For those of you who think Natalya is a legend.

So we have the first champions, the annoying challengers, not Trish Stratus and Lita and those two monsters who won’t stop appearing on every single show for reasons. I’m not sure why we need Phoenix and Natalya on the show but I guess since they came up with the idea of a legends team (Natalya: Legend), they couldn’t just drop it and do champions vs. red team vs. blue team.

I’ll go with the champs retaining, though the IIconics stealing the titles wouldn’t shock me. Bayley and Sasha Banks are way too early into their reign to lose and it’s not like there are a ton of teams for either heel team to face anyway. Keep them on the champs and figure out what you want to do with the belts later on.

Oh yeah I answer questions sometimes.  Like this one:

This has been a busy week for WWE but one of the stories that has flown under the radar is the announcement of the first ever Women’s Tag Team Titles and an official date for the first champions to be crowned. That would be at next month’s Elimination Chamber and that means it’s time to do some fantasy booking.

So obviously we’re going to need six teams and since we’re going to both shows for these things, it’s a little easier. Here are the teams I’m expecting:

Bayley/Sasha Banks

Nia Jax/Tamina

Riott Squad (Ruby Riott/Sarah Logan)

Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville

Naomi/Lana

IIconics

You can’t say WWE hasn’t been setting these teams up over the last few months. Since this is elimination, let’s see who we can knock off early. Mandy and Sonya aren’t getting any titles anytime soon, Naomi and Lana aren’t surviving a match like this and the IIconics aren’t going to win a thing of value for a long time. In other words, the Smackdown teams would be better off allowing Mickie James and Lacey Evans to take one of their spots instead.

That leaves us with three options and each of them could win.

Tamina/Nia Jax

Having the monsters win the titles first is certainly a way to go and something that has worked for a long time. It sets up several rematches (“You can win when anything goes but between these ropes, we know we can beat you!”) and it’s not like you have to ask WWE to push Jax. I don’t think they get the belts though, as Nia is too valuable as a mountain for someone else to overcome.

Riott Squad

I’d love for this to be Logan and Morgan but I can’t imagine leaving Ruby out of something like this. These three have been feuding with Bayley and Banks for the better part of ever now and there’s no end to the thing in sight. They might as well have some titles to fight over so it seems the slightest bit more important, and I think you know what that means.

Bayley/Sasha Banks

I’m taking the plucky faces as the winners as it’s not like there’s anyone else that is likely to get the belts. These two have been on the road to these things forever now and it makes sense to put the titles on them. If nothing else the celebration could be fun before they turn on each other again later in the year. I can’t imagine they hold the titles long, but they’re the most likely candidates to get them for the first time.

Dang the Smackdown side is awful here. How did that happen?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 31, 2018
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re taped this week for the second time in a row, which has to be the first time in at least several years, assuming two of the UK shows didn’t take place back to back at some point. The big deal tonight is a cage match between Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, because that was a story that needed to go on for the better part of nine months, assuming it ends tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

The cage is lowered to start.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre

In a cage with pinfall, submission or escape to win. Ziggler has thankfully lost the record scratch at the start of his song. An early escape attempt doesn’t work for Ziggler and Drew chops the heck out of him. That and a delayed vertical suplex are enough to put Dolph down for some writhing on the mat.

Dolph’s early comeback is cut off by the Glasgow Kiss but he catches Drew on top. That means a series of rams into the cage but Drew kicks the knee out for a crotching. Back from a break with Drew demanding that Ziggler fight and being set into the cage for his efforts. The superkick gives Ziggler two but Drew pulls him back inside. A double headbutt puts them both down again but Drew is up first, only to have Ziggler slam the cage door on his head.

The Fameasser gets two and we take a break. Back again with McIntyre superplexing him off the top of the cage and then sending Ziggler face first into the cage. The Claymore takes Dolph’s head off but Drew would rather sit and look instead of cover. Another Claymore finishes Ziggler at 19:29.

Rating: C+. It’s a good win for McIntyre but it’s way past time for this feud to be over. McIntyre is better than Ziggler and they need to move him on to something else already. They’ve been at this for months now and McIntyre has gotten everything he can from Ziggler. That doesn’t mean it’s stopping, but it means that it should.

Post match Drew isn’t done as he puts a chair in front of Ziggler’s head and Claymores it into Ziggler’s head, driving it into the cage. Drew says that he’s going to win the Royal Rumble and leaves, but comes back as Ziggler was sitting up in the chair. That means another Claymore to leave Ziggler laying. Ok are we done with these two now? I mean we should have been three months ago but are we done now?

Time for some New Year’s Resolutions.

Finn Balor wants the Universal Title back.

Ember Moon wants to win the Royal Rumble.

Ascension wants to bring back the Fashion Files. And win the Tag Team Titles.

Lucha House Party wants it to be their year.

Here’s Seth Rollins for a chat. He wants a fresh start this year but that’s the case every single week on Raw because things move so fast. However, he has a guaranteed rematch for the Intercontinental Title and wants to use that right now. Cue HHH to say that it’s a new day in WWE and those automatic rematches are gone. On top of that, Rollins doesn’t really deserve a shot right now.

That’s hard for HHH to say because he’s always supported Rollins, which Rollins isn’t letting slip by. HHH talks about how Rollins made him believe in him but HHH is done handing things out. Rollins loses it over that, saying that he never wanted things handed to him. While Brock Lesnar was up in Canada doing whatever Lesnar does, Rollins was out here having classics with everyone from Finn Balor to Dolph Ziggler to MOJO RAWLEY.

HHH wants the old Rollins back and tonight he can burn it down against Bobby Lashley. That’s cool with Seth, who is taking Lashley down tonight, then Dean Ambrose and the Intercontinental Title, and then the Universal Title. If HHH and his family gets in his way, they’re being taken down too. This brings out Shane McMahon to say that Rollins needs to leave, because we’ve got a battle royal with the winner getting an Intercontinental Title shot later tonight and it starts right now.

Battle Royal

Finn Balor, No Way Jose, Viktor, Konnor, Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, Zack Ryder, Mojo Rawley, Tyler Breeze, Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, Curt Hawkins, Baron Corbin

This is dubbed the Fresh Start battle royal. It’s a brawl to start with Jose hitting an airplane spin on Viktor. Crews eliminates both of them and then puts the B Team on the apron. Some dropkicks have Konnor in trouble and things slow down a lot. Kalisto puts Kalisto on the apron but the House Party gets together to eliminate him. Back from a break with Balor eliminating Metalik by knocking him off the top and then sending the other members of the House Part to the apron.

They’re both thrown out by Balor but Crews then gets rid of the B Team, Konnor and Rawley in a rush. Breeze follows them out for Crews’ seventh elimination until Corbin chokeslams Crews down. Balor dropkicks away as we’re down to five with Balor cleaning house. Corbin gets in a shot from behind though and dumps Balor, leaving us with Corbin, Ryder, Hawkins and Crews.

Ryder gets in some hope spots but Corbin backdrops him to the floor to cut him off. Hawkins and Corbin have the staredown with the fans getting behind Hawkins, even as he’s thrown to the apron. Renee: “Take that haters.” Of course he’s out shortly thereafter to gt us down to two. Corbin throws Crews to the apron but Crews gets back in, allowing Corbin to try the slide underneath the ropes. That’s cut off by a jumping enziguri though, followed by a second to give Apollo the win at 11:38.

Rating: D+. Not much to this one, though they did a good job of making Crews look like a star in the whole thing. There’s nothing to be gained by having him just hang around until the ending and then win by eliminating one person, but Crews got rid of half of the field, which is quite the feat. Now of course that doesn’t matter if he loses badly to Dean tonight, which is about what you have to know is coming. Oh and Corbin in a battle royal is fine, as long as he doesn’t talk.

Post match Crews says that’s what he’s been looking for and it’s finally here after 364 days. Tonight, he wants the title.

Natalya talks about how great this year has been, including last week’s title match against Ronda Rousey. This has been a rollercoaster year and she wants the Raw Women’s Title, which is why she’s entering the Royal Rumble. Nia Jax comes in to say Ronda might not be the champion by then. Something might derail Natalya’s plans too, and here’s Tamina to jump her from behind. Nia: “Where’s your best friend now Natalya?”

Corbin is still in the ring after a break (ERG!) and rants about how hard his job was as General Manager because he had so much to do. This brings out Elias to play some Auld Lang Syne and call Corbin a loser. He was talking to Kid Rock earlier in the day and they agreed that spending New Year’s Eve with Corbin was a bad idea.

Detroit is making a comeback and now that Elias is here it can be ready to roll like never before. Elias’ song is about how Corbin sucks but it doesn’t matter because he’s in Detroit Rock City. The fight is on and they fight into the crowd for a bit before going back to ringside with Elias getting the better of it. If this is as high as Corbin gets, I can live with it.

Drake Maverick and the AOP promise to make the new year even more brutal. Akam pops a balloon.

The Riott Squad isn’t changing because no one ever changes.

Zack Ryder wants to win and collect action figures.

No Way Jose wants a party.

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

Banks takes Logan into the corner to start as the announcers talk about Logan eating a deer heart at her viking wedding over the weekend. Ember comes in to roll Ruby (who has gotten a big haircut) up a few times, followed by a hard dropkick for two more. It’s off to Morgan to kick Moon in the face and then stomp her down in the corner. The Squad triple stomps away so Bayley and Banks come in for the brawl as we take a break.

Back with Bayley getting hiptossed but armdragging Morgan down to take over again. It’s off to Banks for an attempt at the double knees in the corner but Morgan is up in time to take her down instead. Ruby’s chinlock doesn’t go anywhere so Morgan comes back in and runs Banks down for two and some loud screaming. Banks slips out of a backslide and kicks her in the face but the numbers game gets the better of her Moon has to come in for a save and dives onto Morgan and Riott on the floor. That leave Bayley to make a blind tag and it’s the Backstabber into the top rope elbow for the pin on Logan at 12:30.

Rating: C+. DO! SOMETHING! ELSE!!! Good grief how many months has we spent watching Banks/Bayley/a friend of the month vs. the Riott Squad? They have the same match against each other over and over as we wait for them to be in the next big gimmick match on pay per view. How is anyone supposed to benefit from this? Well other than the writers who get to take this segment off every week of course.

We look at Braun Strowman’s year.

Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley wants a fresh start so there’s no posing tonight. He’s a fighter and tonight he’s going to fight. Lashley runs him over to start but Seth slugs away to get a breather. An enziguri staggers Lashley and a running knee to the back sends him outside. That means a slingshot forearm but a Rush distraction lets Lashley take over again. The nerve hold doesn’t last long as Rollins jawbreaks his way to freedom but he stops to go after Rush. That means a hurricanrana into the post and we take a break.

Back with Lashley holding a chinlock until he lets go for some posing. Rollins gets dropped onto his shoulder for two more but the delayed vertical suplex is escaped. Some right hands and a Sling Blade put Lashley on the floor. The suicide dives keep Lashley in trouble and the springboard clothesline gets two. Rush offers another distraction though and this time Rollins chases him to the timekeeper’s area. Rollins finally clotheslines him down but gets jumped by Lashley. That’s enough for Rollins, who hits him with a chair for the DQ at 9:38.

Rating: C. They’re trying to build Rollins up but just let him have a match he can win if you want him to work. Rollins got over huge in the first place because he had the most energetic matches on the show but now he’s swatting at Rush like a fly and losing to Lashley. Just let him win here as Lashley losing to a former World Champion isn’t going to derail him. He can do the post match beatdown after a win and still be fine.

Post match Rollins destroys both of them with the chair.

John Cena is back next week.

Remember that video where we see the same six NXT names over and over? Well here it is again.

Jinder Mahal/Singh Brothers vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno

So Rhyno, the hometown boy, is already back after what, three weeks of being fired? It’s no Kevin Owens quitting one week and being back the next but still not great. Slater punches away at Mahal to start but gets driven into the corner for the series of right hands. Sumir comes in for some elbows and dancing but it’s quickly off to Rhyno for the house cleaning. A belly to belly plants both Singhs and it’s time for the Gore. Sunil grabs the foot though and Mahal adds a superkick. The Khallas is good for the pin on Rhyno at 2:59. That was the most necessary match I’ve seen in years.

Ambrose says he doesn’t need to have a fresh start because he’s great right now. He’s not about to have Crews get some feel good moment to begin the year.

Bobby Roode and Chad Gable want to shut up the Revival for good next week so the division can be glorious.

The Revival wants to bring credibility back to the division.

Bayley and Sasha want to win the Tag Team Titles.

Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose vs. Apollo Crews

Crews is challenging and dropkicks Dean in the face for talking too much trash. A sunset flip and a rollup give Apollo two each and a clothesline puts Dean on the floor. That means a moonsault from the apron and we take a break. Back with Apollo fighting out of a chinlock and getting two off a small package. A double clothesline puts them both down but it’s Apollo up first with a kick to the head.

The Toss Powerbomb is broken up but Crews settles for two off a standing shooting star pres. A belly to belly sends Dean into the corner and now the Toss Powerbomb connects for two with Dean grabbing the ropes. Dean bails to the floor but gets caught with a flip dive. Back in and the frog splash misses, allowing Dean to hit Dirty Deeds to retain at 9:15.

Rating: C. Well thanks for pushing Apollo for about two hours. It sure was nice to have him do the same offense he always does before Dean pinned him to retain the title. At some point they need to push someone and having them lose like this isn’t the way to do it. I’m sure he gets points for losing or something, but either don’t put him in the match or have him win.

Alexa Bliss is proud of her time running the Raw women’s division but that time has come to an end. Next week, she’ll be debuting her own talk show called A Moment of Bliss. Her first guest will be Ronda Rousey, and Ronda better dress for the occasion because she won’t be in a pit.

Brock Lesnar is back next week.

Nia Jax/Tamina vs. Ronda Rousey/Natalya

Ronda wastes no time and starts the fight in a hurry before dropping Tamina. Nia comes in and has to fight off an armbar. That’s finally shoved away and it’s off to Natalya for a snap suplex on Tamina. Nia pulls Tamina outside but Ronda dives onto both of them to send us to a break. Back with Natalya in trouble and Nia sending her into the corner. The pull out of the corner is even worse and gives Nia two as it’s off to the chinlock.

Natalya scores with a crossbody though and the hot tag brings in Rousey to clean house. A jumping elbow gives Rousey two on Nia but she throws Rousey down again. The super Samoan drop is broken up so Tamina makes a blind tag and kicks Rousey in the face for two. The armbar on Tamina is broken up with the legdrop and Tamina superkicks Natalya to the floor. Tamina misses the Superfly Splash and gets armbarred for the tap at 12:21.

Rating: D. Oh no. This really didn’t work as it was every match we’ve seen Rousey have with these two. OH NO! THEY HIT HER REALLY HARD AND HOW CAN SHE EVER GET AND THERE’S THE ARMBAR! This was a lifeless main event and I was so bored sitting through it after a long show already. Bad ending to the show, which isn’t the way to end the year.

Overall Rating: C-. This show felt rather self contained as it came off more like a holding pattern for next week than anything else. That being said, given how low the viewership is going to be for this due to the holiday, that’s not the worst idea in the world. Next week’s show is stacked though and it should be a good start on the way towards the Rumble. Nothing of note to see this week, though Drew winning is a good sign.

Results

Drew McIntyre b. Dolph Ziggler – Claymore

Apollo Crews won a battle royal last eliminating Baron Corbin

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Ember Moon b. Riott Squad – Top rope elbow to Logan

Bobby Lashley b. Seth Rollins via DQ when Rollins used a chair

Jinder Mahal/Singh Brothers b. Heath Slater/Rhyno – Khallas to Rhyno

Dean Ambrose b. Apollo Crews – Dirty Deeds

Ronda Rousey/Natalya b. Nia Jax/Tamina – Armbar to Tamina

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 3, 2018
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

Last week was one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen this company produce. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t entertaining (save for one match) and it was a complete nightmare. Normally I would say things couldn’t get worse, but I’ve been wrong in that regard far too many times. Just…please nothing that terrible again. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a ten bell salute to George H. W. Bush, who was a Houston resident. Nothing wrong with that.

Ronda Rousey/Natalya vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Actually hang on a second as here’s the Riott Squad with a table. The distraction lets Tamina hit a superkick to Rousey and the beatdown is on in a hurry. The Squad sets up the table and Natalya gets powerbombed through as Rousey is beaten down. No match.

Post break Rousey has Natalya checked on and glares revenge.

Here’s Alexa Bliss for a chat. Last week she was put in charge of the entire women’s division and then the open forum that she set up didn’t go well. That’s why we’re going to try this again so we’ve got Charly Caruso in the crowd to answer questions. We need some people to ask questions to though so here are Sasha Banks and Bayley. After having a seat, Bayley gets straight to the point: when are Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox and Mickie James going to run in and attack them?

The first question is about social media asking if Banks is going to stab her in the back. Banks laughs it off and says they’ll be partners for life. Second (asked by a woman who looks like Carmella’s sister) is if you could have a match with anyone who would it be. Bayley/Sasha at the same time: “Trish Stratus and Lita at Wrestlemania.”

Next: if you could have a superpower what would it be. Bayley would want to make things disappear, starting with Bliss. That’s enough for a victory lap around her chair. Banks thinks Bayley’s answer works for her too. Bliss says she already made Banks’ title disappear so we’ll move on. Fourth: what changes will they be bringing in 2019? Bayley wants the two of them to be the first ever Women’s Tag Team Champions. Cue Dana, Mickie and Alicia but Bliss calls them off. A match is made instead.

Bayley/Sasha Banks vs. Mickie James/Alicia Fox

Bayley charges at Mickie to start but gets taken into the wrong corner for the northern lights suplex from Fox. The chinlock goes on for a bit until it’s off to Fox via the hot tag. Mickie has to break up the Bank Statement so Sasha forearms her in the face several times. A kick to the face drops Banks for two with Bayley making the save. Bayley comes back in and it’s a Backstabber into the Bayley to Belly to finish James at 4:17.

Rating: D+. So now we’ve officially heard about the Women’s Tag Team Titles. I don’t particularly need to see them but having some titles to fight over would be better than having the same women having the same matches for no apparent reason so I’ll take what I can get. As long as it’s not Stephanie making some big speech to tell us about them.

We look back at Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre wrecking Finn Balor and Elias last week.

Rousey yells at Bliss about Natalya so Bliss offers her a new partner tonight. That’s not happening because Rousey doesn’t trust her so she’ll find a new partner herself.

Video on Baron Corbin’s rise to power and everything that he’s done to everyone. Thankfully we get the awesome voiceover guy to make this a little more interesting.

Chad Gable and Bobby Roode come in to see Corbin and demand a Tag Team Title rematch with AOP. That’s a big negative, but Roode has to beat Drake Maverick in a singles match tonight. Gable and the AOP are banned from ringside so everyone seems happy.

Scott Dawson vs. Gran Metalik

Before we get going, Dawson says that since the House Party can’t understand the point of tag wrestling, he’ll have to explain in a singles match. Jojo: “The following match will take place under Lucha House Party rules!” So yeah, it’s 3-1 instead.

Scott Dawson vs. Lucha House Party

Metalik starts things off and takes Dawson down early on before bringing in Kalisto for the elevated splash. It’s off to Dorado, who gets caught in a Gory Stretch. Wilder gets beaten up as well and some rapid fire tags set up the Salida Del Sol. Metalik drops a rope walk Swanton for the pin at 2:39. I’ve grown to hate these matches more than almost anything else on the show. I mean….yeah this is really stupid. I’m trying to come up with something positive here and it’s not coming to me.

Corbin has a box delivered to him and says he’s going to love it. That he would be Drew McIntyre, who is getting an appreciation night next.

Here’s Corbin (because of course) to host Drew’s appreciation night. Corbin talks about being living proof that you can rise above anything, even if you have some thorns in your side. This man has helped him overcome some of those thorns though, which is why we’re celebrating him tonight. After a video on Drew, here he is in the flesh. Corbin gets straight to the point and hands him the box, containing a gold medal. That’s the Raw Gold Medal of Excellence, now that McIntyre has put Kurt Angle out of action.

Drew talks about coming here seven months ago to change the culture in the locker room. The wrestlers have been in the back playing video games and exchanging compliments with fans on social media. That’s why he’s tried to reshape Raw in his own image. Drew is going to keep doing everything that has gotten him here….and this brings out Dolph Ziggler to interrupt. Ziggler says he brought Drew to Raw but didn’t see him in the video package. Drew was the muscle while Dolph was the brains.

McIntyre isn’t convinced, starting with Dolph not meeting the height requirement. The reality is that Drew was the brains, the muscle and everything rolled into one. This isn’t working for him anymore because Dolph’s role was to get him in a prominent position. McIntyre turns things personal by saying he’s the reason Ziggler was relevant for the first time in ten years. Apparently hurt by the truth, Ziggler punches him in the face and hits the Zig Zag. Ziggler goes to leave but Corbin says it’s match time.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre

Joined in progress with Ziggler in trouble and being tossed outside. McIntyre sends him into a few things on the floor and takes it back inside for a chinlock. Ziggler fights up so it’s an overhead belly to belly to cut him off again. They head outside again and this time Drew wants a microphone. McIntyre says he’s going to treat Ziggler like someone he doesn’t like, which means some alternating rams into the barricade and then the apron. Cue Balor himself as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre getting two off the reverse Alabama Slam as frustration starts setting in. Ziggler punches his way out of a superplex attempt and hits the running DDT for the double knockdown. As you might expect, the fans aren’t exactly thrilled because Ziggler was a villain until about fifteen minutes ago. Ziggler sends him outside for a running clothesline off the apron but a headbutt gets McIntyre out of trouble. McIntyre sends him back in and the ref gets bumped, allowing Balor to dropkick McIntyre into the barricade. That’s enough for nine as McIntyre dives back in….for a superkick from Ziggler for the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C+. Well, it wasn’t clean. That makes things a little bit better, but there was no reason to not have McIntyre lose via countout here. Ziggler still isn’t the kind of guy who should be getting a big singles pin, especially over someone like McIntyre. That being said, this is far from some death sentence for McIntyre so it’s hardly the worst thing in the world.

Post break Drew promises to have the mountain fall down on Dolph. As for Finn, he’s a marked man.

Here’s a banged up Elias, with his hair down for a change, for a song. After some playing, Elias says he wants to wrap his guitar around Bobby Lashley’s head and at TLC, there will be no more hiding. Cue Lashley and Lio Rush to promise Elias some pain. Bobby strikes some poses including the bending over one, drawing Elias up the ramp for a fight. Elias gets the better of it and sends Lashley into the video wall, leaving Rush to bail. Before he can get too far though, Balor throws him onto the stage so Elias can blast him with the guitar.

Jinder Mahal is in Corbin’s office and offers to beat up Balor tonight. They’re not worried about Braun Strowman showing up tonight. Mahal leaves and here are Rhyno and Heath Slater. Corbin has come to a conclusion: there’s only room for one of them on Raw so one of them needs to quit. Neither will do that so Corbin makes a match between the two of them with the job on the line.

Drake Maverick vs. Bobby Roode

Roode gets in a few shots but we cut to the back where the AOP beats up Chad Gable. Corbin comes in to say he’s changed his mind and it’s now a 3-2 handicap match.

AOP/Drake Maverick vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

Roode is smart enough to hit the Glorious DDT before the AOP can get in but they’re just in time for the save. The beatdown is on in a hurry with the side slam/middle rope stomp combination getting two. Gable comes out holding his neck but gets caught with an atomic drop/big boot combination. The Super Collider lets Maverick pin Roode at 3:49.

Rating: D-. This was an angle instead of a match (that tends to be the case a lot tonight) and I get the big story they’re telling with Corbin being drunk with power and wanting to ruin people who opposed him. That’s fine on paper, but it’s not something that’s working in reality. It comes off as tiresome instead of effective and that’s a bad thing to build the show around. The match wasn’t the worst, mainly because it didn’t include any stupid Maverick segment. That alone keeps it from being the failure that was last week’s match, so at least they’re improving.

We look back at Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, including Ambrose getting hit shots last week in a segment that gets worse every time I see it.

A bunch of security guards in gas masks come out to escort Ambrose, in a gas mask of his own, to the ring. Ambrose, still in the mask, says you can’t be too careful in a horrible city like Houston so he has some guards to protect him from that madman Seth Rollins. The mask comes off and Dean talks about how Rollins wanted something from him, just like all the people. Like all those people who would always stick their phones in his face to try and add some excitement to their lives.

Seth tried to control him and that’s the worst feeling in the world. Those people are sitting in the crowd right now but none of them have the courage to slap them in the mouth right now. Ambrose is proud to sit in this ring as the moral compass and at TLC, he could take the Intercontinental Title but he’d rather just teach Rollins a lesson. At TLC, Rollins will lose control of himself, his emotions and the Intercontinental Title. Don’t worry though, because he’ll be right there to save the title.

Cue Rollins from behind (at least he wasn’t a guard in disguise) to get in a few shots and then beat up the guards. Ambrose uses the distraction to get out but Rollins chases him down for the brawl. They come back to ringside though and Dean gets in a shot to the face with a gas mask. Ambrose even hits Dirty Deeds on the floor, followed by another inside. This was good but that’s the problem: it’s just good. This feud started off red hot and hasn’t lived up to the hype since then. The match will be very good as these two almost always are, but it’s not what it could have been.

Graves asks Renee about Ambrose again and Renee says how dare he try to find out what happens behind closed doors between a man* and wife. Fair enough.

We look back at the opening sequence.

Rousey has picked Ember Moon as her partner but Nia wishes it was Charly Caruso. Nia yells a lot and promises to injure Rousey just like she did to Becky. For some reason, she screams as I forget that Tamina exists.

Rhyno vs. Heath Slater

Loser gets fired so Rhyno goes straight at him to start and takes Slater, who has kids according to the fans, into the corner. Slater gets a neckbreaker for the pin at 1:07. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Post break Slater comes up to ask Corbin if there is anything that can be done with Rhyno. That’s not happening, but Slater has a new job: as a referee.

Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor

Mahal takes him down into a headlock to start and drops Finn throat first across the top rope. Back from a very early break with Balor fighting out of a chinlock but getting pulled back down into a headlock. Balor is back up with the double stomp to the chest and a Sling Blade. The shotgun dropkick in the corner looks to set up the Coup de Grace but the Singh Brothers get involved to shove him off the top. This brings out Apollo Crews to take care of them but Mahal kicks him in the face. Balor hits a big flip dive, setting up another dropkick and the Coup de Grace finishes Mahal at 7:28.

Rating: D. And hey, it’s another preview for Mixed Match Challenge! Balor has done this kind of thing all season long so they might as well do it all over again here. At least they didn’t go with a stupid Mahal win as it was feeling that way for a little while. It’s sad that this is where Balor is now, but it’s a sign of the times around here.

Post break McIntyre jumps Balor in the back.

Lars Sullivan video.

Ronda Rousey/Ember Moon vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Rousey walks hard to the ring but gets jumped 2-1 until Moon comes in. A middle rope Codebreaker rocks Nia and Rousey hits a running forearm off the apron to take her down again. Back from a break (with no bell beforehand) with Ember in trouble and Rousey bouncing back and forth on the apron. Ember gets over and makes the tag a few seconds later….and Rousey tags back out after a few kicks to Tamina. Nia loads up the big right hand, which she uses on Ember’s ribs after a quick tease.

Ember hurricanranas her way to freedom but Nia breaks up the hot tag, only to get knocked off the apron by Tamina. That means the hot tag can bring Rousey in for the clotheslines and knees to Tamina, who is knocked into the corner. Rousey demands the tag to Nia so she comes in and tags right back out. Rousey flips Nia back in and then beats Tamina up with the rapid punches in the corner. A jumping knee to the face gets two on Tamina but the Eclipse rocks her again. The armbar makes Tamina tap at 5:57.

Rating: D+. This was exactly what it needed to be with Nia being the loudmouth who won’t actually fight but at the same time, I’m not sure how much WWE can make me buy her as a threat to Rousey at TLC. She’s really living on that one right hand to Becky from a few weeks ago and that’s not exactly a lot of material. At least the ending was the right call here and Moon didn’t get treated like an afterthought again.

Overall Rating: D-. And yet, this was miles better than last week. Last week felt like a bunch of random stuff only loosely tied together. This show was tied together, but it was tied together with such a horribly uninteresting main character and story that almost doesn’t have a payoff because Strowman is nowhere to be seen.

That being said, there was no one segment here that dragged the show down to the depths and there was some watchable enough wrestling to carry things. I know the lack of Reigns has hurt them a lot, but it just goes to show you how risky it is to put everything on Reigns instead of building up other people at the same time. The other problem is they’re building the show around a midcarder who is now a middle management stooge. I need a lot more than that, but WWE is tripling down on Corbin instead of building someone up. That’s not working at the moment and it’s only getting somewhat less worse, not better.

Results

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Mickie James/Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly to James

Lucha House Party b. Scott Dawson – Rope walk Swanton

Dolph Ziggler b. Drew McIntyre – Superkick

AOP/Drake Maverick b. Bobby Roode/Chad Gable – Super Collider to Roode

Heath Slater b. Rhyno – Neckbreaker

Finn Balor b. Jinder Mahal – Coup de Grace

Ronda Rousey/Ember Moon b. Tamina/Nia Jax – Armbar to Tamina

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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Smackdown
Date: September 19, 2017
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

I’m getting used to this idea of having title matches booked in advance of the TV shows. This time around we have the US Title on the line as AJ Styles defends against Baron Corbin, who said he was answering this week’s Open Challenge in advance. And there’s that whole Kevin Owens attempting to murder Vince McMahon deal. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the ending of last week’s show with Owens destroying Mr. McMahon in a heck of a beatdown.

Here’s Shane McMahon to open things up. He calls his father one salty SOB, which is really not a nice thing to say about your grandmother. Last week Shane sat with his kids and watched his father and their grandfather get the beating of a lifetime. Shane talks about the family’s toughness and condemns him to a beating of a lifetime inside the Cell.

Randy Orton vs. Aiden English

English sings about Orton hearing voices in his head because it’s full of lead. Orton wastes no time by hitting the powerslam in the first minute but Aiden slips out of the hanging DDT. They head outside with English dropping him onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. Back with Orton fighting out of a chinlock but getting dropkicked right back down. English goes to the second rope….and dives right into the RKO for the pin at 7:10.

Rating: C-. I could go for more of English getting in some offense as the singing character is something that could get him a nice little run. It’s not like they have anything else going on so give it a try. Orton is likely going to continue his “feud” with Rusev, which will hopefully last longer than fifteen seconds next time.

Post match here’s Rusev to talk about Orton turning his homecoming into a national disgrace. Rusev is going to change things right now….and let’s ring the bell.

Rusev vs. Randy Orton

English distracts Orton and it’s a superkick to end Orton at 11 seconds. I WAS KIDDING ABOUT THE FIFTEEN SECONDS THING!!! That sounds like payback for what happened at Summerslam, which is still a dumb idea, especially if Orton wins in a long match at the pay per view. Just give Rusev a win or two that matters and things will be better, not just having this stuff that means nothing more than a fluke.

Rusev is very excited with the win and says he’ll return home as a conquering hero.

Here are Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers to make fun of Shinsuke Nakamura’s face again, including his mad and artistic faces. Mahal makes fun of Nakamura’s voice and hair, followed by some Mr. Miyagi jokes. Fans: “THAT’S TOO FAR!” We get some Punjabi and that’s about it. Aside from probably being racist, this showed that these two have nothing to say to each other and are only fighting because one of them has the title.

Nakamura says it won’t be so funny when he wins the title.

Here’s AJ Styles for his title defense but before the match, AJ says Kevin has bitten off more than he can chew. He attacked the man who is responsible for all of us being here tonight. As for Corbin, AJ is tired of him trying to short cut his way everywhere. The big bad wolf can huff and puff but he’ll never blow down the house that AJ Styles built.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin

Styles is defending but Corbin jumps him during the Big Match Intros. Tye Dillinger runs in to jump Corbin though and hurts his ankle. AJ is up for a running forearm and the Calf Crusher on the bad leg. No match of course and we’ll just wait on the announcement for the match being moved to the pay per view.

Post break, Corbin isn’t happy.

Here’s Charlotte for the first time in a good while. She’s been gone for about six weeks while her father has been healing up and he is making a comeback. Since she’s been gone, Charlotte has learned how fragile life is and from now on she’s going to make the most of every moment she can.

Cue Natalya to says he’s here to host the first ever Celebration of Women. There’s a covered up picture put up behind Natalya as she talks about how important women have been to the world. The picture is unveiled and of course it’s of Natalya herself. Charlotte likes the picture and says she’s coming for the title. This brings out Becky Lynch to say the title is coming back to its proper owner.

Now it’s Naomi to call Natalya a crazy cat lady and throw her glowing hat into the title hunt. Hang on a second though as it’s Tamina and Lana interrupting because this company has no idea how to book a women’s division aside from just throwing everyone into one match. Natalya leaves and says she’s not a crazy cat lady but here’s Daniel Bryan to make the multi-woman match to crown a new #1 contender for later tonight.

New Day vs. Hype Bros

Non-title with the Usos on commentary. Mojo grabs an abdominal stretch on Big E. but gets sent outside for a break less than a minute in because we can’t break ten minutes of wrestling on this show. Back with Kofi in trouble in the corner until Mojo misses a charge into the post. The hot tag brings in Big E., who misses the hip swivel Warrior Splash. Ryder adds the middle rope dropkick and the Broski Boot for two. Kofi hits the running dive over the top onto Mojo, leaving Ryder to take the Midnight Hour for the pin at 6:26. Not enough shown to rate but this was entertaining while it lasted.

We look at the Vince beatdown again.

Owens joins us live via satellite and apologizes (fans aren’t cool with that) for what happened last week. He apologizes to the WWE Universe and to the McMahon Family, but Shane had this coming. This is all on Shane, who drove Owens to do what he did last week. Last week, Owens was looking at Shane when he attacked Vince. He has one more apology and it’s to anyone who watches the pay per view. What he did to Vince is nothing compared to what’s going to do to Shane. It’s good that they’re going to Hell because people like Owens don’t go to Heaven.

Mojo says he’s tired of losing and something has to change.

Here’s Dolph Ziggler for his usual stuff: he’s the best in-ring performer ever and entrances don’t mean anything. First up it’s HHH, which means he can run NXT now, even if he’s not wearing mom jeans. Ziggler looks upset and says stop the show. That means Heartbreak Ziggler with Dolph saying he can feel himself losing his smile. The last one is the DX entrance, complete with the glow sticks. Ziggler’s two words for you: WHO CARES? He wants to know who is supposed to care about two dads trying to sell you stuff. Ziggler is the best ever and the fans couldn’t care less.

Naomi vs. Charlotte vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch

The winner gets Natalya at the pay per view. It’s a brawl to start and we’re on a break less than a minute in. Back with Charlotte and Becky breaking up a near fall before fighting each other. Becky kicks her in the ribs but Naomi crossbodies both of them for two on Lynch. Naomi grabs a Stunner for two on Charlotte as Natalya is watching in the back.

The reverse Rings of Saturn is broken up and it’s Becky grabbing the Disarm-Her. Tamina breaks that up as well but gets sent into the post. Becky’s bouncing kick in the corner is broken up and Charlotte spears Tamina down. She plants Naomi too and the moonsault hits both of them for a double near fall.

The Figure Four goes on but Becky dives in with a legdrop for the save. Tamina is back in with a Samoan drop on Becky and the Superfly Splash for two with Naomi making the save this time. Lana pulls Naomi outside but the distraction lets Charlotte kick Tamina in the face for the pin and the title shot at 9:57.

Rating: B-. This was good while it lasted and would have been better if we didn’t miss about a fourth of it for the sake of a commercial. Charlotte or Becky winning was fine here and they would have been a bit nuts to not go with Charlotte, especially with the book coming out and her dad’s health. It was a fast paced match though and that’s what this show needed.

Overall Rating: D+. This one ENTIRELY depends on how you care for your show. The big problem on this show is very simple: there was less than twenty five minutes of wrestling in two hours with about ten of that taking place during commercials. That’s terribly low, even by WWE standards. Based on that, it’s a horrible show.

However, this show was much more about hyping up the pay per view and I could get behind the idea of a show that gives away less action on the unimportant shows and saves it for the pay per views. On top of that I’m more interested in the pay per view than I was coming into this week, which is quite the step up. This show certainly isn’t for everyone but I liked the change of direction and you can see a lot more stuff added to the pay per view from here. It had a lot of negatives (low in-ring time, the Mahal stuff, Rusev/Orton) but the change of pace was very nice for a little switch.

Results

Randy Orton b. Aiden English – RKO

Rusev b. Randy Orton – Superkick

New Day b. Hype Bros – Midnight Hour to Ryder

Charlotte b. Naomi, Tamina and Becky Lynch – Big boot to Tamina

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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Smackdown
Date: June 27, 2017
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s ladies night with two major women’s matches on the card. First up we have the second ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match as the WWE tries to fix the mess they made out of the first one just nine days ago. After that we have Lana challenging Naomi for the Women’s Title in another Money in the Bank rematch. It’s almost like they’re just doing the same things twice for the sake of not having to come up with anything new. Let’s get to it.

The opening recap looks at the Money in the Bank ladder match from the pay per view and the build to tonight with the theme of seizing opportunity when you get the chance. This is also used on the rest of the major stories going on around here.

Here’s Daniel Bryan to hype up the ladder match and explain the concept, only to be cut off by Carmella. She goes on the same rant she went on last week, explaining the rules of the Money in the Bank match and saying she didn’t break any rules. Carmella: “How can you break a rule if there are no rules???” Other people have interfered in ladder matches and those results weren’t changed. Bryan says he’s heard this before and we’re having the ladder match.

James Ellsworth tells the people to shut up and calls Bryan pathetic. He looks at Bryan and sees a coward who is staying out of the ring because of some fake injury. Daniel smiles and says he should just fire Ellsworth but instead just bans him from the entire arena for the rest of the night. Security comes out and drags him away as this opening segment wraps up after nearly fifteen minutes with really nothing new being done.

Hype Bros vs. Usos

Non-title but if the Hype Bros win, they get a future title shot. Zack and Jimmy start things off with an armdrag sending Uso down. It’s off to both partners with Mojo clotheslining Jey to the floor for a dive from Ryder. Jey gets in a superkick though and we take a break. Back with Ryder missing a charge in the corner and Jimmy adding the Superfly splash for the pin at 5:42. Not enough to rate due to the break but the commercial seemed completely worthless as there was less than ten seconds of action after the break.

Post match the New Day comes out to challenge for the titles at Battleground. The Usos accept, in rhyme no less. Kofi rhymes a bit of his own and tromboning ensues.

It’s Fashion Vice time with Ascension sitting in an interrogation room to be grilled by Breezango. Fandango holds up the stick figure drawing, which Konnor says isn’t them. Fandango: “You expect me to believe that? Because I do.” He offers two tickets to paradise (as in Eddie Money tickets) in exchange for information but that goes nowhere.

Breeze pulls out the water guns….and offers them iced tea and a cheese platter. Konnor says it wasn’t them and they were just at Money in the Bank to get a match. Noise is heard elsewhere and they leave to find their office trashed again. Fandango: “Sweet Richard Simmons.” There must be someone else so Breezango starts thinking. As they do, Ascension takes the concert tickets. That’s better as Ascension was the lamest reveal they could have done.

Women’s Title: Naomi vs. Lana

Lana is challenging and jumps Naomi during the Big Match Intros. The bell rings and Lana’s sitout spinebuster gets two. So much for that as a finisher. Naomi kicks her in the head and hits the split legged moonsault to retain at 41 seconds.

Becky Lynch is ready to have a fair chance to win Money in the Bank.

Here’s Aiden English to sing about how awesome he is. Cue Randy Orton to cut him off and we take a break. Back with Orton sitting in a chair, having RKO’d English during the commercial. We look back at Orton taking out the Singh Brothers last week (because we haven’t had enough filler on this show yet) before Orton says he wants another shot at Mahal’s title.

If he doesn’t get it, he’s going to beat Mahal up in the back. Then he’ll beat Mahal up in the parking lot. Then he’ll beat Mahal up in the airport. Then he’ll beat Mahal up at next week’s show too. At what point does Mahal file a restraining order? Here’s Shane McMahon to keep Orton from going Mahal hunting by saying we can’t have this. Orton is willing to be fired and go from city to city and spend all his money beating Mahal up.

Shane points out that the Singh Brothers did things that Orton has done before but he can sympathize with these feelings. The rematch is set for Battleground but there will be a stipulation chosen by Mahal. That’s cool with Orton but here’s Mahal to interrupt as well. Mahal says this is what’s wrong with everything around here when Orton isn’t worthy of a rematch. He mentions Great Khali being an inspiration (who he hated back in the day) and makes it a Punjabi Prison match. As luck would have it, there’s a video all primed up and ready to go as soon as he says it.

AJ Styles and Kevin Owens come in to see Bryan with Owens saying AJ couldn’t answer last week’s Open Challenge because he’s already been beaten. Styles makes an Anchorman reference which Owens doesn’t get (I don’t either as I only saw that movie once and didn’t care for it. I’ll wait here for you to gather your pitchforks.). Bryan has an idea: next week on the Fourth of July, we’ll have a battle royal with the winner facing Owens for the title at Battleground.

Here are Mike and Maria Kanellis for their Smackdown debut, only to have Sami Zayn cut them off in just a few seconds.

Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin

Sami goes right after him to start and sends Corbin to the floor, only to get tossed into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Corbin still in control and grabbing a bearhug. Sami slips out and hits that hard clothesline of his and avoids a charge, sending Corbin shoulder first into the post. Corbin misses another charge and gets rolled up for two before driving Sami right back into the same corner. A headbutt puts Corbin down but he catches a charging Sami with End of Days for the pin at 8:11.

Rating: C-. Just a quick win for Corbin here and that’s why Sami is around: he can lose several matches but the one or two wins he does get are enough to fuel him for a long time. Corbin needed this win to get him back on track for the sake of him being Mr. Money in the Bank, which should keep him going for a long time.

Shinsuke Nakamura says Corbin is scared of him and for good reason.

Charlotte vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella vs. Natalya

Money in the Bank. Everyone brawls on the floor to start, leaving Carmella to make the very early climb. Naturally it’s very slow, allowing the other four to come in and stop her without too much effort. We’re quickly down to Becky vs. Charlotte with Lynch being left alone, only to have Tamina come back to send her into the ladder. A not great looking Superfly Splash crushes Becky and we take a break.

Back with Natalya suplexing Charlotte but getting suplexed on the floor by Becky. Charlotte and Tamina fight over the ladder until Natalya makes a save and loads it up over Charlotte in the corner. Natalya starts to climb but Charlotte shoves her ladder up to make a ramp for the save. Carmella shoves the ladder over, only to take a pumphandle suplex from Becky.

Back from another break with Natalya climbing slowly enough that Charlotte can make a save. Everyone but Carmella gets shoved down but the other four are right back to lift the ladder up and carry it away from the case. Carmella dives onto Becky and Natalya, leaving Charlotte to drop Tamina again. Charlotte puts the ladder over Tamina and climbs but Carmella is back to grab her legs.

Tamina pushes the ladder up from the mat for another save and superkicks the air in front of Charlotte’s face. A double powerbomb brings Carmella down but Natalya tries a Sharpshooter on Carmella. The announcers say it’s to take the legs out, though HITTING HER WITH A LADDER might make more sense.

Natalya goes after Charlotte and fights her into the crowd…..and here’s Ellsworth to climb the ladder. Becky shoves him over and crotches him on the top. Carmella makes another save and Becky hurts her leg on the landing. Carmella gives her a really bad chair shot to the back and climbs up for the briefcase at 24:29.

Rating: B-. General issues with ladder matches aside (the Sharpshooter, fighting into the crowd, slow climbing until the very end etc.), completely acceptable stuff for the most part. This was more long than good but they got the ending right, which was by far the most important thing they could have done here. Of course this begs the question of why they didn’t just do this in the first place but you have to take what you can get from WWE most of the time. At least Carmella won and looks strong as she goes after the title now, which is what matters most.

Overall Rating: C. The ladder match saves a lot of this but it was clear they were filling in as much time as they could. I have no idea what the point of the Women’s Title match was and the Hype Bros match was a bit of a waste of time as well. The ending worked though and that’s the most important part, especially when next week changes everything as Cena is back. Not a bad show, but it’s all about the main event and nothing more.

Results

Usos b. Hype Bros – Superfly Splash to Ryder

Naomi b. Lana – Split legged moonsault

Baron Corbin b. Sami Zayn – End of Days

Carmella won Money in the Bank

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Smackdown
Date: April 21, 2016
Location: O2 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton

It’s the last show on the UK tour and we’re in the same building we were in on Monday for Raw. These shows can range from nothing special to more interesting than usual but Smackdown tends to be just your run of the mill show. We’re getting closer to Payback though and the card is looking stacked. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of AJ vs. Roman on Monday, including Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson beating Reigns down.

It’s time for MizTV with Maryse handling the introduction before Miz brings out guest AJ Styles. Miz gets right to the point of asking about AJ being tight with Gallows and Anderson in New Japan, to the point that he knows them better than anyone else. Styles denies being behind the attack but he never told them NOT to attack Reigns. Miz continues being awesome at needling as AJ eventually gets annoyed at him for asking about Gallows and Anderson over and over again.

The fact of the matter is that AJ doesn’t need them to beat Reigns but Miz thinks that being a better “rassler” isn’t going to get it done because Roman Reigns is the guy. Miz says he can handle the truth from AJ but Maryse tells him to go Will Smith. This leads to a rather romantic moment which disgusts AJ so badly that he backfists Miz in the face.

AJ vs. Miz is set for later.

Ryback vs. Kalisto

Non-title for no apparent reason other than Kalisto loses here because the title is back to meaning nothing. Ryback runs him over in the corner and the GOLDBERG chants begin for reasons of general annoyance. Kalisto’s kicks have little effect as Ryback gorilla presses him down and sends him shoulder first into the post as we take a break. Back with Ryback doing his delayed superplex for a delayed two count.

Ryback puts him in the Tree of Woe for kicks to the ribs, only to miss a charge and go shoulder first into the post. Kalisto’s kicks to the chest and corkscrew cross body stagger Ryback and the hurricanrana driver gets two. Ryback hits a quick Meathook but the Shell Shock is countered into a DDT for two more. The Salida Del Sol is countered into the Shell Shock to give Ryback the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C-. It’s clear that WWE wants to put the title on Ryback and I have no idea why they just don’t do it at this point. Kalisto means nothing as champion at this point as he won the belt and then did nothing with it ever since (as is so often the case) so just give it to Ryback who could be a decent monster for someone to slay later on. First though, we get a rubber match because that’s how the midcard titles roll around here.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin

Never mind as Corbin jumps Ziggler during the entrance and beats him down on the floor as has become his custom.

The Miz vs. AJ Styles

Non-title again. Miz gets clotheslined down to start and AJ goes old school with a Muta Lock (bridging Indian deathlock with a chinlock) but Miz gets his head out and rolls to the floor. Back in and AJ gets caught with some knees to the back, only to hit a quick dropkick (Lawler: “That was a miso soup dropkick wasn’t it?”). A spinwheel kick drops Miz again so he hides behind Maryse, allowing him to get in a left hand to drop AJ.

Styles gets sent into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Miz stomping away in the corner and hitting that running clothesline. We hit the chinlock (because of course) but AJ jawbreaks his way to freedom. A big boot drops Styles again (Miz can throw a nice boot) but it’s a double cross body to put both of them down. AJ is up first though and gets in the running seated forearm for two. Miz starts going after the knee before a DDT gets two more.

The Skull Crushing Finale is countered into the fireman’s carry backbreaker onto the knee (which Lawler pronounces correctly for once) for another near fall but AJ dives into an atomic drop. We hit the Figure Four for a bit until AJ turns it over with Ranallo doing a great job of putting over AJ as someone who will never quit.

The Calf Crusher goes on out of nowhere but Miz is too close to the ropes. Styles hit the Pele and that’s enough for Miz who tries to walk, only to run into Gallows and Anderson. Miz makes the mistake of turning around and it’s a slingshot forearm to set up the Phenomenal version for the pin on Miz at 17:55.

Rating: B. I know I’m in the minority but I’ve been a big Miz fan for a long time now. No he’s not going to get back to the main event or anything but he’s more than capable of having a strong performance against someone who can walk him through a match. They’re doing a really good job of setting AJ up as someone who could shock the world at Payback. That’s an impressive feat, especially if they go somewhere else with this Bullet Club story after the pay per view. Oh and well done on having both midcard champions lose clean in less than an hour and a half.

We look at the end of Raw with Jericho and Owens taking out Zayn and Ambrose.

Ambrose and Zayn are ready for Owens and Jericho in tonight’s main event. Spotted dick is referenced but they can’t decide on a cool team name.

In what might be a dark segment that won’t air on the TV show, Miz and Maryse are still in the ring after the match. Miz says he knew Gallows and Anderson were with AJ but that just showed he was right. Tonight there was an injustice and he demands an investigation on this match right here and right now. Miz doesn’t care how long it takes because he wants someone to come out here.

Cue Shane McMahon to say what’s up London. That’s not cool with Miz because he should be a priority to everyone on any show. He pokes Shane a bit and that’s not cool with the red show boss. Miz pokes him a few more times so Shane punches him in the face and drops him with the back elbow to the jaw before clotheslining him out to the floor. Again, not likely to make the show but a cool thing for the crowd.

Post break, Gallows and Anderson say they’re here to make an impact and aren’t here with Styles. They’ll debut on Monday against the Usos.

Paige/Natalya vs. Naomi/Tamina

Tamina and Natalya get things going but it’s quickly off to Naomi for her stupid wiggling headscissors without any actual damage being done to Natalya. Seriously, the Divas era is done so stop that nonsense. Paige comes in to help with a double wishbone before it’s already back to Natalya because Paige being in the ring in front of her home crowd would be a waste of time.

Naomi drops Natalya again and shouts that Natalya wants to wrestle. Well kind of yeah. We hit the chinlock from Tamina for a bit before Natalya easily gets over for the tag off to Paige. Naomi gets sent into the buckle and the Rampaige gets one with Tamina making the save. Natalya comes back in and it’s a Sharpshooter to Tamina while Paige gets Naomi to tap to the PTO at 5:33.

Rating: D+. I like that double submission ending as you let Natalya look good while Paige gets to win in front of her home country. It’s really tiring to see her lose all the time but with the way the division has been realigned, maybe she has to be moved down to the lower levels. I’m still a fan of hers but she’s really not up to the top level at this point.

Fandango vs. R-Truth

Goldust is guest referee and this is fallout from Goldust teaming with Fandango instead of Truth last week. They trade knockdowns and trade hip swivels. More dancing ensues with Goldust joining in until Truth lays Fandango out with the Lie Detector for the pin at 1:53. I have no idea where they’re going with this but if they could get to the point already, it would be most appreciated.

Goldust and Truth dance post match with Goldust looking terrified at the thought of trying the splits.

Here are Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady for a chat about the tag team tournament final. Enzo gets through the opening spiel before the Vaudevillains cut him off. English thinks Enzo has mange so Enzo thinks the Vaudevillains are a couple of haters. Apparently the G stands for gentlemen so Enzo is going to be honest with him. That thing English said about him having rodent mange……well Enzo really doesn’t know what it means.

Gotch insults Enzo’s rhyming (hater) and English says that it’s going to take two real men to show what a real era should be like. After they win the tournament, Simon promises to use proper pronunciation and ask “how are you doing”. Cass thinks that’s SAWFT. This was a really good exchange and a much better introduction to the Vaudevillains than we’ve seen so far.

Greeting From Puerto Rico.

Dean Ambrose/Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens

Jericho and Zayn get things going with Sami doing that reverse leapfrog and armdragging Chris down into an armbar. Dean comes in and has to spin out of a Walls attempt but can’t get Dirty Deeds as we head to a break. Back with Owens elbowing Ambrose in the head and slowly hammering away. Jericho can’t keep Dean in the corner though and it’s off to Sami for the high cross body and a near fall.

Sami loads up the corner climbing wristdrag but opts to dive onto Owens instead. Makes sense. That’s fine with Owens as he pulls Sami outside and pounds away as Dean has been down WAY longer than he should have after a beating. It’s back to Jericho for a chinlock followed by a Lionsault for a very calm near fall. The Blue Thunder Bomb doesn’t even warrant a cover here but it’s a double tag to Ambrose and Owens with the latter running into a boot in the corner.

Dean hits the suicide dive through the ropes but Owens gets in a superkick for two. The fans are having some issues getting into this one even though it’s certainly not bad. A quick Dirty Deeds and the Helluva kick have the heels in trouble but Dean goes up instead of covering, allowing Jericho to crotch him on the ropes, giving Owens a quick pin at 12:53.

Rating: C. Totally standard Smackdown main event tag match and while that’s fine, it’s certainly nothing you need to see. I like the idea of putting two feuds into one match but they’re out of combinations to do before the pay per view, which is a common problem WWE runs into. Ambrose getting pinned via cheating is a good idea as well.

Owens is very pleased with the win to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling was stronger tonight but my goodness some of the booking decisions made my head hurt. As usual the midcard titles mean nothing because they’re just midcard titles and a way to make people look good by beating midcard champions. It’s so backwards compared to the way things used to go and went for years that it makes no sense but I’m sure WWE can explain it better to you than I could. They speak crazy like that you see.

Results

Ryback b. Kalisto – Shell Shock

AJ Styles b. The Miz – Phenomenal Forearm

Paige/Natalya b. Naomi/Tamina – PTO to Naomi

R-Truth b. Fandango – Lie Detector

Kevin Owens/Chris Jericho b. Sami Zayn/Dean Ambrose – Owens pinned Ambrose after Jericho crotched him

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of the Intercontinental Title at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Yeah this is something that is happening too.

Let’s get this one out of the way. Simply put, people don’t care about this stuff and there’s no real reason to. Most of these women either aren’t any good or they aren’t interesting enough to mean anything on the main roster. As is the case with any big cluster of a match like this, no one is going to get any time and it’s probably going to be about getting Eva over because that’s a thing that still exists.

I’ll take the Total Divas to win because that’s a thing that still exists as well. No one is going to get to show off much of anything here, but it’s a good sign that we seem to be getting an unofficial brand split in the women’s division. You have the title match with with actual wrestling and then the Divas doing this nonsense. I have little desire to watch this match, though to be fair I said the same thing about the fourteen Divas mess two years ago and that turned out to be somewhat fun. Nothing to see here though and everyone knows why this is happening.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of the Intercontinental Title at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: March 7, 2016
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton

Now this could be interesting as the company is hardly on a creative roll at the moment and we’re in one of the biggest smark havens in the world. We’re also five days away from Roadblock which suddenly has the potential to change the entire Wrestlemania card with less than a month before the biggest show of the year. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Vince vowing to renounce Shane as his son after Wrestlemania. I still have no idea why this is supposed to be interesting or a major plot point as the McMahons are always arguing.

Here’s Shane to get things going. Shane sucks up to the Chicago crowd and it’s clear that they’re excited to see him. He was watching Raw last week and heard what Undertaker was saying about his match. Shane respects Undertaker completely but he wasn’t surprised by what Vine said about him after the fact. Vince has lost touch with both his reality and his grandsons but Shane is ready to stop it all. At Wrestlemania, he stops all the backstage politics and all the authority. Shane is tired of seeing all the talent being held back with no breaks and all the breaks given to people with no talent.

The gong goes off but it’s a strutting Vince instead. Vince laughs at the fans for not being happy to see him so the CM PUNK chants start up. The boss lets it die off and talks about how Stephanie is getting everything. Earlier today Vince was looking at a picture of Shane at his first wrestling show and of course we get to see it on the screen. Vince pulls the actual photo from somewhere and crushes the frame like he’ll do at Wrestlemania.

After Shane loses, Vince will be able to wrap his arms around his grandsons and prove to them that their family isn’t a bunch of losers because his greatest creation is going to destroy his greatest failure. Vince sends out the security but Shane actually beats them up to a HUGE ovation, most of which isn’t deserved.

The segment was better than most of anything we saw last week but I’m still really not sure what the heck they’re fighting about. Thankfully they’ve seemed to drop the whole lockbox concept which wasn’t working to say the least but Shane having a proxy would work better as an idea.

Kevin Owens vs. Neville

Non-title so look for another upset. Owens drives him into the corner to start and stomps away, meaning he survives longer than he did against Neville a few weeks back. Kevin: “Come on mate!” Neville comes back with kicks to send Owens to the floor but misses a dive, allowing Kevin to send him into the steps as we take a break. Back with Neville fighting out of a chinlock, only to be flipped over with a German suplex.

The Cannonball is countered with a nice enziguri to knock Owens to the floor, setting up a great looking shooting star off the top to the outside. The fans REALLY like that one but don’t care as much for the standing shooting star press for two back inside. Neville charges into a boot to the face but rolls away from a springboard moonsault. A superkick sets up the middle rope Phoenix Splash for a very, very close two. Thankfully Neville stays on him but Owens grabs a rollup with the trunks for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: C+. Those high spots from Neville helped carry this, leading us to the more important ending of Owens winning. The cheating helps but I was worried that they would job him AGAIN here to set up something at Wrestlemania. It’s also nice to see Neville getting some prominent spots instead of just in a nothing six man tag.

Post match Owens loads up the apron powerbomb but SAMI ZAYN runs in and cleans house, likely setting up a big Intercontinental Title match at Wrestlemania.

Video from the Rock saying Wrestlemania is free for new WWE Network subscribers.

Long recap of HHH and Ambrose from last week.

Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder (with a beard) are in the back when Stephanie comes up. Stephanie thanks Ziggler for taking down a tweet about the Authority earlier today but Dolph mentions taking down the Authority a few years back. Stephanie doesn’t remember that and reminds Ziggler that she’s his boss. As if we could forget as that’s pretty much her whole character. Stephanie likes these flashbacks and gives Ziggler an elimination tag against three members of the League of Nations. Oh and Ziggler won’t have any partners.

Brie Bella vs. Summer Rae

Total Divas match, meaning we get a clip from tomorrow’s show with Nikki telling Brie how to live. Summer takes her down to start but Brie comes right back with the YES Kicks and a horrible looking BRIE MODE knee. Brie misses a middle rope cross body but here’s Lana for a distraction, allowing Summer to grab a rollup for the pin at 2:05. They haven’t used that finish as much lately so it’s not as annoying here.

Post match Lana comes to the ring and gives Brie a Bella Buster for some of her first ever physicality.

Here’s Dean Ambrose to open the second hour. He gets right to the point: this Saturday he’s hijacking the car on the road to Wrestlemania by being HHH to win the title. Dean talks about all the things he’s going to get to do like being on the cover of People Magazine and throwing out the first pitch at baseball games.

After Wrestlemania, HHH is going to have to buy Dean a new suit and lapel pins….which he doesn’t know how to work. Actually Dean isn’t going to do any of these things that come along with being WWE Champion but he loves the idea of being WWE Champion and getting to come out here and fight everyone every single night.

Cue HHH who threatens to beat Ambrose up again. Dean says he’ll take another trip to the announcers’ table and hold that WWE Championship up high. Dean: “When I do that, you can suck it.” HHH calls Roadblock a clever name that marketing came up with because Dean is at best a speed bump or a pothole. Dean wants to fight right now but HHH fights on his own time. As for tonight, Dean gets to face Bray Wyatt. That gives him a preview of Sunday where he learns that the Authority always wins.

Dolph Ziggler vs. League of Nations

Elimination rules with Del Rio as the odd man out. Barrett gets things going with the King pounding away and getting two off the Winds of Change. The knees in the ropes (which are similar to the ones Shane threw earlier tonight) set up the ten forearms from Sheamus, even though Ziggler started to fall down in the ropes. Rusev comes in for a running splash against the ropes for two. At least he isn’t talking about how much he loves Summer or Lana at the time as that feud (which wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be) is best forgotten.

A surprisingly good dropkick gets two for Rusev and it’s back to Barrett for some forearms to the back in the corner. Sheamus comes in and slowly stomps away, followed by the knee to the ribs. Barrett charges into the running DDT and goes shoulder first into the post, setting up a superkick for the first elimination. Sheamus takes a superkick as well but Rusev breaks it up. The Brogue Kick misses but Rusev kicks Ziggler in the head, setting up the Brogue for the pin 6:39.

Rating: C-. This could have been much worse as I can live with Ziggler getting one pin, especially since the League didn’t have to make an immediate save given how the rules were set up. The League is good as the enforcers for the Authority and roles like this but I’m not sure how much longer they can survive given how they’ve been treated lately.

We look back at Shane and Vince from earlier.

Video on Shane McMahon’s in-ring career.

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks bicker about who would have won last week.

Naomi/Tamina vs. Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks

Can’t they bring up Blue Pants and Deonna Purrazzo instead of making us watch these four again? Charlotte and Ric are at ringside because Flair needs a paycheck this badly. Cole talks about how we’ve seen this match before. At least they’re just acknowledging that their matches are repetitive now. Becky gets thrown into the heel corner to start and a right hand puts her down again. Tamina misses a charge in the corner and it’s off to Sasha as everything breaks down. The Bank Statement (Cole: “THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO MCGREGGOR!”) puts Tamina away at 2:00.

Post match Charlotte comes in and beats down the winners.

R-Truth is delivering a pizza to Goldust (who thankfully was just right there when Truth came in) and asks to be his partner again. Goldust says a good partner would know that he was lactose intolerant and slams the pizza down. Mark Henry comes up and takes the pizza.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. AJ Styles/Chris Jericho

New Day is defending. Before the match, Big E. wants to talk about the matching tattoos they’ve gotten but apparently only he got the blue and purple unicorn. Of course Big E. was just joking until Jericho cuts him off and saves some face. Jericho and Styles now have Y2AJ shirts. Kofi gets sent to the floor to start and the challengers hit a nice double plancha to take us to an early break.

Back with Jericho in trouble but nailing a dropkick to Big E. An enziguri drops Kingston and there’s the hot tag to AJ. The moonsault reverse DDT hits as close to seamlessly as I’ve ever seen but AJ springboards into the Midnight Hour for two as Chris saves. The Lionsault crushes Kofi and AJ adds the springboard 450 for two with Big E. pulling Kingston to the floor. AJ drops Big E. with a slingshot forearm but misses the backfist to Kofi.

Back to Jericho who counters Trouble in Paradise into the Walls. AJ stops Woods from making the save but gets driven hard into the barricade. Big E. gets back up for the tag so Jericho tries the Walls on him, which doesn’t quite work. Instead Jericho sends Big E. into the post but the Codebreaker is countered into the Big Ending for the clean pin to retain at 11:38.

Rating: B+. They had me a few times in this one and the action after the hot tag to AJ never really stopped. This was more of a showcase for AJ than anything else with the springboards looking as smooth as they have yet in WWE. Jericho getting pinned clean opens up a few doors but I’m not sure where New Day goes at Wrestlemania, unless Bullet Club gets a very fast callup. AJ and Jericho could go various places as well.

Post match AJ and Jericho get an ovation but Jericho turns heel with a Codebreaker to Styles. That might have worked better if Jericho hadn’t just lost clean but at least we get a FOURTH match between these two. I mean, just a thought but maybe you shouldn’t do a (potential) Wrestlemania match three times before Wrestlemania. Jericho gives him two more Codebreakers for good measure before stuffing the Y2AJ shirt in AJ’s mouth.

Back from a break with Jericho complaining about the fans chanting for AJ. They can enjoy it while they can because they won’t be chanting for AJ Styles anymore.

Tyler Breeze vs. Kalisto

Non-title. Breeze blasts him in the face to start as the announcers talk about Jericho. A chinlock doesn’t go very far and it’s the corkscrew cross body into the Salida Del Sol for the pin on Breeze at 2:17.

Big Boss Man Hall of Fame announcement. I’m so happy over this one.

Kalisto is in the back and talks about idolizing people like Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero at Wrestlemania. Cue Ryback to ask why he doesn’t have a Wrestlemania match yet. Kalisto might be one of the best pound for pound wrestlers in WWE today but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Ryback says Kalisto has a mask just like a superhero but that’s not how things work in the real world. Kalisto needs to be the US Champion on his own instead of as one half of the Lucha Dragons. Watch him do this on his own tonight. No match was made here and it felt more like a way to split up the Dragons (thank goodness).

Here are the Social Outcasts to talk about how sad it is that Ryback doesn’t want to be part of a team. He can’t play team dodgeball (like on Heath Slater’s new show Game Night on WWE.com) or be a Ghostbuster, but above all that he can’t be a Social Outcast. Tonight the Axeman cometh, which means they all start making strange noises and chopping the air with their hand.

Ryback vs. Curtis Axel

This is joined in progress after a break (because reasons) with Axel getting in his jobber offense until the Thesz press allows Ryback to slam Axel head first into the mat. A CM Punk style running knee in the corner (complete with a Go To Sleep motion) sends Axel to the floor but an Outcasts distraction lets Axel get in a cheap shot for two. Just like last week, Ryback pounds him down into near unconsciousness, setting up the Shell Shock for the pin at 2:08. Again, no reason for this to go to a break before the match.

We recap the opening again.

Stephanie comes in to see Vince and asks what happens if Shane wins.

Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray still has nothing to do at Wrestlemania but he does talk about conquering the conqueror this Saturday. Tonight he’ll use Dean as an example. No Family with Bray this week. Some early elbows put Bray in trouble and Dean cranks on both legs at the same time. Dean drives in even more elbows to Bray’s head in the corner until Bray runs him over with the cross body as we take a break.

Back with Bray suplexing Dean to keep control before taking him outside for a double clothesline. They get back in with Dean hammering away and trying the rebound lariat, only to have Bray take Dean’s head off because he’s smart enough to figure out that Dean is doing the exact same thing he always does. Dean knocks him out to the floor but the suicide dive is countered into Sister Abigail. That’s countered as well so Bray Rock Bottoms him onto the barricade. Back in again and Dean scores with the rebound lariat followed by the top rope elbow, only to have the Wyatts come in for the DQ at 11:50.

Rating: C+. I was digging this one until the ending that you kind of had to know was coming. At least they didn’t have either of them doing a clean job here as I was kind of expecting them to. Bray countering the rebound lariat was a nice touch too because wrestlers being smart is always cool to see. Good main event though it’s more of a storytelling device than anything else.

Post match the Wyatts destroy Dean until HHH comes out. Bray stares at HHH and even touches the title (fans: “YES!”) before the Family leaves. HHH loads up the announcers’ table but walks into Dirty Deeds. Dean holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. While still not a very good show, this was WAY better than what they did last week. It’s amazing how much better a show is when you have anything besides Stephanie reminding us (AGAIN) that she’s the most amazing thing since that time Randy Savage woke up Hulk Hogan with a top rope elbow because Hogan only Hulked Up from finishers. The problem here though is that this Wrestlemania really isn’t very strong and there’s only so much they can do to build that up, especially with the lack of people actually appearing.

I can’t imagine anything big happens at Roadblock but maybe they’ll throw in a big (and possibly much needed) curve ball. That being said, the idea of Reigns not appearing until Wrestlemania (as Raw is in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Brooklyn before then) might not be out of the question either. It really is a weird build to Wrestlemania and I’m not sure what’s going to happen before we get there. In this case though, I’m not liking that feeling.

Results

Kevin Owens b. Neville – Rollup with a handful of trunks

Summer Rae b. Brie Bella – Rollup

League of Nations b. Dolph Ziggler – Brogue Kick

Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks b. Tamina/Naomi – Bank Statement to Tamina

New Day b. Chris Jericho/AJ Styles – Big Ending to Jericho

Kalisto b. Tyler Breeze – Salida Del Sol

Ryback b. Curtis Axel – Shell Shock

Dean Ambrose b. Bray Wyatt via DQ when the Wyatt Family interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume IV at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Smackdown
Date: February 18, 2016
Location: Citizens Bank Business Arena, Ontario, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler

We’re three days away from Fastlane and the big story tonight is Brock Lesnar making a very rare Smackdown appearance. There’s no word on what he’ll be doing but you can assume it might have something to do with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, who are teaming together to face the Dudley Boyz tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of Ambrose losing the Intercontinental Title on Monday thanks to Stephanie’s influence.

Opening sequence.

No Mauro Ranallo tonight due to a bout with the flu.

League of Nations vs. Dolph Ziggler/Lucha Dragons

Kevin Owens is on commentary. Kalisto and Rusev get things going with the masked man firing off kicks to the meaty Bulgarian thighs. Alberto comes in and gets taken down with a standing Lionsault for two. An old Jack Brisco spinning sunset flip out of the corner looks to get two for Cara but he tagged Kalisto by mistake. Everything breaks down for a bit and the Dragons dive through the ropes to take down Sheamus and Del Rio, followed by Ziggler coming off the top to elbow all three of them as we take a break.

Back with Rusev holding Cara in a chinlock before it’s off to Del Rio for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. That means it’s time for another chinlock from Alberto, followed by some Irish Curses from Sheamus for two. Owens goes on a funny bit about not liking idiots but having other reasons to not like Cole.

Cara finally kicks Del Rio down and tags in Ziggler to speed things up. Dolph’s superkick to Sheamus is broken up but the running DDT works a bit better. Everything breaks down and Del Rio kicks Cara in the mask, followed by throwing Kalisto hard into the barricade. Back inside, Ziggler hits a quick Fameasser for two on Sheamus, which draws Owens off commentary. The distraction lets Sheamus nail a Brogue Kick for the pin on Dolph at 11:27.

Rating: C-. So the League gets a pin on the #1 contender despite none of them having a match on Sunday’s pay per view card. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary here though and that’s pretty good for the most part. The wrestling was fine and they went with the formula that they’ve perfected on Smackdown, meaning this was acceptable but nothing I’ll remember in about an hour.

Owens leaves with Ziggler’s vest.

Tamina vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha gets slammed head first into the mat to start but flips out of a belly to back suplex to get away for a bit. The running knees in the corner have Tamina in trouble and Naomi gets knocked off the apron. A sitout bulldog sets up the Bank Statement to make Tamina tap at 2:22.

Sasha gets beaten down post match until Becky makes the save, only to be shoved away by her partner. This continues a simple story but it’s been booked well.

Post break Becky wants to know what that was. They’re coming up on Wrestlemania and it’s going to take a win at Fastlane to give them momentum. If Sasha wants to let her ego get in the way of their Wrestlemania moment, Becky is done right now. They agree to fight together on Sunday.

Here’s Chris Jericho to address AJ Styles’ challenge to him from Monday. Jericho is ready to answer but he wants AJ to be here face to face. Instead here’s the Miz to interrupt with an announcement of his own. Jericho hopes that it’s Miz quitting the business because everyone has been begging for it for years. Miz says he isn’t quitting but he certainly wouldn’t do it here. The announcement is that he’s ready to fight Jericho here and now, which earns him a throw to the floor.

Chris Jericho vs. The Miz

Thankfully this starts after a break instead of that stupid ring the bell and go to a break thirty seconds later. A suplex puts Miz down and it’s time for some right hands in the corner. Miz sends him into the post as the announcers debate what celebrity lists these two are on. The fans want AJ but get a knee to Jericho’s back and a chinlock. That goes nowhere so Jericho dropkicks him and goes up, only to get punched in the face. A trip to the floor doesn’t do much as Miz takes him back inside for more left hands to the face. We take a break and come back with Miz holding a chinlock.

The Reality Check gets two and it’s right back to the chinlockery. Jericho fights back again with an ax handle and counters another Reality Check (like any signature move, it’s only one per midcard match) into a failed Walls attempt. Miz’s short DDT and big boot get two each so he starts ripping at Jericho’s face in the corner. The running corner clothesline is easily countered into the Walls though and Miz taps at 12:22.

Rating: C+. As has been the case lately, Miz is on a roll and having a string of good matches. Now maybe that’s due to having matches against Chris Jericho and AJ Styles but at least it’s been better than the usual five minute nothings that he does every week. He’s been a good cog for this feud and kept things from being the normal tropes. Good stuff here as Miz continues to be a pleasant surprise lately.

Post match Jericho calls out AJ for the big answer. AJ comes out but Jericho doesn’t seem interested in wrestling him again. He respects Styles but doesn’t really like him, which is why there won’t be a third match. AJ blasts him in the face with his striking sequence and that’s enough for Jericho to change his mind. That’s rather heelish of AJ, who lost clean last week and now uses violence to get what he wants.

We look back at Heyman and Reigns’ exchange on Monday.

Ambrose says he’s fine after losing the title on Monday but tonight he just wants to go fight. That’s fine with Reigns, but Dean better not try that Dirty Deeds stuff again. Reigns leaves and Dean runs into Heyman. Paul shakes off Ambrose’s threats by saying Brock is here and he wants a piece of Dean. That’s freaks Ambrose out so badly that he asks Heyman for advice before deciding to deal with Brock on his own later.

New Day says they can’t wait to be on the Cutting Edge Peep Show because they’re real musicians. On Sunday they’re ready to get in their stretch limousine and make their way to the Hall of Fame. Edge and Christian are out of style because it’s not the 1990s again. Tromboning and dancing (a LOT of dancing) take us out.

Video on Charlotte, as sponsored by Geico.

Charlotte vs. Natalya

Non-title and Natalya gets the jobber entrance. Charlotte’s early headscissors attempt doesn’t work so Natalya grabs a headlock and hits a quick basement dropkick to send Charlotte outside. Ric tries to give some advice and we take a break before coming back to see Charlotte spinning out of a leg lock. Charlotte bails to the floor and a Ric distraction lets her kick Natalya in the face. Back in and it’s off to the bodyscissors for a bit before Natalya fights up and sends her outside with a German suplex. Charlotte pulls the ring skirt away though to tweak Natalya’s knee, setting up the Figure Eight for the submission at 7:40.

Rating: C-. This was fine as Natalya continues to be fine as the veteran jobber. I mean, I still don’t buy for a second that Brie is going to win the title on Sunday, even for a feel good title change to cash in on Daniel Bryan. Charlotte is getting the hang of the main roster now that she has a character but Ric needs to go as there’s really no need for him.

Post match Charlotte does the YES chants to draw Brie out. The YES Kicks send Charlotte running and a YES chant starts.

This week, Goldust is Dusta Rhymes and has some bad rap. Truth likes it to start but eventually turns him down with a rap of his own. Goldust looks sad, which makes me think they might not wind up teaming after all. At least it’s different than the Booker T. formula.

We look back at the Wyatts going even crazier and the ending of Monday’s show.

Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose vs. Dudley Boyz

They take their sweet time on the entrances until Ambrose and D-Von get things going. Dean gets early near falls of a cross body and bulldog before it’s off to Bubba. A lot of shouting is enough to bring Reigns in and the crowd….doesn’t seem to care. Bubba wins a slugout and elbows Reigns in the back of the head but charges into a Samoan Drop. D-Von gets double suplexed and Bubba is sent to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Bubba cranking on Dean’s neck and the reverse 3D getting two. D-Von slaps on a chinlock (despite not actually grabbing the chin) and it’s back to Bubba for some stomping. The slow paced (and mostly ineffective) offense continues with another D-Von chinlock. It doesn’t help that we’re just waiting for Brock to come out here. Bubba tries to start a LET’S GO AMBROSE chant but it’s a Reigns distraction allowing Dean to knock Bubba down on the top rope.

Thankfully a few right hands aren’t enough to even things up and Bubba knocks him off, only to miss the backsplash. The hot tag brings in Reigns to clean house with the usual but he loads up the Superman Punch right before Brock’s music hits. The Dudleys use the entrance for a sneak attack but Reigns blocks the 3D. Dean dives onto D-Von but Brock decks him for the DQ at 13:08.

Rating: D+. This really didn’t work as most of it was the Dudleys doing slow offense until Brock came out. It wasn’t even a secret as we got a BROCK LESNAR TONIGHT graphic before the match. At least they did something besides the League of Nations to put the Shield boys over for a change though, which they’ve been getting better at in recent weeks.

Brock cleans house post match until Reigns gets in a Superman Punch. The spear almost hits Ambrose though and Dean tries Dirty Deeds, earning himself a Samoan Drop. Brock F5’s Reigns but here’s HHH (how nice of him to make an appearance as his title has been the main focus lately) to stare Brock down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. They’ve been picking things up lately around here and it’s been a nice change of pace. This has felt a lot more like the wrestling show that Raw just isn’t and that’s the best thing Smackdown can really be. If nothing else this was a good way to help set up Fastlane, which had a good build all night, even if it’s for a weak pay per view.

Results

League of Nations b. Dolph Ziggler/Lucha Dragons – Brogue Kick to Ziggler

Sasha Banks b. Tamina – Bank Statement

Chris Jericho b. The Miz – Walls of Jericho

Charlotte b. Natalya – Figure Eight

Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Dudley Boyz via DQ when Brock Lesnar interfered

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