reigns glares a bit. This was interesting and some good character stuff, which you don’t get enough of around here.

We look back at Gunther retaining the Intercontinental Title over Shinsuke Nakamura last week. Max doesn’t like the interruption so Hit Row clears the ring quickly. Rapping ensues and goes on for a while. The good thing here is that Max is basically LA Knight instead of that not so great stuff he was doing for a few weeks.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett talk about what Drew McIntyre said about him on Raw. He still has his eye on Roman Reigns too. McIntyre and Reigns are his chosen ones.

Ricochet vs. Sheamus vs. Madcap Moss vs. Happy Corbin vs. Sami Zayn

For the Intercontinental Title shot at Clash At The Castle. The fans are WAY behind Sami with the OLE chants. The ring is cleared out to start, leaving Ricochet to hurricanrana Zayn. Corbin (in a t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, likely for reasons of a lost bag) cuts off a dive with a chokeslam to Ricochet and we take a break. Back with everyone brawling on the floor until Corbin takes Ricochet back inside.

Corbin hits the slide under the ropes clothesline on Moss and then knocks Zayn off the apron (Cole: “Sami looked like El Generico there.” McAfee: “Oui.”). Ricochet is back up with a springboard crossbody to Corbin and a springboard dropkick to knock Zayn off the apron as well. A running shooting star press gets two on Corbin as we see a NASTY bruise/cut on Sheamus’ thigh. Sheamus’ leg is good enough to hit Irish Curses on Moss and Zayn, though he does come up limping.

The ten forearms to the chest have Moss and Corbin in more trouble, followed by seventeen forearms to Ricochet’s chest. Zayn jawbreaks his way to freedom though and low bridges Corbin out to the floor. The big flip dive drops Sheamus and Corbin on the floor as we get some old school Sami for a change. Back in and a Michinoku Driver drops Ricochet and the Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Moss.

Sheamus is back up to take out Ricochet though and a super White Noise sends Zayn outside, holding his arm. Moss gets in his own run but Ricochet cuts him off as Sami is helped to the back. Corbin Deep Sixes Sheamus and Ricochet clotheslines Moss, leaving everyone down as we take a break.

Back with Corbin pounding on Ricochet and dropping him with a torture rack neckbreaker. Corbin and Sheamus slug it out until Corbin gets clotheslined to the floor. A jumping knee gives Sheamus two on Moss but the Brogue Kick is countered into something like a Boss Man Slam. Ricochet Recoils Moss to the floor and hits a shooting star press for two on Sheamus, with Corbin making the save. Cue Sami for quite the reaction and a t-bone suplex on Ricochet. The Helluva Kick hits Ricochet but Corbin pulls Zayn out. Sheamus is back in with the Brogue Kick to finish Corbin out of nowhere at 22:22.

Rating: B-. The time helped here as it allowed the match to be built up instead of rushed. That allowed everyone a chance to show what they could do instead of flying through everything and trying to get a bunch of stuff in. The Zayn injury gives him a bit of an out instead of jobbing in his hometown so it was nice to see them cover that side. At the same time, it’s good to see Sheamus winning, as he and Gunther could have a heck of a hoss fight. I could even see Sheamus getting the title so we might even have some drama.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns.

Video on the Viking Raiders. They have torches and face paint because a great battle awaits. Then they burn a bunch of New Day stuff.

We recap Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler signing the contract last week.

Morgan’s arm is out of the brace and into just tape but she isn’t worried about Baszler. She can’t start playing it safe now because she needs to get in the ring.

Liv Morgan vs. Shotzi

Non-title. Before the match, Shotzi talks about how Morgan is getting too emotional and calls this match a bad decision. Liv slugs away to start and staggers Shotzi a bit, only to get knocked back with a shot to the face. Shotzi knocks her outside and we take a break. Back with Liv fighting out of trouble, setting up a brawl from their knees. Morgan hits a quick Codebreaker and Oblivion for the pin at 6:02. Not enough shown to rate but Morgan fighting through the pain and winning is the right way to go for her.

Post match Shayna Baszler comes in and knees her down before teasing the stomp on the arm but stomping and kicking Morgan down instead.

Ronda Rousey has been released on her own recognizance and Adam Pearce won’t be pressing charges.

Drew McIntyre finds Karrion Kross’ hourglass in his locker room and rolls his eyes.

Here is Roman Reigns (alone), who takes his sweet time getting into the ring. After being handed the microphone, Reigns talks about how he isn’t here every week, meaning every once in awhile, people are going to come out here and say something stupid. If anyone ever comes out here and says they’re the face of this company or the main event and it isn’t him, they’re LYING. The same thing is true if someone says they carry this company, including Drew McIntyre, who is beneath him.

Cue McIntyre to interrupt, saying that since Reigns isn’t here very often, he doesn’t represent the titles and doesn’t deserve to be champion. Reigns is aghast but McIntyre says it’s easy when Reigns has Paul Heyman and the Usos. Right now though, McIntyre sees fear in Reigns’ eyes because Reigns is just a man and a man who McIntyre can tear apart.

The fight is on and Reigns gets suplexed but the Claymore hits…..Sami Zayn, who runs in to take the shot. Reigns hits the Superman Punch but the Claymore cuts off the spear (despite the camera angle showing that McIntyre COMPLETELY missed by a good four inches) to end the show. McIntyre vs. Reigns feels like a main event, but I’m not sure I can see McIntyre taking the title off of him, even in the UK.

Overall Rating: B. There were only three matches but one of them was about ten minutes long and the other was over twenty so there was a nice amount of action on the show. Other than that, you had some good talking and character development, plus some stuff being added to or boosted for the pay per view. They did well here, with nothing dragging the show down and enough to make me want to see what happens next. Rather good show, and it’s nice to be able to say that more and more often.

Results
Toxic Attraction b. Natalya/Sonya Deville – Rollup to Natalya
Sheamus b. Happy Corbin, Ricochet, Madcap Moss and Sami Zayn – Brogue Kick to Corbin
Liv Morgan b. Shotzi – Oblivion

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