Wrestlemania XXXIX Night Two
Date: April 2, 2023
Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Attendance: 67,553
America The Beautiful: Jimmie Allen

After a rather long intermission, we’re ready to wrap up the show and this night has a lot to live up to. The first night was outstanding and now we have the real main event, as Roman Reigns defends the WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes. In addition, Gunther defends the Intercontinental Title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre and we have a Cell match as a bonus. Let’s get to it.

Jimmie Allen sings America The Beautiful.

Kevin Hart gives us the cold open again, this time talking about how the sequel has to be bigger and better. Points for not just redoing the same video from the night before and keeping up with the theme.

Miz and Snoop Dogg welcome us to the show with a quick recap and preview. Snoop is ready to get us going.

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos

The story here is that Lesnar can’t overpower Omos (with MVP). Seriously that’s about it. Lesnar can’t double leg him to start and gets tossed around. Running shoulders don’t do much for Lesnar so Omos hits a headbutt and grabs a slam. Omos throws him around again and hits some forearms to the back. We hit the bearhug, followed by another slam, and another bearhug to keep Lesnar in trouble. Lesnar fights out and is quickly chokeslammed for a near fall. Back up and Lesnar rolls some German suplexes but his back gives out on the F5 attempt. Then Lesnar hits the F5 for the pin at 4:56.

Rating: C-. Well they definitely did the right thing in keeping this short, as the whole thing was about Lesnar doing his power moves but not doing them all that well because Omos is that big. It’s a very basic story and while Omos got in some impressive stuff, it felt more like a way to get Lesnar on the show more than anything else (which granted that’s more or less what it was). Not a great match but the fans liked the big throws so points for that.

Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya/Shotzi vs. Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey/Shayna Baszler

It’s the women’s match of the showcase tag match from last night. Baszler and Rousey (the bullies) didn’t have to qualify here and were just thrown into the match. Morgan Backstabbers Sonya to start and a one kneed Codebreaker makes it even worse. Natalya comes in for the sling shot belly to back drop. The basement dropkick puts Morgan down again but she hurricanranas her way to freedom.

Rodriguez comes in and gets to throw Natalya around, leaving Natalya to hand it off to Green. A missile dropkick has no effect so Sonya comes back in, allowing Green to grab some hair. Shotzi comes in so Baszler throws her outside, where Rousey is waiting on her. That leaves Baszler to get caught in a triplebomb, meaning Rousey has to get on the apron…but the three on one is broken up by Green and Sonya.

Shotzi dives onto people in the ring and on the floor, but Green stops to tell us to get our cameras ready. Rather than face Rodriguez, Green dives onto a bunch of people at ringside. With no one else left inside, Rodriguez powerbombs Morgan onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Rodriguez fall away slams Shotzi, setting up the corkscrew Vader Bomb. Sonya comes in for the save though and some double teaming puts Rodriguez on the floor.

Green and Sonya celebrate until Natalya and Shotzi are back in for an assisted double Sliced Bread. A Hart Attack gets two on Sonya with Green making the save. There’s the double Sharpshooter to Sonya and Green until Morgan dives off the top for the save. Morgan takes Shotzi down but Rousey and Baszler (now with one boot and limping) come back in to break it up. Rousey armbars Shotzi for the win at 8:22.

Rating: C+. I don’t know if Baszler’s injury put she and Rousey on the floor for so long but they were almost not around whatsoever for a good chunk of the match. The match was pretty similar to its male counterpart but two of these teams felt thrown together and it hurt a lot. Rousey and Baszler winning should set them up as the monsters of the division and they would win the Tag Team Titles in about a month and a half…after Rodriguez and Morgan won them first. As usual, those things are a mess.

We look at Bobby Lashley winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on Smackdown.

Lashley comes out and shows off the trophy.

Xavier Woods and UpUpDownDown preview the Intercontinental Title match.

We recap Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther for the latter’s Intercontinental Title. Gunther is a monster champion and his fellow Europeans want to hit him really hard and win the title. Sheamus and McIntyre are friends but both want the title, meaning they’re willing to fight each other. This falls into the “do we need to draw you a picture here” category. It also falls into the “we saw this video (or something really similar to it) last night” category.

Intercontinental Title: Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and Titus O’Neil is on commentary. Sheamus and McIntyre waste no time in knocking the champ to the floor before starting to lay into each other. Sheamus hits a clothesline and takes McIntyre into the corner for some uppercuts. McIntyre is sent to the apron for the forearms but Gunther is back up with chops for both of them. Gunther sends McIntyre into the post for a crash out to the floor, followed by a big boot to Sheamus’ face.

The Boston crab has Sheamus in more trouble until McIntyre comes in to break it up. McIntyre and Gunther chop it out (and they’re loud chops too) but Sheamus is back in with the uppercuts all around. With Gunther getting back up, Sheamus ties him in the ropes for the forearms to the chest, mixed in with chops from McIntyre. That leaves Gunther down so Sheamus ties McIntyre up in the ropes for almost thirty forearms to the chest.

Gunther is back in to break up the Celtic Cross though and a German suplex drops Sheamus again. The big clothesline gives Gunther two but McIntyre is back up to suplex Sheamus into Sheamus in the corner. There’s a Futureshock to Gunther but the Claymore misses. Gunther powerbombs McIntyre down and goes up but Sheamus is right there with a super White Noise. The Celtic Cross sets up the Cloverleaf so Gunther makes the rope, which means nothing because it’s No DQ.

Sheamus lets go and puts the hold back on anyway, only to have McIntyre come in for the break. That doesn’t go well either as Sheamus knees both of them down but McIntyre cuts off the Brogue Kick. McIntyre headbutts him out to the floor and busts out the big flip dive, leaving everyone down on the floor. Cole to O’Neil: “You never did that!” O’Neil: “AND I NEVER WILL!”

Back in and Sheamus Brogue Kicks McIntyre for two, followed by the Claymore to give McIntyre two of his own. Sheamus drops McIntyre again and covers but Gunther dives in with a top rope splash. Gunther’s powerbomb to Sheamus onto McIntyre leaves them both down, followed by another powerbomb to pin McIntyre and retain at 16:35.

Rating: A. It’s rare that I’ll watch a match back on its own but I’ve seen this one more than a few times now as it’s that kind of brutal. These guys beat the fire out of each other and that is exactly how it was advertised. They didn’t stop and for once it felt like three people having a match. There were stretches where it was two in and one out, but it was a brutal and hard hitting enough match to make up for it. Excellent stuff here, as you probably should have expected.

WWE did charity work this week.

We recap Asuka vs. Bianca Belair for the latter’s Raw Women’s Title. Belair won the title last year at Wrestlemania and has become a huge star during her reign. Then Asuka showed up as an evil clown and Belair is all scared, at least somewhat due to Asuka spraying her with the mist over and over. It’s a simple story but it didn’t exactly work and this never felt like a big feud.

Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka

Asuka is challenging and comes out with a team of masked Asukas, while Belair counters with an all girl kids dance troupe. Eh point to the champ. Belair kicks her down at the bell and hits a dropkick into the corner, setting up the right hands. That’s broken up and Asuka kicks her down, setting up the big missed kick to the head. Asuka puts her on top but Belair flips over her and hits a spinebuster for a fast two.

Something close to a triangle choke has Belair in trouble before Asuka switches to the Asuka Lock. It’s not on quite full though and Belair rolls outside, where she PLANTS Asuka with a sitout powerbomb. Back in and Belair misses a charge into the post, allowing Asuka to pull her into a heel hook. Belair powers out but Asuka grabs an ankle lock, which is rolled away for the break. Asuka is right back up with a missile dropkick for two and things slow down a bit.

They go to the apron where Asuka hits a hard dropkick into the post. Belair sends her into the post to even things up a bit, setting up a deadlift superplex to bring them back inside. Asuka’s kick to the face gets two but a Codebreaker is blocked. A running Blockbuster into a handspring moonsault gives Belair two and frustration is setting in. They go to the corner with Asuka slipping out of a fireman’s carry and hitting a Codebreaker for two of her own. Back up and the mist misses but Asuka slips out of the KOD. The cross armbreaker doesn’t quite work for Asuka though and Belair powers up for the

Rating: B-. This was good but it never hit that next level, save for maybe the final sequence. The story just wasn’t that compelling coming in and it didn’t really feel like a major showdown. Belair retaining the title over a top level challenge is good though as beating Asuka is still an impressive feat.

We look at Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens beating the Usos for the Tag Team Titles in Night One’s main event.

Here are Miz and Snoop Dogg to announce tonight’s attendance of 81,395, giving us a two day total of 161,892. That’s great, but Miz isn’t happy with Snoop for putting him into an impromptu match last night. Dogg: “So you want to do it again?” Of course not, because Miz doesn’t like being humiliated in his town. Snoop says this is the people’s city and introduces….Shane McMahon, because SHANE MUST BE A THING. Shane thanks the fans and sounds like he can barely breathe after his entrance. Time for a match

Shane McMahon vs. Miz

Shane punches him in the corner and yeah they’re as bad as before. Then he drops down, leapfrogs over Miz and….tears his quad on the landing less than thirty seconds in. That brings Snoop in to hit Miz in the face and apparently we have a replacement. Snoop knocks him down again and drops a People’s Elbow for the pin at 2:11. This seems to have been completely impromptu with either the referee telling Snoop to get in there or Snoop coming up with the idea on his own. Either way, major points to Snoop who had no idea what he was doing and gave the fans a very fun moment out of nowhere.

We recap Edge vs. the Demon Finn Balor inside the Cell. Balor threw Edge out of the Judgment Day the night he joined, setting off a feud between the two of them. This led to Judgment Day attacking both Edge and his wife Beth Phoenix, meaning it’s time for the big, violent fight.

The Cell is lowered and we get a voiceover (from Russell Crowe of all people, as part of a movie tie-in) talking about how evil it is as well.

Edge vs. Finn Balor

Inside the Cell and this is Brood Edge (and yes, his Titantron literally says BROOD EDGE), who comes out of the Brood ring of fire with a shiny mask that makes him look like the Terminator while wearing wings, against the Demon. They waste no time in getting the weapons, with Edge grabbing a red chair and Balor grabbing a purple kendo stick (because not only do you need weapons in the Cell, but you need COLOR COORDINATED weapons).

Balor gets the better of things and knocks him to the floor, only to get hammered back inside. Edge knocks him off the apron and grabs a bunch of kendo sticks (two purple, one red), some of which he uses to pin Balor into the corner of the Cell. A dropkick off the apron hits Balor to make it worse, meaning it’s time to set up the table. Balor uses the delay to get out and sends Edge hard into the steps. They get back inside where Edge hits a quick Impaler but the spear is countered with a Sling Blade.

They go outside with Balor being dropkicked through a table, only to come back in with an Unprettier. The Edge-O-Matic gets two more and it’s time to grab a ladder. Edge throws said ladder at Balor’s face and Balor is busted open BAD, meaning we pause for the medic to come inside to check on him (this led to a hilarious reaction from Mick Foley, because apparently YOU CAN PAUSE A CELL MATCH DUE TO AN INJURY).

Edge uses the delay to get a bunch of weapons ready but Balor is back up with 1916. The spear only hits ladder and Balor hits another Slind Blade. Coup de Grace connects for two and Balor climbs the ladder, only to get countered into a super Edgecution for a slightly delayed two.

That takes too long again and Balor is back up with his own weapons shots, including a bunch of chair shots to Edge. Balor climbs up but instead climbs the cage and gets onto the camera platform. This adds a full nine inched above the top rope but the Coup De Grace only hits table. Edge’s spear gets two so he unloads with chair shots to the back. The Conchairto finishes Balor at 18:10.

Rating: B-. This was the modern Cell match and that is not a good thing for the most part. The bell rang and they went straight for the weapons, which didn’t exactly make the Cell itself feel important. It was a violent and hard hitting match but other than one or two spots, I’m not sure how much the Cell was needed. Either use the Cell or don’t, because this was a street fight with the cage blocking the camera view.

We look at the Wrestlemania trailers.

Backlash is coming to Puerto Rico. You should too!

We look at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Here is the class in the stadium:

Stacy Keibler (who has not aged a day)
Andy Kaufman (represented by his family)
Great Muta (that’s a nice addition)
Tim White (Warrior Award, and his brother looks identical to him)
Rey Mysterio (that’s about as perfect of a choice for an active headliner as you could pick)

Mysterio shakes the other inductees’ hands (bowing to Muta).

We look at Set Rollins’ entrance from last night. Feel free to get on with the show at any time.

We recap Roman Reigns defending the WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes. The big idea here is Rhodes wants to finish his story, meaning winning the title in his dad’s honor while also completing his long rise to the top of WWE. Reigns has been champion for two and a half years and isn’t going away that fast, so it’s time for the big showdown. It feels like a main event and Cody is almost the last man standing to fight Reigns.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns is defending and has Paul Heyman/Solo Sikoa with him. Rhodes gets his big entrance and goes over to say hi to his family, including giving his weightlifting belt to an unmasked Negative One (the son of the late Brody Lee, who makes occasional AEW appearances). Reigns gets a special entrance of his own, with a team of pianists playing the start of his entrance live. We get an ACKNOWLEDGE ME from Reigns before the bell finally rings.

Rhodes hammerlocks him over to the ropes to start and Reigns isn’t impressed. A headlock takeover and a right hand has Reigns a bit more annoyed so he bails out to the floor. Heyman’s advice is that Reigns isn’t here for Rhodes because Rhodes is here for him. Heyman: “NOW SMASH HIM!” Back in and Reigns elbows him in the face, meaning it’s time to raise up a finger. Rhodes manages a dropkick (Reigns is stunned again) for two, with commentary saying that cover wasn’t about getting a pin but rather sending a message to Reigns. What that message is isn’t clear but I’d guess “Eat At Joe’s”.

The Disaster Kick is pulled out of the air though and Reigns hits a powerbomb for two. Some suplexes have Rhodes in more trouble but he’s back up to send Reigns out to the floor. That goes badly for him as well as Reigns drops him face first onto the apron. A hard slam puts Rhodes down onto the ramp but Rhodes gets in one of his own. Rhodes sends him back inside but Sikoa gets in a chair shot to the ribs, allowing Reigns to come back with the apron boot.

The cravate slows Rhodes down back inside until he fights up, only to have Sikoa interfere again. This time it lets Reigns hit a hard clothesline before whipping Rhodes into the corner to stay on his bad ribs. They go back outside with Reigns loading up the announcers’ table but getting backdropped through the other one for the big hope spot. Back in and Rhodes hits the drop down uppercut into the snap powerslam.

There’s the Cody Cutter for a big near fall so Reigns rolls outside, meaning it’s a suicide dive to hit him again. They try to get back in but Sikoa gets in a weightlifting belt shot….which the referee hears for an ejection. The distraction lets Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes for two (with Heyman looking on in fear for a nice visual). Reigns is back with some shots to the head and a release Rock Bottom gets two.

The Superman Punch is countered into a Pedigree (Heyman even reaches through the ropes this time) for two and it’s time to start the comeback. Said comeback is cut off with a Superman Punch to knock Rhodes out of the air for two more. The spear is countered into a sunset flip for two and Rhodes whips out a Figure Four for a change of pace. Reigns turns it over (while slapping the mat on the way there), with Rhodes getting over to the ropes for the break.

A big spear connects for two and now Reigns is stunned for a change. With nothing else working, Reigns hits him in the face over and over before grabbing the guillotine choke. Rhodes can’t spinebuster his way to freedom but he can slip his head out and hammer away at Reigns for a change. The referee gets bumped though and a double knockdown gives us quite the breather. Cody is back up for the Cross Rhodes but the Usos run in to break it up. The 1D drops Rhodes but here are Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to take out the Usos.

A Stunner into the Helluva Kick leave Reigns down and the other four brawl out into the crowd. Rhodes gets the big dramatic near fall (and thank goodness that wasn’t the pin as Rhodes winning thanks to Owens and Zayn wouldn’t have worked) and they’re both down again. Back up and the slug it out with both of them being staggered off the shots. The Superman Punch is countered with the Flip Flop And Fly into the Bionic Elbow. Rhodes hits back to back Cross Rhodes….but Sikoa comes in with the Samoan Spike. The spear retains the title at 34:36.

Rating: B+. A year removed from this and my goodness I’m still amazed at the guts it took to not pull the trigger here. This was Cody’s chance to win the whole thing and they kept it on Reigns, which is quite the way to go. They beat the fire out of each other and it had the big match feel, but not pulling the trigger here still feels way off. Heck of a main event, but man they had the fans ready for the moment and just didn’t do it.

Replays and a highlight package wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B. There were some weak parts here and there but the good stuff is more than enough to carry this. Much like Night One, you can’t fault the atmosphere and the look/feel of the show, which made for a heck of a showcase for everyone involved. The main event was very good (ending aside perhaps) and the Intercontinental Title match was great, mixed in with some other strong stuff along the way. I liked this one a lot and the slightly shorter running time helped, but it’s just a few ticks below Night One’s instant classic status.

Overall Overall Rating: A-. Wrestlemania has a complicated history but this was going along with the big, epic show feel and it worked to near perfection. It’s one of the best Wrestlemanias ever and what matters is the show feeling as big as possible. Granted it helped that there was some great action, though that ending is one of those things that is going to stick in a lot of fans’ memories for a very long time. I loved the show overall, and my goodness WWE knows how to make these things work so well.

Ratings Comparison

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos

Original: C+
Redo: C-

Women’s Tag Team Showcase

Original: C
Redo: C+

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Gunther

Original: A-
Redo: A

Asuka vs. Bianca Belair

Original: B
Redo: B-

Shane McMahon vs. Miz

Original: N/A
Redo: N/A

Edge vs. Finn Balor

Original: B
Redo: B-

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B+
Redo: B

Overall Overall Rating:

Original: A
Redo: A-

At least most of them are in in the ballpark. Either way, excellent show.

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Survivor Series 2021
Date: November 21, 2021
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 15,120
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Pat McAfee

Since it’s Survivor Series and there are no other possible options for the show in the history of ever, it’s time for a Battle Of Brand Supremacy with wrestlers who have been on the roster for about a month. That means a battle of World Champions Roman Reigns and Big E., plus Survivor Series tag matches and….a Rock 25th Anniversary battle royal? Let’s get to it.

For the sake of simplicity, all matches involving champions are non-title.

Kickoff Show: Damian Priest (Raw) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)

US Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion and Rick Boogs handles Nakamura’s entrance, much to Pat McAfee’s (now dancing on the announcers’ table) delight. Priest works on the arm to start but a Boogs guitar solo cuts that off, allowing Nakamura to grab a headlock. Nakamura takes him into the corner for Good Vibrations, with Boogs playing something that is in no way Good Vibrations.

Back up and Priest knocks him down and grabs a chinlock, meaning Boogs plays some more for a distraction. Some strikes to the head rock Priest and the sliding German suplex makes it worse (with McAfee jumping up to celebrate). Priest fights up and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a hard clothesline for two.

South Of Heaven is broken up though and Nakamura kicks him in the head again. Kinshasa is countered into South Of Heaven for two but the Reckoning is blocked. Priest counters an armbar into a triangle choke but Boogs guitars Nakamura to freedom AGAIN. Finally Priest goes outside and breaks the guitar (McAfee: “YOU SON OF A B****!”), with one of the pieces nailing Nakamura for the DQ at 9:24.

Rating: C. I was having fun with the back and forth as they had some chemistry together, but at the same time, there is only so much you can get with the constant Boogs interference. I do like that they didn’t have a champion get pinned here and instead went with Priest snapping to finish things up. Not a great match, but a fast paced one to start things off.

Smackdown – 1
Raw – 0

The opening video talks about how this is two sides battling….and we see a clip from Rock’s Netflix movie Red Notice. The voiceover talks about how many things the movie and show have in common before moving into the nonsense about this being the ONE NIGHT where Raw and Smackdown go head to head. Clips from the movie mock teamwork, which is what this show is all about. After more clips and more generic opening video statements about how important the show is, we’re ready to go.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte. They were old friends but then both wanted to be the best, with Lynch getting there in a big way. Then Lynch left on maternity leave and Charlotte bragged about how great she (as in Charlotte) is so now that Lynch is back, it’s time to fight.

Before we got there though, there was also the VERY awkward moment where Charlotte was supposed to hand over the Raw Women’s Title and dropped it instead, leading to ALL KINDS of problems/discussion. Oh and Charlotte’s REALLY annoying “UH-OH” promo. This does at least have a personal story rather than just doing the Raw vs. Smackdown deal.

Charlotte (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw)

For a bonus, they’re both dressed as characters from Wandavision, with Charlotte as the villain and Becky as the hero. Becky hits her in the face to start and the brawl is on early. Charlotte goes for the leg but has to escape a Disarm-Her attempt. Back up and Charlotte hits a spear but Becky hits a heck of a spinning kick to the face. They head outside for a hard posting to Charlotte but it’s too early for the Manhandle Slam.

Charlotte gets her down and rams Becky’s face into the mat over and over. Becky is sent outside so Charlotte loads up the moonsault, which is shoved HARD into the barricade for a great looking crash instead. Charlotte sends her into the barricade and they both get back in at the same time for the big staredown. Becky avoids a shot to the knee in the corner but an armbar is countered into a powerbomb for two.

Some stomps in the corner have Charlotte in trouble and the fans aren’t thrilled with Becky. A fall away slam sends Becky into the corner for a crash, followed by the Andrade double moonsault for two. Charlotte snaps her throat first across the top but Becky knocks her into the ropes. The Fameasser onto the ropes gives Becky two and Charlotte misses the big boot, only to ram her head into Becky’s for two instead. The second big boot gets two instead so Becky is right back with a Christian layout reverse DDT.

Back up and the Manhandle Slam gives Becky two more, setting up a cross between a Figure Four and a heel hook. Charlotte turns it over for the break anyway and they’re both down for a bit. I’m not sure why Becky is down but it does make things a bit more dramatic. Yet another big boot knocks Becky outside and the moonsault…well it comes close to her at least, with the replay not making it any better.

Back in and Charlotte grabs her own Disarm-Her but Becky slips out. They fight into the corner where Charlotte grabs a rollup with ropes for two, as the referee sees the cheating. Becky reverses into a rollup of her own and doesn’t get caught grabbing the ropes for the pin at 18:13.

Rating: B+. These two work well and they treated it as a huge match, especially at the start where they both came out swinging. The ending was more of a way to save Charlotte than to give us a definitive winner, but after Charlotte has gone over so many times, doing a tainted job to the biggest female star ever isn’t asking too much. Great opener, with all kinds of energy and the big fight feel.

Raw – 1
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: Debuting at Survivor Series 1996.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley
Smackdown: Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin, Sheamus

Survivor Series match and MVP/Madcap Moss are the respective sixths. Lashley has his spot after taking it from Dominik Mysterio and also caused Rey Mysterio to lose his spot to Theory. On the other side, Sami Zayn lost to Hardy, costing himself a spot on the team. You know, in case you needed a recap on the five people per show being thrown together. Rollins, the self proclaimed Raw captain, lets Owens start, so Owens bails to the floor and leaves for the countout less than a minute in.

After Owens takes a bow, McIntyre jumps Rollins on the floor as Theory comes in to face Woods. Theory gets his arm cranked on and it’s McIntyre coming in to launch him into the corner. Sheamus and McIntyre take turns chopping at Theory (McAfee is rather giddy) and Corbin gets in on it with a pretty good right hand. Theory manages to punch his way to freedom though and the tag brings in Rollins, who is knocked right back into the Smackdown corner.

It’s Hardy coming in to start on the arm and a quick splash gets one. Rollins is able to grab Sheamus by the arm though and Balor comes in to work on that arm for a change. Again though, that doesn’t last long as Sheamus drags him right back over for the tag to Corbin. We continue to e parade of arm cranking between people who don’t really dislike each other, making this match feel all the less interesting. Deep Six gets two on Balor with Lashley making the save, meaning everything breaks down.

With almost everyone else being knocked down, Balor kicks Corbin in the head and drops the Coup de Grace for the elimination. Hardy comes in to face Balor and the fans are rather pleased. It’s Hardy taking over with the basement dropkick but Balor’s own dropkick gets his own two. Lashley comes in for a running shoulder in the corner to Hardy, which has McAfee worried on commentary.

Hardy fights out of Balor’s chinlock and hits Whisper in the Wind, leaving Lashley and McIntyre to fight on the floor. Lashley posts him (McAfee: “DREW ARE YOU OK???”), leaving Theory to cover Hardy for two as the fans are interested in….something. It’s back to Woods to clean house, including a discus forearm to Theory. Lashley crotches Woods on top though and the Hurt Lock is good for the elimination to make it 4-3 Raw.

Everything breaks down again and Balor’s slingshot dive is pulled out of the air by Sheamus. We get the big Lashley vs. McIntyre showdown with Lashley backing up for some reason. McIntyre jumps him instead but Lashley powers him into the corner. That earns him a clothesline out to the floor with McIntyre following to post Lashley for a change. They fight over the barricade and that’s a double countout to get rid of the big guys.

The fans are NOT happy, even as Lashley jumps McIntyre after the eliminations. A Claymore drops Lashley though and a Glasgow Kiss drops a laughing Rollins before both guys leave. We’re down to Sheamus/Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory/Balor with Sheamus charging into a boot in the corner. That’s enough for Rollins to dive over for the hot tag to Balor, who is quickly powerslammed for two.

Balor is back up with a Sling Blade but the Coup de Grace misses, setting up the Brogue Kick to give Sheamus the pin. Theory is right in for a heck of a dropkick and it’s Rollins coming back in for a chinlock. After a pretty good while, Sheamus powers up and brings Hardy in to clean house.

Everything breaks down with Sheamus playing Matt Hardy for a springboard splash to the other two in the corner. That’s enough for Sheamus and Hardy to hit stereo ten forearms to the chest, followed by White Noise to Rollins. Everything breaks down again and Rollins pulls Hardy off the apron, leaving Theory to roll Sheamus up for the elimination. That leaves us with Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory…but Sheamus decks Theory before he leaves….and then does it to Hardy too.

Rollins is fine enough to get the tag and hit a frog splash for two on Hardy as we settle in to the beating. Theory takes Hardy up top but gets knocked down, setting up the Swanton for the pin. Rollins isn’t happy and glares at Hardy, who grabs a rollup for two. A hard forearm to the back of the head gets two on Hardy but the Twist of Fate drops Rollins. The Swanton hits raised knees though and the Stomp gives Rollins the final pin at 29:55.

Rating: B. It was a fun, hard hitting match, but the Raw vs. Smackdown lineups continue to feel so worthless. They might as well do a Lethal Lottery format and you would get the same result. The good thing is that the talent is here and can make a match like this work, but the format desperately needs to change to make it more interesting.

Raw – 2
Smackdown – 1

WWE did some charity stuff in Harlem.

Vince McMahon arrived earlier and got a big reception from a bunch of the wrestlers. Then he pulled out a gold egg, because cross promotion.

Classic Rock Moment: recreating the Montreal Screwjob a year later at Survivor Series 1998.

Roman Reigns comes in to see Vince McMahon, who shows him the egg. That’s Cleopatra’s egg, which was given to him by the Rock. Apparently it’s worth $100 million dollars, which Reigns says is as much as his next contract. And that’s it.

The Rock 25th Anniversary Battle Royal

Shanky, Commander Azeez, T-Bar, Robert Roode, Angel, Humberto, Shelton Benjamin, Sami Zayn, R-Truth, Cedric Alexander, Montez Ford, Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Otis, Mansoor, Drew Gulak, Erik, Chad Gable, Ivar, Apollo Crews, Omos, AJ Styles, Ricochet, Angelo Dawkins

The Street Profits come to the ring with a bunch of Pizza Hut. Nothing wrong with a sponsorship. Cole and Graves get pizza but Saxton is denied, as he should be. Styles bails to the floor and stands on the announcers’ table as everyone else fights for the smart move of the night. Gulak and Benjamin are out to start with Humberto following them. Truth heads outside to get some pizza, which he offers to Omos and Otis.

The latter takes it before throwing Truth out and going after Omos. Otis doesn’t last long and Gable armbars Cesaro over the rope. That’s broken up and Cesaro knocks Gable out and T-Bar is dropkicked to the floor by Ricochet. The fans want pizza but have to settle for Alexander and Garza being tossed out. There goes Erik and Ivar at the hands of Shanky, because the potential is in Shanky instead of the Viking Raiders. Omos gets rid of Shanky with ease and Roode catapults Mansoor out.

Roode and Ziggler go after Omos and the giant gets rid of Roode, leaving Styles to Phenomenal Forearm Ziggler for the elimination. Zayn tries to rally the remaining Smackdown names but yells at Ricochet, leaving Ford and Dawkins to toss him out. Omos gets rid of Azeez, who pulls Styles out despite Omos’ protests. Crews is out next and we’re down to Omos, Dawkins, Ford, Cesaro and Ricochet. Cesaro rallies the troops to go after Omos, earning himself an elimination. There go Dawkins and Ford, leaving us with Ricochet vs. Omos. That doesn’t last long either as Omos tosses him out for the win at 10:38.

Rating: C. This was ALL about Omos, who threw out about half of the field and dominated throughout. It worked for Andre and even if Omos isn’t quite there, it was a nice performance. Omos is someone who works well in this kind of a spot, even if this had absolutely NOTHING to do with the Rock.

Raw – 3
Smackdown – 1

Post match Styles goes for the pizza but Ford kicks him in the head and throws it into the crowd.

Classic Rock Moment: winning the 2000 Royal Rumble, even if Big Show really won.

We look at the pre-show match.

RKBro (Raw) vs. Usos (Smackdown)

Riddle starts fast with an armbar attempt on Jimmy but gets stacked up for two and the break. A headbutt just makes Riddle mad and he grabs a spinning gutwrench suplex to send Jey flying. Orton comes in and we hear about his hear in Ohio Valley Wrestling for a bit of a rarity. The threat of an RKO sends Jimmy bailing to the floor so it’s off to Jey, who stomps Orton down in the corner.

That just earns Jey a punch to the nose (simple, yet effective) and a trip to the floor, allowing Riddle to hit the springboard Floating Bro. A drop onto the barricade cuts Riddle off though and it’s back to Jimmy for the suicide dive. We slow things down a bit with Jey hammering away in the corner until Riddle manages a kick to the head. That’s way too soon for a hot tag to Orton though and Jimmy is back in with a chinlock.

Riddle fights up and manages a Bro To Sleep (which doesn’t make anything close to full contact), allowing Orton to come back in to clean house. Snap powerslams drop the Usos and Jey gets belly to back dropped onto the announcers’ table. Not to be outdone, Jimmy gets the same as McAfee is losing it even more than usual. Back in and the hanging DDT hits Jey but he’s fine enough to block the RKO.

Riddle is up again and kicks Jey in the head before nailing Jimmy with a running forearm. Jey manages to kick Riddle down for two and the pop up Samoan drop gets two. There’s a superkick to Riddle and a double superkick to Orton. The double superkick from either side gets two on Riddle, who kicks out and stays rigid for a weird moment. Riddle’s enziguri gets him out of trouble though and Orton gets a blind tag. Jimmy doesn’t notice though and his Superfly Splash is pulled into the RKO to give Orton the pin at 14:48.

Rating: B. Two of the best teams in WWE have a good match when they are given about fifteen minutes on a big stage. Sometimes these things write themselves and that was the case here, as Orton even managed to get in the cool RKO that he hits in these important matches. Another solid match on the show in what shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Now just do it again for the titles.

Raw – 4
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIII. I’d say that counts, though it’s still hard to believe Cena lost.

Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce wait for Vince McMahon in his office. Vince comes back…and the egg is gone. The middle management goons are sent to find out who did it, saying if they don’t find out tonight, Vince will find out himself on Raw.

Video on Xia Li, the Protector, in comic book form. Yeah this was too cool to work and it never went anywhere.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women

Raw: Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Queen Zelina
Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Toni Storm, Natalya

Zelina is still a queen and Ripley is half of the Women’s Tag Team Titles with Nikki Ash, which mean a grand total of nothing (Zelina and Carmella would win them the next night on Raw). Toni Storm (as announced in a completely necessary tweet earlier in the day) starts with Carmella, who drops Storm with a right hand. Hold on though as Carmella hands it off to Zelina before heading outside to put on her protective mask. It takes forever to put the mask on so Carmella has Zelina do it, allowing Storm to grab a rollup for the pin.

Belair and Banks come in for a Wrestlemania rematch but Shotzi tags herself in. A quick backsplash gets two on Belair but she’s right back up to knock Shotzi silly. Belair’s jumping splash gets two so Morgan comes in for a middle rope….uh, something, and a near fall. Natalya comes in for two off a snap suplex and a pinfall reversal sequence gets some near falls each. The step over basement dropkick gives Natalya two more but it’s off to Ripley to freshen things up.

Natalya doesn’t seem to mind and brings Baszler in for a double suplex. The jumping stomp to Baszler’s arm is blocked though and the slugout is on. Ripley has to fight out of an armbar as well as the Kirifuda Clutch, allowing her to stomp on Baszler’s head. Shotzi saves Baszler from the Riptide though and everything breaks down. Ripley breaks out of another choke and it’s a double tag to give us Belair vs. Banks.

Belair tries the power but gets pulled straight into the Bank Statement. That’s broken up so Banks sends her face first into the middle buckle, setting up a tornado DDT for two on Belair. Back up and Zelina tags herself in so Belair launches her at Banks for two more. No one will tag Banks so she has to block Zelina’s Code Red. Banks tags herself in and flips Zelina over into a cutter for the pin. Morgan comes in for a pinfall reversal sequence of her own until Oblivion connects to get rid of Storm.

Baszler comes in to choke Morgan and even kicks Ripley off the apron to prevent a tag (that’s smart). It’s off to Shotzi for a weird looking splash, followed by Banks’ frog splash to eliminate Morgan. Ripley comes in and muscles Banks up for a delayed suplex and a near fall. A missile dropkick sends Banks flying into the corner but Shotzi comes in off a blind tag. Shotzi offers a distraction so Baszler can come in with a knee to the face to pin Ripley, leaving Belair vs. Natalya, Shotzi, Banks and Baszler.

Belair comes in and suplexes Natalya for two before firing off the shoulders in the corner. Baszler’s distraction lets Natalya hit a powerbomb out of the corner for two and it’s off to Banks. Shotzi gets into it with Banks and pulls her to the floor where Banks gets counted out to make it 3-1.

Natalya comes in and Sharpshooters Belair, who rolls Natalya into Baszler for the break. A rollup finishes Natalya to make it 2-1, with Baszler coming in next. The Kirifuda Clutch is countered into a release Glam Slam to get rid of Baszler and it’s Shotzi vs. Belair. Shotzi grabs a choke in the corner and a faceplant drops Belair again. The running hip attack in the ropes gets two on Belair, who sends Shotzi into the corner and hits the KOD for the pin/win at 23:46.

Rating: C-. Well that was ridiculous. The last five minutes of this was Belair doing her best Super Cena impression, as she ran through three people on her own (four if you count getting rid of Banks). The match wasn’t anything special otherwise, as the Belair vs. Banks segment was the only thing worth seeing. This felt long until the ending, when it became one head shaking moment after another. Storm was trying and got a bit of a run, but this was all about making Belair look strong and to say they went overboard would be an understatement.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: The Rock is at the first Smackdown on FOX and rips on Baron Corbin/hangs out with Becky Lynch.

Paul Heyman knows nothing about the missing egg but thinks those people from BROOKLYN might have had something to do with it. That’s not what he is being asked about though: what about Brock Lesnar’s suspension being lifted soon? Uh, Heyman doesn’t want to talk about that either.

Video on Bobby Lashley.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Big E. Last month, Big E. cashed in Money In The Bank to become the new Raw World Champion. The New Day celebrated because they’re a brotherhood, but Reigns said they were no Bloodline. Reigns broke Woods’ King Of The Ring crown and now it’s time for a clash between World Champions.

Big E. (Raw) vs. Roman Reigns (Smackdown)

Paul Heyman is here too as we hear about their time together in FCW. They fight over a lockup to start with neither getting anywhere, meaning it’s off to another staredown. Big E. shoves him a bit and Reigns bails to the floor, where Heyman lists off some Anoa’i family members at the table. Back in and Reigns hits the jumping clothesline for two before stomping away rather hard.

An elbow drops Reigns and Big E. gets to talk a bit of trash to set up the missed apron splash. Big E. comes up favoring his knee and you know Reigns is happy with that. Back in and the chinlock goes on for a bit until Big E. powers up for the break. You don’t do that to Reigns, who boots Big E. down for two more. Big E. is sent outside again as Reigns is getting frustrated and growling at the crowd. A reversed whip into the steps puts Reigns in trouble for a change and some belly to bellies make it worse back inside.

The Warrior Splash connects but Big E. charges into a Samoan drop for two. Reigns fires off the corner clotheslines until Big E. Rock Bottoms him out of said corner for two of his own. The Stretch Muffler has Reigns in trouble so he powers up into a sitout powerbomb to rock Big E. again. A Rock Bottom gets two more as they’re sticking with the big shots here. Two Superman Punches only keep Big E. down for a few seconds so Reigns hits a third…but Big E. is back up before the spear can even launch.

Reigns is sent to the apron for the spear out to the floor but comes right back in with his own spear (minus through the ropes) for a rather near fall. They take their time getting up, with Reigns talking about how Big E. doesn’t deserve to be here. The guillotine is broken up but Big E. tries another spear through the ropes and gets caught in the choke. Reigns gets it on again back inside, only to muscle Reigns up into the Big Ending for two.

They head outside again, with Big E. fired up this time as he sends Reigns face first into the announcers’ table. A posting and ram into the barricade have Reigns in more trouble but he’s fine enough to send Big E. knees first into the steps. A Superman Punch off the steps lets Reigns kick the knee out and hit a spear for the pin at 21:56.

Rating: B. It took some time to get going and could have had a few minutes cut out, but this was a heck of a fight. The problem here though was there was no reason to believe Reigns would lose. Big E. is great, but winning the title via Money in the Bank makes him feel a step beneath Reigns, in addition to the fact that Reigns already feels like a bigger star than anyone else at the moment. Big E. was trying here, but you know Reigns getting pinned is going to be a huge moment, not something in a stand alone show like this one.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 2

Overall Rating: B-. This show is going to depend on how you look at it. While the wrestling was mostly good, with the main event and men’s Survivor Series match carrying it, the biggest problem is NOTHING HAPPENED. Raw dominated the head to head competition and there was nothing on here that I felt like I needed to see. Reigns is still the unstoppable force and whoever got the red shirts this year had a strong night. What else is there to say about the wrestling with non-existent stakes?

Then you have everything else and it was just sad. The Rock obsession was cool and made sense, but without him actually having anything to do with the show the impact kind of falls apart. I know he’s busy, but if he isn’t going to be there, maybe don’t focus on him so much. The egg stuff was stupid, though I can’t fault WWE for trying to make money and it was relatively short.

Overall, as has been the case for a long time, there was enough good to pretty good action to make the show a decent watch, but there is absolutely nothing from a storyline perspective. The Battle For Brand Supremacy stuff worked for a few years but now WWE has given up on it meaning anything, so why should I care about what they’re doing? Good enough show, but totally unimportant.

Ratings Comparison

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest

Original: C+
Redo: C

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Original: B-
Redo: B

Battle Royal

Original: C
Redo: C

Usos vs. RKBro

Original: C+
Redo: B

Smackdown Women vs. Raw Women

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Big E. vs. Roman Reigns

Original: B
Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Oh yeah this is about as similar as it gets.

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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Summerslam 2020
Date: August 23, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

We’re a year removed from this show and things have indeed changed a bit. For one thing, we are FINALLY out of the Thunderdome, which was a full two days old when this aired. In something that hasn’t changed, I have no idea what happened at this show, save for the main event. That’s kind of nice for another look so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: US Title: Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Crews is defending and it’s strange to see him as just a guy in trunks and not….whatever he would become next year. As a bonus, the rest of the Hurt Business is banned from ringside. MVP takes him down into a very quickly broken knee bar but Crews is back up with a sunset flip for two. That’s enough for MVP to bail to the floor as things cool down a bit. Back in and Crews flips away from him, setting up a quick dropkick for two. MVP is fine enough to toss him over the top and out onto the steps as the beating begins.

The running boot misses in the corner so Crews goes up, only to get crotched on top. The superplex brings Crews back down but MVP lands hard and the delayed cover gets two. A clothesline puts MVP on the floor and there’s the big flip dive to take him down again. They both dive back in to beat the count and it’s time to slug it out. Crews gets the better of things and it’s a spinebuster into the standing moonsault for two. The toss powerbomb retains the title at 6:37.

Rating: C. This was about as Kickoff Showey of a match as you could get and it happened to have a title on the line. There was nothing wrong with it and Crews gets a win to make him feel that much more important as US Champion. You’re only going to get so much out of a standard Raw level match and this was about it. Not bad, but as forgettable as any other Kickoff Show match.

The opening video is much more about the Thunderdome than anything else, though the matches themselves do actually get some attention. Well the bigger ones at least. The Smackdown World Title match between the Fiend and Braun Strowman has a tagline of “You’ll Never See It Coming”. That’s one way of advertising things.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Asuka

Bayley is defending as part of the Bayley/Sasha Banks Are The Most Amazing Women Ever stretch. Granted it wound up being pretty awesome so it’s kind of hard to complain all that much. Banks (the Raw Women’s Champion and Bayley’s partner as the Women’s Tag Team Champions) is at ringside too as they fight over the grappling against the ropes to start. Asuka dropkicks her in the ribs to take over and pulls Bayley down into a reverse Koji Clutch.

The foot on the rope gets Bayley out of trouble in a hurry so she bails to the apron, allowing Asuka to kick the leg out again. There is something fun about watching Asuka pick someone apart like that and it always works. Bayley gets kicked out to the floor and Banks is already looking worried. Asuka grabs a DDT (or close enough) off the steps for two back inside but Bayley manages to snap her neck across the middle rope for a much needed breather.

Some stomping sets up the chinlock with Bayley shouting a lot as she keeps Asuka down. Back up and a quick Bayley to Belly gets two but Asuka kicks her in the head for a double knockdown. A German suplex into the hip attack gives Asuka two and they head to the apron for the slugout.

That doesn’t last long so they head back inside for an exchange of leglocks. Asuka knees her in the face for two but Bayley is right back with a running sunset flip into the corner. The “patented” (I want paperwork) top rope elbow is countered into a quickly broken cross armbreaker so Asuka is back with a kick to the head. Banks takes the running hip attack though, allowing Bayley to grab a rollup to retain at 11:33.

Rating: B-. Good and logical choice for an opener here with Asuka fighting as hard as she could to pick up the first title. That didn’t wind up working out, but they did a nice job of going back and forth against each other. What mattered here was having Asuka seem ready to pick up the win until Banks’ interference was enough to throw her off for a split second. Nice match with the story making perfect sense.

Post match Banks (who faces Asuka later tonight) and Bayley beat Asuka down and leave her laying.

Dominik Mysterio asks Rey Mysterio to let him go out there alone tonight. Rey, realizing how much of a disaster it would be to ask fans to care about Dominik on his own, says no but is finally talked into staying in the back.

Video on Retribution’s path of….well really just annoyance so far, though this period of breaking stuff would be their apex as a team.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Angel Garza/Andrade

Garza and Andrade, with Zelina Vega (who recently poisoned Montez Ford), are challenging and Kevin Owens is on commentary. We get the traditional rain of red solo cups to start as the Profits’ inset promo talks about how they are here for revenge. Andrade slugs away at Ford to start but gets caught with a big jumping clothesline. A jumping hurricanrana brings Andrade off the top and there’s the double flapjack to drop Garza.

Ford loads up the big flip dive, but gets countered into a double powerbomb onto the floor (as tends to happen). Back in and we hit the armbar on Ford, allowing Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS (Vega approves). A cross armbreaker over the ropes has Ford in more trouble and it’s back to Andrade for an armbar of his own. Garza adds a running knee to the ribs (and promises to win the titles, which Owens does not like) and the running kick to the ribs makes it worse.

There’s the top rope Alberto Double Stomp for Andrade’s next near fall. Ford flips out of a belly to back suplex though and the enziguri sets up the diving tag to Dawkins. Chris Jericho’s Judas Effect only takes Dawkins off one foot (ha) and he spears Andrade down. Ford comes back in with the crazy high crossbody but Garza rolls through for two, even with Vega holding his feet on the rope. Vega gets on the apron to yell but Ford knocks Garza into her. The Sky Cash Out into the twisting frog splash retains the title at 7:50.

Rating: C. Total Raw match here which was the latest exhibit of how much charisma that Garza has. The guy can make anything look better but Andrade had the star power and that is what gets you ahead around here. This feud, or some form of it, went on for the better part of ever and never once got interesting because the Profits were that much better. Now get some fresh competition in the tag division.

The long form celebration is on.

Bayley and Sasha Banks don’t like Kayla Braxton’s questions but know that Sasha will beat Asuka tonight. Bayley even busts out a broom because it’s going to be a sweep.

We recap Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose, which has been going on for a long time. Sonya got jealous of Mandy getting all of the attention and eventually turned on her by calling her selfish. Since it’s WWE, we’re supposed to side with the bombshell model, which was made even worse when Sonya was about five levels ahead of Mandy on the mic. Sonya cut off some of Mandy’s hair so the hair vs. hair match was set.

Then a psychotic fan broke into Deville’s house with zip ties and a knife, likely in an attempt to kidnap and/or kill Deville. Rose happened to be staying there and the two got away as the stalker went into the wrong part of the house. This sent Deville into a lengthy legal process and since her lawyer felt that cutting her hair off was a bad idea, it was turned into a No DQ Loser Leaves WWE match. Fair enough, but next time you have a crazed stalker who might be trying to kill you, make sure you think of kayfabe. Go out separate doors or something and worry about being stabbed later.

Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose

No DQ and the loser leaves WWE. Mandy offers a handshake to start so Deville rolls her up for two. Back up and Mandy hits her in the face and they head outside with Deville getting suplexed onto the ramp. A clothesline off the announcers’ table puts Deville down again and let’s get a table. As usual, that takes way too long and it’s Sonya ramming Mandy into the announcers’ table to take over.

Back in and a running knee to the chest gets two and it’s a dragon sleeper with a bodyscissors to put Mandy in even more trouble. The trash talking fires Mandy back up though and it’s a jumping knee for two on Sonya. It’s back outside for more ramming into the announcers’ table before Mandy slides chairs over the regular table, with Sonya having to duck the decapitation attempts. That’s either brilliant or really stupid and I’m not sure which. Back in and three straight running knees set up Angel’s Wings to crush Sonya. Another running knee gives Mandy the pin at 9:49.

Rating: C-. This had the intensity but dang Mandy is not the greatest in the ring. I completely get why WWE would want to push the heck out of here but Sonya was so much more of a complete package and felt like a natural. It’s a shame that she had to go away, though it was a rare instance where something is more important than wrestling (egads that’s hard to say).

Post match Otis comes out to celebrate with Mandy (Yeah remember when that was a thing?), who fails at the Caterpillar.

Here’s what’s coming on the WWE Network!

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio. This was part of the never ending Rollins vs. Mysterios feud, which saw Rollins gouge Rey Mysterio’s eye out. Dominik is willing to fight for his father in a street fight, which also happens to be his in-ring debut. Rollins also destroyed Dominik by tying him into the ropes and destroying him with a kendo stick for a pretty nasty moment. Other than that though, this feud was complete death by this point and this was the match that I was dreading coming into the show.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Street fight and Rollins, with Murphy, is in gear inspired by Rey Mysterio at Halloween Havoc 1997. Rey is here with Dominik, as you might expect. Rollins wrestles him down without much trouble to start and seems rather comfortable. He’s so comfortable that he offers Dominik a headlock before tripping him down with ease. Dominik gets in a few right hands before getting dropped again. A springboard armdrag and then some regular versions have Rollins down, which is just a step too far.

Rollins drops him again and gets a kendo stick, which is dropkicked out of his hands. Dominik gives chase but gets knocked down, only to have Rollins kick the stick away. The one armed camel clutch has Dominik in more trouble and Rey is nervous. The Sling Blade lets Rollins work on Dominik’s hand and Murphy sends in a chair. Seth yells at Rey a lot as he stomps away but the Stomp (that’s confusing) is countered into a drop toehold into the chair. The Buckle Bomb is countered into a hurricanrana into the corner to stagger Rollins again as this comeback needs a crowd reaction.

A tornado DDT out of the corner gets two and the kendo stick shots have Rollins in more trouble. Dominik goes up but it’s Rollins running the corner for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two. Rollins is mad (as he should be) and it’s time to kendo stick Dominik for a change. Murphy throws in a table but Rollins takes too long going up, allowing Dominik to hit a super White Russian legsweep through the table. Since wrestling logic is a thing, Dominik is fine and hits a frog splash for two.

Dominik takes too long grabbing things again, allowing Rollins to superkick and kendo stick him some more. Saxton: “Rey can do nothing to help his son!” As you try to see the invisible wall keeping Rey from doing anything, Rollins pulls out some handcuffs. Cue Rey’s wife Angie to try and do something but Rey holds her back.

Murphy loads up the steps to take out Dominik’s eye, meaning the invisible wall is smashed as Rey finally gets involved (making the last five or so minutes subject to wrestling logic). With Dominik as backup, Rey is quickly cuffed to the ropes as the villains look up at Angie. Dominik is back up to make the save this time….and his frog splash hits knees, because he isn’t very good at this. Rollins tells Rey to reach for Dominik and then hits the Stomp for the pin at 22:36.

Rating: C-. Being away from this story for a year has taken away some of the bad feelings about it, but this still wasn’t very good. Above all else, this was WAY too long as Rollins felt like he was dealing with an annoyance than any real threat. Dominik isn’t an embarrassment in the ring by any means but he also isn’t ready to be in a 20+ minute featured match at Summerslam. He looked ok for a debut, but the length of the match (and the feud) dragged it way down.

The villains sneer post match and Rey hugs Dominik.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Asuka

Banks is defending and has Bayley in her corner. Commentary points out that Banks has never had a successful singles title defense, which does not bode well for her future. Banks goes straight for the knee (ala Bayley in the first match) but Asuka spins up and fires off the Kawada kicks. A sliding forearm (minus some power because of the knee) sends Banks outside and Asuka is right there with a kneebar on the floor.

They wind up on the apron, where Asuka kicks the post by mistake. Bayley cranks up the trash talk (because she’s very good at that) and Banks takes her back inside to fire off kicks in the corner. Banks switches to the shoulders but gets caught in an electric chair faceplant. Asuka can’t be trusted with two legs in front of her and Banks has to bail to the ropes to escape the kneebar.

With that broken up, Asuka gets a bit creative by taking her up top for a super DDT. The missile dropkick gives Asuka two but Banks goes after the knee again, setting up the double knees in the corner. They’re both down so Bayley goes into coaching mode….and Asuka immediately grabs the ankle lock. Bayley isn’t good at coaching. The Bank Statement is countered into the Asuka Lock which is countered as well. Bayley’s distraction fails and the Asuka Lock goes on again to make Banks tap for the title at 11:31.

Rating: B-. I liked this one a good bit as Banks and Bayley had a plan to take Asuka out but still couldn’t do it. That’s a nice way to make Asuka look even more impressive while also continuing the build to Banks vs. Bayley. They took their time to get there but Bayley was awesome almost every step of the way. Banks held up her end as well and it was a heck of a match on top of the storytelling.

Post match Banks glares at Bayley, who begs forgiveness.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre for the Raw World Title. Orton has attacked a variety of legends, which has McIntyre ready to fight back and defend their honor, along with his title. McIntyre talked about how Orton has been protected for years while McIntyre fought every day to get here. They did a nice job with the culture clash here and the video does a good job of making this feel big.

Raw World Title: Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre is defending and we get a quick inset promo from Shawn Michaels, who wants Orton to get Claymored. Orton bails to the floor to start as the mind games are going strong early on. Back in and Orton begs off again but does hit a few right hands before bailing to the floor for a second time. This time the chase is on but Orton catches McIntyre on the way back in. The RKO attempt is blocked so McIntyre shoulders him down. Another threat of the RKO sends McIntyre bailing outside and you can see a bit of shock.

Back in again and McIntyre unloads in the corner but has to block the RKO for a third time. The ensuing charge sends McIntyre shoulder first into the post and Orton sends him into the barricade to make it worse. A posting sets up a drop onto the announcers’ table and then Orton does the latter again. Orton gets a bit creative by suplexing McIntyre off the table for a delayed one (that kickout at one was a good deal for McIntyre).

The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by the Orton Stomp and some slow staring at the….uh, screens. McIntyre comes back with a Stunner to the knee in the corner and a spinebuster for the double knockdown. With the knee banged up, McIntyre goes Flair with the Figure Four (nice job given Orton attacking Flair and other legends leading up to this). Orton can’t roll out so he grabs the referee for a distraction and goes to the eye to escape. McIntyre’s eye looks to be cut a bit as they slug it out from their knees. Make that from their feet, with McIntyre having to block the RKO again.

The overhead belly to belly sends Orton flying and McIntyre does it again for a bonus. A top rope shot to the head drops Orton and McIntyre nips up as the adrenaline starts flowing. McIntyre loads up a superplex, gets knocked into the Tree of Woe, and pulls himself up to send Orton flying with the choke superplex as usual. As impressive as that is, commentary shouldn’t be that impressed or surprised, but WWE commentators are seen as stupid for a reason.

The Futureshock gets two but McIntyre misses coming off the top. Orton’s powerslam gets two and he is busted open as well. The hanging DDT is broken up and it’s a Cactus Clothesline to put both of them on the floor. They get back in fast but this time the hanging DDT connects. With nothing else working, Orton loads up the Punt but McIntyre cuts him off. The Claymore misses so Orton tries the RKO again, only to get caught in a backslide of all things to retain the title at 20:34. Commentary shouts about how Orton NEVER SAW IT COMING because they need to hit that tagline.

Rating: B. I liked this one a good bit as they were playing up the story they had established coming in. The idea was that Orton was the seasoned veteran who had learned from the legends and he was cheating every chance he had here. Throw in the RKO as the ultimate weapon (which he never hit, as it is probably being saved for later) and this was a chess match with McIntyre using everything he could while Orton just waited to hit the RKO. I liked what they were doing and the ending worked well. Good match, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Orton looks up at McIntyre from the floor because this isn’t over.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt for the Smackdown World Title. These two have been feuding for MONTHS in one bad match after another. Last month, they fought in the swamp (because reasons) and Wyatt made Alexa Bliss appear because Strowman has always wanted her. Strowman doesn’t buy it because he knows the Fiend is going to corrupt her as well. Bliss slapped Strowman a bunch so he teased attacking her but decided to fight the Fiend instead. In other words, this feud was really, really stupid and nothing they were changing made it any better at all.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is defending and this is Falls Count Anywhere. Fiend is driven back into the corner to start but comes back with a heck of a clothesline to drop Strowman. They’re already on the floor with Fiend busting out a toolbox. A few shots with said toolbox don’t do much to Strowman, who runs Fiend through the barricade. Strowman chokeslams him onto (not through) the announcers’ table and a steps shot to the face drops Fiend again.

Back in and the powerslam sends Fiend right back to the floor, which doesn’t mean as much as he can get pinned out there as well. Strowman kicks him up the ramp and they fight backstage. Fiend whips him into a few walls and Sister Abigail gets two. They come back into the arena where Strowman is sent into the video screen to bust up some of the color.

The Mandible Claw goes on but Strowman gets up anyway and shoves him into the apron for the break. Back in and another powerslam gets another two on Fiend so Strowman yells a lot. Strowman grabs a box cutter from the toolbox and starts cutting up the mat to expose the wood. That takes WAY too long so Fiend is back up with a Rock Bottom and a pair of Sister Abigails onto the wood for the pin and the titles at 11:58.

Rating: C. The shorter time helped but egads this feud was death and everyone but WWE seemed to know it. You could have seen this title change coming from before Extreme Rules last month, making for a very long and slow build. They kept this the way they should have and the lack of anything involving Bliss helped here. It could have been worse, but you’re only getting so much out of a hoss fight like this one. As long as Strowman isn’t champion any longer though, it’s an upgrade.

Post match Roman Reigns is back (for the first time since March) with the spear to the Fiend and the beating is on. Another spear hits Strowman and Reigns shouts about how they aren’t monsters unless he’s here. Reigns bends a chair over Strowman and spears Fiend down again. He grabs the title, says it has always been his, and calls Fiend a freak in a mask. Cole: “WE NEVER SAW THIS COMING!” Reigns would win the title a week later, as he should have, along with joining Paul Heyman, which was an amazing twist.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a bit of an odd show as the stuff that was good was quite good but the weaker stuff just felt tacked on. WWE was still figuring things out after getting into the Thunderdome and this came off as somewhat of a Summerslam in name only. It certainly isn’t a bad show with the Bayley/Banks/Asuka stuff and McIntyre vs. Orton all being good. Tighten things up a bit and it could be great, but for now it just has to settle for being pretty good.

Ratings Comparison

Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Original: C
Redo: C

Asuka vs. Bayley

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Street Profits vs. Andrade/Angel Garza

Original: C
Redo: C

Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose

Original: D+
Redo: C

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Original: D+
Redo: C-

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B
Redo: B-

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Original: B+
Redo: B

Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

Original: C+
Redo: C

Overall Rating

Original: C
Redo: B-

I’m not sure if that overall rating makes sense but the rest of the show was certainly in the same ballpark, save for Rose vs. Deville.

Here is the original review if you are interested:

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: July 28, 2023
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We are eight days away from Summerslam and that should make for a pretty big show. At the very least, Roman Reigns is here and that will boost things up a lot, as we now know he’s in for Tribal Combat against Jey Uso. Other than that, we need a #1 contender to the US Title so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Jey Uso to get things going but Roman Reigns and the Bloodline cut him off. Reigns says this is his show so he’ll kick it off. Reigns says he made Jey the right hand man because he has that kind of power. Does Jey think he can run this place? Jey says he stood beside Reigns for years but now Reigns has broken the family, the Bloodline and Jimmy Uso. Reigns says that’s Jey’s fault and Jey was only the right hand man because Jimmy was hurt. After Summerslam, Jey is wiped off the face of the earth and no longer part of this legacy.

Reigns asks what happens if things get crazy and Jey beats him….but nah because Jey can’t do it. So why does he think he can? Jey: “Because I already beat you.” He says he’ll do it again at Summerslam and walks off, leaving Reigns bewildered. This was Jey countering the mind games that have destroyed him for years now and that’s a smart road to take.

Post break Jey runs into Grayson Waller, who offers to give him the Grayson Waller Rub after he loses at Summerslam. Jey slaps him in the face and walks off.

Rey Mysterio vs. Santos Escobar

For a future US Title shot. They shake hands to start with Escobar taking him down by the leg. Back up and they trade slaps until Rey sends him outside for a big running flip dive. We take a break and come back with Escobar hitting a running forearm as US Champion Austin Theory is watching in a sky box. Escobar kicks him in the head and hits a high crossbody for two, followed by a rollup for the same.

The tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gives Escobar two more but Rey sends him outside. The sliding splash misses though and Escobar hits a big dive as we take another break. Back again with the match paused and a trainer checking on Rey. Apparently he hit his head on the landing from the dive before the break. The referee calls the match at 14:13 and Escobar gets the win and the title shot.

Rating: B-. This is a hard one to rate but we’ll go with what we got to see here. What matters with this one is that Rey is ok, and the fact that he seems to have gotten his bell rung more than anything else is a good sign. In theory, Escobar was moving on anyway here and we do have a #1 contender. They were starting to rock near the end, but there is nothing else you can do when someone is hurt.

Post match Escobar checks on Rey and pays homage to him. Escobar stares at Theory, who he will face for the title in two weeks.

Bianca Belair is ready to win her title back but Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville interrupt to make fun of her for not having a title anymore. Belair offers to fight both of them but here is Charlotte to call Deville and Green bullies. Charlotte wants Belair at 100% so we’ll do the tag match thing later.

Here is Hit Row to mock the fans but LA Knight interrupts, apparently for a scheduled match. Knight didn’t know Uncle Phil was a rapper and thinks B Fab has a thing for him. For now though, Ashante Thee Adonis can be the next to get dropped on his head.

LA Knight vs. Ashante Thee Adonis

Adonis starts fast and Top Dolla gets in a cheap shot. With Dolla dispatched, Knight hits a powerslam, the spelling elbow and Blunt Force Trauma for the pin at 1:32. That’s how Knight should be used at the moment if they don’t have anything bigger for him.

Adam Pearce tells Jey Uso he has to face Grayson Waller tonight. Works for Jey.

Bobby Lashley is with the Street Profits in a rather nice looking lounge. He likes the team, but thinks they need to dress better. Well, that Angelo Dawkins does at least. Courtesy of Lashley, here are some rather nice suits. Dawkins seems appreciative and I continue to be curious about where this is going.

Bianca Belair/Charlotte vs. Sonya Deville/Chelsea Green

Non-title. Belair and Green start things off with Belair easily taking over. Charlotte comes in for the figure four necklock faceplants before handing it back to Belair. The handspring knocks Green off the apron and there’s a dropkick to Deville for a bonus. We take a break with the champs in trouble and come back with Belair suplexing both of them at the same time.

The crawling tag brings in Charlotte to clean house, including a clothesline for two on Green. Charlotte spears Green down and Belair adds a delayed vertical suplex to Deville. Some right hands in the corner miss for Belair but she breaks up the Unpretty-Her. The KOD is loaded up but Charlotte tags herself in and kicks Green in the face for the (delayed) pin at 10:25.

Rating: C. Why does WWE insist on doing this? They act like they want the titles to mean something and then do something like this. I get that Belair and Charlotte are more talented than the champs, but that doesn’t mean the match has to be booked. Just leave the champs out of this or have some kind of screwy finish that doesn’t involve them being pinned clean. That shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

Post match the argument is on.

Iyo Sky asks Bayley why she left so fast last week. Bayley says something about wanting to leave quickly before finding a note from Shotzi in her bag. They rush to leave but Asuka comes in and promises to retain at Summerslam. Sky teases the briefcase and leaves with Bayley.

There is going to be a Summerslam Battle Royal, featuring stars from Raw and Smackdown.

LA Knight tells Adam Pearce that he wants in the battle royal. The Brawling Brutes come in and mock Knight, earning them spots in the battle royal and Sheamus vs. Knight next week.

Karrion Kross vs. Karl Anderson

Before the match, Anderson asks the rest of the OC to stay in the back because this is personal (they’re cool with that). Kross takes him into the corner to start but Anderson gets a boot up to stop a charge. The middle rope neckbreaker gets two but Kross suplexes him down. A powerslam swung into a DDT (the Final Prayer) finishes Anderson at 2:04. I’m still not sure why Anderson and Gallows remain employed other than maybe HHH feeling sorry for how they were cut so fast last time.

Post match Kross stays on Anderson until AJ Styles makes the save.

Jey Uso vs. Grayson Waller

They circle each other a bit to start until Waller manages to knock him into the corner for a running knee. Back up and Jey kicks him into the corner but cue the Bloodline for a distraction. Waller runs him over again and we take a break. Back with Jey fighting out of a cravate but getting dropped again as the fans seem rather interested in this Roman fellow.

Waller hits the springboard elbow and a spinebuster, setting up a People’s Elbow (with some personalized features) which takes way too long. The rolling Stunner is cut off by a superkick and Jey hits a spear (which might replace Christian’s as the least convincing ever). The Superfly Splash finishes Waller at 11:17.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t about the match itself but rather about a way to get Reigns and Jey out there at the same time again. In that sense it worked well and gave Jey a bit of momentum, but it isn’t like this was some kind of great main event. Jey is going to need all of the momentum he can get and this gave him just enough to get by this week.

Post match Solo Sikoa runs in to beat Jey down but the Spike misses. Jey hits the superkick so Reigns comes in, only to get speared as well. Sikoa breaks up the Superfly Splash and lays Jey out and a spear/Spike combination puts him down again. It works so well that they do it again to end the show. That’s a nasty combination and thankfully it made me forget that I’m supposed to buy a Jey Uso spear putting Reigns down for more than half a second.

Overall Rating: C+. Not their greatest show but they’re also in a weird place with most of Summerslam already booked. There isn’t much left for them to do before the show so there wasn’t much to cover here. Reigns vs. Jey is still built around a lot of mind games and Charlotte vs. Belair vs…..oh yeah Asuka is in there too. Other than that, Summerslam is fairly light on the Smackdown side, but that battle royal is promising. They did what they needed to do this week and I’ll take that so close to Summerslam.

Results
Santos Escobar b. Rey Mysterio via referee stoppage
LA Knight b. Ashante Thee Adonis – Blunt Force Trauma
Charlotte/Bianca Belair b. Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville – Big boot to Green
Karrion Kross b. Karl Anderson – Final Prayer
Jey Uso b. Grayson Waller – Superfly Splash

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.

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 24, 2023
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

Summerslam is right around the corner and thankfully the card is all but set. You should have a good idea of what to expect from the show after the last few weeks but there is always time for one more push towards Detroit. Odds are that means more Judgment Day this week so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Judgment Day, minus Dominik Mysterio, to open things up. They brag about everything they have been doing as of late and we see a clip of Dominik winning the North American Title last week. Cue Dominik to quite the negative reaction and we see a package on him and Rhea Ripley. Now it’s Kevin Owens (to a huge reaction) and Sami Zayn to interrupt, with Owens saying we did this last week. It drives Owens crazy when people don’t learn their lesson and now we have Dominik who can’t learn a lesson and now the best thing he can do for this business is shut his mouth forever.

After that amazing one sentence rant, Dominik says he will not be disrespected like this, which Zayn thinks is a good point. The thing is no one respects him in the first place so it doesn’t matter! Zayn remembers Judgment Day complaining about last week not being a title match, so how about Zayn vs. Dominik in a North American Title match tonight? Ripley accepts for Dominik, with Balor giving her a “well…..ok then” look.

Zoey Stark vs. Becky Lynch

If Becky wins, she gets to face Trish Stratus (ringside) again, but if she loses, she has to get a THANK YOU TRISH tattoo. Becky starts fast and knocks her down before taking the beating to the floor. Zoey gets in a shot of her own though and a springboard hilo hits Becky for two as we take a break.

Back with Becky being knocked outside, where the face masked Stratus gets in a headbutt. Zoey’s superkick gets two but Becky pulls her into a cross armbreaker. That’s reversed into a powerbomb for two but Becky reverses a rollup into the Disarm-Her. Trish throws the mask in for a distraction though and Zoey gets two off a rollup. The Manhandle Slam finishes Zoey at 9:40.

Rating: B-. This match did something rather difficult as it had some false finishes in a match that shouldn’t have had the slightest bit of drama. Trish vs. Lynch is tailor made for a big blow off at Summerslam and the tattoo stipulation felt like something out of 1999, but some of those near falls made me jump a bit. Good stuff here, even as they got to what should have been a completely obvious ending.

We look at Brock Lesnar taking out Cody Rhodes last week.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. He talks about how Brock Lesnar beat him down last month and that wasn’t on his bucket list. Cody brings up Lesnar getting everything handed to him so fast, from the UFC to the NFL, but now he did this in front of Cody’s mother. That’s the same mother who watched Terry Funk throw fireballs at Dusty Rhodes and then went drinking with Gordon Solie. Now Cody is slapping the bear in the face and wants Brock to bring it at Summerslam. This was a bit rambly, but there is only so much that you can do when the story has been set for months.

We look at Logan Paul going after Ricochet in recent weeks.

Ricochet will say what he thinks of Paul to his face.

NXT North American Title: Sami Zayn vs. Dominik Mysterio

Dominik, with Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, is defending and Kevin Owens is here with Zayn. A clothesline puts Dominik on the floor to start and there’s the big flip dive as we take a break. Back with Priest shoving Zayn off the top so Owens decks him as well. Owens is out….and so are Priest and Ripley. Zayn gets the Michinoku Driver for two and hits a clothesline to cut off a 619 attempt.

Dominik dropkicks him out of the air but Zayn is right back with the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Another 619 attempt gives Dominik two and Three Amigos put Zayn down again. Back up and Zayn suplexes him into the corner but here are Priest and Ripley to jump Owens on the stage. Dominik rolls Zayn up (with tights) for the pin at 11:55.

Rating: C+. They were starting to roll at the end and the question became how would Dominik cheat to win here rather than would he at all. He’s basically the Honky Tonk Man at the moment and there is nothing wrong with that as it is an idea that works. Good enough match here as Dominik gets another win that he doesn’t deserve.

Post break, Owens’ ribs are pretty banged up.

We look at Jey Uso and Roman Reigns agreeing to Tribal Combat at Summerslam.

Ricochet asks Shinsuke Nakamura if he has seen Logan Paul. Nakamura says he’ll tell Ricochet if he sees him before turning around to see Tommaso Ciampa. Last week Nakamura got in a shot on Ciampa and that’s his only free one. If Nakamura gets involved again, they’ve got a problem.

Judgment Day runs into Apollo Crews and Akira Tozawa and demand some respect. Crews doesn’t like that and gets a match with Damian Priest tonight.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bronson Reed

Ciampa charges right at him and it doesn’t go so well. Some knees to the head get Ciampa out of a suplex but Reed tosses him outside without much trouble. Reed powers him around until Ciampa slips out of a fireman’s carry into a chinlock. That earns him a big crash back from Reed, giving us a great “OW!” look from Ciampa. Reed sends him outside but Ciampa knees him out of the air and we take a break.

Back with Reed running him over for two more but Ciampa fires off some running forearms. The discus forearm sets up a running Fameasser from behind but Reed isn’t having this being whipped thing. Instead he drops a backsplash on Ciampa and fires off chops, which just seem to wake Ciampa up. Ciampa hits a jumping knee and an Air Raid Crash of all things for two. Cue Shinsuke Nakamura for a distraction, allowing Reed to run Ciampa over again. The Tsunami finishes Ciampa at 12:44.

Rating: C+. Reed getting another win is nice to see but it’s rather depressing to see Ciampa lose, even with a screwy finish. Odds are this is setting up a big showdown with Nakamura (and possibly Reed), which is again more or less the same feud we just finished. For now though, at least Reed is looking like a monster.

We look back at Rhea Ripley attacking Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan, leading to them losing the Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Morgan is ready to beat up Ripley tonight. Maybe she gets taken out, but maybe she doesn’t. With Morgan gone, Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville come in to ask why they aren’t being interviewed. That would be because they don’t have a match tonight, but here is Rhea Ripley to stare them off.

Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley

Non-title and Morgan gets jumped during her entrance as the destruction is on outside. Morgan’s arm gets Pillmanized and, despite a medic and referee being there, Ripley does it a second time. No match.

The Alpha Academy want an Academy Rules match with the Viking Raiders. Maxxine Dupri is ready to face Valhalla in her first singles match.

Here is Ricochet to call out Logan Paul, even if Paul doesn’t belong here. Ricochet calls Paul an arrogant little pr***, who does not deserve to be here. The people who are here every week have sacrificed to get to this spot, but Paul just does whatever he wants. The challenge is on for Summerslam and here is Paul to jump him from behind and accept said challenge. As Paul talks to his phone, Ricochet is up with a superkick before taking his own picture.

Shayna Baszler is sick of Ronda Rousey so they’re going to FIGHT at Summerslam.

Logan Paul says that was unprofessional and he’s coming for Ricochet next week.

Damian Priest vs. Apollo Crews

Crews starts fast and hits a dropkick into a high crossbody. Priest is right back with a shot to the head and the big discus forearm drops Crews. A hammerlock lariat sets up South Of Heaven to finish Crews at 3:09.

Rating: C. Pretty much just a squash here for Priest. It’s nice to have him in the ring to keep looking dominant, though there can be such a thing as having someone on television too much in a week. This show has been very heavy on the Judgment Day stuff and I’m not sure this really needed to be on the sow.

Becky Lynch says it isn’t over with Trish Stratus until she wins.

Valhalla and the Viking Raiders are in against the Alpha Academy and Maxxine Dupri.

Here is Imperium for a face to face showdown with Drew McIntyre. The challenge is on for an Intercontinental Title match tonight but Gunther says he’ll humiliate McIntyre at Summerslam instead. Gunther brings up their Summerslam match, with Drew talking about how he and Sheamus have known each other for years (Drew: “I was 19 and Sheamus was about 42.”) and their dream was to face each other at Wrestlemania. That is what they did this year, but Gunther snuck in and stole the win. At Summerslam it’s one on one but Ludwig Kaiser interrupts. Gunther thinks Kaiser should lead Imperium but he’ll settle for a match.

Drew McIntyre vs. Ludwig Kaiser

Kaiser grabs a headlock to start as Graves goes into a Kaiser impression. McIntyre fights back and knocks him to the floor for a chop and a posting. There’s a ram into the barricade and some loud chops but Kaiser manages to post him as well to take over. Back from a break with McIntyre hitting an Air Raid Crash and nipping up, only to have the Claymore cut off by a kick in the general vicinity of his head. Not that it matters as the Claymore finishes Kaiser at 9:34.

Rating: B-. These two beat the fire out of each other for a little while until McIntyre finished him off. Kaiser is a great character and awesome at all of his talking, but he got to show off some in-ring abilities here. It was a pretty nice match and I got into seeing these two beating each other up rather well.

Post match the triple teaming is on, with Matt Riddle coming in for a failed save attempt. McIntyre fights back though and powerbombs Gunther through the announcers’ table.

Ronda Rousey is down to fight Shayna Baszler at Summerslam.

Here is Finn Balor to sign the contract with Seth Rollins. He believes the two of them can handle this like gentlemen with no Adam Pearce so here is Rollins to quite the serenade. Rollins says they can just sign and maybe Balor wins, but Damian Priest is going to cash in on him immediately anyway. Balor hesitates before signing, saying Rollins must think he has all of this figured out.

Cue Judgment Day, with Balor talking about how he has felt helpless for seven years. It’s like an itch you can’t scratch….a seven year itch. At Summerslam, Rollins becomes the seven year b****. Rollins turns the table over but gets beaten down, with Sami Zayn making a failed save attempt. The big beatdown wraps up the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The problem right now is that Summerslam is all but set, and that doesn’t leave much to cover over multiple hours a week. There was some stuff here that got a nice push towards the pay per view, but what we saw was either stuff being confirmed after being all but guaranteed or a slight stronger push or matches already set. That makes for only a pretty ok show, and that’s what we had here.

Results
Becky Lynch b. Zoey Stark – Manhandle Slam
Dominik Mysterio b. Sami Zayn – Rollup with tights
Bronson Reed b. Tommaso Ciampa – Tsunami
Damian Priest b. Apollo Crews – South Of Heaven
Drew McIntyre b. Ludwig Kaiser – Claymore

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.

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 17, 2023
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We are closing in on Summerslam and that means we should be in for something interesting. In this case, that means we are going to be graced with Brock Lesnar’s presence, as he might be here to accept Cody Rhodes’ challenge. That should be quite the situation so let’s get to it.

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

Here is hometown boy Cody Rhodes to one heck of a reception. He’s happy to be home and this week he’d like to talk about the large shadow that is Brock Lesnar. Cody calls Lesnar out but there’s no one here. He thinks this is Lesnar being fashionably late but he’ll wait all night if he has to. This is the house that built me, but the woman that built him, his mother, is in the front row. Cody doesn’t like to use this phrase, but his relationship with Lesnar has been nothing but “hard times”. When Lesnar gets here tonight, it’s hard times for him.

Cody tells us to enjoy the show and hugs his mom and some other people before…..Brock Lesnar…..’s music plays. There’s no Lesnar so Cody goes into the back, where Lesnar knocks him down. Lesnar chairs him down and carries him in front of his family. The F5 drops him and the Kimura goes on, followed by another (with Lesnar’s eyes bugging out) back inside. A chair shot leaves Rhodes laying and Lesnar accepts the Summerslam challenge.

Matt Riddle vs. Gunther

Non-title and the rest of Imperium stays in the back. Riddle goes for the arm to start and slaps on a triangle to make it worse. They crash out to the floor and we take a break. Back with the two of them trading strikes in the corner and Riddle getting the better of things. Some running shots in the corner stagger Gunther and Riddle snaps off an exploder. Gunther gets in a suplex of his own and a hard clothesline for two, leaving Gunther (and Imperium in the back) rather stunned. Riddle knees him in the face a few times for two but the Floating Bro hits raised knees. Gunther hits a heck of a powerbomb for the pin at 8:08.

Rating: B. This didn’t last long but they beat the living daylights out of each other while it did. What mattered here was keeping Gunther looking strong while getting rid of Riddle from the title picture. We are probably on the way to Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre at Summerslam and this was a good way to clear the way for the match

Post match Gunther gets on the announcers’ table to say the fans are here to see the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Matt Riddle is done and if Drew McIntyre wants to ride on Gunther’s coattails, be his best, but be prepared to fall victim to the Ring General.

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are ready to defend their Women’s Tag Team Titles against Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville tonight. We hear about some other teams but here is Rhea Ripley to stare up at Rodriguez. She’s not scared of Ripley, with Morgan saying the same. Ripley DROPS Morgan with a headbutt and takes out Rodriguez’s knee to leave the champs laying. I probably liked Morgan getting dropped more than I should but my goodness her “I’M NOT SCARED” stuff is annoying.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. Rhea Ripley talks about how dominant the team is and promises that all of them will be holding gold soon enough. Dominik Mysterio gets booed out of the building, with Damian Priest having to say that Dominik will win the NXT North American Title tomorrow night.

Finn Balor and Priest promise to win the World Titles, but here are Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to interrupt. Sami doesn’t think the fans want to hear Dominik get booed so it’s time to beat someone up instead. Priest thinks the idea of he and Dominik winning the Tag Team Titles tonight sounds good to him, so Owens gets to make the angry acceptance.

Raquel Rodriguez is banged up but the trainer reluctantly clears her.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Raquel Rodriguez/Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville/Chelsea Green

Rodriguez, with a bad knee, and Morgan are defending. Morgan gets jumped to tart and caught in a delayed double vertical suplex. A few shots give Morgan a breather so it’s off to Rodriguez, who gets pulled into a half crab from Deville. Morgan FINALLY makes the save and gets to come in and clean house. The middle rope Codebreaker sets up Oblivion for two on Green with Deville making the save this time. Deville chop blocks Rodriguez and decks Morgan in the face, setting up Unpretty-Her for two. Another Unpretty-Her and a running knee to the face gives us new champions at 5:08.

Rating: C. The match was good enough for what it needed to be and that’s perfectly fine. Green and Deville have felt much more like a natural team since they were put together and it should be fun to see them bragging about their title win. If nothing else, it frees up Rodriguez to face Rhea Ripley, likely after Ripley massacres Morgan.

We look back at Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes from earlier tonight. The Summerslam match (sans gimmick) is official.

Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green are happy with their win, though Deville has to pull Green away from thanking everyone.

Long video on the Jey Uso/Solo Sikoa/Paul Heyman segment from Smackdown.

We get a sitdown interview with Seth Rollins talking about potential challengers. Finn Balor is mentioned and interrupts, taking interviewer Byron Saxton’s chair. Balor says the line starts with him and it’s time to do this again. Rollins says they can settle the score right now so take your shot or get out of his face. Balor stands up…and leaves. The interview seems to be over but Balor jumps him for a beating. Balor says make the match.

Alpha Academy vs. Viking Raiders

This is a Viking Rules match, so there is a ship’s head at the front of the ring and various weapons are available. As a bonus, Maxxine Dupri and Valhalla (with Maxxine’s jacket) are here, with Titus O’Neil on commentary for some reason. The fight starts fast on the ship’s head with Gable grabbing the ankle lock. That’s broken up and Gable flip dives onto Ivar before sending Erik into a shield.

Otis wants tables but has to pull a springboarding Ivar out of the air (geez) for a powerslam. We take a break and come back with Ivar hitting a moonsault as Otis makes the save. Erik has to make a save of his own but Gable suplexes him down. The top rope headbutt gets two but Dupri has to dive in to cut Valhalla off. Dupri gets her jacket back but gets speared through a table. Otis gets to clean house but Valhalla gets in a cheap shot, allowing the Vikings to hit Ragnarok for the pin at 10:27.

Rating: B-. I had a good time with this one as they leaned way into the goofy fun that they were having. That’s the best way to go a lot of the time and it worked well here. The Vikings are still fairly ridiculous but they could wind up being turned into one off challengers for the titles if need be. Rather fun match here and that’s the best thing you could ask for with something this ridiculous.

Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross

Cross jumps her to start and gets Kirifuda Clutched for the tap at 20 seconds.

Post match Ronda Rousey pops up in the crowd to mock Baszler (Rousey: “Up here! Above you, literally figuratively, every way possible.”). Rousey talks about how you can take the front door like Baszler by making it through developmental, or the back door, like Rousey did, and dominate everyone.

Rousey is the best ever and Baszler is the knockoff version. Baszler says she’s the better Rousey and tells the real one to come down here right now. Baszler goes into the crowd to go after her but security cuts her off. Rousey says she’ll see Baszler at Summerslam. Rousey is still not great on the mic, as she was talking a mile a minute here.

We look back at Ricochet vs. Logan Paul from last week.

Ricochet is ready to deal with Paul and challenges him to come here next week. He’ll hurt Paul where it hurts the most: his ego.

It’s time for MizTV, with Miz bragging about playing in a celebrity golf tournament and insulting Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks. With that out of the way, Miz brings out his guest, Becky Lynch, who looks like she is wearing pajamas with the stomach cut out. Miz asks if she has lost a step so Lynch throws the chairs out and shouts about everything she has lost. The one thing she hasn’t lost is a step so get Trish Stratus out here already.

Miz thanks her for ruining the surprise and brings out Stratus, with Zoey Stark. Lynch demands the rematch but Stratus thinks Lynch is sounding like her baby girl. Stratus is going to pass on the rematch because she has already beaten Lynch, though she was hoping to get her to say Thank You Trish.

Lynch was hoping to see Stratus show she could do more than post on social media and hide behind Stark, which is enough to get Stratus to say yes, but under some conditions. First, Lynch has to beat Stark, but if she can’t she has to get on her knees and say Thank You Trish. Oh and she can tattoo it across her chest. Lynch: “Done.” The brawl is on, with Stratus losing her mask, which Lynch uses to knock Stark silly. The tattoo stuff was a bit over the top but they set up the match the needed to set up.

We look at the Brock Lesnar/Cody Rhodes segment again.

Bronson Reed vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Reed kicks him into the corner to start and busts out his own Good Vibrations. Nakamura hits a few strikes to send him into the ropes but misses a knee. Reed hits a running shoulder from the apron and we take a break. Back with Nakamura getting in some more kicks, including a jumping version to the head. A dragon screw legwhip gives Nakamura two but Reed runs him over. The Tsunami is broken up though and Nakamura’s middle rope knee gets two more. Kinshasa is loaded up but Tommaso Ciampa runs in to jump Reed for the DQ at 7:32.

Rating: C+. Someone striking away at a monster like Reed is always going to work and Nakamura can throw strikes like few others. Ciampa running in makes all the sense in the world, even if he is just taking Ricochet’s place in the same story they were telling on the way to Money In The Bank. Either way, this was a story that has been done before and that isn’t a bad thing.

Post match Nakamura takes out Ciampa to blow off some steam.

Post break, Nakamura says he’s tired of everyone getting in his business.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Tag Team Titles: Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs. Judgment Day

Judgment Day, Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest in this case, is challenging. We get the Big Match Intros and here is Seth Rollins to dive onto Finn Balor and brawl with him to the back. It’s a brawl to start with Dominik getting crushed by Owens’ backsplash, meaning the champs can take over in the corner.

Sami and Priest come in with the latter hitting an uppercut so Dominik can already come back in. A backdrop puts him down so let’s take a breather on the floor. Priest cuts Sami off again and chokeslams him onto the apron as we take a break. Back with Sami escaping a suplex and bringing Owens back in to clean house. Owens knocks Priest outside and hits an apron frog splash, followed by the Cannonball back inside.

The Swanton hits knees though and Dominik comes in with a frog splash for two. Everything breaks down and Priest hits a pop up powerbomb for two on Dominik with Priest making the save. Zayn tornado DDTs Priest for two but he catches Zayn on top with a super hurricanrana (Ripley freaking out is great). Dominik tags himself back in but the 619 is broken up. The champs hit a pair of flip dives so Ripley tries to get involved, only to get cut off by Liv Morgan. Zayn Helluva Kicks Dominik to retain at 15:28.

Rating: B. This got going rather well by the end, though I’m a bit surprised that this wasn’t the Summerslam Tag Team Title match. What we got was a hot tag match though as Owens and Zayn can work well with anyone. Judgment Day still feels like a dominant force around here, but man they lose quite a bit.

Overall Rating: B. This was the show where it felt like they started to move forward to Summerslam, with matches either being announced or being set up. That should be enough to get things going for the next few weeks as the card can be made official. I like them getting this done with some time to spare, as that isn’t something you always see. For now though, it’s another good show, as things are starting to come together at the right time.

Results
Gunther b. Matt Riddle – Powerbomb
Sonya Deville/Chelsea Green b. Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez – Running knee to Morgan
Viking Raiders b. Alpha Academy – Ragnarok to Otis
Shayna Baszler b. Nikki Cross – Kirifuda Clutch
Bronson Reed b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Tommaso Ciampa interfered

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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Monday Night Raw
Date: July 10, 2023
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We are less than a month away from Summerslam and Judgment Day is having some major issues. Finn Balor and Damian Priest can’t seem to get along and the introduction of the Money In The Bank briefcase isn’t helping. Other than that, we have more issues between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at the Judgment Day’s issues.

Here is a ticked off Finn Balor, who blames Damian Priest with costing him the World Title. Cue Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio, with the former telling Balor to calm down. Balor says he is calm and walks out, leaving Ripley to say the team still runs Raw. If anyone disagrees, come out here and prove it. Cue Seth Rollins, with a plate of buffalo wings, with Dominik not being pleased and making threats. Rollins apologizes to Ripley, because she isn’t the only one who is going to be whipping Mysterio tonight.

Post break, Damian Priest comes up to Ripley and Mysterio, saying that went as expected. Ripley tells him to fix this with Balor.

Imperium vs. Drew McIntyre/Matt Riddle

Gunther is at ringside as Riddle powers out of Kaiser’s headlock and gutwrench suplexes him down. It’s off to McIntyre vs. Vinci, with the former taking him down for an assisted Floating Bro from Riddle. Back up and Vinci gets Riddle into the corner and sends him crashing out to the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Riddle getting two off a crucifix before Vinci kicks him in the face. Riddle starts winning a strike off with Kaiser until a Downward Spiral brings him back down. A kick to the head isn’t enough for Riddle either, as Vinci plants him with a brainbuster. Riddle’s next kick is enough to get over to McIntyre though and house is quickly cleaned. Gunther pulls McIntyre to the floor but Riddle takes him down. Back in and the Claymore finishes Vinci at 10:57 as Riddle ankle locks Kaiser.

Rating: C+. This was a nice way to get McIntyre back into the swing of things as he is ready to face Gunther for the title soon. Other than that, Riddle gets to be on the winning side to give him a bit of a boost as well. Gunther has lackeys for just this kind of occasion and it was a fine enough match as well.

Post match, Imperium glares at Vinci and leaves him behind.

Finn Balor and Damian Priest are arguing again but Rhea Ripley tells them to cool it. Balor says he’ll save Rollins for him if Balor can get to him first. Deal.

Long recap of the Bloodline’s implosion.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens say they have taken care of everyone and are ready for anyone else. Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio come in to say Judgment Day should have been on that list. Any combination of the team could take the titles anytime because Dominik worked on cardio in prison and never gets tired. Sami and Owens discuss what that could mean.

Video on Indus Sher.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title and Rhea Ripley is here with Dominik, who jumps him before the bell. They fight into the crowd and here is the rest of Judgment Day to jump Rollins. Cue Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the save as Judgment Day is cleared out. No match.

Here is Ricochet for a chat. He’s happy to be here for the fans but he’s here for one individual person: Logan Paul. He knows Paul is here tonight but first of all, we need to talk about what Paul was saying on his podcast. Paul was blaming Ricochet for what went wrong at Money In The Bank, but then said he himself didn’t know what he was doing. So come say something to his face.

Cue Paul, to say he doesn’t want to be in this town any longer than he has to be. He stands by what he said on his podcast, as Ricochet cost them both the briefcase. Ricochet says no one wanted Paul to win, and we cut to Paul taking a picture with a fan in a great moment. The fans chant for Paul, which has him cracking up that Ricochet can’t even get cheered during his own promo.

Ricochet promises to hurt him but Paul laughs off the threats from someone who is 90% forehead. Paul calls himself a superstar but Ricochet is just about replays and clips. Ricochet flips over the top and lands in front of Paul (mostly sticking the landing), who says that was cool…..for a TikTok. Paul starts swinging but gets dropped with a Sliced Bread off the apron. Talking still isn’t Ricochet’s strong suit, but when you can move like that, it can be ignored.

Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark

Trish Stratus is here with Stark, who grabs a headlock to start. With that not working for Lynch, she grabs a front facelock to slow Stark down instead. The first gear continues until Trish trips Lynch down, allowing Stark to stomp away. A springboard missile dropkick puts Lynch on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Stark getting caught on top and kicked in the ribs over and over. A baseball slide drops Stark on the floor and Lynch hits a running shot off the apron. Back in and Starks kicks her into the corner, setting up a springboard spinning hilo for two. Lynch tries the Disarm-Her but gets kicked in the face for her efforts. Z360 is blocked and Lynch kicks Trish down, but the distraction lets Stark get a rollup pin at 10:26.

Rating: C+. That’s a bit of a weird way to go but Lynch does have an out after being cheated away from a victory. You can all but guarantee the Stratus vs. Lynch match for Summerslam and maybe Lynch finds a friend to deal with Stark? For now though, the build for Lynch vs. Stratus continues and that should be a heck of a fight when we get there.

Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins have a plan for Judgment Day tonight: hurt them.

It’s time for Maxxine Dupri’s graduation ceremony from the Alpha Academy. Chad Gable praises Maxxine’s accomplishments last week and brings her out to receive her diploma. Maxxine didn’t think much of Gable when she started but she has grown to realize that he is a great trainer and a wonderful friend. She also has to thank Otis for catching her eye in the first place. Finally, thank you to the WWE Universe for accepting her and helping her become a star. Otis whips off his gown and puts on his jacket, with Maxxine being presented with one of her own. Cue the Viking Raiders to jump the Academy and steal her jacket.

Earlier today, Emma came up to Shayna Baszler in the back and dared to speak to her, setting up a match for later.

Emma vs. Shayna Baszler

Emma kicks her in the face to start and hits the running crossbody in the corner. Baszler is right back with the rights and lefts and the Kirifuda Clutch finishes Emma at 1:30.

Post match here is Ronda Rousey to brawl with Baszler, who runs off.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. Since he has returned, he has been talking about life goals instead of career goals. When he was in the United Kingdom, he was asked how his momentum has been making him feel. This question has been haunting him but he answered honestly by talking about how the fans have great and by every measure, he’s doing great.

As for in the ring though, things have been a bit shaky because of the Brock Lesnar shaped mountain. Everyone has a Brock Lesnar in their way but in his case it’s a 6’3 285lb living symbol of Darwinism and natural selection. Cody wants a rubber match with Lesnar at Summerslam because he wants to be next in line. More solid words from Cody, as he has to fill in a lot of gaps as Lesnar isn’t around every week and the story is already set up.

The Miz vs. Tommaso Ciampa

No DQ and Ciampa jumps him on the floor before the bell as Graves gets very tongue tied trying to explain what “No DQ” means. They get inside with Ciampa hammering away and the bell rings. Ciampa sends him outside and over the announcers’ table, setting up a running knee to the face.

Back in and the Fairy Tale Ending onto the chair is blocked so Miz kicks him in the head. Ciampa grabs a chair to knock Miz out of the air though and then wraps it around Miz’s neck for the posting. The pat on the back sends us to a break and we come back with Ciampa grabbing a chair. Miz kicks him over the announcers’ table though, only to get thrown off said table and into the barricade.

Ciampa grabs a bunch of weapons, including a table, but Miz gets in a cheap shot to slow him down. Back in and Ciampa knees Miz out of the air before some running knees drive a trashcan lid into Miz’s face. An Air Raid Crash puts Miz through a table but here is Bronson Reed to jump Ciampa. Reed crushes him on the floor and hits the Tsunami inside to give Miz the pin at 11:20.

Rating: B-. They had a good fight and having Reed come in for the interference works. He and Miz have a history together and Ciampa vs. Reed could make for some interesting fights. Ciampa didn’t lose clean and now he and Miz can be wrapped up, or he might need some backup. Like say someone else from Cleveland who could deal with Miz?

Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville talk trash to Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan. Rhea Ripley comes in to tell Rodriguez to stay out of their business, because she’s on two strikes. Green: “That’s right and three strikes you’re out. Basketball!” Ripley glares Green and Deville away, but Morgan says they’re not afraid of her. Sounding tough is really not in Morgan’s wheelhouse.

Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville vs. Kayden Carter/Katana Chance

Deville gets double teamed in the corner and a running dropkick staggers her again. Green comes in and rolls Carter up, with Deville adding a knee to the face to make it worse. Chance comes in and takes Green down, with an assisted middle rope splash getting two. Everything breaks down and Green rolls Chance up, with an assist from Deville, for the pin at 2:21. Kind of a messy match but Green and Deville getting another win is all that matters.

Matt Riddle and Drew McIntyre are heading out again, with Byron Saxton not invited.

Seth Rollins/Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day

Rollins chases Dominik around to start, with a quick tag bringing in Balor. That’s fine with Rollins, who stomps Balor in the corner before Priest comes in and gets hit in the face as well. Zayn comes in and everything breaks down with everyone but Owens fighting on the floor. Owens flip dives onto Judgment Day and we take a break.

Back with Balor beating on Owens until a quick shot allows the hot tag to Rollins. A kick to the face gets two on Dominik but Priest blasts Rollins with a clothesline for the same. Rollins is right back with a superkick into the Pedigree, with Balor having to make the save. Dominik frog splashes Rollins for two with Sami making the save, giving us a hilarious reaction from a stunned Ripley. Sami hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two but Ripley offers a distraction. South of Heaven sets up the Coup de Grace to give Balor the pin at 12:30.

Rating: B-. This was a good bit shorter than I was expecting but it served a nice purpose. You can probably pencil in Judgment Day for a Tag Team Title shot at Summerslam and that could make for a nice match. As Zayn and Owens said earlier in the night, they need some more challengers and this is a fresh team to come after the belts. Rollins needs an opponent as well though, and I can’t imagine that is anyone here.

Balor and Priest are cool to end the show (as Ripley approves).

Overall Rating: B. Another good show here as we are well on the way to Summerslam, though there are some spots that still need to be filled. Other than the main event, this show didn’t set much up for Summerslam, but it did keep some of the already established stories going. Throw in some solid wrestling of its own and this was a pretty nice show for three hours.

Results
Drew McIntyre/Matt Riddle b. Imperium – Claymore to Vinci
Zoey Stark b. Becky Lynch – Rollup
Shayna Baszler b. Emma – Kirifuda Clutch
Miz b. Tommaso Ciampa – Tsunami
Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville b. Kayden Carter/Katana Chance – Assisted rollup to Chance
Judgment Day b. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens/Seth Rollins – Coup de Grace to Zayn

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.

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 3, 2023
Location: CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We’re back stateside after Money In The Bank in London and the big story around here is Damian Priest being the new Mr. Money In The Bank. That means there is officially a threat over a few champions’ heads and that could make things interesting for a long time to come. Let’s get to it.

Here is Money In The Bank if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of pretty much everything that happened at Money In The Bank.

Here is Seth Rollins to get things going. After a long serenade, Rollins talks about retaining the title at Money In The Bank but now he has to worry about that pesky briefcase. Cue Cody Rhodes to interrupt….but he can only get a “So…” out, here Brock Lesnar interrupts. Cody immediately goes outside for the fight but Lesnar takes him side. The F5 is countered and a Cody Cutter sends Lesnar running.

Post break, Rollins is still in the ring but here is Judgment Day (minus Finn Balor) to interrupt. Damian Priest recaps the Money In The Bank concept and Rollins offers him a match tonight. Priest says Rollins can fight someone standing next to him. Rhea Ripley: “Well I’m already defending my World Women’s Title against Natalya.” So it’ll have to be Dominik Mysterio instead. Rollins smells a trap but listens to the fans and says he’ll do it.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest

Ripley and Mysterio are here with Priest. Nakamura takes him down fast to start and fires off the knees to the ribs, only to have Priest hit him in the face. Back up and Priest stomps away in the corner, setting up the running elbow. Nakamura manages to put hum on top for the running knee to the ribs as the fans are all over Dominik. They head outside with Priest dropping him onto the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Nakamura striking away and hitting an STO. The sliding German suplex drops Priest and lets Nakamura…go outside to hit on Ripley. With that odd visual out of the way, Priest knocks a diving Nakamura out of the air and hits a good looking spinning kick to the head for two. Nakamura hits a kick of his own and adds the middle rope knee to the chest. Not that it matters as Priest hits a HARD clothesline, setting up South Of Heaven for the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C+. Well Priest is already off to a better start than some Money In The Bank winners as he’s not losing after slipping on a banana peel. Priest has been treated seriously for months now and it is nice to see that continue after he gets his big win. Keep it up and WWE might actually have a star on their hands if they’re not careful.

We recap Shayna Baszler turning on Ronda Rousey to cost the team the Women’s Tag Team Titles at Money In The Bank.

Here is Rousey for a chat but Baszler interrupts, saying people are sick of hearing her trying to talk. Rousey wants an explanation, saying she is owed one. That sets Baszler off, saying she is the reason Rousey got into wrestling so she owes Rousey nothing. The only thing she owes ANYONE is an apology for getting Rousey into the business. Rousey says they worked to become champions, which sets Baszler off again.

Baszler doesn’t remember Rousey building rings to work in front of 30 people or having to fill out an application. Rousey came in and went straight to Wrestlemania. Baszler loves this and owes Rousey the reality that there is someone here who can shut her up. The fight is on with Rousey getting the better of things until Baszler gets an ankle lock. With Rousey slowed, Baszler gives her a running knee and leaves, even as Rousey tells her to get back here. That’s not exactly an explanation, as Rousey and Baszler were a successful team. So Baszler waited until they were a success together to let out all of this anger? That’s a bit odd.

Maxxine Dupri is ready to make her in-ring debut and is ready to prove that Chad Gable is a heck of a trainer. Gable is ready to give the Viking Raiders a dose of patriotism.

Tag Team Turmoil

For a Women’s Tag Team Title shot against Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez (at ringside). Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville are in at #1 and Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell are in at #2. Hartwell goes after Deville to start but everything breaks down quickly. Green gets sent to the apron but comes back in with UnprettyHer to LeRae. Deville’s running knee is enough for the pin at 1:32.

Emma/Nikki Cross are in at #3 with Cross Checking on the banged up LeRae. Green comes in and gets Russian legsweeped, but Cross is still worried about LeRae (who is gone). The UnprettyHer and another running knee finishes Emma at 4:55 total. Tegan Knox/Dana Brooke are in at #4 and clear the ring rather quickly as we take a break. Back with Deville pinning Nox with the running knee at 7:54 so it’s Kayden Carter/Katana Chance in at #5.

Carter drops Deville for a fast two but she has to fight out of the corner. Green is taken up top but Carter goes up with her. Chance tags herself in and hits a super hurricanrana for two with Deville having to make the save. The After Party is broken up and Deville gets in a cheap shot from the floor. UnprettyHer gives Green the pin and the title shot at 11:49.

Rating: C. Deville and Green are a good enough team to get a title shot out of all of this, but a match like this one really shows you just how shallow the division is. Other than the winners, it’s three thrown together teams and Carter/Chance, who have mainly been treated as losers since getting called up. There might (and I emphasize that word) be a decent division between all three brands, but this really didn’t do the division any favors.

Video on the women’s Money In The Bank match.

Video on Bronson Reed.

Here is a ticked off Becky Lynch who didn’t win Money In The Bank, but wants to finish this with Trish Stratus RIGHT NOW. Cue Stratus and Zoey Stark, with Stratus sporting a face mask to protect a broken nose. Lynch: “HAHA LOOK AT HER FACE!” Stratus: “You think this is funny?” Lynch: “I DO!” Stratus isn’t medically cleared to fight so Lynch will beat up Stark instead.

Lynch isn’t impressed but Stratus calls herself the greatest of all time. Lynch says Stratus is just back to plug some low level show and appear on the cover of a local magazine that she paid to be in. Once she leaves, is she taking Stark back to be the secretary of her yoga studio? Why is Stratus still here? Stratus talks about being the face of the women’s division and Lynch is jealous of all of the attention that Stratus gets. Now Stark is going to break her face….or not as Stratus has a medical appointment right now, so they have to leave Balti-less right now (Graves liked that one). Lynch vs. Stratus at Summerslam should work.

Cody Rhodes comes out, welcomes new interviewer Jackie Redmond, and says Brock Lesnar is back. Rhodes will fight him anywhere anytime…and that’s that.

Alpha Academy vs. Viking Raiders

Six person tag here, with Otis wasting no time in hitting the Caterpillar on Ivar. We take a very fast break and come back with Gable coming in to clean house. A dive to the floor hits Erik and a top rope headbutt hits Ivar. Erik takes Gable down though and it’s the women coming in, with Dupri managing the suplex. Valhalla breaks up the Caterpillar from Dupri though, as Gable moonsaults onto the Vikings at ringside. A sunset flip out of the corner gives Dupri the pin on Valhalla at 7:58.

Rating: C-. I do kind of like the fact that WWE isn’t hiding what they’re doing with Dupri. She is far from a skilled star in the ring but she has nice gear and a bunch of charisma. If they keep her doing low level, mostly non-serious stuff like this, she’ll be fine as someone who can be brought up slowly. Not much of a match but they were smart enough to keep the women’s part short.

Ricochet isn’t happy that Logan Paul was in Money In The Bank so how about they settle it face to face next week.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya

Ripley is defending and gets jumped from behind during the entrance. They go inside for the opening bell and they go straight back to the floor, with Ripley sending her face first into the announcers’ table. Back in and Ripley forearms her in the back, followed by a headbutt out of the corner. A low superkick keeps Natalya down as this is one sided so far.

Natalya fights out of the corner and hits a high crossbody for a double knockdown. Ripley is back up with a basement dropkick for two and we take a break. We come back with Ripley hitting a kick to the head for a double knockdown. Natalya hurricanranas her way out of a powerbomb but Ripley gets up top for a missile dropkick.

The Prism Trap goes on but Natalya sends her into the corner for the escape. Ripley drops her again and goes up for a frog splash (complete with Eddie dance) only to hit raised knees. A powerslam into the Sharpshooter sends Ripley to the ropes but she’s right back with a headbutt. Riptide retains the title at 13:06.

Rating: B-. This got a lot better after the break and they had a pretty good match despite the lack of uncertainty over the winner. Natalya’s problem has never been her abilities in the ring so it’s no surprise that she can get going in a long match. Just stop trying to have her involved in stories and she’s a lot better. Ripley isn’t likely to lose the title anytime soon, so giving her a nice win like this is a good way to go.

Post match Ripley stays on her until Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez make the save.

We look at Miz attacking Tommaso Ciampa last week.

Ciampa says he fought Miz face to face but Miz attacked him from behind. There is a silver lining in this though: Ciampa saw that look in Miz’s eye. He’s happy to have that Miz back and now he can face the good one.

Miz says he’s feeling better than he ever before so he’ll face Ciampa in a no DQ match next week.

Video on the Bloodline Civil War at Money In The Bank with Jey Uso finally pinning Roman Reigns.

Rhea Ripley is in the back and runs into Ms. Money In The Bank Iyo Sky. Ripley says try her, because it would be a huge mistake. Sky leaves and Dominik Mysterio/Damian Priest come in. They haven’t heard from Finn Balor but Ripley threatens Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Dominik Mysterio is ready to hurt Seth Rollins, which has Ripley approving.

Matt Riddle vs. Giovanni Vinci

The rest of Imperium is here with Vinci. Riddle kicks away at the chest but Vinci goes after the still banged up ankle. The middle rope moonsault connects for Vinci but Riddle grabs a rollup for the pin at 1:20.

Post match the beatdown is on until Drew McIntyre makes the save. The Claymore drops Vinci and McIntyre stares Gunther down.

We recap Seth Rollins retaining over Finn Balor at Money In The Bank.

Matt Riddle thanks Drew McIntyre for the save and they’re going to face Imperium next week. For tonight, they’re hitting the town.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Non-title and the rest of Judgment Day (minus Finn Balor) are here with Dominik. Rollins takes him over with a headlock as the fans are all over Dominik. Rollins’ headlock is reversed into another headlock but he’s right back up with a running clothesline. With Dominik on the floor, Ripley offers a distraction but Dominik gets tossed outside again anyway.

We take a break and come back with Rollins snapping off Three Amigos but another Ripley distraction lets Priest shove him off the top. Dominik hits the frog splash and then does it again but doesn’t bother covering. A third only hits raised knees though and Rollins first off some running forearms in the corner. The running knee drops Dominik again and a clothesline sends him outside. Rollins hits a dive onto Dominik and Priest, the latter of whom comes in with the South of Heaven for the DQ at 9:50.

Rating: C+. This was the right way to go as Dominik isn’t going to be a threat to Rollins straight up, but Dominik with Ripley and Priest could be. It’s also good to not have Dominik take another fall, as you don’t want to run him into the ground. Priest coming in for the DQ to set up a cash in tease worked fine and it was nice to see the champion getting to beat someone up for a bit.

Post match Priest loads up the Razor’s Edge through the announcers’ table but Rollins slips out. Dominik gets in a briefcase shot though and Priest teases cashing in. Cue Finn Balor though, and he knocks Rollins into Priest to break up the cash-in attempt (Priest didn’t do it). The argument lets Rollins escape, albeit after a Pedigree on Dominik on the floor. Judgment Day argues a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show had quite the level of HHH efficiency going on and that’s a great thing to see. You had the Judgment Day/Seth Rollins stuff going on throughout the show, plus some things being set up for the future. While not officially announced, you can probably guess most of the Summerslam card from a month out and that’s not bad. Keep doing stuff like this and Raw should be in a good place on the way to Detroit.

Results
Damian Priest b. Shinsuke Nakamura – South Of Heaven
Sonya Deville/Chelsea Green won Tag Team Turmoil last eliminating Kayden Carter/Katana Chance
Alpha Academy b. Viking Raiders – Sunset flip to Valhalla
Rhea Ripley b. Natalya – Riptide
Matt Riddle b. Giovanni Vinci – Rollup
Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio via DQ when Damian Priest interfered

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.

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 19, 2023
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We are about two weeks away from Money In The Bank and we now have a World Title match for the show. Finn Balor will be challenging Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Title in London and that should be good enough to carry a lot of things this this week. Logan Paul is back too so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Seth Rollins for the open challenge title match but Finn Balor jumps him from behind. The beatdown is on outside, with referees and agents holding Balor back. That doesn’t matter, as he manages three Coup de Graces off the steps to crush Rollins as we take an early break.

Post break Balor jumps Rollins again in the back and has to be held back again.

Here is the Miz to say he’s mad about not getting to accept Rollins’ open challenge. Instead, he’s issuing his own open challenge….and we have someone to accept.

The Miz vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Ciampa jumps Miz to start fast and takes the beating outside. Ciampa drops him onto the cover of the announcers’ table and says he was out nine months and didn’t hear from Miz once (there’s a fast explanation. Back in and some corner clotheslines sets up a missed running knee, allowing Miz to grab a short DDT for two. Miz kicks away in the corner and goes up but gets kneed out of the air. The Fairy Tale Ending gives Ciampa the pin at 4:15.

Rating: C. Get Ciampa out there, let him run through someone, have the fans go nuts, get him out of there. This was about Ciampa making an impact and wrapping up a not so great story with Miz. I could go for more of this version of Ciampa, though unfortunately it wouldn’t shock me to see him back with Johnny Gargano sooner than later. That’s not a bad thing, but this would be better.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. Finn Balor says Seth Rollins’ open challenge is canceled because of him. If the fans like to sing that song so much, they can sing it at Rollins’ funeral. Rhea Ripley promises Judgment Day domination at Money In The Bank and Damian Priest says Cody Rhodes needs to keep Dominik Mysterio’s name out of his mouth. After getting booed out of the building, Dominik gets out a challenge for a six man tag to Cody and anyone he can find.

We recap the Usos turning on Roman Reigns and the Bloodline.

Sami Zayn tells Kevin Owens that he has an anger problem and makes him a bet: if Owens can go the rest of the night without snapping once, Zayn will leave it alone. If Owens blows up, he has to admit he has a problem. Deal.

Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville vs. Kayden Carter/Katana Chance

Before the match, we get a Tiktok reel of Chelsea Green going nuts on a lot of people. Chance knocks Green down into the corner to start so it’s quickly off to Carter to beat up both villains. Deville gets dropped quickly and it’s a springboard moonsault/springboard spinning legdrop combination for two. With Green send outside, the Afterparty (450/neckbreaker combination) finishes Deville 2:00.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat on the stage. He accepts Dominik’s challenge. And that’s that.

Indus Sher vs. Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin

Cedric and Shelton start fast and send Sanga outside. A slingshot dive doesn’t work for Alexander so Shelton adds a Blockbuster off the apron to take them down. Alexander gets dropped onto the barricade, leaving Benjamin to get caught with a side slam/middle rope elbow combination for the pin at 2:05.

In the back, Kevin Owens gets doused with some very cold water but manages to keep himself calm. Owens says he has an idiot problem….and runs into Matt Riddle. As Owens bites through his hand because he knows he’s in trouble, Riddle asks if he has seen Honey I Shrunk The Kids. Owens somehow manages to only lose it for a few seconds before wishing Riddle good luck and leaving.

Here is the returning Logan Paul, sitting on a ladder under the Money In The Bank briefcases. Paul talks about how great people come from Cleveland and then they leave. He came back and it still smells like industrial steel and the Browns are still terrible. He and his brother lost their last fights and Miz lost earlier tonight. Now though it is time to put some respect on Cleveland’s name, because he is getting a special invitation into the Money In The Bank ladder match.

Cue Ricochet to interrupt, saying he made Paul go viral at the Royal Rumble. Not that it matters, as he says he’ll win the briefcase anyway. Shinsuke Nakamura, LA Knight and Santos Escobar all interrupt until Butch comes out to start the fight. Paul knocks them to the floor and hits the big flip dive to take them down. Paul gets to climb the ladder, as is custom.

Matt Riddle vs. Ludwig Kaiser

Gunther is here too. Riddle goes for the leg to start but Kaiser takes him into the corner for a right hand. Some chops put Kaiser on the floor but Riddle stops to glare at Gunther, allowing Kaiser to suplex Riddle off the apron to the floor. We take a break and come back with Riddle hitting a top rope superplex for a double knockdown. Riddle strikes away, including a kick to the face. Kaiser is sent outside for a springboard Floating Bro but he comes back with a suplex for two back inside. The middle rope elbow is pulled out of the air, setting up the Bro Derek to give Riddle the pin at 9:09.

Rating: C+. This is why someone like Gunther has lackeys, as Riddle can beat someone with a bit of credibility and build momentum for his eventual title shot. While I can’t imagine Riddle wins the title, it is nice to see someone built up to come after Gunther. The match has potential, and this went well as a way to make Riddle look like a threat.

Post match Gunther goes after Riddle and sweeps the leg without much trouble. Gunther and Kaiser take out Riddle’s knee and leave him laying.

Post break, Riddle is helped to the back.

Imperium interrupts Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, with the latter getting rather annoyed. Zayn gets a message though and they have to leave.

We see an Alpha Academy training session, with Maxxine Dupri being taught the power of hip abilities.

Alpha Academy vs. Viking Raiders

Maxxine Dupri and Valhalla are here too. Gable suplexes Erik down to start so it’s quickly off to Ivar vs. Otis. A corner splash crushes Ivar but the Caterpillar is broken up with a spinning kick. Otis suplexes his way out of trouble though and it’s right back to Gable to strike away at Erik. Gable clotheslines Erik to the floor and moonsaults onto both Vikings. A top rope headbutt gives Gable two back inside and Maxxine suplexes Valhalla. In the melee, Erik hits a knee to Gable for the pin at 4:09.

Rating: C. That ending is certainly a choice as they had the feel good moment with Maxxine using the training to do the suplex and then the Academy, in particular the coach, takes the pin. It’s a weird way to go but for some reason that is the best they have for a match with no stakes. Maxxine feels like a star in the making though and the reactions are getting stronger, so maybe they have something with her.

Damian Priest and Finn Balor are cool with each other but Rhea Ripley has to go deal with Natalya.

Natalya says tonight is another chance to show she still belongs here.

Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya

Ripley jumps her before the bell and the beatdown is on outside. Natalya is whipped into various things and hit with Riptide inside. No match.

Raquel Rodriguez is ready to get into Money In The Bank and runs into Rhea Ripley. Rodriguez says Ripley isn’t ready for her so hope that she doesn’t win.

Akira Tozawa offers to be Cody Rhodes’ partner so he’ll keep that in mind. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn come in, with Zayn saying he got Cody’s text. They’re in.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Trish Stratus

Zoey Stark is here with Trish. Rodriguez grabs a bearhug to start and throws her down with ease. A missed charge sends Rodriguez into the post though and Trish gets in some strikes to the head to take over. Rodriguez misses a kick in the corner and Trish gets to slug away some more. A camel clutch is broken up and Rodriguez hits a running splash in the corner. Stark’s interference takes Rodriguez down so here is Becky Lynch to go after her. Lynch gets too fired up though and sends Trish into the barricade, drawing the DQ at 5:49.

Rating: C+. These two worked well together, but the match felt like more of a storyline advancement than anything else. Becky knows she screwed up and is going to have to head into Money In The Bank outnumbered by Stratus and Stark. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Rodriguez get in there somehow either, as there might be a spot left in the match if they want to keep even with the men. For now though, we get Trish in a ladder match, which is almost hard to imagine.

The fight continues post match.

Bron Breakker (NXT star facing Seth Rollins for the title tomorrow on NXT) isn’t happy that Rollins might be too hurt to face him. What happened to Rollins tonight is nothing compared to what is coming tomorrow. Maybe the doctors can prescribe him some courage. Either way, get used to seeing Breakker around here.

Becky Lynch is mad at herself, but thinks that having a match with Trish involving ladders could be a lot of fun. She’s either winning, or going down in a blaze of glory and bringing Zoey Stark and Stratus with her.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed

Nakamura strikes away to start and does it again in the corner until Reed drops him with one shot. Back up and Nakamura hits the sliding German suplex but here is Ricochet to yell at him as we take a break. We come back with Reed slugging away and hitting a powerslam for two.

Nakamura grabs a choke but Reed powerbombs his way out of trouble. A forearm puts Nakamura on the floor and one heck of a running shoulder drops him again. Hold on though as Reed goes after Ricochet, allowing Nakamura to kick Reed in the head. Nakamura’s charge hits Ricochet though and Reed drops Nakamura fast. The Tsunami gives Reed the pin at 8:28.

Rating: C+. These two work well together and that was on display again here. What matters is having a match that keeps both of them looking strong, though you can probably pencil in the triple threat match with these two and Ricochet for next week. Reed winning gets him some steam back, though it’s a bit strange to have him go over the person actually in Money In The Bank.

Seth Rollins doesn’t care what the doctors say. He’ll defend against Bron Breakker tomorrow night, but as for Finn Balor, Money In The Bank can’t come soon enough.

Cody Rhodes/Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day

Balor works on Rhodes’ arm to start but gets caught in a headlock. Some shoulders in the corner have Rhode sin trouble though and it’s Dominik coming in for a slap to the back. Rhodes scares Dominik away and it’s off to Priest to kick Zayn in the corner. A middle rope elbow to the head gets Zayn out of trouble and it’s Dominik coming back in. Zayn kicks him in the face but Rhea Ripley gets in a cheap shot to put Zayn down as we take a break.

Back with Priest missing a charge into the post but Dominik cuts off the hot tag bid. Zayn fights out of trouble again though and the hot tag brings in Owens to clean house (with the fans going fairly nuts). Dominik tries to run off but gets pulled back inside for the Cannonball. Cody comes back in and powerslams Priest, followed by the Disaster Kick for two.

A Ripley distraction lets Priest hit South of Heaven for two, with Zayn making the save. Hold on as we get a Zayn vs. Ripley staredown, with Ripley having to drop down so Zayn’s dive can hit Dominik. The Cody Cutter gets two on Priest so it’s a Helluva Kick into a Stunner to Dominik. Cross Rhodes finishes Priest at 13:33.

Rating: B. The crowd was on FIRE for this and it made the match that much more entertaining. Priest taking the fall was a little bit odd but Balor is the #1 contender and Dominik is such a heat magnet that I guess they want to protect him. What mattered here was giving the fans a red hot match to end the show and the crowd elevated it to that point, which made for a heck of a closing act. That being said, no payoff to the Owens anger deal? They built that up for most of the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Other than the main event and maybe Paul/Ciampa’s returns, there wasn’t much to be seen this week. What mattered here though was they didn’t do anything stupid and haven’t spent weeks focusing a bunch of time on “building momentum” towards the ladder matches. It felt like a circling the field show before they go to London next week and it did well enough to keep me entertained for three hours. Not a show you need to see, but it could have been a lot worse.

Results
Tommaso Ciampa b. The Miz – Fairy Tale Ending
Kayden Carter/Katana Chance b. Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville – Afterparty to Deville
Indus Sher b. Shelton Benjamin/Cedric Alexander – Side slam/middle rope elbow combination to Benjamin
Matt Riddle b. Ludwig Kaiser – Bro Derek
Viking Raiders b. Alpha Academy – Knee to Gable
Bronson Reed b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Tsunami
Cody Rhodes/Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn b. Judgment Day – Cross Rhodes to Priest

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.

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 12, 2023
Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We’re less than three weeks away from Money in the Bank and tonight we have another qualifying match. We also have Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn getting to deal with Imperium, but the bigger story might be Finn Balor coming after Seth Rollins and the World Heavyweight Championship. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Rhea Ripley, who is quickly presented with the Women’s World Title (which looks like the World Heavyweight Title but with a white strap). The fans cheer, but here is Dominik Mysterio to put the title around here waist. He calls the booing disrespectful but here is Cody Rhodes to interrupt.

Cody could talk about his match with the Miz, but we look at Dominik calling him a deadbeat dad last week. Dominik slapped him last week but Cody was hoping that Brock Lesnar was coming out here this week. Instead, how about he faces Dominik at Money In The Bank? Rhea accepts for him but cue Miz to jump Cody from behind. Cody drops him but gets jumped by Dominik.

Cody Rhodes vs. The Miz

Miz flips out of an early belly to back suplex but it’s way too early for the Skull Crushing Finale. Instead Cody sends him outside for a Disaster Kick off the apron. The suicide dive connects and Cody grabs an armbar back inside. Cody misses a charge into the post though and Miz sends him into the post as we take a break.

Back with Cody fighting back and hitting a powerslam as Cody vs. Dominik is officially confirmed for Money in the Bank. Another Disaster Kick gives Cody two but Miz kicks him in the arm and gets two off a DDT. The Cody Cutter connects though and Cross Rhodes finishes for Cody at 10:38.

Rating: C+. Cody gets another win as he keeps getting ready for his third showdown with Brock Lesnar, even if that might not take place for a good while. As usual, Miz can be there to take a loss to anyone and look good in defeat. The arm work was a fine enough story here and they had a perfectly watchable match.

Becky Lynch passes the Alpha Academy and Maxxine Dupri working out on her way to the ring.

Here is Lynch in the ring for a chat. She talks about how we have been conditioned to think that the champion is the most important person. Instead, it should be the person with the most power, and who has more power than the person holding that briefcase? That should make the champ scared, but it should make Trish Stratus scared too.

Cue Zoey Stark to interrupt, saying Lynch can’t beat Trish. Lynch says learning from her failures is what made her great, but we haven’t learned much about Stark. She knows Stark is good, but she has no personality. Stark is ready to take Lynch out at Money in the Bank. Lynch says we can do this right now but cue Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville to say they’ll handle this. Zoey did well in her first major promo on the main roster and held her own against a star like Lynch. We’ll also ignore Lynch saying that having a title shot is more important than having the title itself.

Chelsea Green vs. Becky Lynch

Sonya Deville is here with Green, who gets shouldered down to start. We take a break and come back with Lynch fighting out of a chinlock but getting sent face first into the corner. Lynch isn’t having that and counters I’m Prettier. A rollup is countered as well and it’s the Disarm-Her for the tap at 6:28.

Rating: C. Not much to this one as it’s hard to imagine that Lynch is going to be in any kind of danger against Green. Despite coming back to some fanfare, Green hasn’t done much of note so far. That being said, she can still be out there driving people crazy and lose over and over without missing a beat. That’s a good person to have around and Green plays the role well.

We recap last week’s main event, with Seth Rollins retaining the World Title over Damian Priest.

The Judgment Day is in the back and Finn Balor says he has a lot on his mind. Priest does too, like qualifying for the Money in the Bank ladder match. Alone.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Matt Riddle vs. Damian Priest

Riddle goes straight to a Kimura before having to switch to a sleeper. Priest is sent outside where the kick from the apron is cut off, allowing Priest to send him face first into the apron. A huge dive misses for Priest, who goes flying over the announcers’ table. Back inside and Priest hits a lifting Downward Spiral, followed by the knee between Riddle’s shoulders.

Back up and Riddle kicks him in the head, setting up a backsplash to send Priest outside. The springboard Floating Bro takes Priest down and Riddle grabs a bridging German suplex for two back inside. Priest is right back with the Broken Arrow and they’re both down as we take a break.

Back with Riddle pulling him into an ankle lock before switching into another sleeper. Priest drops backwards for the escape and blasts him with a clothesline. Riddle’s springboard is broken up and a hanging headlock driver gives Priest two more. Priest catches him up top but is reversed into a fisherman’s superplex for two. Back up and Priest catches him on the ropes and hits a Razor’s Edge for the pin at 14:20.

Rating: B. This was a hard hitting back and forth fight with Priest winning in the end, which was a bit of a surprise. That being said, Riddle hasn’t exactly had the best success since his return but at least he is doing well in the ring. The fans are reacting to him as well, which means he is probably going to be pretty high up on the card for the time being. If he can have matches like this on a regular basis, I can go for that.

Post match Gunther and Ludvig Kaiser come out to stare down Priest. After a quick look at Priest, Gunther and Kaiser go inside and beat down Riddle.

Cody Rhodes is ready to face Dominik Mysterio at Money in the Bank because it’s a step on the path to finishing the story, just like beating Brock Lesnar again.

Natalya says maybe changing is a good thing because she doesn’t know how to be herself anymore.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are ready to face Imperium, who interrupt them. Owens is ready to get annoyed, to the point where he agrees to make their previously scheduled match for the titles. Gunther chuckles but Sami holds up the titles. Adam Pearce isn’t sure if the match will be for the titles.

We recap the Bloodline issues from Smackdown.

Indus Shera and Jinder Mahal want to hurt Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander again.

Ricochet vs. Bronson Reed

Reed knocks him into the corner to start and here is Shinsuke Nakamura. Ricochet fights back but a tornado DDT is countered into a drop over the top rope. A hard crash off of said ropes leaves Ricochet in trouble as we take a break. Back with Ricochet slipping out of a powerbomb and hitting a jumping kick to the shoulder. Reed gets kicked to the floor for a suicide dive, followed by the springboard crossbody back inside. A Lionsault gives Ricochet two but another moonsault is pulled out of the air, with Reed throwing him at Nakamura. Back in and Nakamura jumps Reed for the DQ at 7:35.

Rating: B-. That is the kind of storyline ending that keeps things going and you might even be able to pencil in a triple threat match after Nakamura faces Reed next week. As for the match itself, it was a rather decent power vs. speed match, as Ricochet is on a nice little roll as of late. Reed is a good monster too, and seeing him run people over is a nice thing to see on a regular basis.

Post match Ricochet is mad at Nakamura for costing him a match, which is a rather fair criticism. Reed runs them over and goes up, only to be pulled back down in a double superplex.

Kevin Owens goes off on Sami Zayn about all of the stress they have been having recently. But don’t worry, because he’s good for out there.

Adam Pearce makes the main event a Tag Team Title match when Ricochet comes in. He wants Bronson Reed next week, but Reed already has Shinsuke Nakamura, who pops in, next week instead. Ricochet asks Nakamura what was up out there and threatens violence if it happens again. Nakamura doesn’t seem threatened.

Here is Finn Balor for a chat. He wants Seth Rollins out here, minus the singalong and jokes, so here is Rollins, complete with singalong. Balor tells everyone to shut up and mentions what he was doing in 2016 before Rollins hurt him. Rollins asks the fans if they’re having fun tonight and they cut Balor off again.

Balor goes over the injuries Rollins gave him in 2016 and now it’s time Balor takes it all back at Money in the Bank. That makes Rollins laugh because he’s glad to see the Balor he has been wanting for seven years. Rollins has changed over the years and is the best version of himself. So which Balor is coming to London? The one who beat him in 2016 has a shot, but this guy is a joke. Balor looks serious to wrap it up. Balor as the challenger of the month at a show filled with ladder matches works just fine, especially with their history.

Raquel Rodriguez vs. Shayna Baszler

Ronda Rousey is here too. Baszler grabs a fall away slam to start and powers Baszler into the corner. That’s broken up and Baszler pulls her down, only to have Rousey offer a distraction. Baszler grabs a rollup with an assist from Rousey for the pin at 2:13.

Iron Sheik tribute video.

Erik vs. Chad Gable

Their respective partner/manager are here too. Erik takes him down to start but we pause for Maxxine to armdrag Valhalla on the floor. Maxxine celebrates like nuts and the distraction lets Gable get a sunset flip for the pin at 1:48.

Video on Rhea Ripley.

Finn Balor is talking to JD McDonagh when Damian Priest comes in. They’re both happy with each other’s success but Priest wouldn’t cash in on Balor. Priest says make it work and end this at Money in the Bank.

Seth Rollins is ready for Balor at Money in the Bank and seems to think Priest isn’t happy. He’s so happy that we can just do another open challenge for a title match next week.

Tag Team Titles: Gunther/Ludvig Kaiser vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens

Gunther and Kaiser are challenging and Gunther powers Sami into the corner to start. Sami manages to knock him outside though and there’s the big running flip dive to take Gunther down. We take a break and come back with Zayn taking Kaiser down into a quickly broken armbar. Sami knocks him down again but it’s off to Gunther off a blind tag. The big boot gives Gunther two and it’s Sami in trouble in the corner. Zayn is draped over the top and kicked down to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Owens getting the tag to clean house, including a t-bone suplex to Gunther. A superkick sets up the Cannonball to Gunther and the Swanton gets two. The Stunner is cut off though and Gunther boots Owens down. The double tag brings in Sami to suplex Kaiser into the corner but Gunther pulls Sami outside.

Gunther’s chop only hits the post though, leaving Kaiser to Death Valley Driver Zayn. Back in and Gunther hits a rather hard lariat for two and the Imperium Bomb gets the same, with Owens having to make the save. Cue Matt Riddle, with the distraction letting Owens take Gunther down on the floor. The Blue Thunder Bomb retains the titles at 18:43.

Rating: B. This was a longer match and it made the titles feel that much more important. Gunther has that aura to him that makes whatever he does seem important and Kaiser is a rather suitable partner. The ending also keeps Riddle vs. Imperium going and actually made the Blue Thunder Bomb feel like a finisher, which has been the case maybe twice ever for Zayn. Good main event here, as Owens and Zayn get another nice title defense.

Overall Rating: B. This was kind of a strange show as it set up some things for Money in the Bank but it didn’t exactly feel important. Maybe that’s because neither match exactly comes off as big, but the ladder matches are going to carry the show anyway. Other than that, you had solid action here though and a lot of stuff did happen. It might not have been great, but it was efficient, and that’s not a bad night.

Results
Cody Rhodes b. The Miz – Cross Rhodes
Becky Lynch b. Chelsea Green – Disarm-Her
Damian Priest b. Matt Riddle – Razor’s Edge
Bronson Reed b. Ricochet via DQ when Shinsuke Nakamura interfered
Shayna Baszler b. Raquel Rodriguez – Rollup with assist from Ronda Rousey
Chad Gable b. Erik – Sunset flip
Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn b. Gunther/Ludvig Kaiser – Blue Thunder Bomb to Kaiser

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.