IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: November 22, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for both Survivor Series and Takeover: WarGames. Normally the second show wouldn’t matter around here but the NXT roster is going to be around to make things a little more interesting. That could play out in several ways and I’m curious to see how it goes. Let’s get to it.

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

I was in the arena live for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron. That being said, I couldn’t see a lot of the screen due to lighting equipment so there are parts of this that I didn’t see/hear live.

The Smackdown locker room is in the back in front of what looks like the door to the loading dock. King Corbin, Roman Reigns and others get up and say they know NXT and Monday Night Raw are here tonight. They literally open the door for them and say come on in. Sasha Banks gets up as well and, in that completely natural manner of speaking in WWE, says the women’s division is ready so let’s just do this right now.

Opening sequence.

Here are the Smackdown women to get things going, meaning we have to get the Snoop Dogg version of Sasha’s theme again. I get why they’re going with it but the other one is just much better to get a crowd going. Sasha says this is their ring and no one is going to jump them from behind. They jumped NXT last week so Team Raw can get out here for a fight right now.

Cue Team Raw so a single referee comes out to try and keep the peace. Charlotte thanks them for opening the door but Raw would have kicked it down anyway. If Sasha is interested, they can fight one on one for old times’ sake. Cue Team NXT through the crowd, with the lineup being revealed as Captain Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox, Candice LeRae and Toni Storm, who has barely ever been in regular NXT.

Rhea wants to make it captain vs. captain vs. captain so NXT gets in the ring as well. As you might have guessed, the big brawl is on and we take a fast break. Back with things having settled down (after the brawl went all the way through the break and started again after being stopped once) and the bell ringing.

Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha slugs away at both giants but walks into a double big boot for her efforts. That means it’s time to talk some trash until Rhea rolls out of a waistlock. A superkick rocks Charlotte but she’s right back with a big boot of her own. The shoulders in the corner keep Ripley in trouble but the last one misses, allowing Banks to come in and hammer away at Ripley. That doesn’t last long either as she sends Banks outside, only to have Charlotte get back up and start the fight on the floor. With everyone else getting involved, Charlotte busts out the huge moonsault and takes out Banks and Ripley as we take a break.

Back with Charlotte on the floor and Ripley dropping Banks face first onto the top turnbuckle. Banks is right back with the Meteora but Charlotte runs in with Natural Selection to Banks for her own near fall. Natural Selection hits Ripley as well, sending her straight to the ropes before the cover. That leaves Banks to get caught in the Figure Eight but Ripley comes in and crucifixes the bridging Charlotte for the pin at 9:41.

Rating: C+. The commercial took something out of this as the chaotic nature was great and made it feel like these women wanted to destroy each other. I really liked the ending too with Ripley showing intelligence and catching Charlotte when she wasn’t paying attention. All three were fighting hard here and it was a very entertaining performance from everyone involved, including the people on the floor.

Post match Charlotte and Banks keep up the fight with everyone else getting involved as NXT watches from the stage.

King Corbin tells Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler that they are going to bail when NXT interrupts their six man tag tonight while Roman Reigns, Ali and Shorty G. get beaten up. Then the three of them can beat up Roman and company again! Sami Zayn comes in and seems to want to fight, while holding a bag. If they’re interested, come see him in the ring RIGHT NOW.

Bayley isn’t worried about Sunday and invites Shayna Baszler to come after her face to face tonight.

Here are Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura for a chat. Sami knows that Corbin isn’t coming out here because Corbin is scared of him. People have called Sami annoying, but he would go with something more like….stud. The only person studlier than him is Nakamura, which is why Sami has gotten him a present. That would be a new Intercontinental Title, which is rounder with a black strap and a round center plate. It’s going to take some time for me to get used to that but it’s not bad.

Sami takes the old title, saying this is the only way to get it off of Nakamura. They’re ready for Sunday against AJ Styles and….whoever the North whatever champion is from NXT. Nakamura: “I’m drawing a blank.” Cue the Undisputed Era with Sami instantly getting behind Nakamura, as you would expect him to do.

The two of them leave with Adam Cole introducing the team and promising to win on Saturday and Sunday. That is undisputed, but here is New Day to dispute something. Kofi accuses the Undisputed Era of running off last week without a proper goodbye. They’re all here right now, so how about an eight man tag with these guys joining in?

Undisputed Era vs. New Day/Heavy Machinery

Strong takes Big E. into the corner to start but that doesn’t last long due to some straight power. Suplexes abound to send Fish and Strong down, with the former winding up on the apron for Big E.’s splash. A suplex drops O’Reilly on the floor and it’s Kofi slugging it out with Cole inside. Strong sneaks in on off a blind tag for a half nelson backbreaker though and it’s Kofi in trouble with Fish getting two off a double suplex.

Something like a Gory Stretch has Kofi in more trouble but he slips out and grabs a rollup for two. That’s not enough for a tag though as Strong is right back with a front facelock to keep Kofi down. Kofi fights out and goes up but Strong dropkicks him to the floor, where he lands on Tucker. Otis goes over to check on things but Big E. isn’t happy with that, with a near brawl taking us to a break.

Back with Kofi hitting a dropkick on Fish and diving over for the hot tag to Otis. House is cleaned (Graves: “Like the Kool-Aid Man with a bad attitude.”) and O’Reilly’s kicks are shrugged off by the power of….jiggling? Some corner splashes look to set up the Caterpillar but a save is made.

Tucker and Strong come in with a splash crushing Strong in the corner. A side slam gets two and Tucker’s moonsault is good for the same as everything breaks down. Big E. throws Fish to the floor (Cole: “Now it’s New Day’s turn to have some fun!”) but the Era cuts Kofi off. Fun haters. The very spinning slam plants O’Reilly and there’s the Caterpillar but Strong is back in with the jumping knee to finish Tucker at 15:04.

Rating: C+. Nice one here as it was more of a fun match than anything else. Putting two teams together to face the Four Horsemen style team worked very well and the Era gets to show that they can hang with and defeat main roster talent. I don’t think anyone seriously questioned that, but it’s nice to see it take place.

Post match Strong and Nakamura have a staredown on the stage. Cue AJ Styles to jump both of them but Sami makes the save before the Era gets up to the stage as well.

Survivor Series rundown.

Post break Styles and the Good Brothers are still yelling about how much they don’t like Chicago. Styles says he could clean house with anyone from this city. Cue the CM Punk chants, with AJ saying he would do it to him too. He’ll win at Survivor Series.

Here’s Daniel Bryan to summon (Summon?) Bray Wyatt. Bryan shows us a clip from last week with Bryan challenging Bray for Survivor Series and getting a big (and kind of maniacal) YES from Bray. Back in the arena, Bryan says he isn’t here to say YES or play with puppets because he wants Bray out here right now.

They can talk about the past or just fight right now….and there go the lights. They come back up with no one in the ring but here’s Miz instead. Daniel: “If there is one thing worse than Bray coming out here, it you.” Miz rants about how Bryan is being insane and how he has always tried to slap some sense into him. Instead he just slaps Bryan and I think you know where this is going.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

Joined in progress with Miz hitting some YES Kicks but getting thrown outside for the running knee from the apron. Back in and Miz kicks him in the face for a pair of twos and the headlock goes on. Bryan starts with the strikes but gets caught with the corner clothesline. Bryan’s own running clothesline slows Miz down and he headbutts Miz off the top. The missile dropkick into the nip up sets up the real YES Kicks (Graves: “Night night Miz.”) and it’s time for the corner dropkick but we’ve got a Fiend as the match is thrown out at we’ll say 5:40.

Rating: C-. These two are always worth a look but there is only so much that you can get out of a match that only had about five minutes before Wyatt interfered. That being said, was there any reason to not have Bryan get the win here before the Fiend showed up? Bryan isn’t exactly on a roll here so let him get a quick pin and then do the Fiend stuff. It’s not like Miz has anything going on at the moment.

Here’s Shayna Baszler for a chat. She wastes no time in calling out Bayley so the jacket comes off, but it’s Bayley running in from behind with a chop block. The fight is on and they head to the floor with Baszler getting in the Kirifuda Clutch. Bayley drives her into various things to escape….and that’s it. No Becky appearance and no extra fighting. That’s quite the odd ending.

Quick look at last week’s tag match which set up this week’s six man.

Roman Reigns/Ali/Shorty G. vs. King Corbin vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

Ali gets the huge hometown welcome, Corbin is brought out on the throne, and THANK GOODNESS Gable has lost the basketball jersey. It’s a small improvement but I’ll take everything I can get here. Reigns slugs away at Roode to start and the fight is outside in a hurry. Ziggler and Corbin get in a few cheap shots to take over on Reigns, who fights back inside without too much effort.

Gable comes in for some kicks and throws but Roode and Corbin slam him off the apron and onto the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with Ziggler DDTing Reigns for two but walking into a Superman punch. The hot tag brings in Ali to throw some right hands and the rolling X Factor plants Corbin. The dive sends Ziggler into the announcers’ table and there’s the springboard tornado DDT to drop Corbin again. Roode’s spinebuster on the floor plants Gable but Reigns is right back with the Superman punch off the steps. Back in and it’s the Deep Six to finish Ali at 8:53.

Rating: C. This wasn’t a long match in the first place and a lot of it took place during the break. What we got was good enough though, even if they need to let the fans have something to cheer for without putting the heat on Corbin every single week. It’s good to do that a lot of the time, but it’s ok to not snatch everything away from the fans.

Post match Corbin grabs his scepter and goes after Ali but Reigns makes the save. Cue Raw through the crowd with Rollins getting in the ring for the big staredown. The fight is on, with the CM Punk chants being drowned out in a hurry. Braun Strowman leads the Smackdown charge to start the huge brawl…..and it’s Road Dogg/Shawn Michaels/HHH driving a tank into the back with NXT coming inside to make it an even bigger fight.

This is one of the wildest brawls I’ve ever seen and it’s Keith Lee staring Strowman down inside as the show ends with the fighting continuing. This ended WAY earlier than it should have, as Ali hit a huge super Spanish Fly onto the pile to knock everyone down, which at least gave Ali something back after getting pinned, which was completely necessary.

After the show was over, everyone headed to the back and D-Generation X offered to put Corbin on the team. HHH said “for the millions watching at home….even though we’re off the air because this will be on like in about five minutes” and a huge beatdown of Corbin ended the night as DX celebrated.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a case where you need to look at the bigger picture rather than the individual things. The point of this show was making me want to see Survivor Series and that worked out quite well. The wrestling was forgettable at best most of the time but every major story was addressed and the huge brawl at the end was excellent. I want to see where things go on Sunday and that is entirely the point of something like this. Get better wrestling and this is great, but as it is we’ll call it job done well enough.

Results

Rhea Ripley b. Charlotte and Sasha Banks – Crucifix to Charlotte

Undisputed Era b. Heavy Machinery/New Day – Jumping knee to Tucker

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz went to a no contest when the Fiend interfered

King Corbin/Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler b. Roman Reigns/Shorty G./Ali – Deep Six to Ali

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

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

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

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

It only took me 31 years.

Freshly back from the show (I could really get used to this concept of walking from the arena to the hotel and needing 25 minutes from the time I get out of my seat to the time I’m back and sitting down at the hotel) and it was certainly a different one. There were no major sections tarped off though there were some small pockets of empty seats. It was definitely 95%+ full though and one of the biggest non-Wrestlemania crowds I’ve seen in years.

I won’t go through everything match by match as I’ll save that for the review, but a few highlights:

NXT was over like free beer in a frat house all night long with no one getting anything less than a strong reception.

The women’s Survivor Series match felt a little disjointed at times but Rhea was a STAR, as she has been since she debuted. Fans were a little confused by Shirai and LeRae going out and some were expecting Asuka to come back for a surprise. Either way, Rhea won and it changed the complexion a bit, with NXT now looking like they had a chance.

Cole retaining…..I’m going to need to think about that one for a long time. Cole beating Dunne on normal circumstances is one thing but it’s going to take some mental gymnastics to get my head around a banged up and spent Cole beating Dunne clean. I’m not saying I can’t get there, but it’s going to take some time.

Bryan vs. Bray should have been short like it was and it was booked as well as could have been expected. This worked very well with Bryan fighting as hard as he could and even bringing back the YES chant, but not being enough to overcome that kind of evil. I’m not sure who beats Bray but it’s going to be fun watching people try.

I’ve loved the Survivor Series for years and have always wanted to see one of the matches live. That’s what I got in the men’s match, which felt like an old school Survivor Series match. Corbin stealing pins was a great idea, especially with the one on Ricochet as the fans wanted to kill him. Lee looked incredible out there and got over huge, meaning he should be getting close to the main event scene soon. Heck of a match and exactly what I wanted, but SCREW OFF with getting rid of Walter that fast. If that’s what you bring him in for, what was even the point?

The place came unglued when Rey and Dominick hit the double 619, but you knew it wasn’t happening right after that kickout. Still though, great emotional moment and all it needed to be.

Then there was the main event and…..dang it wrestling fans can be annoying. There were chants of THIS IS AWFUL, CM PUNK, BORING and various similar things. I would bet money that these are the same fans who have been begging WWE to do something new and call Shayna up. She gets a chance in the main event and what does she get? Treated like she’s some lame wrestler on Raw in a bad match.

The match wasn’t great, but good grief people. What else was supposed to close the show? Bray and Brock crushing dreams? Reigns standing tall again, this time over NXT? You had almost everything you wanted and then this is how you treat the main event? WHERE NXT STOOD TALL AGAIN??? They’ll never be happy, and thankfully a lot of fans booed the chants down.

Overall, a rather good night and the match I wanted to see. Reviews for Smackdown/Takeover will hopefully be up Monday with Survivor Series and Raw hopefully the next day or two.

Thank you again for letting me be able to do all this and your patience with the lack of reviews (the WiFi here is pretty horrible).

KB

IMG Credit: WWE

It’s taken us a long time to get here after a great start to the NXT Invasion and then things slowing down a lot due to the UK trip. Things have picked back up though and I’m excited to see the show. As usual, it’s all about Brand Supremacy, though there are several Survivor Series matches thrown in for a bonus. I’m going to be in the arena for the show so it’s an even bigger night than usual. Let’s get to it.

Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (SmackDown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

It’s the first battle of the three Tag Team Champions here and we’ll start off with an interesting one. You have three pretty distinct styles here with a bunch of talented people, so if everything can mesh together well, we could be in for a heck of a match. This is the kind of match that should be all action and that is the kind of thing that these people could excel at, so I’m rather pleased with the idea.

I’ll go with the Undisputed Era winning here, as there is a chance that NXT is only going to win one match. This would seem to be a good place for them to pick up a win, as New Day can take a fall without blinking an eye. The Raiders should not be involved in the fall (save for AOP running in to take them out), as this isn’t some nothing show like Crown Jewel where most of the results don’t matter. Undisputed Era wins, just to get them on the board.

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

This is a match that very well could headline the show but that could be the case with several matches so we’ll put it here. The match is No Holds Barred to give Mysterio a fighting chance and I can more than go with that. They have done a nice job of making Mysterio look like a threat and his anger at Lesnar over Dominick should be good for a few hope spots.

That being said, Lesnar retains here as I just can’t picture Mysterio, as great as he is, going over Lesnar. There would be a great feel good moment there, but WWE is saving Lesnar’s loss for the big WrestleMania moment (because that’s just what Lesnar does). Mysterio goes down on his sword here and it’s a heck of a try, but just not enough.

NXT Title: Adam Cole (c) vs. Pete Dunne

This was added last night at Takeover: WarGames when Dunne won a triple threat over Killian Dain and Damian Priest. Dunne is one of those guys who is going to get a huge reaction no matter what he does so it makes a lot of sense to put him in there. That being said, Cole is going to get the hardcore fan reaction of the night so the crowd could certainly be interesting here.

I’ll take Dunne to win the title though, as there is not much of a way to validate Cole retaining after a ladder match and WarGames in the previous five days. Dunne is too successful and too dominant of an opponent to lose to someone that banged up and outside of the Undisputed Era (or someone else) costing Dunne the title, I really can’t picture a way for Dunne to not leave as champion.

AJ Styles (Monday Night Raw) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown)

Midcard title showcase here and a match that should be awesome but doesn’t really have a ton of build. Styles has ranted about NXT and various other people more than his opponents here, which gives me a bit of a lack of interest in the match itself. That being said, if Nakamura is trying in the slightest (which is no guarantee), we should be in for a rather entertaining match.

I’m going with Nakamura here, as the wins need to be balanced over the rosters and NXT isn’t going to be winning two matches. SmackDown can pick up a win here and get on the board without really damaging anything. Strong is already banged up after last night so a loss here isn’t going to hurt him all that much. Styles is a possibility as well, but I think the Monday Night Raw wins come elsewhere.

Universal Title: Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan

How nice is it to not have that say Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins? Anyway this was set up a few weeks ago when Wyatt attacked Bryan out of nowhere, leaving Bryan to consider restarting the YES Movement to fight the Fiend. That hasn’t happened yet though, and Wyatt took Bryan out again on this week’s SmackDown. That doesn’t bode well for Bryan here, and I think you know where this is going.

Much like in the other World Title match, this is going to be Bryan fighting as hard as he can and coming close but ultimately losing to the champ. Wyatt seems like he could be holding the title for a very, very long time to come and Bryan is the first victim. Bryan has often brought out the best in Wyatt so we should be in for a good match, but it ends with the Mandible Claw and Bryan coming up short.

Monday Night Raw Men vs. SmackDown Men vs. NXT Men

This is one where I barely know what to say because we don’t know the five men from NXT. It really could be any combination of the team and that makes for an interesting match. If nothing else, I’m not sure if Kevin Owens is still on the Monday Night Raw side as he returned to NXT last night. They usually shuffle these things up a lot though and that could be the case again here.

I’ll take the Monday Night Raw men to win here, as the lineup is stacked enough that I can’t really imagine them losing. Of course that seems to be the case almost every year in these things and the great lineup has a tendency to lose a lot. It’s hard to say who we’ll be getting from NXT, but I’ll say Owens, Finn Balor, Matt Riddle, Dominick Dijakovic and Keith Lee, with Rusev taking Owen’s place on Monday Night Raw.

Becky Lynch (Monday Night Raw) vs. Bayley (SmackDown) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Here’s where the numbers get interesting as you could go with any of the three under normal circumstances. Baszler has come out of this thing looking like the biggest star NXT’s women have had since Asuka and there is a slight chance that she could even break Asuka’s record because she has been that great. That being said, I have to go with the winner who is going to set up the desired ending, and that makes things a little different than they would usually go.

That’s why I’m going with Bayley here to give SmackDown a lead, despite being the least impressive of the three (which isn’t meant to be a knock on Bayley but she is up against some stacked competition). Bayley winning is hardly the biggest shock as she is getting a hard push, but having her go over both of these two would be a stretch. That’s why it’s what we’ll be seeing here, because a lot of logic goes out the window on these shows.

Monday Night Raw Women vs. SmackDown Women vs. NXT Women

This is your big deciding match of the show as you have to have someone win the whole thing (assuming WWE doesn’t do something stupid like saying that both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown are better than NXT). You might not be able to follow logic here and that could shake things up a lot. At the end of the day, it depends on who you think is going to win the whole thing, meaning the logic and common sense for something like this goes flying out the window. Someone has to win though and unfortunately I think I know where that is going.

I’ll take the SmackDown women here to give them the win for the night, even though their lineup is arguably the weakest of the three. NXT’s women are mostly decimated after last night’s WarGames so you should be able to write them off. That leaves Monday Night Raw with Charlotte around, but for the sake of one show actually winning the night, I’ll go with SmackDown here in the upset of the show, giving us a final score of SmackDown 3, Monday Night Raw 2 and NXT 1.

Overall Thoughts

The build for this has been hot and cold, but the hot parts have been outstanding and have made me want to see what happens here. NXT has looked like stars in the whole thing and hopefully don’t get treated as cannon fodder on the big stage. Couple that with anyone other that Monday Night Raw winning (three years in a row coming into the show) and we could be in for a heck of a night. Now let’s see how WWE screws this up again.

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: June 23, 2005
Location: Convention Center, Tuscon, Arizona
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s time for another big showdown as we get the latest chapter in Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio. That’s certainly good enough for me as those two have been the best things about this show, if not this company, for a few months now. We also get the latest Draft pick tonight as Raw continues to take away a lot of the young, talented stars while sending Smackdown some good names but maybe not with the same amount of future potential. Let’s get to it.

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

We get a quick video on Eddie vs. Rey.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Randy Orton to open things up. Orton talks about having a reputation as the Legend Killer and that is something he has earned. Names such as Mick Foley, Harley Race, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and Chris Benoit have all taken a knee to him, but that brings him to Undertaker. Back at Wrestlemania, Undertaker took advantage of his shoulder injury and Orton has been waiting ever since. Last week he got his revenge with an RKO to Undertaker, who is NOT here tonight.

Orton goes to leave but the lights go out and we see a clip of Undertaker beating Orton at Wrestlemania. The screen shows a Wrestlemania XXI graphic as we see Undertaker Tombstoning Orton. Cole: “This is from Wrestlemania XXI when Undertaker Tombstoned Randy Orton!”

The ring is starting to fill with smoke and there go the lights. The gong strikes and there’s Undertaker to send Orton bailing. Orton: “MY TERMS THIS TIME!” Didn’t he challenge Undertaker for Wrestlemania? Undertaker says death waits for no one and a lightning bolt nearly hits Orton. It was a good match at Wrestlemania so I’m down for a rematch.

Joey Mercury vs. Heidenreich

Fallout from last week’s MNM beatdown on Heidenreich. An early Nitro distraction doesn’t work as Heidenreich hammers Mercury into the corner and hits a backdrop. Nitro’s second bit of cheating works a bit better but earns him a big boot to the floor. Mercury and Heidenreich ram heads and a neckbreaker gives Mercury two. We hit the chinlock for as long as you would expect a chinlock to last here as Heidenreich busts out an armdrag of all things for the break. A clothesline puts Mercury on the floor but Melina gets in a slap, drawing out Michelle McCool to jump Melina after last week. The distraction lets Nitro hit a superkick to give Mercury the pin.

Rating: D+. Did Russo get to guest book a match here? We had three people interfering, multiple distractions and probably a mixed tag being set up in less than four minutes. And it was for a HEIDENREICH match! MNM continues to be a great act, but I’m scared to see who they are going to bring in for Heidenreich’s partner.

Rey really liked hurting Eddie last week and tonight he is going to make it even worse. He’s doing it for redemption.

Melina is furious while MNM is all like “yeah but we won”. They insist that no one is better than Melina, including that B list Diva Michelle. The challenge is on for next week.

JBL comes up to Theodore Long to ask about a rumored Smackdown Championship. If anyone deserves that, it is JBL because he beat Undertaker last week. Long has an announcement for later tonight and JBL is going to be pleased. As for now though, Long needs to keep talking to the Draft pick. JBL: “Just tell me his initials!”

Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero vs. Paul London

London is defending and the lockup goes to the corner to start. Chavo sends him down and strikes the pose so London gives him some applause. London flips out of a backdrop though and snaps off a hurricanrana to put Chavo in trouble again. A backdrop puts Chavo on the floor….and it’s Juventud Guerrero, Psychosis and Super Crazy carrying a Mexican flag on a lawnmower. Psychosis sends Chavo into the steps for the DQ. There wasn’t much to the match in the first place and then a lot of it was spent looking at the entrance so there wasn’t enough to rate. But hey, at least London and the title are treated as nothing again.

Post match the beatdown is on and we hear about how awesome Mexico is. They even have a Mexican limo! They’re tired of working for us so from now on, you’re working for us. They are taking over America, WWE and the Cruiserweight division because they are the MEXICOOLS.

JBL is in the ring and talking about how it is morning again in America. Since his fluke loss at Wrestlemania, Smackdown has been without a real champion. That changes tonight though because he is Mr. Smackdown. It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you love because you can all bow at the feet of the wrestling god. Cue Booker T. instead, but JBL says he doesn’t have to bow.

Instead he can just shake JBL’s hand in congratulations but that isn’t happening either. Booker doesn’t think anyone should be named champion because they should fight for the honor. They should fight for the title tonight but here’s Chris Benoit to interrupt. He doesn’t want to hear from JBL either and we should have a triple threat for the title instead. JBL doesn’t like the sound of that but here’s Big Show to interrupt as well.

Show says JBL’s options are to make it a four way or get beaten up by all three of them. Cue Long with a covered up title to say JBL will be named Smackdown Champion….if he wins a five way challenge match. It will be the four here (JBL starts counting on his fingers) plus the Undertaker for the Smackdown Title.

Hang on though as here are Muhammad Hassan and Daivari (who were drafted together, though Matt Morgan apparently didn’t go to Raw with Carlito) to say Hassan should be champion. He had the longest undefeated streak in WWE history (uh…….) and didn’t even get a special welcome to the show.

Hassan brags about being awesome and points out that Benoit never beat him. Booker is a five time loser and Hassan could beat Big Show any night of the week. JBL is just like any other American: a big quitter. Hassan wants what he deserves so Long makes next week a six way. The beatdown is on with Hassan being thrown outside. Long isn’t done though and makes a match.

Muhammad Hassan vs. Big Show

Joined in progress with Show tossing him around with ease and standing on his chest for a bonus. Hassan gets sent to the apron so Show slams him right back inside. Cue Matt Morgan to do commentary because we need to hear this joke a few more times. There’s a delayed suplex and a headbutt as Morgan isn’t happy with Cole praising Show so much. Some running shoulders put Hassan down but Morgan comes in. That earns him a chokeslam but Hassan gets in a chair shot. A middle rope ax handle drives the chair into Show’s throat to give Hassan the pin.

Rating: D. This was a way to get Hassan a win while also setting up Show vs. Morgan down the line, at least in theory. The problem is that Hassan is less than a week away from losing to John Cena in about two minutes. How much of an impact can he make when he was squashed earlier in the week? And before he even has that much high level success in the first place?

We look at Mysterio beating Eddie at Wrestlemania. After that, Chavo started causing problems between Eddie and Rey, mainly by driving Eddie into insanity. Eddie even cost Rey a chance to become World Champion, with the team eventually splitting as Eddie went completely over the edge. It has gotten to the point where Eddie has even brought up Rey’s family, more or less threatening to leave them without a husband or father.

A serious Eddie doesn’t think Rey knows what he is capable of. The maniacal look in his eye is great.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

This feels big. Eddie bails to the floor to start before coming back in for a headscissors into a standoff. Eddie’s headscissors is countered again and you can see some early frustration. A top wristlock drives Eddie into the corner so he cranks on both arms at the same time. Rey gets out and hits a monkey flip to the floor, setting up the big dive as we take a break. Back with Rey hitting a dropkick and dropping a running leg for two.

The abdominal stretch goes on and there is a HUGE bruise on Eddie’s ribs. Well at least Rey was smart to go with the ribs hold. A seated abdominal stretch stays on the ribs but Eddie gets fired up and fights up. Rey gets tossed outside and Eddie sends him face first into the announcers’ table over and over. We come back from another break with Eddie holding a Gory Stretch.

A powerbomb gives Eddie a series of twos and it’s off to the camel clutch. Eddie sends him hard into the corner and glares at the fans for their 619 chants. Some choking sets up a full nelson but Rey gets out and snaps off a headscissors. Eddie clotheslines him down for two and the fans are right back behind Rey on the kickout.

Another camel clutch keeps Rey down and a backbreaker cuts off the comeback. The sitout bulldog gets Rey out of trouble and it’s a big boot into the springboard crossbody for two. Rey heads up top but gets crotched right back down, only to roll away from the frog splash. Eddie’s powerbomb is countered into the 619 and Rey Drops The Dime for the pin, guaranteeing Eddie is going to go even further over the edge.

Rating: A-. This was another great match between these two and there was no question that this would be good. They started out very smoothly with both guys looking like they were in for a wrestling match, but then the anger and jealousy drove Eddie insane and turned it into Rey trying to survive against the obsessed Eddie.

The story has turned it into something huge and the point that Eddie had reached before is going to be even worse than before. I’m curious to see how much worse it can get, but at the same time, it may have reached its peak with this, which was a big time match that more than delivered.

Eddie gives a pretty evil smile as Rey leaves.

A quick ad for the six way (elimination) match for the title ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It was a one match show and almost everything else (save for the Orton promo) was bad, but that was a heck of a match that got about half an hour counting entrances. Things are resetting with the Draft going on and I’m almost worried about how that title match is going to go next week. The Draft wrapping up should let things settle a bit, but once Rey vs. Eddie is done, I’m not sure what they are going to be able to do next. At least we had the rocking main event though and that’s more than most shows get to do.

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

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

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

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

I made the flight up here for the four Survivor Series weekend shows and since it’s a twelve minute walk from the hotel, I should be back pretty fast every night.  The WiFi here is pretty spotty at best though so I’m not sure how fast I’ll be able to put things up.  Please bare with me though as I’ll be back home Tuesday afternoon and things will be back to normal.

KB

How WWE has botched this three way invasion feud.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/column-theyre-fighting-t-shirts/

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 18, 2019
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Survivor Series but I’m not sure what that is going to mean for the build to the show. Last week on Smackdown WWE felt the need to spend the first third of the show on Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin, which isn’t happening anytime soon. Hopefully we can get something out of the NXT invasion again this week, or maybe Smackdown and Raw can remember that they’re supposed to be fighting each other too. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Becky Lynch to get things open. She wastes no time and calls out Shayna Baszler and Bayley to come face her champion to champion. Becky doesn’t care about brand supremacy so come fight her right now. Instead she gets the IIconics, who can’t believe they’re not on Team Raw at Survivor Series. Becky cuts off the catchphrase and offers to fight right now but here’s Charlotte to interrupt. Charlotte doesn’t want to tag with Becky but the forces want them together. She has her own match at Survivor Series as she will be the Captain of Team Raw. This brings out…..Samoa Joe?

Becky Lynch/Charlotte vs. IIconics

The bell rings after a break with Joe on commentary, describing himself as a Brock Lesnar proof commentator. The IIconics jump them to start and Peyton spinkicks Charlotte in the face to give Billie an early two. A missed charge in the corner gives Billie two more but Charlotte is right back with a quick Figure Eight. Becky Bexplodes Peyton and Billie taps at 2:17.

Post match the Horsewomen come in and jump the IIconics, drawing Becky and Charlotte back for the fight. The numbers get the better of Becky and Charlotte but they’re fine enough to chase the three of them into the crowd. Becky punches out a security guard to a big reaction.

Here’s the OC for a match but first AJ Styles needs to explain that Karl Anderson is going to destroy Humberto Carrillo to make up for last week. Nothing was said here, but it was a nice way to set things up and make it clear that they’re heels. Yes the long term fans know that, but what about someone who is watching for the first time?

Karl Anderson vs. Humberto Carrillo

Carrillo takes him down in a hurry but Luke Gallows pulls Anderson to the floor before Carrillo can launch the moonsault. Cue the Street Profits to even things up and Carrillo flip dives onto the entire OC for the big knockdown. Back with Carrillo in trouble but fighting out of a chinlock, only to get pulled right back into it.

The second comeback works better with a running seated dropkick and a high crossbody for two. Carrillo’s springboard is countered into a spinebuster for two more but Carrillo is back with a springboard kick to the face. Styles offers a distraction so Gallows can snap Carrillo’s throat across the top, only to have Ford turn a small package over to give Carrillo the pin at 9:34.

Rating: C-. Carrillo can do all the athletic stuff he wants but he has the charisma of a bowling ball. The match was a nice change of pace though as you can throw a singles match between all of the pairings out there and get something different. I’ll certainly take it over the same tag matches over and over again.

Seth Rollins is ready to defend his spot on the Survivor Series team on the seven year anniversary of the Shield’s debut. We get some New England Patriots praise to get the fans on his side before Rollins talks about being ready for Andrade tonight.

Bobby Lashley vs. No Way Jose

Before the match Lana talks about how happy she is for filing for divorce this morning. She has even busted out the restraining order, meaning Rusev cannot come within ninety feet of him. Jose fires off some right hands but gets dropped with a shot to the face. The spinebuster drops him again and a full nelson finishes Jose at 1:25.

Post match, Lashley kisses Lana to the mat.

Seth Rollins vs. Andrade

The winner is on the Survivor Series team. Zelina Vega explains that Andrade is about to become the new Raw captain. Rollins takes him to the mat with a wristlock and then a headscissors but Andrade is back up both times. Rollins gets taken up against the rope but Vega grabs a boot so Rollins is pulled to the floor. Back with Rollins hitting a dive but getting sent into the corner for the running knees in the corner.

Rating: C+. This was getting better by the end and the rather weak ending, though it is better than having Andrade lose another big match. You can only do that so often before it just becomes a death sentence and Andrade is veering in that direction. This was a nice change of pace and I could go for more of it.

Post match Andrade and Rollins fight off the House Party because they’re all in this together.

Buddy Murphy knocks on Aleister Black’s door to pick a fight with him. After Murphy leaves, Black comes out and can’t see who said it. You know, because there are so many people with Australian accents running around.

HHH gets out of one of three black SUVs.

We look at CM Punk returning on Backstage.

Akira Tozawa vs. Buddy Murphy

Tozawa chops away to no avail but does manage to knock Buddy outside. The suicide dive is pulled out of the air into a suplex though and Tozawa is in trouble. Back in and we hit the abdominal stretch on Tozawa, who can’t spin out. Tozawa gets away and sends him outside, setting up a superkick back inside. The missile dropkick rocks Murphy again and a snap German suplex gives Tozawa two.

A Shining Wizard gets two more but Murphy ties him in the corner for the Cheeky Nandos kick. Tozawa jumps right back out with a reverse hurricanrana to send Murphy outside. The suicide headbutt rocks Murphy again and the top rope backsplash to Murphy’s back gets two more. Murphy scores with the jumping knee to the face though and Murphy’s Law finishes Tozawa at 6:40.

Rating: B-. Well that came out of absolutely nowhere. Tozawa is someone who can have a good match against anyone and he was given a change here. They had me thinking they might have gone with the big upset here and that is something I would not have expected coming into the match. Good stuff here and a rather nice surprise.

Rowan is playing with his unseen animal.

Murphy runs into Black and nothing is said.

Erick Rowan vs. Alex Malcolm

Before the bell, R-Truth chases the Singh Brothers to the ring but Rowan beats the Brothers up. Malcolm is thrown on top of them and the Iron Claw finishes Malcolm at 57 seconds.

Randy Orton says if the Viking Raiders want a fight, he’ll be in the ring later tonight with a partner of his choosing.

Kevin Owens vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew charges into an elbow in the corner to start and there’s a middle rope dropkick to put him down. A neckbreaker gets two on Owens and we hit the double arm crank. That’s broken up and Drew goes into the post, setting up the Cannonball. They head to the floor with Owens kicking him from the apron but getting slammed into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre cranking on the arms again and snapping off an overhead belly to belly gets two. They fight to the floor with Owens sending him into the barricade but getting caught with an AA onto the apron. That’s good for a nine count so McIntyre immediately powerbombs him for two. A top rope superplex is broken up so Owens hits a heck of a frog splash for his own near fall.

McIntyre shrugs off a superkick but walks into a pop up sitout powerbomb for another two. The Swanton hits McIntyre’s raised knees and the Claymore gives McIntyre two thanks to a foot on the rope. The Futureshock is countered into the Stunner but it’s a very delayed cover, allowing McIntyre to get his own foot on the rope.

Futureshock connects this time and Owens kicks out again. McIntyre misses something off the top though and Owens hits another Stunner….as HHH is here. We come back from a break with the match just having ended, so we’ll say it was over when they went to a break at 17:25.

Rating: B. They were on their way to something awesome here but then the match just ends for the sake of the Survivor Series stuff. I get why they’re doing it but it’s a little annoying to get into a hot match and then just stop because we have storyline stuff to do. Again, they didn’t have someone take a fall here though and that’s a bonus.

Post break HHH is in the ring while the Forgotten Sons, Punishment Martinez and Dominick Dijakovic are guarding the entrance. HHH talks about his history here in and around Boston before moving on to Owens. Back in the day, HHH saw a lot in Owens and that’s why he brought him into NXT.

Owens turned his back on his best friend and became NXT Champion before coming here, powerbombing John Cena and standing on the US Title. HHH wants to know where Owens’ friends are to take care of Owens from the NXT guys. Cue some guys to take care of the guards but the Undisputed Era runs in to jump Owens. HHH isn’t happy but the OC runs in to chase the Era off.

Humberto Carrillo is excited about getting a United States Title shot next week.

Paul Heyman recaps Brock Lesnar’s issues with Rey Mysterio, including the Cain Velasquez situation. There is no truth to the rumors of Lesnar’s injuries but to make it more interesting, let’s make Sunday’s match No Holds Barred.

Mysterio tells Carrillo that he’s happy for his success. As for Lesnar, he accepts the No Holds Barred rules. He has a friend for Sunday in the form of a lead pipe. Whose advantage does Lesnar think it is? Rey is going to hunt Lesnar down and make him pay. Sunday is for Dominick.

Asuka vs. Natalya

Asuka rolls her up for an early two and kicks away an attempt at the discus lariat. A spinning elbow to the face gives Asuka two more and the Octopus hold goes on. That is broken up and Natalya hits her in the face to take over. Natalya’s clothesline gets two but she has to go after Kairi Sane, allowing Asuka to kick her head off for the pin at 4:38.

Rating: C-. Some of those strikes were very good with Asuka hitting her with some force. Asuka got her win back after that time a few weeks ago where Natalya made her tap that one time. The match was short but decent, even though it was the usual emotional vacuum that was a Natalya match.

Tag Team Titles: Randy Orton/??? vs. Viking Raiders

Orton and his mystery partner who isn’t a mystery if you are paying even the slightest bit of attention, Ricochet, are challenging. Ricochet chops away at Erik, who takes him down and plants him face first on the mat. A dropkick puts Erik on the floor and Orton tags himself in before the flip dive can launch. Ricochet tries a moonsault to the floor but gets kneed in the face.

Orton drops Erik onto the apron but we cut to the back where Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode are beating up what looked like Eric Young and Cedric Alexander. Back from a break with Ricochet and Ivar trading flips until Ricochet is sent outside. Ivar hits his big dive and here’s Smackdown to jump Orton for the DQ at 8:23.

Rating: C. There is something amusing about WWE setting up Hawkins and Ryder as #1 contenders at a house show match in German but then having them taken out before they can even get to the ring. Anyway, the match was good enough until the finish, which fit in with a theme tonight. I don’t think the titles were ever in any real jeopardy and there were bigger things at stake here.

Orton, Ricochet and the Raiders clear the ring but here’s NXT for the brawl. NXT gets the better of it and here are even more of them, including the Undisputed Era. NXT comes in but I believe Steve Cutler walks into an RKO (which the camera misses). Everyone gets in at once but here’s Rollins with Raw for the big fight. We cut to the back with HHH saying that this is the beginning of the end. It’s over in six days when NXT shows that it is the A brand. On Wednesday, it is an open door to Raw and Smackdown to come to NXT and do whatever they want. Back in the arena, the brawl ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a strange one with some build towards the future in some nice pushes for fresh talent (Tozawa for one) and at the same time, a hard push towards Survivor Series. I refer to this kind of a show as the Raw Special, meaning a show that would have made a great two hour broadcast but the third (not specially 10-11pm but the extra time) dragged it down. I know it’s all gone next week, so I’ll certainly take what I can here.

Results

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. IIconics – Figure Eight to Kay

Humberto Carrillo b. Karl Anderson – Small package

Bobby Lashley b. No Way Jose – Full nelson

Seth Rollins b. Andrade via DQ when Lucha House Party interfered

Buddy Murphy b. Akira Tozawa – Murphy’s Law

Erick Murphy b. Alex Malcolm – Iron Claw

Kevin Owens vs. Drew McIntyre went to a no contest

Asuka b. Natalya – Kick to the head

Randy Orton/Ricochet b. Viking Raiders via DQ when Cesaro interfered

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: June 16, 2005
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 2,500
Commentators: Tazz, Michael Cole

It’s both a fallout show and one of the last shows before the next pay per view as we are stuck between One Night Stand and Vengeance. Normally Vengeance would not mean anything, but the Draft has shaken things up to the point where some people on this show might be on Vengeance anyway. That makes for an interesting time, as does the lack of a World Champion. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Chris Benoit being announced as the first Draft pick last week.

Opening sequence.

Chris Benoit vs. Doug Basham

Benoit starts with the chops and there’s a hard whip into the corner to make it worse. Basham knees him in the ribs and starts hammering away, including a suplex to set up some posing. The chinlock goes on, followed by a neckbreaker to keep Benoit down. Another neckbreaker is cut off and Benoit baseball slides the leg out. The rolling German suplexes rock Doug but he catches Benoit on top with a superplex. Basham tries a rollup but Benoit reverses into one of his own for the fast pin.

Rating: C-. As usual, the Bashams are fine enough in their role and that is all they should be doing. It isn’t supposed to be some big competitive match as Benoit is one of the best in the company and needs to be established on Smackdown. The match was fine enough, but it was something that came and went as it should have. This would actually be the last match we would see from either of the Bashams and they were fine for what they were, but they were so wasted during the whole Shaniqua deal that their careers were dead in the water for a long time. I’m not sure how much better they could have been, but that was awful.

Post match the Cabinet beats Benoit down but Undertaker makes the save. Theodore Long comes out to make JBL vs. Undertaker in a No DQ match tonight.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Paul London

Non-title. London charges to the ring and gets kicked in the face for his efforts. Some right hands get London out of trouble but a powerbomb puts him right back in. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up the chinlock for a few moments. London fights up again and hits a leg lariat, only to get crotched on top. Eddie grabs a brainbuster (and nearly drops him) and puts on a Texas Cloverleaf (with a maniacal look) to make London tap.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here, because a champion is the kind of person you squash. They couldn’t have had this be against Akio or have put someone other than London in the same spot last week but that’s what the Cruiserweight Title is for anymore. I’m not sure why they keep it around if this is what it means but that has been the case for years.

Post match Rey Mysterio comes out for the save and uses a chair to get rid of Eddie.

Post break Eddie and Rey are fighting in the garage area, including into a trailer. They slug it out and the door closes with Eddie diving through the door to escape and trap Rey inside.

JBL won’t give Orlando Jordan any help in his US Title match tonight. Jordan points out that he is the only champion in the Cabinet but JBL makes it clear that they work for him. He can’t remember who is Danny and who is Doug though and the Bashams quit.

It’s time for Carlito’s Cabana with no Matt Morgan as he is getting ready for his match against Big Show. That’s for later though, so here are this week’s guests: Booker T. and Sharmell. Booker isn’t happy with Kurt Angle having been sent to Raw because they like beating him up. Carlito likes that idea but would rather talk about something romantic between Booker and Sharmell. Then he mentions Angle going after Sharmell and suggests that she could be sent to Raw without Booker. Sharmell doesn’t like the sound of that and Booker beats him up. They even throw apples at Carlito, which is rather wasteful.

Post break Carlito yells at Morgan, who has to go fight Big Show.

Matt Morgan vs. Big Show

Show wastes no time in taking him into the corner for the big overhand chops. An elbow gives Show two as Carlito comes out. The distraction lets Morgan get in a big boot to put Show on the floor and it’s off to the chinlock. That’s reversed into a suplex and some headbutts put Morgan outside. Show gets sent into the steps and Morgan loads up the announcers’ table but Show is back up. The chokeslam is loaded up but it’s a chair shot from Carlito to draw the DQ.

Rating: D. Carlito continues to be quite the nuisance but at least the match was better than dealing with the stutter again. It’s so sad to see Morgan wasted like that but maybe the partnership with Carlito is coming to an end. The wrestling was barely a thing here as it was all about setting up the ending.

Post match Show shrugs it off and hits the chokeslam to put Morgan through the table. Show stalks Carlito away.

We recap the Undertaker’s return from earlier.

US Title: Hardcore Holly vs. Orlando Jordan

Holly is challenging as I try to figure out the criteria for getting a title shot. Jordan gets stomped into the corner to start as Tazz talks about championship opportunities being few and far between. What is this, Holly’s fourth or so in about a month? Jordan gets in an elbow to the face and a suplex is good for two. A hurricanrana and some clotheslines drop Jordan and a top rope clothesline does it again. The Alabama Slam is broken up so Holly tries a sunset flip but Jordan grabs the rope to retain.

Rating: D. What in the world do they see in Jordan? I don’t remember the last time I saw him do anything memorable and the matches are getting less and less interesting. Holly isn’t exactly thrilling but he completely outshined Jordan here. That being said, it isn’t like it’s all that difficult to do.

Eddie vs. Rey next week.

Undertaker vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

No DQ. Jordan is here with JBL but cue Benoit to take care of him before the bell. Cue the gong and JBL is in trouble. JBL gets aggressive to start and pounds away in the corner….which goes as well as you would expect. An exchange of big boots goes to Undertaker and it’s time to pull on JBL’s arm. Old School connects and the Downward Spiral gets two.

They slug it out on the floor with Undertaker whipping him into the steps but getting reversed into them on a second attempt. Serves him right for being so mean. Undertaker gets crotched on the barricade and we take a break. Back with JBL hitting a flying shoulder (always looks good) for two and getting the same off a swinging neckbreaker. Undertaker gets in a shot to the face to start the slugout so JBL goes to the eyes.

That doesn’t seem to do much as Undertaker boots him in the face and hits the apron legdrop for a bonus. Back in and JBL gets crotched on top and superplexed for two more and they’re both down. Snake Eyes into another big boot gets another two, followed by the chokeslam for the latest near fall.

A low blow gets JBL out of the Tombstone attempt though and the Clothesline From JBL gives him his own two. JBL gets in some right hands in the corner and poses as an idiot. The Last Ride out of the corner is only good for two in a move you don’t see getting kicked out of too often. The Tombstone is loaded up but here’s Randy Orton, as the new Smackdown Draft pick, for the RKO to give JBL the pin.

Rating: C. I know he gets a lot of flack (though I’m not sure how much of it is earned) but JBL can do some perfectly competent brawling and that was the case here. There were a few too many near falls but they didn’t go nuts with the weapons and had a nice enough match. The stipulation was to allow the brawling and the ending so all in all, this wasn’t too bad and the time went by quickly.

Post match Orton says Undertaker got RKOed and he better get used to it because Orton is now on Smackdown. Orton does his pose for a great shot as the shadow goes over the metal set.

Overall Rating: D+. The Draft couldn’t come at a better time because this show has some real weak spots. Look at the middle part of the show: stuttering Matt Morgan (again: bad gimmick), Orlando Jordan vs. Hardcore Holly in a title match, and the Cruiserweight Champion jobbing clean (yes it was to Eddie but they could have put in any cruiserweight and told the same story). That’s quite a run of bad in a row, meaning that it took the Undertaker to get Match Of The Night off of a departing Doug Basham. The ending was good, but dang that midcard needs an overhaul.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: November 15, 2019
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

We’re actually having a normal night this week as opposed to all of the insanity that it has been in recent weeks. I’m hoping we can get somewhere new with the NXT invasion as last week’s show barely saw anything take place on that front. They still need to hammer in some details of the card and that can be done tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of King Corbin vs. Roman Reigns over Corbin making dog jokes.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Corbin on his carried throne with Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler waiting on him. Corbin talks about the importance of having loyal subjects who appreciate hearing the truth. Last week he told the truth about Roman Reigns being a shell of what he used to be. He decrees himself the captain of Team Smackdown and we get an updated graphic for the team.

This was stupid, bad, idiotic, moronic, immature, all Vince’s doing, a waste of my time, a waste of your time, a waste of Miller Time, something that should be banned from television, something that a stupid person would call stupid, dumber than Cameron on Total Divas, not good enough for Russo and EXACTLY the kind of thing that fans mock WWE for doing.

We see CM Punk returning on Backstage.

Shorty G./Mustafa Ali vs. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

The winners are on the Survivor Series team. Gable takes Roode down to start and runs him over with a shoulder. Ziggler comes in as Graves makes Space Jam jokes about Gable’s gear. It’s off to Ali to get beaten up in the corner, followed by a shove off the apron and onto the barricade.

Cue Reigns (I guess he was having a piping bowl of soup earlier) as we take a break with Cole shouting RUN SPOT RUN. Back with Ali hitting a superkick and it’s a double tag to Gable and Roode. Gable takes off the stupid looking jersey, making him look more like an indy wrestler with bad fashion sense.

The moonsault gets two but it’s the spinebuster/Zig Zag combination for two with Ali making the save. The ankle lock goes on with Roode having to make a save of his own. Reigns jumps Corbin but gets sent into the announcers’ table. That means a dive from Ali and a spear from Reigns, leaving Gable to hit Rolling Chaos Theory into the 450 to give Ali the pin at 12:04.

Rating: C+. As completely annoying and downright stupid as the dog stuff is (and it’s REALLY stupid), the match was fast paced and fun with Reigns spearing Corbin being rather cathartic. Gable is trying as hard as he can to get around this Shorty stuff but the Space Jam jokes are making it even worse. Terrible ideas, nice match.

We look back at the Fiend attacking Daniel Bryan last week.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with bray Wyatt doing some magic. He turns the Universal Title blue and says he’s looking forward to MizTV with Daniel Bryan. He’ll be watching!

Corbin, Ziggler and Roode are in the back and need to make things better. Corbin and the mascot dog leave, because this is apparently going to be a thing.

Drew Gulak vs. Braun Strowman

The B Team is here with Gulak, who has a graphic showing that he would be able to save Team Smackdown. The three of them jump Strowman, who fights them off like the losers they are. Gulak gets powerslammed to end the non-match.

New Day is ready to defend their titles without Xavier Woods, but they’re defending them in his honor.

Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura again try to get Daniel Bryan on their side, especially now that Bray Wyatt is after him. Apparently Cesaro is on their side as well, but Bryan wants to know where Sami went last week when the Fiend attacked. Sami thought Bryan was right behind him and he was going to get Nakamura anyway. Bryan gives them a firm no but suggests recruiting Braun Strowman instead. That sends Sami into a rant about Strowman, who is right behind him. Panic ensues.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Revival

New Day is defending. Kofi gets taken into the wrong corner to start but fights out with a missile dropkick. Wilder is right there with a powerslam though and we take a break. Back with Dawson hitting a swinging neckbreaker but missing a top rope elbow. That’s enough for the tag off to Big E. for a bunch of suplexes.

The Warrior Splash hits knees but Big E. is fine enough to hit the Rock Bottom out of the corner. Wilder gets two off a tornado DDT and everything breaks down with Kofi hitting a missile dropkick. The big dive over the top takes down both Dawson and Wilder but the Midnight Hour is broken up.

Dawson hits a quick DDT for two on Big E., who backdrops both of them to the floor. Kofi’s dive is cut off and he gets sent hard into the post. Big E. gets dropped onto the announcers’ table and it’s the Shatter Machine for two as Kofi springboards in for the save. Cue the Undisputed Era to jump Kofi though and it’s a DQ at 10:25.

Rating: B-. The ending is the perfect call for this one, even if it took over an hour to get to anything NXT tonight. These teams can have a good match in their sleep but it’s also a match I’ve seen so many times that I don’t care about it all that much anymore. At least they got the ending right though and that’s what matters most.

Post match the beatdown is on until the Smackdown locker room runs in for the save.

Heavy Machinery vs. Kevin Tibbs/Kip Stevens

Otis throws Tibbs onto Stevens and there goes the shirt. Stereo vertical suplexes (with a bit of a toast by clinking them together) sets up a running splash to crush Tibbs in the corner. The Caterpillar sets up the Compactor for the pin at 2:16.

We look at Shayna Baszler invading Raw and Smackdown, only to have Bayley jump Shayna on NXT.

Bayley says this is all about her and she can’t wait to crush Nikki Cross’ dreams tonight. Sasha Banks believes in Bayley and knows Cross isn’t winning.

We look at the Wrestlemania ticket on sale party.

Recap of the opening tag match. Next week, it’s a six man tag.

Nikki Cross vs. Bayley

Non-title and if Cross wins, she’s on the Survivor Series team. Of note: Nikki’s entrance was before the break, a look at the on sale party and the recap. They really couldn’t have put that together a bit better so she wasn’t standing in the ring for six minutes? They start fast with Bayley knocking her to the floor….but here’s Shayna Baszler to chase her over the barricade. Some more NXT women show up to throw Bayley back to ringside but Sasha Banks jumps Baszler inside. The Smackdown women come through the crowd (for no apparent reason) and we’ll say the match was thrown out at 30 seconds.

Banks issues a challenge for a Survivor Series preview.

Nikki Cross/Sasha Banks/Carmella/Dana Brooke vs. Rhea Ripley/Tegan Nox/Dakota Kai/Mia Yim

Kai kicks Cross to start so it’s off to Yim, who gets caught in an armbar. Carmella comes in and superkicks Nox off the apron, which is enough to bring Nox in to stomp Carmella down in the corner. Kai and Nox take turns beating on Carmella, until a forearm allows the hot tag to Banks.

Ripley comes in for a rather nice staredown with Banks, who slaps her in the face. Banks gets muscled over with a suplex and everything breaks down, meaning a lot of shouting takes us to a break. Back with Cross hitting a crossbody on Rhea but Nox hits the Shiniest Wizard. Everything breaks down with a parade of kicks to the face. The Purge finishes Nox at 9:24.

Rating: C-. They had a lot of stuff to cram in here and it didn’t really work all that well. It was cool to see some of these women on the main roster though, even if it is just for a single week. The Survivor Series match needed a boost and this is as good of a way as they could go to make that happen.

Post match the brawl is on until the rest of the Smackdown women make the save.

Survivor Series rundown.

It’s time for MizTV with Miz quickly introducing Daniel Bryan. Miz asks about the Fiend attacking Bryan last week but Bryan can’t bring himself to say anything. Miz wants to know what is going on with Bryan, who looks confused about everything going on. Does Bryan not know who he is anymore? Bryan stands up and says he’s been quiet because MizTV sucks, just as it always has.

Miz doesn’t understand the passion that he has, just like these people. It was a mental instability combined with his passion that drove him to do things. Bray Wyatt understands though and that’s what makes him dangerous. Bray is unstable….and the Firefly Fun House starts up. Wyatt says it’s rude to talk about someone when they aren’t there. Being confused is a scary feeling, but maybe Fiend did it to scare Bryan. Or maybe it’s because of what Bryan did. You remember what that is, right Bryan?

It isn’t explained, because we need to look in Bray’s toy box. After throwing out some stuff, including a saw, he finds the Universal Title. If Bryan wants to come play, all he has to do is say that one word. Bryan: “NO!” This turns into an argument with Bray’s friends but if they’re going to fight, it’s going to be for the Universal Title. Bray says yes and starts his own YES chant. That goes on for a long time with Bray’s eyes bugging out. Bray stops and Miz announces the title shot for Survivor Series. Bryan leaves to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was a near miracle after one of the worst first thirds of a show that I can remember in a very long time. The rest of the show worked out well enough with some build towards Survivor Series, but the big problem continues to be WWE trying to promote too many things at once.

Since there are only three weeks between Survivor Series and TLC, it’s time to set up Corbin vs. Reigns for that show and for some reason, that needed the first forty minutes of this week’s episode. But maybe the dog joke market is that strong. Anyway, all time horrible start and a pretty great rest of the show doesn’t make for a good mix, but it could have been much worse.

Results

Mustafa Ali/Shorty G. b. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – 450 to Ziggler

New Day b. Revival via DQ when the Undisputed Era interfered

Heavy Machinery b. Kip Stevens/Kevin Tibbs – Compactor to Tibbs

Nikki Cross vs. Bayley went to a no contest when Shayna Baszler interfered

Sasha Banks/Dana Brooke/Carmella/Nikki Cross b. Dakota Kai/Tegan Nox/Rhea Ripley/Mia Yim – Purge to Nox

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Survivor Series 2005
Date: November 27, 2005
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 15,000
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman, Michael Cole, Tazz

Booker T. vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit fights up and starts the Germans, only to eat another kick to the face. A quick dragon screw leg whip looks to set up the Sharpshooter but Booker rolls him up for two. More rolling Germans look to set up the Swan Dive but Sharmell offers a distraction, only to have Benoit headbutt Booker down. The Swan Dive misses anyway and Booker grabs a rollup with his feet on the ropes (and Sharmell holding them there) to win the first match in the series.

Detroit Tiger Dmitri Young is here.

Ric Flair vs. HHH

Last man standing. HHH jumps him in the aisle before Flair can even get his robe off. They get inside with Flair in big trouble, made even worse by HHH grabbing a chair. Flair comes back with a kendo stick, which really looks weird in his hands. They brawl to the hockey boards with HHH taking over again and bringing it back to ringside. Flair is up at seven after a backdrop on the floor and an elbow to the back makes Flair swear a lot.

Flair goes out on a stretcher.

Trish and Mickie are online.

Raw World Title: Kurt Angle vs. John Cena

Cena gets sent into the steps and a second referee comes in to count two. Well you knew there was going to be a way around Daivari. Kurt grabs a waistlock before throwing Cena hard into the corner to keep him in trouble. The fans are ALL OVER Cena and another suplex gives Kurt two. Off to something like an STF on Cena but Kurt goes to a regular chinlock instead. Cena fights up and grab a DDT without selling the ankle injury one bit. The champ wins a slugout and initiates his finishing sequence, including pumping up the shoes.

Eric Bischoff vs. Teddy Long

The Raw and Smackdown teams are cheered on by their respective rosters.

Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown

Raw: Big Show, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Chris Masters

Smackdown: Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Batista, Randy Orton, John Bradshaw Layfield

Orton is quickly sent to the floor for a big dive as things speed up. Back in and some clotheslines set up the top rope elbow as the fans want Undertaker (who was advertised for the show). JBL tries to come in with a chair but eats a superkick, setting up the RKO to give Smackdown the pin.

Ratings Comparison

Booker T vs. Chris Benoit

Original: B

2012 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B+

Trish Stratus vs. Melina

Original: B

2012 Redo: C-

2015 Redo: D+

HHH vs. Ric Flair

Original: B-

2012 Redo: B+

2015 Redo: B

John Cena vs. Kurt Angle

Original: B+

2012 Redo: C

2015 Redo: B-

Theodore Long vs. Eric Bischoff

Original: O (For Oh I can’t think about this anymore)

2012 Redo: S (For Six Minutes)

Team Smackdown vs. Team Raw

Original: B

2012 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B

2012 Redo: B

2015 Redo: A-

I’m surprised by how much more I liked the girls and Cena vs. Angle. They’re good but they’re not that good. Still a solid show though.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/14/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-2005-a-forgotten-almost-classic/

And the redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/11/11/survivor-series-count-up-2012-edition-2005-raw-vs-smackdown/

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

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

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

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