Takeover: Vengeance Day
Date: February 14, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

It’s time for the next big one and this time around, it means a rather strange name as St. Valentine’s Day something isn’t allowed anymore. Fair enough, but it’s not like it matters if the show winds up being great and the potential is there this time around. The card is stacked and hopefully it lives up to the hype. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a Valentine’s Day rap about how much this place is loved, including a rundown of the card.

There’s a ramp instead of an aisle for a change.

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: Ember Moon/Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez

Gonzalez powers Blackheart around with ease to start and does the same to Moon. It’s already back to Blackheart, who is driven into the corner for a hard ram into the buckle. Kai comes in and gets two off Gonzalez’s knockdown. The running kick in the corner misses though and Blackheart gets in a kick to the leg. The Texas Cloverleaf goes on but Kai is all of eight inches from the rope for the easy break.

Blackheart hits the reverse Cannonball against the ropes and it’s Moon coming in with the slingshot splash for two. A double takedown slams Kai down and Moon cranks on the leg for a bonus. Moon pulls her back in to stay on the leg so Kai uses the free leg to kick her way to….well nothing actually as Moon drags her away again. Gonzalez comes in to yell so Blackheart switches without a tag.

Moon is smart enough to knock Gonzalez off the apron to break up the tag though and the ankle lock goes on. Kai finally sends Moon into the corner and the (Hot?) tag brings in Gonzalez to clean house. Some rams in the corner set up a fall away slam to drop Moon and Gonzalez drags Blackheart in for the same. Gonzalez is knocked outside so Blackheart tries a hurricanrana, only to get swung into the barricade.

Back in and Moon dropkicks Gonzalez off the apron but gets taken into the corner again. Kai hits the running kick to the face for two but Moon manages a leg lariat to Kai, causing her to DDT Gonzalez. Moon goes for Kai, only to get picked up by Gonzalez. That’s broken up by Blackheart’s missile dropkick to give Moon two and it’s Blackheart coming back in to clean house. Sliced Bread gets two on Gonzalez with Kai making another save. Blackheart hits a suicide dive to take Kai down again and then puts Kai up in an electric chair.

Moon dives off the top with a crossbody for a modified Doomsday Device and then kicks Gonzalez in the face. Back in and the STF has Gonzalez in trouble so Kai makes another save. Blackheart gets the tag so Kai takes her down with the Kairopractor for two. The assisted GTK gets two on Blackheart with Moon making another save. Gonzalez LAUNCHES Moon onto the ramp but Blackheart dropkicks her down. Kai is tossed onto Gonzalez, who is up to shove Blackheart off the top. A very high powerbomb finally puts Blackheart away to give Gonzalez the pin at 15:45.

Rating: B+. This was a lot better than I would have bet on here with straight action throughout. I’m rather happy to see the established team beat the thrown together team for a change, even though I can’t really imagine Kai and Gonzalez against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. What matters here though is the match itself, as these four beat the fire out of each other with some great saves and near falls.

William Regal comes out for the trophy presentation.

We recap Kushida vs. Johnny Gargano for the North American Title. Gargano won the title back a few months ago and Kushida has given him trouble since. Title match set.

Johnny Gargano and the Way do their pre-match dance and cheer for Gargano to retain the title.

North American Title: Johnny Gargano vs. Kushida

Gargano is defending and sends the rest of the Way to the back. Kushida goes straight for the Hoverboard Lock to start but Gargano is out in a hurry. They head to the mat with an exchange of armbars, followed by an exchange of front facelocks. Gargano tries the Gargano Escape but Kushida gets it on him instead, with Gargano escaping in a hurry. They head outside with Gargano sending him into the steps but getting caught in the cross armbreaker.

Gargano is in trouble but manages a neckbreaker over the ropes to cut Kushida off again. A floatover suplex gets…nothing actually as Kushida is up before one. Gargano hits a gordbuster into a kick to the arm (Barrett: “That’s a receipt!”) but Kushida manages an Octopus out of nowhere. That’s broken up and they hit the pinfall reversal sequence for a series of near falls until a double clothesline puts them both down. Back up and Kushida strikes away but can’t get one of the holds.

Instead it’s a German suplex into a kick to the back of the head for two on Gargano. A chickenwing northern lights suplex gets two on Gargano so he heads to the apron. That’s fine with Kushida, who breaks up a springboard and sends him shoulder first into the post. Kushida puts him on top but Gargano hits a swinging superplex, followed by a tornado DDT for two of his own. Back up and Gargano can’t get the Escape but neither can Kushida.

Instead Kushida goes for the arm again, only to get stacked up for two. Another double shot to the face gives us a double knockdown and the NXT chants strike up again. They slug it out from their knees with Kushida getting the better of it. The handspring elbow is countered into the Gargano Escape but Kushida goes for the bad arm and gets the Hoverboard Lock.

That’s escaped as well and a bridging rollup gives Gargano two. A superkick into the lawn dart knocks Kushida silly though and they’re both down again. Kushida manages a chickenwing suplex into the corner and they go up top, with Kushida flipping him down into the cross armbreaker. Gargano is about to tap but rolls over and gets the feet in the ropes. They head outside with Gargano sending him into the barricade for a breather but Kushida slips around to the stage.

That means a running kick to the arm and the Hoverboard Lock goes on, with commentary taking away the drama by declaring it over. Gargano drives him neck first into the rope for the break and One Final Beat onto the ramp knocks Kushida silly. Another One Final Beat back inside retains the title at 24:47.

Rating: A-. This got some serious time and the action worked well as both guys beat the heck out of each other. I’m not sure how many people were expecting a title change here but it’s by far Kushida’s best match in NXT. The biggest problem here was a lack of drama near the end, as Gargano getting out of the cross armbreaker cut off any real drama about a title change, but it takes something pretty great to make about 25 minutes fly by this fast. Awesome stuff here in a Takeover worthy match.

We recap the Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with MSK and the Grizzled Young Veterans meeting in the finals.

Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

That would be Nash Carter/Wes Lee vs. Zack Gibson/James Drake. The Veterans do their usual intro and it’s Gibson cranking on Carter’s arm to start so it’s off to Drake for a headlock on the mat. Carter fights up and brings Lee in though and the pace picks up. The Veterans are sent outside with Lee hitting a cartwheel into a dive to take them out, followed by Carter’s dive to hit Drake.

Gibson gets away though and blasts Carter with a clothesline to take over again. Back in and Drake gets a series of near falls before slapping on a chinlock. That doesn’t last long either so Drake runs Carter over with an elbow for two more. It’s back to Gibson to work on the arm before switching to a front facelock. Drake comes back in but Carter manages a suplex for a breather.

Gibson breaks up the tag by pulling Lee to the floor though and it’s a Downward Spiral/missile dropkick combination (or “Maximum Skullduggery” according to Barrett) for two on Carter. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Carter ducks a spinwheel kick and brings in Lee to clean house. A big dive to the floor takes out the Veterans and then faceplants Gibson back inside.

Carter comes in for a running dropkick to Drake and some rather questionable language to Gibson. A bunch of right hands and a cutter out of the corner gets two on Gibson and they’re both down. Lee’s backflip kick to the head is cut off with a knee though and Helter Skelter into Drake’s 450 gets two with Gibson not believing the kickout. Lee rolls Gibson up for two and sends the Veterans into each other. The push moonsault his Gibson and a poisonrana hits Drake, setting up the Spinal Tap (Lee called it the Final Flash in Impact) gets a very close two.

Lee is sent outside where Drake puts him in an electric chair for the suicide Doomsday Device and a nasty landing. That leaves Carter to fight them both off but it’s a powerbomb/Backstabber combination for a rather close two. Lee is back in though and it’s a spinebuster/middle rope spinning neckbreaker for the pin and the tournament at 18:45.

Rating: B+. And that’s how you pull the trigger on someone, which Impact Wrestling didn’t do for the Rascalz in the two or so years they were in the company. They had one crazy spot after another here and that’s all it needed to be. There’s something awesome about seeing a new team come in and tear the house down like this and it worked to near perfection. Great match and there is going to be a heck of a moment when the Veterans finally win something. The Tag Team Title match should be great too so everything works out.

William Regal comes out for the trophy presentation.

Video on Cameron Grimes being rich, complete with him rolling around in cash in his underwear. This might be the best thing in NXT today.

We recap the triple threat match for the Women’s Title. Io Shirai has been champion since June and Mercedes Martinez attacked her. Then Toni Storm decided she wanted the title too. The triple threat was on.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai

Shirai is defending. Martinez isn’t waiting around to start and jumps Shirai during the Big Match Intros to get things going fast. Shirai is right back in to put Martinez down but Storm shoulders her over. Another shot knocks Martinez off the apron and Shirai plants Storm. A slingshot dropkick hits Storm in the corner but she’s back up with a basement clothesline to knock Shirai against the ropes.

Martinez takes Storm to the floor so Shirai loads up an Asai moonsault…but Martinez just steps to the side so it’s a crash landing. Makes sense. Back in and Martinez plants Storm for two more but Shirai is back in with a missile dropkick to Martinez. Storm cuts Shirai off with a Boss Man Slam, only to walk into Martinez’s spinebuster for two. Shirai takes Martinez down though and it’s a Crossface to Storm, but Martinez adds a Dragon Sleeper on Shirai at the same time.

The holds are both broken up and Martinez hits a reverse suplex on Shirai. That’s fine with the champ, who is back up with a 619 and missile dropkick to put Martinez down again. Storm and Shirai go up but Martinez German superplexes Storm off. The Alberto double stomp hits Martinez, leaving Storm to get back up. They head outside with Storm clearing off the announcers’ table….which breaks after she just touches it a bit.

Storm Zero onto the wreckage is countered into a DDT from Martinez but Shirai climbs onto the lighting structure to dive onto both of them. Shirai is done so Martinez takes Storm back inside for some knees to the face. A fisherman’s buster gets two on Storm and Storm Zero gets two on Martinez with a pair of shocked faces in between. Storm adds a top rope headbutt to Martinez but it’s Shirai moonsaulting in for the pin to retain at 12:42.

Rating: B. This was another match that was almost all action and it worked out well, though I’m not sure who is going to take the title from Shirai. She is coming up on nine months as champion and could hold onto the thing for a lot longer to come. Maybe she drops it to Storm in a singles match, or maybe it is someone else coming up to go after her. Either way, good match here and Shirai’s reign is starting to get kind of historic.

We look at LA Knight (Eli Drake) signing with NXT earlier tonight and then interrupting the Kickoff Show.

We recap Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT Title. Balor has been champion for a few months now and bumped into Dunne in the back one night on TV. Dunne seemed interested in the title and they have brawled a few times, setting up a UK dream match for the title.

NXT Title: Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne

Balor is defending and they take their time on the entrances. Dunne takes him down by the arm to start but Balor reverses into an armbar of his own. A monkey flip can’t get Dunne out of trouble so Balor works on a headlock on the mat. The grinding continues until Dunne finally counters with a headscissors to work on the neck. That’s broken up as well and we’re at a standoff as second gear continues.

Dunne starts in on the arm so Balor tries to flip out, only to get pulled into a triangle choke. That’s escaped as well and Balor cranks on the arm to keep Dunne in trouble. Dunne reverses as well and starts cranking on the arm to put the champ in more trouble. This time Balor reverses into a leglock so Dunne tries for the arm again, only to have his leg kicked out again. Another leglock goes on but this time Dunne reverses into a front facelock to work on the neck a bit.

The X Plex gets two on Balor and it’s time to slug it out. Balor blasts him with a clothesline for two and it’s back to the leg. An STF has Dunne in more trouble but he sends Balor’s fingers into the mat for the break. Back up and Balor goes for the knee again but 1916 is broken up. Dunne stomps at the face and plants him with a sitout powerbomb for two more. The big stomp on the arm has Balor in more trouble and there’s a German suplex, only to have Balor kick the knee out again.

A Backstabber to Dunne sets up a shotgun dropkick in the corner but Dunne pulls him into a triangle choke. Balor can’t roll free and is knocked out…but his foot is in the rope. Balor can’t stand but he can counter the Bitter End into an abdominal stretch of all things. They go to the mat with the hold still on but Dunne gets to the fingers for some snapping. Dunne holds the hand and avoids a stomp, meaning the Bitter End can connect for two. The kickout stuns Dunne and they’re both down for a bit.

Another powerbomb attempt is countered into a DDT from Balor but Dunne is back with an enziguri. The Bitter End is countered into the reverse 1916 for another near fall and they’re both down one more time. Dunne grabs the hand and bends the fingers back so Balor double stomps him in the back. Balor ribs Dunne’s mouthpiece out and nails a basement dropkick. The Coup de Grace connects but Balor can’t immediately cover. 1916 retains the title at 25:17.

Rating: A-. This took its time to get going but then they beat the heck out of each other, which has been a theme tonight. Dunne losing still feels weird but it also comes off as a huge deal because he barely ever gets beaten. Balor is a full on legend in NXT and whoever takes the title from him is going to be an instant star no matter who it is. They could have gone either way here as the winner is going to be facing Karrion Kross for the title anyway.

Post match Balor poses but here are Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch to jump him from behind. The three on one beatdown is on but the Undisputed Era runs in for the save. Balor isn’t sure what to do and is scared to accept Kyle O’Reilly’s help up. Eventually he does though and they respect each other….and then Adam Cole superkicks Balor. The rest of the team asks what he’s doing so Cole lays out O’Reilly as well. Roderick Strong isn’t sure what to do and looks back and forth from O’Reilly and Balor on the mat to Cole to end the show. It might not be popular, but was there anything else for the Era to do?

Overall Rating: A. The worst match on the show would have been the match of the week 90% of the year so I’m not sure what there is to complain about here. This was five straight awesome matches because that’s what Takeover does. The ending was a surprise but a necessary one to give it a big moment that carries things into the next cycle. As usual, the action was great and they gave you a reason to come back, which are two of the most important things a show can do. Outstanding stuff here, in case there was any doubt there would be for some odd reason.

Results

Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez b. Ember Moon/Shotzi Blackheart – Powerbomb to Blackheart

Johnny Gargano b. Kushida – One Final Beat

MSK b. Grizzled Young Veterans – Spinebuster/Spinning middle rope neckbreaker to Drake

Io Shirai b. Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm – Moonsault to Martinez

Finn Balor b. Pete Dunne – 1916

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We’re back to the good ones here as NXT returns with another Takeover event. This time around we have Vengeance Day, which isn’t the best name but maybe the obvious St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is a little too violent for them. Believe it or not, the card is stacked as we have three title matches plus the two Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals. Let’s get to it.

Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

We’ll start with a good one here as I’m actually not sure who is going to win this thing. MSK debuted in the start of the tournament and have made it all the way to the finals. This certainly works for me as I’ve been a fan of the team since they debuted in Impact Wrestling and now they might actually win something. At the same time, the Veterans lost in last year’s finals and it seems that they are due.

I’ll go with MSK to win in an upset though, as they would make for a more interesting matchup against Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. This is one of those matches that could get some time with some awesome near falls at the end and that’s where NXT’s tag team division shines. The good thing is that they are building up some new teams (like these two) and the future might be a bit brighter. See how nice it is when there is a problem and the promotion actually addresses it?

Women’s Title: Io Shirai(c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Martinez

Did you realize that Shirai has been champion for over eight months? It always seems like she is ready to lose the thing at any given time but here she is again, getting rather close to the elite level of Women’s Champions. This is quite the task though as you could see either one of these two taking the title. That’s exactly the point of something like this though and NXT has set things up well.

I’m tempted to pick Martinez here as she has gotten the least hype out of the three but I’ll take Storm to win here. This is more along the lines of a gut feeling as they have been building towards Storm taking the title. They could go multiple ways here, but I’ll go with Storm winning. It gets the title off of Shirai, though I’m not sure what is next for her either. But yeah, Storm wins here.

North American Title: Johnny Gargano(c) vs. Kushida

This has been built up for a long time now and I wasn’t sure if they were ever actually going to do it. Kushida is my favorite guy out of New Japan and while he isn’t the same as he was there, I still like seeing him out there and getting a bit of a push like this. Above all else, it’s nice to see someone new getting a shot at the title.

As nice as it is to see Kushida getting a chance like this, Gargano keeps the title. We’ve done the thing with him losing the title in a hurry far too often already so they need to have him retain here. Gargano needs the win more than Kushida here as it’s not like Kushida is going to lose anything by taking the loss here. He’s been playing with the house’s money for this entire feud so Gargano going over here is fine.

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez vs. Ember Moon/Shotzi Blackheart

Yes, believe it or not a team with no history together has made the finals of a Dusty Classic. That is as much of a tradition as the tournament itself because WWE really, really likes that idea. This time around we do at least have a regular team included, though I have a bad feeling that it isn’t going to matter, which tends to be the case throughout the history of the tournament.

In other words, yeah Blackheart and Moon win here because they’re a more logical team to lose to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. I’m rather sick of seeing the thrown together teams winning here but I guess it makes for a better story or something. Granted that might not be the case when you see the same thing taking place so often but it’s likely taking place here so I’ll go with Blackheart and Moon.

NXT Title: Finn Balor(c) vs. Pete Dunne

And then we cap it off with a dream match as these two seem like they could have an absolute classic. The cool thing about NXT: it is more likely than not that they will. This is going to be a hard hitting fight and they are going to get the time that they need to make it work out as well as they could. It’s a match I would have preferred to see a year or two ago, but I’ll certainly take what I can get.

As for a winner……dang it where’s a quarter I can flip? I’ll take Balor here, but my goodness this one could go either way. I’m not sure how this one is going to end but they are going to beat the living fire out of each other and it’s going to be absolutely awesome. This feels like a Takeover main event and that’s about as good of an accolade as you can give to a match these days.

Overall Thoughts

This is as stacked of a card as there has been in a long time and that’s a great thing to see. I want to see how almost everything goes and it’s nice to have the hype back for these shows. It has all of the potential in the world and it’s even better to have Takeover’s reputation behind the whole thing. Just go with what works here, and that means following Takeover’s tried and true formula.

 

 

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NXT
Date: February 3, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph

It’s still tournament time because that’s what we’re doing around here at the moment. Tonight we have more tournament matches, but we also have an appearance from Edge, who has never been on this show before. I’m not sure what he is going to do, but the star power alone is worth a look. Let’s get to it.

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

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semifinals: Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez vs. Kayden Carter/Kacy Catanzaro

Catanzaro and Carter say they’re ready to shock the world again. Kacy walks the ropes for an armdrag to Kai to start so it’s quickly off to Gonzalez, meaning everything breaks down. We settle down to Catanzaro being caught in a front facelock but fighting up for a messed up version of Private Party’s Silly String. Carter comes in for a running forearm to Gonzalez in the corner and a low superkick gets two. Gonzalez shoves Carter off the apron and into the announcers’ table though as we take a break.

Back with Carter rolling away from Kai and making it over to Catanzaro for the hot tag. Everything breaks down with Catanzaro cleaning house before handing it back to Carter. Gonzalez is sent to the apron for a kind of hanging Pedigree, setting up Catanzaro’s hurricanrana driver. Catanzaro hits the inverted Black Arrow but Kai is a hair late on the save so Gonzalez has to kick out anyway. Gonzalez powerbombs Catanzaro for the pin at 13:03.

Rating: C. This tournament is starting to feel more and more like Impact’s women’s tournament as there is little drama as to who is winning, which doesn’t exactly make for the best set of matches. There were only so many ways to present the whole thing because there are only so many regular teams. This was only so good because of some of the botches and messiness, but there was enough energy to carry the thing.

Toni Storm is ready for Io Shirai because she is the only one to get to her in months. Mercedes Martinez can’t stop her either.

Edge and William Regal have a chat in the back.

Leon Ruff vs. Austin Theory

Johnny Gargano is here with Theory. Ruff starts fast but his crossbody is countered into a fall away slam….which doesn’t work as Ruff lands on his feet. Theory drop toeholds him face first into the middle buckle and there’s a belly to back suplex. A crossface shot to the face rocks Ruff but he hammers away at the ribs to slow Theory down. The sunset flip doesn’t work so Ruff forearms away and kicks the leg out. Ruff goes to the apron and nails a superkick on Gargano, followed by a missile dropkick to Theory.

An exchange of shoulders put both Theory and Ruff down, with the latter falling out to the floor. Cue Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae to help Gargano up but Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart run out to jump them. Ruff plays the Eddie Guerrero card by dropping to the floor and grabbing his face, causing another referee to eject Gargano. Back in and a middle rope spinning cutter gets two on Theory, who had to put his foot on the rope. That’s enough for Theory, who grabs the ATL for the pin at 6:18.

Rating: C. Theory winning is nice to see as the guy has all the tools in the world to be a star and giving him a win is a good sight to see. I know he’s Gargano’s lackey but at least he beat someone with a bit of a resume. Ruff is still doing well after his fluke title reign, with that spinning cutter looking great again.

Post match Theory hits another ATL and grabs the bell, but here’s Dexter Lumis to rip out part of Theory’s hair. Why? Because for some reason NXT thinks this is interesting. I don’t know who else does, but they certainly seem to.

Video on Legado del Fantasma.

Video on Tian Sha, who seems to be the one behind Boa and Xia Li’s transformations. It’s about an old woman who had two children and met a dragon who agreed to teach the children. The teacher ascended to the throne and survived for generations, where we see Boa and Li standing around her throne. So yeah, the ancient woman is thousands of years old.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Lucha House Party vs. Legado del Fantasma

Dorado starts fast with a Lionsault press for two on Mendoza. A double spinebuster puts Dorado down for two though and it’s off to Metalik for a springboard. An enziguri knocks him to the floor though and Wilde adds a big dive off the apron. We take a break and come back with Metalik hitting a sunset bomb on Mendoza and getting over for the hot tag to Dorado.

A dropkick hits Wilde and Dorado’s high crossbody gets two. Wilde is back up with half of a double springboard DDT, as he can’t quite hook Metalik’s head. The half that hits Dorado gets two but House Party is back up with Dorado helping Metalik hit a rope walk hurricanrana to send Wilde into Mendoza. Dorado moonsaults onto both of them but it’s the Russian legsweep/running kick to the face to finish Dorado at 10:17.

Rating: C+. The action was good and all four were working hard but it’s getting harder and harder to care about these tournament matches. The thing feels like it has gone on for months now and it’s going to continue all the way up to Takeover. The action was good (with the understandable botches) but it’s kind of hard to get excited about these matches when there are several every week.

Post match Legado points at the brackets but here’s MSK to say they’re going to win.

Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch and Pete Dunne arrive to go Finn Balor hunting.

Post break here are Lorcan, Burch and Dunne for a chat. Dunne says he wants the title so here’s Finn Balor to interrupt. Balor says Dunne is hiding behind Lorcan and Burch, which Dunne denies. Burch and Lorcan head to the floor so Balor gets in and says the title match is on for Takeover.

Cue Edge, who says this place is about the W rather than the E, because he sees the passion and the hunger in their eyes. This place helped him find his passion, which helped him win the Royal Rumble. That lets him challenge any champion in this company, meaning it’s time to look at the NXT Title. Edge says Balor is on another level so he’ll be watching Takeover and it might influence his decision. He has never had the NXT Title and that is intriguing, so the fight at Takeover might help him make his choice.

I know that the chance of Edge picking the NXT Title is about one in three hundred and eighty two trillion, but just paying lip service to the idea makes the title seem that much more important. Balor is a big star in WWE at the moment, but Edge is that much bigger, meaning this was a nice rub to the title, even if Edge never appears again.

Johnny Gargano is rather pleased with The Way things are going but McKenzie Mitchell brings up Gargano’s North American Title defense against Kushida at Takeover. Gargano says he’s getting her fired and we take a break. Back with Gargano taking Mitchell over to William Regal’s office where he finds Kushida. The brawl is on with Kushida beating him down and kicking him in the arm until referees and agents break it up.

Toni Storm vs. Jessi Kamea

Kamea is officially in the Robert Stone Brand and takes Storm down for an early two. Storm gets in a shot of her own but here’s Mercedes Martinez. Kamea yells at her and gets decked for the DQ at 1:21.

Post match the brawl is on as Io Shirai comes out to sit on the top and watch.

Curt Stallion has worked hard to get here and it’s time to get his chance at the title. Place your bets.

Cameron Grimes is back next week. That’s always good to hear.

Cruiserweight Title: Curt Stallion vs. Santos Escobar

Escobar is defending and has Legado del Fantasma with him. They lock up to start with Escobar hammering him down in a hurry. Stallion’s chops don’t do much good as it’s a cravate into a seated abdominal stretch to put him down. Back up and Escobar hits a dropkick for two as Scarlett is watching from the perch. Something light a dragon sleeper goes on, followed by the armbar as Escobar finally sees Scarlet. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker cuts off Stallion’s comeback attempt but Scarlett’s presence is quite the distraction.

Stallion clotheslines him out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Escobar cranking on the arm on the mat, which is switched into a half crab and then something like an STF. Stallion fights up and slugs away to put Escobar on the floor, setting up the suicide dive. Back in and Stallion gets suplexed into the corner to give Escobar two. The Phantom Driver into the double underhook knee to the chest retains the title at 13:22.

Rating: C. We waited since November to set up this much of a squash? Stallion barely got in anything outside of a brief flurry and the Scarlett distraction didn’t mean a thing. I’m not surprised at Escobar retaining, but could we have gotten a little more drama here? Escobar vs. Kross could be something, though it isn’t likely to do the title much good.

Post match here’s Karrion Kross to wreck the rest of Legado and have the big staredown with Escobar. Kross gets in the ring and tells Escobar he’s giving him the gift of time. Now run along. Ok so maybe it was a tarot card last week.

Post break Edge runs into Karrion Kross in the parking lot, who says he hopes Edge chooses wisely. No matter who walks out of Takeover as champion, Kross is coming for the title. Edge sees that as motivation to come back here, and Kross might not like that.

Takeover: Vengeance Day rundown.

Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Undisputed Era vs. Tommaso Ciampa/Timothy Thatcher

Ciampa headlocks Cole down to start but it’s too early to go with the Fairy Tale Ending. Instead Ciampa goes with the headlock again to keep things slow early on. Back up and Ciampa blocks a superkick but can’t hit a running knee as we have a standoff. Thatcher and Strong come in with Thatcher taking him to the mat with an armbar. A punch to the ribs gives Thatcher two but Strong gets up to bring Cole back in.

Thatcher gets caught in the corner so he fights out and brings in Ciampa to take over on Strong again. This time it’s Strong getting caught in the corner for a beating as everything breaks down. The big four way staredown takes us to a break. Back with the bow and arrow keeping Strong in trouble and Thatcher adds a knee to the ribs. The cross armbreaker doesn’t work so Thatcher slaps on the guillotine, sending Strong to the ropes.

Thatcher chokes away in the corner but Strong goes up with him for a top rope superplex. They’re both down for a bit until it’s a double tag to bring in Cole and Ciampa. Cole knocks him down for two and then nails the jumping enziguri. The brainbuster onto the knee connects but Cole can’t get the Figure Four. Everything breaks down and it’s a Figure Four to Thatcher, with Strong not quite being able to get the Stronghold on Ciampa. Instead Ciampa kicks him away and makes the diving save and we settle back down again.

Thatcher’s release German suplex into a running knee to the face hits Strong for two but he blocks the Fairy Tale Ending. The Angle Slam drops Ciampa again and it’s back to Cole. A superkick gets two on Ciampa and Cole is getting frustrated. Strong comes back in and everything breaks down but Thatcher pulls Cole to the floor. A jumping knee from Strong rocks Thatcher on the floor but Strong walks into Willow’s Bell to give Ciampa the pin at 17:04.

Rating: B+. This got time and was built up well. The Undisputed Era has long since established that they can go in the ring with anyone and Ciampa/Thatcher have shown a rather nice chemistry as well. That set up a heck of a tag match here as everyone worked hard and I wasn’t sure who was going to win until the ending. You don’t get a much better feeling than that in wrestling and it was strong here so good stuff all around.

Post match the Grizzled Young Veterans come out to brawl with Ciampa and Thatcher to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event was easily the best thing on the show with Edge’s appearance a close second. I’m curious as to where some of these things go, but I’m more impressed by the Takeover card being set up almost in one week. There are three title matches set and the two Dusty Classic matches will flesh out the card. I’m still not feeling the huge amount of tournament matches, but it is nice to have a great match to close the show out.

Results

Raquel Gonzalez/Dakota Kai b. Kacy Catanzaro/Kayden Carter – Powerbomb to Catanzaro

Austin Theory b. Leon Ruff – ATL

Legado del Fantasma b. Lucha House Party – Russian legsweep/kick to the face combination to Dorado

Jessi Kamea b. Toni Storm via DQ when Mercedes Martinez interfered

Santos Escobar b. Curt Stallion – Double underhook facebuster

Timothy Thatcher/Tommaso Ciampa b. Undisputed Era – Willow’s Bell to Strong

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NXT
Date: January 27, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix

It’s still tournament time around here as the women’s Dusty Classic continues the first round but the men’s version heads on to the quarterfinals. I’m still not sure if this is the best idea in the world as these tournaments are dominating the show, but maybe the action is going to be enough to carry the show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: MSK vs. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick

Maverick and Lee start things off and go to the mat in a hurry. Maverick’s headlock is driven against the ropes so Lee says bring it. Dain wants in but Maverick isn’t ready yet, instead taking Lee to the mat with a front facelock. That’s broken up as well as Maverick is taken into the corner for a running Bronco Buster from Carter. Maverick slips away and brings in Dain to clean house, including throwing Maverick at Nash for a knockdown (always effective).

The running big boot in the corner rocks Carter but a shot to the knee put Dain down for a second. Lee comes back in and is tossed outside with ease to send us to a break. Back with Dain hitting Lee in the face again and crushing him with a backsplash. That’s enough to give Maverick two but the chinlock is countered for the hot tag to Carter. A penalty kick rocks Maverick and a dropkick puts Dain on the floor. The push moonsault connects for two with Dain making a save. Dain is sent outside again though and it’s a Hart Attack with a Blockbuster instead of a clothesline to finish Maverick at 11:06.

Rating: C+. This was more like it for both teams, as Dain and Maverick are the kind of a team with just enough credibility to mean something and MSK feel primed for a serious run in the tournament. They made enough sense here too, with Dain being the wrecking ball that had to be dealt with and then Maverick being a much easier target. Good enough match and MSK continues to make me smile.

Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan are fired up for tonight. Pete Dunne looks like he’s ordering dinner.

Raquel Gonzalez/Dakota Kai and Jessi Kamea/Aliyah are ready to win the Dusty Classic.

Curt Stallion looks out the window and sees shooting stars. One day he followed it and knew what he was ready to do. Now he wants to have a rocket strapped to his back in the form of the Cruiserweight Title.

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Jessi Kamea/Aliyah vs. Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez

Kamea and Aliyah have Robert Stone in their corner. Gonzalez and Aliyah start things off with Aliyah not being able to shove her around. Instead Gonzales swings her around in a lockup so it’s off to Kamea, who has to avoid an elbow. A dropkick sends Gonzalez into the corner for a running forearm but she sends Kamea into Kai’s elbow. Aliyah comes in for some double teaming and a running flipping hair faceplant puts Kai down.

Kai is sent outside but manages to pump kick Aliyah down hard and gets two back inside. Back in and Gonzalez hits a swinging powerslam on Aliyah, setting up Kai’s running kick to the face in the corner. Kai gets two off a double stomp but Aliyah manages a clothesline to bring in Kamea. That’s fine with Gonzalez, who plants her with the chokeslam for the pin at 5:58.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t quite as interesting as the ending wasn’t in doubt and the match felt a good bit longer than just under six minutes. That being said, the women’s tournament is only three rounds long so it is a good thing to see the winners look dominant. Not the worst match, but it needed more wacky Robert Stone shenanigans to really push it over the edge.

The Way is sure they’ll win the Women’s Dusty Classic but Johnny Gargano isn’t going to answer anything about Kushida. Austin Theory says it’s kind of like the curse but Gargano orders him to say no more words. Kushida does not get a title shot.

Scarlett uses Tarot cards to display that destruction is coming.

Tegan Nox has been training with Brie Larson. Video tomorrow.

Tyler Rust vs. Dante Rios

Malcolm Bivens is at ringside and he has an inset promo, promising that Rust will win. Rust takes him down with ease to start and then nails a hard right hand. A stomp onto the head keeps Rios down and it’s time to crank on the arm. Some chops rock Rust and a backside gives Rios two. What looks to be a tornado DDT winds up as a guillotine choke but Rust powers out. A big boot into a flipping neckbreaker sets up a modified Rings of Saturn (When did that become the most popular move in the world?) to make Rios tap at 3:23.

Rating: D+. Rust still looks good but they are playing into the idea that he might not be as polished as Bivens thinks he is. At least he won here, but it took a little longer than expected. It’s something different though, and that’s often a nice thing to see, especially when so many newcomers have the dominant run before their first story.

Bivens and Rust get a post match photo.

The Grizzled Young Veterans and Kushida/Leon Ruff are ready to win the Dusty Classic.

Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly are ready, don’t trust each other, and will see each other out there.

Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinals: Leon Ruff/Kushida vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

Before the match, Zack Gibson promises to win because Ruff and Kushida have been a team for about five minutes. Kushida takes Gibson to the mat without much trouble but Drake comes in for a spinning kick to the face. It’s off to Ruff for a dropkick but Kushida is already back in for stereo basement dropkicks and two on Drake. We hit the quickly broken armbar and Ruff snaps off a top rope hurricanrana to put Drake down again. Drake forearms his way to freedom but Kushida saves Ruff from a double suplex. A middle rope cutter gets two on Gibson and we take a break.

Back with Ruff grabbing a sunset flip for two on Drake, who pops back up with a heck of a clothesline. Ruff is sent outside for a slingshot forearm/backbreaker combination to put him in even more trouble. A neckbreaker gets Ruff out of trouble back inside and the hot tag brings in Kushida to start cleaning house. The cartwheel into the basement dropkick rocks Drake again and there’s a running dropkick in the corner. Gibson comes back in and escapes an Octopus, setting up a Doomsday Device of all things for two on Kushida.

The double handspring elbow drops the Veterans though and the hot tag brings in Ruff for the second house cleaning. A suicide dive hits Drake and a top rope flip dive hits Gibson. Back in and a running clothesline puts Gibson down again but Ruff misses the Swanton. Drake gets caught not paying attention on the apron and it’s the Ticket to Mayhem to finish Ruff at 13:15.

Rating: B-. I could watch the Veterans at least three days a week and the two of them could be favorites in the tournament. Granted that could be the case for most of the remaining teams and that’s a good sign for the whole thing. This worked out about as expected and Kushida getting the North American Title shot at Takeover (as he is almost a lock to do) is a lot more important than this team.

Post match here’s the Way to beat down Kushida and Ruff. Johnny Gargano insists that Kushida will never get a shot but here’s Dexter Lumis to scare them off. Sweet goodness why can’t this guy just fall in a hole somewhere?

Curt Stallion has been attacked by Legado del Fantasma.

Post break, the Cruiserweight Title match is officially canceled for tonight. If this was supposed to be a surprise, maybe they shouldn’t have pulled the match from the show’s official preview.

Legado del Fantasma doesn’t know what’s going on but ANGRY William Regal comes in and says the title match is on for next week, with promises of consequences if anything else happens to Stallion. Regal leaves and the trio is freaked out by a playing card, though they insist there is nothing to worry about. I wonder if that’s an ace. Like, say, an Irish ace.

Here’s Toni Storm to say she wins whatever she wants. She wanted to be the first ever person to win the Women’s Dusty Cup but Io Shirai took that away from her. Now she wants to hurt and ruin Shirai, but more than anything else, she wants to be the NXT Women’s Champion.

Cue Io Shirai to say she’ll fight Toni anytime because she doesn’t like her. The fight is on with Storm being sent outside but here’s Mercedes Martinez to jump Shirai from behind. Martinez holds up the title but Storm says it’s hers. Shirai is back in to jump them both but Storm pulls her off the top. A pair of hip attacks in the corner leave Shirai laying and Storm rubs the title.

Isaiah Scott doesn’t like being accused of messing with Bronson Reed and suggests you could the fingers pointing at you when you point your finger at someone.

Imperium video, which heavily suggests the return of Walter. It’s about time.

The Undisputed Era aren’t worried about facing Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher because they’re tougher, more experienced and better. Well that was to the point.

Bronson Reed vs. Isaiah Scott

Reed throws him outside to start but Scott sticks the landing, only to get sent face first into the apron. A crossbody on the floor crushes Scott and we take a break. Back with Scott working on an armbar and then raking Reed’s face a bit. Reed isn’t having that and runs him over again, setting up a backsplash for two.

Scott gets in another shot to the shoulder but Reed goes to the middle rope anyway. An enziguri connects though and Scott hits a 450 for two. Scott tells him not to get in his business and hits Reed in the face, which seems to be a rather bad move. Reed headbutts him and adds a hard clothesline, setting up the Tsunami for the pin at 9:21.

Rating: C+. This is the kind of thing that I can go for: taking two young (or at least new) stars and giving them a story. Reed is looking more and more like a breakout star every week and Scott….well at least he can still talk rather effectively. Pushing one of them is a good idea though and if Reed is their guy, so be it.

Scott really does not look pleased.

Tommaso Ciampa talks about how some fights change people and respect can grow. Timothy Thatcher joins him to say pretty much the same thing. Ciampa promises a war with Undisputed Era next week.

Kyle O’Reilly/Finn Balor vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burke

Non-title, which I didn’t know until this show started. Balor armdrags Lorcan into an armbar to start and it’s quickly off to O’Reilly vs. Burch. O’Reilly grabs an armbar of his own but Burch goes to the recently injured jaw to break up a tag attempt. Lorcan and Burch get to work on the arm for a change, followed by Burch’s headlock on the mat. That’s reversed into a wristlock, which is enough for O’Reilly to get back over to Balor.

O’Reilly is back in less than five seconds later as Balor and O’Reilly start the rapid fire tags and arm cranking. They stop to glare at each other though and we take a break. Back with Balor getting a tag to clean house in a hurry, including a bunch of stomping on Lorcan. A trip takes Balor down though and Lorcan gets in some stomping of his own.

The chinlock goes on to keep Balor down and a double atomic drop into a Russian legsweep gets two. Lorcan starts yelling at Balor, which rarely seems like a good idea, and is quickly followed by Balor nailing a Pele kick. The Sling Blade is enough for the hot tag to O’Reilly as house is cleaned in a hurry. Burch gets a boot up in the corner and tries a middle rope but dives into a kneebar to give O’Reilly and Balor the win at 11:56.

Rating: B-. They were telling a nice story here, though I’m hoping we get at least a token Tag Team Title match out of this. I’m not sure we will, but it would serve well as a TV main event. At least they had a good match in the non-title version, but I would hope that NXT isn’t he kind of place that just lets the champs lose.

Post match O’Reilly and Balor seem cool but Pete Dunne pops up. Burch and Lorcan send O’Reilly into the barricade and Dunne breaks Balor’s fingers as the Undisputed Era come to the ring for the save, albeit rather slowly. The big staredown ends the show, though Balor drops to the floor with the Era standing in the ring. We could use a fourth for the villains here as that’s a heck of an eight man tag.

Overall Rating: B-. The tournament matches are good but I’m rather relieved that they are wrapping things up sooner rather than later. There are too many tournament things going on at once here and it’s kind of dragging things down. It’s the majority of things going with the show and while the wrestling is good, I could go for something else. This was another good week, but I’m losing patience with all of the tournament stuff.

Results

MSK b. Killian Dain/Drake Maverick – Blockbuster/spinebuster combination to Maverick

Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez b. Jessi Kamea/Aliyah – Chokeslam to Kamea

Tyler Rust b. Dante Rios – Rings of Saturn

Grizzled Young Veterans b. Leon Ruff/Kushida – Ticket to Mayhem to Ruff

Bronson Reed b. Isaiah Scott – Tsunami

Kyle O’Reilly/Finn Balor b. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch – Kneebar to Burch

 

 

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NXT
Date: December 16, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph

We’re on the way to New Year’s Evil and that could go a variety of ways. Tonight we find out the new #1 contender to the NXT Title though as Pete Dunne faces Kyle O’Reilly. That could be a heck of a fight and that’s what NXT is shooting for with the showdown. Other than that, the whole show could be all over the place. Let’s get to it.

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

Kushida/Leon Ruff vs. The Way

That would be Johnny Gargano/Austin Theory with Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell. Kushida takes Theory to the mat and the frustration is on in a hurry. Ruff comes in so Theory runs him over with a clothesline and hands it off to Gargano to glare at Kushida. The delay lets Ruff take Gargano down and kick him in the head for two, only to have Gargano hit a gordbuster.

Theory comes back in so Kushida makes the save, with stereo dropkick sending Theory and Gargano to the floor. Ruff loads up a big flip dive but slips and falls flat on his back on the floor for a scary landing. Thankfully he seems to be ok as Theory sends Ruff face first into the apron. Back in and Ruff scores with a DDT for two but Gargano hits his slingshot spear. We take a break and come back with Ruff fighting out of a chinlock and enziguring Gargano, allowing the hot tag off to Kushida.

House is cleaned with Kushida kicking Gargano in the arm but getting kicked in the head for his efforts. Ruff comes back in with a missile dropkick to Gargano and stereo running kicks in the corner give Ruff two. Theory is back in with the spinning torture rack powerbomb for two on Ruff and a double superkick is good for the same. Ruff hits his own superkick to send Gargano into the corner but Theory is back in with This Is The Way (where he picks Ruff up and flips him into a Downward Spiral) for the pin at 13:35.

Rating: B-. They did things the right way here with Gargano and Theory working well together and finishing Ruff in the end. Kushida continues to look strong and it wouldn’t shock me to see him get the first shot at Gargano. That has been a logical place for him to go for the last several months so it would be nice to see them actually do something about it.

Dexter Lumis is watching from the balcony with an easel. Uh yeah.

Video on Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley, with Toni saying that all that matters is her time. She is ending this rivalry on her terms tonight.

Video on Legado del Fantasma.

Shotzi Blackheart is proud of her WarGames team and doesn’t think much of Candice LeRae carrying a trophy that her husband got from a Little League banquet. She broke Candice’s arm in the cage and tonight she’s breaking Candice’s best friend Indi Hartwell.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Rust

Ciampa leaves a chair and shirt for Timothy Thatcher at ringside. Rust works on the wrist to start but gets taken down into a front facelock. Cue Thatcher to watch so Ciampa hits a running shot to the face to drop Rust again. Ciampa heads outside to yell at Thatcher and Rust runs Thatcher over by mistake. That’s enough to get Thatcher ejected but Rust uses the distraction to get in a shot on Ciampa as we take a break.

Back with Ciampa hitting a Samoan drop to get a breather and elbowing Rust in the face. Rust scores with an ax kick for two but can’t get a cross armbreaker as Ciampa stacks him up. The hold goes on with the second attempt but Ciampa is out again and blasts Rust in the face. The arm is too banged up for the Fairy Tale Ending so Rust grabs a cravate and flips Ciampa forward for two. Rust slaps on a Rings of Saturn with his legs, meaning Ciampa has to use his own leg for the break. Ciampa unloads with chops in the ropes, followed by a running knee to the face. Willow’s Bell is good for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: C+. Rust got to showcase himself here and that’s the reason you put him in a spot like this. Ciampa is in the middle of his big feud with Thatcher and beating up Thatcher’s glorified lackey is as good of an idea as you can have. If nothing else, Rust got a chance to showcase himself and that worked well. Nice stuff here, as both did what they were supposed to do.

Post match Ciampa picks up the Thatcher shirt but here’s Thatcher to glare at him. The two are held back but Ciampa throws the shirt in Thatcher’s face to make it worse.

Video on the Grizzled Young Veterans, who are back after eight months away. There are a lot of new teams around here and they are still the best around.

Video on Karrion Kross.

During the break, Malcolm Bivens came out to tell Rust that he is a star. Rust bumped fists with him and they left together.

Dexter Lumis has drawn the New Year’s Evil logo.

Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly

The winner gets the title shot against Finn Balor at New Year’s Evil. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are here to start but here’s the Undisputed Era and the returning Breezango to take care of them, meaning it’s one on one. Dunne and O’Reilly go straight to the slugging to start with Dunne not being able to get anywhere off the hammerlock. Instead Dunne takes him down and pulls on the leg but O’Reilly is out of that in a hurry.

O’Reilly sits on his stomach to strike away but the dragon screw legwhip is countered without much trouble. Back up and they run the ropes with Dunne hitting a clothesline to send O’Reilly to the floor. The moonsault off the apron misses O’Reilly but he misses a knee of his own. Dunne scores with a pump kick but O’Reilly slips out of an X Plex onto the apron. The slugout on the floor almost gives us a double countout with both of them diving back in at nine.

Back in and they slug it out with O’Reilly kicking him in the leg. Another kick puts Dunne on the floor again and we take a break. We come back with Dunne’s Bitter End being countered into a guillotine choke. That’s broken up and Dunne is back with the X Plex, allowing him to glare with his bloody mouth. Dunne starts in on the arm with the big stomp having O’Reilly in trouble. The cobra clutch with a leg trap has O’Reilly in pain to go with the trouble.

Back up and O’Reilly starts striking away, including the running elbow in the corner. Dunne tries to run the ropes in the corner but O’Reilly kicks him back down. O’Reilly goes up top with him but Dunne flips out of a German superplex attempt and kicks O’Reilly in the head. The dropkick in the corner connects and we take another break. Back with the two of them on the apron and pulling the other into the buckle over and over. That means a double knockdown until O’Reilly charges into a knee.

Dunne powerbombs him for two and cranks on the arm again. That’s reversed into an ankle lock on Dunne which is reversed into the Kimura on O’Reilly’s bad arm. O’Reilly tries a choke to escape but settles for a brainbuster to put Dunne down again. A jumping knee sets up a belly to back fisherman’s suplex for two more on Dunne. O’Reilly gets pulled into a triangle but slips out in a hurry to hammer away with forearms.

There’s a kick to Dunne’s head, followed by one to O’Reilly’s head. A second to O’Reilly lets Dunne snap the fingers and they head to the apron. The Bitter End onto the apron is countered into a suplex to the floor and Dunne is in big trouble. O’Reilly drapes him over the bottom rope and a top rope knee to the back of the neck sends O’Reilly to the title match at 22:48.

Rating: A-. Well that was awesome and I don’t think that’s any surprise. Two talented people getting the time and having the chance to beat the heck out of each other. What else could you possibly need? What might be a bit surprising is having Dunne loses, as he seemed to be the perfect choice to get the title shot. That being said, O’Reilly vs. Balor was amazing the first time so letting them go at it again in a huge rematch works for me.

Rhea Ripley knows how to deal with Raquel Gonzalez because Gonzalez backed away last week. As for tonight, she’s ending Toni Storm once and for all.

We go back to Xia Li/Boa (hey I didn’t miss it this week) where the old man is ordering a very sweaty Li to attack Boa over and over. She hammers away as the bloody Boa begs them to stop. The old man says do it again as Li is in tears. Li unloads on Boa and they both go a bit stoic.

Indi Hartwell vs. Shotzi Blackheart

The rest of the Way is here with Hartwell. Blackheart is more serious to start here and hits an early dropkick before starting in on the limbs. The running reverse Cannonball in the corner mostly misses Hartwell, who elbows Shotzi down for two. Blackheart jumps over her in the corner though and hammers away, meaning now the reverse Cannonball can connect. A running dropkick sends Hartwell to the floor but Candice gets on the apron for a distraction. Hartwell hits Shotzi with the trophy (and yes it breaks) for the DQ at 4:05.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but the match was there for the sake of getting to the ending and likely the post match beatdown. Shotzi and some other people fighting the Way could go on for months and this worked just fine as a way to move things forward. The idea of Shotzi continuing the fight works well, even if it did mainly start with breaking a tank.

Post match the beatdown is on, including the Wicked Stepsister to Shotzi. Barrett is more worried about the trophy because he knows how to be a commentator.

Karrion Kross video.

Bronson Reed is back at New Year’s Evil.

Karrion Kross vs. Desmond Troy

Scarlett is here as well. Total destruction with the Doomsday Saito setting up the Krossjacket choke to finish Troy at 1:05. That worked.

Post match Kross confirms his match against Damian Priest at New Year’s Evil.

Isaiah Scott confirms that he gets frustrated when he loses to someone like Jake At…..and he cuts himself off. The rematch is next week and the result will be different.

Scott leaves and here’s Ever Rise to say last week was a handicap match so they have tried to have it stricken from the record. Therefore, the team is still on a winning streak. Martel: “You hear that Goldberg? WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!” And no they don’t want a rematch.

Lumis is still drawing and now he is going to be the host of New Year’s Evil. Oh sweet goodness.

Finn Balor says New Year’s Evil isn’t Balor vs. O’Reilly II. It’s Balor vs. O’Reilly The End.

We run down the New Year’s Evil card, which certainly does look big.

Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley

They fight over the lockup to start with Storm slapping on a headlock for little avail. Ripley shoulders her down and they trade crucifixes on the mat. Back up and Storm hits some chops but Ripley is back with some of her own. A double chop to the back knocks Storm down but she slips out of an electric chair. Ripley pulls her to the apron but gets sent into the post and kicked in the face as we take a break. Back with Ripley fighting out of a chinlock but missing an elbow. A superkick connects with Storm though and Ripley knees her in the face.

The Riptide is broken up with some elbows to the face and Storm headbutts her down. Back up and they slug it out until Ripley gets two off a dropkick. The Prism Trap goes on but Storm rolls her into the ropes for the break. A German suplex gives Storm two and Ripley dropping Storm face first onto the turnbuckle gets the same. Ripley drops the leg for another two but here’s Raquel Gonzalez. Ripley kicks Storm onto her but as the referee checks on Storm, Gonzalez sends Ripley shoulder first into the post. Storm Zero gives Storm the pin at 13:48.

Rating: B. This was a big match feel with both women working to make it feel like a fight. Ripley is already a major star and Storm kind of is, so getting the big win here makes her feel that much more important. Throw in the idea of Gonzalez fighting Ripley again and this was a heck of a packed match, as the women’s division is getting crazy deep in a hurry.

Ripley isn’t happy to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Yeah what else are you expecting from a show like this? They had an excellent match in the middle, a rather good main event and a pretty good opener, while also setting up the big New Year’s Evil card. This was a heck of a show though and one of the better things that NXT has done in a pretty long time, as they had good to great wrestling and set stuff up for the future. What more can you want?

Results

The Way b. Kushida/Leon Ruff – This Is The Way to Ruff

Tommaso Ciampa b. Tyler Rust – Willow’s Bell

Kyle O’Reilly b. Pete Dunne – Top rope knee

Shotzi Blackheart b. Indi Hartwell via DQ when Hartwell used a trophy

Karrion Kross b. Desmond Troy – Krossjacket Choke

Toni Storm b. Rhea Ripley – Storm Zero

 

 

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

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

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Takeover: WarGames 2020
Date: December 6, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

It’s time for what has become something close to NXT’s signature match and that year has one of the better looking matches in the show’s history. Just like last year, we have the men’s and women’s edition of the show’s namesake match, with a good enough looking undercard. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a general look at WarGames, including the cage being lowered. With that out of the way, we switch into a look at the two WarGames matches.

Team Blackheart vs. Team LeRae

Shotzi Blackheart, Rhea Ripley, Ember Moon, Io Shirai

Candice LeRae, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, Toni Storm

We start with the Women’s WarGames match, including a rundown of the rules. After the time is up, the team who won the advantage coming in (Blackheart in this case) sends someone in for a 2-1 advantage for three minutes. Once that time is up, Team LeRae will even things up for three minutes. They alternate until all four each are in and then it’s first pinfall or submission wins. And yes Shotzi has a new and bigger tank, which even shoots something at the side of the cage.

Dakota Kai and Moon start things off and go straight to the mat for the brawl. Moon flips off a sleeper attempt and hits a flipping clothesline in the corner. Dakota sends her into the ropes but Moon is right back with a crossbody against the cage. A charge is cut off by Kai’s raised boots and the Kairopractor connects. Kai chokes away and it’s Shotzi coming in for the advantage. Blackheart whips out a toolbox as she comes in to clean house on Kai. The reverse Cannonball connects against the ropes but Shotzi rams her into the cage.

Kai goes after Moon but Shotzi is back up with a doomsday missile dropkick to put Kai down. Gonzalez comes in to tie it up but Shotzi and Moon are right there to jump her at the door. It doesn’t seem to matter though as Gonzalez wrecks both of them, including powerbombing Shotzi against the cage. Kai is back in to clean house and a kick to the face rocks Shotzi in the corner. A springboard from one ring to another takes out Blackheart and Moon again but it’s Ripley coming in, giving Gonzalez a VERY interested face.

The showdown is on (they’ve got something with these two) until Ripley is cut off by Kai. Moon and Shotzi take care of Gonzalez, leaving Ripley to destroy Kai on her own. It’s time for the toolbox and Ripley busts out a hammer, only to drop it to send Kai into the cage. Gonzalez has dropped Moon and Shotzi though, meaning NOW we get the real showdown. They meet between the rings and slug it out with Ripley getting the better of things until Storm, with kendo sticks, comes in to take over.

Everyone else gets back in but Team LeRae takes over without much trouble. The stick beating is on but all six go to the corner, with Moon hitting a Steiner Bulldog on Kai and Blackheart/Ripley being slammed down as well, leaving all six down. Shirai is in for the final advantage and slides in a ladder, only to be kicked out by Gonzalez. Things get creative as Gonzalez keeps knocking Shirai off, either out of the door or off the side. The time expires and it’s LeRae coming in, only to have Shirai waiting on her outside.

Cue Indi Hartwell to jump Shirai and throw in some more weapons. The big beatdown is on, with the referee even telling LeRae and company to stop and give Shotzi a breather. Moon is back up but it’s Shirai on top of the cage, putting a trashcan over herself and diving onto EVERYBODY for the huge spot. Shirai gets the hammer and cleans house with it (meaning she hits people either with the bottom or flat across the back) and the recorded NXT chants start up again.

There’s the moonsault to Gonzalez but everyone makes the save. LeRae gets the Gargano Escape on Moon (with a wrench) at the same time Shotzi puts Storm in Cattle Mutilation. Shotzi uses a chair to knock a kendo stick out of Storm’s hands before picking up the stick (uh…) to clean house again. Shirai’s charge is sent into the corner and Kai hits the running boot to the face. Kai puts Shirai in the trashcan again for a top rope double stomp but Moon makes the save.

Two chairs are set up and Moon hits the Eclipse to drive Kai into said chairs. Storm makes the save and hits Storm Zero to drive Moon into the trashcan for two. Ripley is back up with the Prism Trap to Storm, with Shirai adding a running dropkick for a bonus. That gives Ripley two and the ladder is bridged between the rings. LeRae superkicks a trashcan lid into Ripley’s face as another ladder is set up in the corner. Shotzi and LeRae climb at the same time, with LeRae being knocked off and onto some chairs.

LeRae puts the chair onto herself, flips it over, and points at it before Shotzi drops a backsplash for the (very well choreographed) crushing. Shirai’s Over The Moonsault hits Ripley but Storm drives Ripley into the cover for the save. Shirai gets caught on top and Gonzalez superbombs her through the bridged ladder for the pin (and likely the next title shot) at 35:34.

Rating: B. This was a long and brutal fight, though it didn’t feel quite like your traditional WarGames. That’s because this isn’t your traditional WarGames, and for the NXT version, it worked out well. There were some great spots in here (that Eclipse onto the chairs looked awesome) but it did feel like they were stretching things out for the sake of stretching things out at times. What we got was a heck of a fight though and that’s what it needed to be, with the right team winning.

Finn Balor says after the team sports end, it’s time for all eyes to go back on the Prince.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher

Ciampa said he wanted to fight and Thatcher was game. Thatcher takes him to the mat and starts working on the arm before switching over to the leg for a change. Ciampa is right back by working on the leg, including stomping on the leg. Thatcher sends him outside though and catches him with an uppercut on the way back in. Hold on though as Ciampa gets knocked into the ropes, meaning the referee needs to check on him. Thatcher is fine enough to uppercut away and sends Ciampa outside for a second.

Back in and another uppercut means another check from the referee so Thatcher grabs a neck crank. Thatcher pulls on the arm as the slugout begins, only to have to send Ciampa into the corner. They bang heads for a double knockdown but it’s Ciampa coming up with the clothesline comeback. A superplex gets two on Thatcher, who is right back with the guillotine. Ciampa drives him through the ropes for the break and they’re both down on the floor.

Back in and Ciampa runs him over, setting up a bulldog choke. Thatcher’s ear is busted open as he makes the rope and manages a German suplex to drop Ciampa again. Ciampa can’t hit Willow’s Bell as he is pulled throat first into the top rope instead. That’s fine with Ciampa, who ties him in the ropes and chops away, setting up Willow’s Bell for the pin at 16:55.

Rating: B. They built this up as two people wanting to beat the heck out of each other and that’s what we got. There was no reason to try for anything more than Thatcher using his technical stuff against Ciampa’s brawling and the formula worked out rather well. Good, hard hitting match here and while I might have gone with Thatcher winning, Ciampa being rebuilt is a good thing for NXT.

They stare at each other after the match so this might not be over.

We recap Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis. Grimes is cocky and loud so Lumis has been stalking him, including inside a haunted house at Halloween Havoc. As a result, Grimes has been running away over and over so let’s have a strap match.

Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis

The referee is ready to put the strap on but Grimes wants to use his own. That’s not cool but Grimes jumps Lumis before the bell. They head outside with Grimes sending him into various things and choking with the strap. Back in and Lumis hits a Thesz press to hammer away and now the strap goes on, meaning the bell can ring (so we can get some bonus Lumis you see). Grimes heads outside and tries to escape over the barricade, only to get pulled back for an uppercut.

A hard whip sends Grimes into the barricade but Lumis gets sent over for a change. That lets Lumis do his big scary pull up (he’s no Keith Lee) but Grimes pulls him back to ringside in a crash. A shot to the face drops Lumis again and Grimes wraps the strap around his eyes. With that not being enough, Grimes puts a hood over Lumis’ head and takes him back inside for a whipping. Lumis whips out a spinebuster and, after taking off the hood, heads outside to wrap the strap around the structure around the post.

That goes nowhere as Grimes escapes and kicks Lumis in the chest, only to be pulled off the apron. Back in again and Lumis whips away, only to get German suplexed into the corner. Grimes unloads with a chair before having a seat in it for a change. Lumis catches a charge and hits a fall away slam, only to get pulled off the top. Grimes’ flipping powerslam gets two but both the Cave In and Silence are countered. Lumis ties the legs up with the strap and Grimes goes face first into the open chair. Silence goes on and Grimes taps at 12:55.

Rating: B-. They had a good match here and Grimes is still a natural treasure but….WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT LUMIS??? I’ve yet to miss an episode of NXT and for the life of me I do not understand what is so special about this guy. I don’t get what NXT sees in him and yet it just keeps going for months on end. Anyway, pretty good match with some creative spots, but in the end, it’s still Lumis and that cuts off a lot of my interest.

The lights flicker and a vulture flies around. Karrion Kross’ voice is heard saying Tick Tock. Since Kross’ theme is a clock and he said tick tock over and over, commentary has no idea who this is.

We recap the triple threat match for the North American Title. Johnny Gargano won the title from Damian Priest thanks to some outside interference at Halloween Havoc. That made him cocky so he rigged a wheel to choose Leon Ruff as his first challenger. Priest interfered to cost Gargano the title, making Ruff the fluke champion. Ruff did not like being called a joke and agreed to defend against both at once.

North American Title: Leon Ruff vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest

Ruff is defending and gets sent into the corner early on, leaving Gargano to hit a superkick. Gargano takes Ruff into the corner but Priest is back in to throw Ruff out of the way for a second time. Back in and Ruff hits a double missile dropkick before stepping up to Priest. That isn’t the best idea as Priest grabs him by the throat until Gargano makes the save. Priest gets double teamed down but Gargano turns on Ruff with the slingshot spear. Priest is back up as they head outside, with Ruff insisting that he is not a joke.

That earns him a shot to the face and a Razor’s Edge through the barricade as the crowd noise doesn’t seem pleased with Priest. Referees check on Ruff as Priest apologizes for hurting him like that. Gargano is back up but One Final Beat is blocked so Gargano goes with a standing Sliced Bread for two instead. Priest blasts him with a clothesline and they’re both down. With Priest down on the ramp, Ruff comes back and uses him as a launchpad for a clothesline.

A rope walk flip dive off the top takes both challengers down on the floor. Back in and a twisting rope rope cutter (The heck was that?) drops Gargano again, but it only seems to get on his nerves. Ruff clotheslines Gargano for two but Priest is back in, saying Ruff is out of chances. Priest kicks him in the head and lifts them both up in a double Downward Spiral. The double teaming takes Priest down again though, this time with his arms getting tied in the ropes.

Ruff gets quite the two count off a crucifix but Gargano pulls him into the Gargano Escape, right in front of Priest. That’s as bad of an idea as it sounds as Priest gets out and makes the save. The spinwheel kick drops Gargano and Ruff is sent outside, leaving Gargano to take the South of Heaven chokeslam. Cue three Ghostfaces to jump Priest, who shrugs all of them off. Three more show up so Priest hits a big step up flip dive to the floor. Another dive takes out the original trio.

Priest is all fired up (great visual) and chokeslams Gargano onto the apron. Back in and Ruff hits the frog splash for two on Gargano with Priest making the save. The Reckoning is broken up and they trade kicks to the face, with Priest knocking Gargano silly. Cue another Ghostface with a lead pipe to Priest’s back though, allowing Gargano to hit One Final Beat on Ruff for the pin and the title at 17:31.

Rating: B. This was an interesting match as you had Gargano winning the title, but Priest and Ruff got to showcase themselves very well. Priest looks like the monster of monsters right now and that fired up look on his face after the dives was great. At the same time you have Ruff, who probably just moved past the peak of his career, getting a chance to show you what he can do. I can always go for someone making the most of their chances and that is exactly what he did here. Nice job all around with probably the right result.

Post match the main Ghostface is…..Austin Theory.

New Year’s Evil is a special episode of NXT on January 6.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. Pat McAfee and Company got together and ran over NXT, including taking out the Undisputed Era. They set their sights on Finn Balor, but the Era is back for a big fight. That means a William Regal WARGAMES announcement and here we are.

Undisputed Era vs. Team McAfee

Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong

Pat McAfee, Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch, Pete Dunne

O’Reilly and Dunne start things off and Team McAfee has the advantage. The take their time to start with neither being able to get very far early on. O’Reilly takes him down by the arm to start but can’t get the triangle. He can’t get the cross armbreaker either so Dunne pulls him into a triangle choke in the ropes for a change. With that not going very far, Dunne cranks on the fingers, only to have go after the fingers in the corner. A stomp to the fingers misses so O’Reilly goes with a choke.

O’Reilly knees him in the chest, only to get pulled into a cross armbreaker. That’s broken and it’s Oney Lorcan coming in to kick away at O’Reilly. The double teaming is on with O’Reilly going down but fighting back in a hurry. Lorcan gets caught in the ropes for a guillotine legdrop but Dunne dropkicks the leg out. It’s Bobby Fish coming in to start throwing the knees and there’s a spinebuster to Lorcan. Dunne is back up with a Kimura on O’Reilly but Fish makes the save with a choke.

They go into the cage until time runs out, with Danny Burch telling Pat McAfee that he has this. Burch grabs a bag to pull out a cricket bat to clean house. Like any villain though, Burch takes too long talking trash and gets pulled into a kneebar. Dunne breaks it up with a stomp to the arm and it’s Lorcan with his own cricket bat. The group stomping is on but here’s Roderick Strong running in….and getting stomped down immediately.

Strong fights up to clean house with a dropkick to Lorcan and a backbreaker to Dunne. He heads to the middle of the rings and hits the running forearms to all three at once in a nice little sequence. Lorcan manages to send Strong face first into the cage though and McAfee and Company take over again. With the Era in trouble, it’s McAfee coming in to complete the team, though he needs to grab a table. Make that four tables, each with a member of the Era’s name included.

With all four in, McAfee finally gets in as the team is dismantling the Era. Strong is driven through his table and it’s Cole coming in to finally complete the field. Since McAfee and Company are waiting on him, Cole whips out a fire extinguisher to clear the ring and it’s time to get going. All of the usual takes care of everyone but McAfee and the showdown is on. Dunne steps in Cole’s way though and we hit the slugout, with Dunne taking him down and stomping away at the head.

The Bitter End is countered with a quick DDT but McAfee grabs Cole’s arms so Dunne can kick him in the head. O’Reilly takes Dunne down with a chair and tells McAfee to come fight him if he wants to be a wrestler. Kyle goes on the best rant I’ve ever heard from him, telling McAfee that he’s nothing and to come get some. Everyone is back up and the big fight is on with Lorcan hitting a Blockbuster. O’Reilly and Strong knee Dunne down with Lorcan making the save.

Cole starts kicking people in the face until McAfee chop blocks him down. With the required WOO’s, McAfee puts on a pretty good Figure Four while the other six are brawling at the ropes. Cole turns it over with Dunne having to make his own save. The Era is in trouble with the Cole table being set up but Strong and Fish kick Lorcan and Burch down. Cole hits Dunne with the brainbuster onto the knee for two and sets up a table in the middle of the ring.

Dunne gets powerbombed onto Burch onto a table, which doesn’t break (Barrett: “Where are we getting these tables from?”). Strong splashes both of them through the table and Cole shoves McAfee off the top and through another table in a massive crash. And Company is caught up against the cage so the rest of the Era charges into them with a long series of strikes. Cole gets in on it as well and the Era stands tall. McAfee is all alone and despite claims of a bad back, he tries to scale the cage, which goes about as well as expected.

The group beatdown is on and McAfee is sent hard into the cage. With McAfee mostly done, the rest of the team gets back up and we’re right back at it. A Doomsday European uppercut drops Strong but Dunne is taken off the top with a super neckbreaker. There’s a superplex to McAfee and they’re all down again. Everyone gets together for the big staredown but it’s McAfee going to the top of the cage for the HUGE flip dive onto everyone else for the huge crash.

O’Reilly and Dunne slug it out in the other ring with O’Reilly kicking away, only to get his fingers snapped. A suplex drops Dunne between the rings for two. McAfee grabs a chair and Cole tells him to do his best. Cole knocks it down and takes it away, only to get kicked low. Fish drives Burch through another table and Cole superkicks McAfee out of the air.

The Panama Sunrise plants McAfee for two in a heck of a false finish. The Last Shot misses McAfee but hits Lorcan instead. Dunne is back up with the Bitter End onto an open chair (geez) but O’Reilly kicks him down. A top rope knee onto a chair onto Lorcan’s head gives the Era the pin at 45:06.

Rating: A-. It says a lot when a 45 minute match doesn’t feel long and makes you feel every bit of the pain. I’m surprised at the Era winning but if McAfee isn’t going to be around regularly (fair enough), there was little reason to have his team win. McAfee can come back when he wants and be the best heel in the company, which is probably going to keep him a lot more fresh. I’m not sure what is next for the Era now as there is nothing left for them to do, but dang they had a great one here. Awesome match and crazy brutal throughout, with the Era getting the win in the definitive NXT team battle.

A lot of posing takes us out.

Overall Rating: A-. Yeah it was great and I’m not sure what else there is to say about something like this. All five matches were good to great and I had an awesome time throughout. It’s a heck of a show and worth seeing, though it didn’t have that big show stealing match. Still though, this felt like a Takeover and that’s as strong of an endorsement as you’re going to get.

Results

Team LeRae b. Team Blackheart – Superbomb to Shirai through a ladder

Tommaso Ciampa b. Timothy Thatcher – Willow’s Bell

Dexter Lumis b. Cameron Grimes – Silence

Johnny Gargano b. Leon Ruff and Damian Priest – One Final beat to Ruff

Undisputed Era b. Team McAfee – Top rope knee to a chair to Lorcan

 

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

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

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

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

NXT
Date: November 25, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Kevin Owens, Vic Joseph

We’re rapidly approaching the next Takeover and that means it’s time to get ready for WarGames. The men’s match is already set up but the women’s match needs a little more tweaking. There are a few more other things to be set up this week as well and that means they better be moving fast. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of last week’s show, with the Undisputed Era returning to go after Pac McAfee and company. After the show went off the air, William Regal announced WARGAMES (he must practice that all year, like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter).

Candice LeRae vs. Ember Moon

Indi Hartwell is here with Candice but Moon goes straight after her to start. Candice is knocked outside and dropped onto the announcers’ table (Owens: “HI CANDICE!”), followed by a trip back inside. That doesn’t last long as Moon beats her up by the entrance, only to get caught with a cheap shot on the way back in. A neck crank doesn’t last long for Candice but she does get one off a sunset flip.

That sets off a pinfall reversal sequence, followed by a Moon kicking her in the chest for two. Candice scores with a running clothesline though and a head slam onto the mat gets two more. Moon manages to knock her into the corner and then hits a kick to the face for two of her own. Cue Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai for a distraction though and we take a break.

Back with Moon fighting out of a chinlock and snapping off a hurricanrana. Candice manages a spinning faceplant and the Gargano Escape goes on. That’s switched into a sleeper but Moon drops backwards for the break. Moon strikes away and scores with a release gordbuster before loading up the Eclipse. Gonzalez and Kai offer a distraction though, meaning Hartwell takes the Eclipse instead. LeRae uses the distraction (and lack of being Eclipsed) to hit a superkick into the Wicked Stepsister for the pin at 12:58.

Rating: C. You really can see the tier system around here and that’s not the worst thing in the world. While you have matches like Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley last week, you also have people at this level. This was a perfectly watchable and acceptable match, but it was a step or two below what we were seeing at the higher level. Candice is good for almost anything and Moon is starting to get her time back, so hopefully everything keeps improving.

Post match the group beatdown appears to be on but Moon manages to get to the floor. Cue Toni Storm to even things up a bit….until she turns on Moon, who is destroyed by the trio (Hartwell is still down and Storm has fun watching on the floor).

Santos Escobar talks about how he started Legado del Fantasma to bring respect back to lucha libre. This has been their year and their careers are taking off. They have taken out everyone who have come against them and turned Isaiah Scott into a talk show host. Next up is Curt Stallion, who is going to be a HUGE challenge. The difference between them and everyone else is they get things done. Cheers. Or maybe salud in this case.

Here’s the Undisputed Era to talk about WarGames, though first we see a clip from Pat McAfee’s podcast where he talks about how Pete Dunne is going to win a match tonight to gain the WarGames advantage. Adam Cole says they don’t look dead and he can’t count how many times people have promised to take them out. McAfee and company gave them a dose of their own medicine and yeah the Undisputed Era had it coming.

The only thing Cole is going to enjoy more than kicking McAfee in the face is being locked inside WarGames with him. WarGames is in two weeks though, and tonight they have to have the advantage match first. Kyle O’Reilly volunteers to fight for the team and Cole loves the idea. In two weeks, McAfee and company are going to face a new Undisputed Era, and they are taking those four to h***. That is undisputed. Cole is one of the best talkers around here and he sold the confidence and anger well here.

Candice LeRae and company talk rather quietly but the gist is that Candice’s WarGames team will be Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai and Toni Storm. They’re all cool with each other.

Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae (she’s been busy tonight) shill merchandise.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Kushida

Hold on as Tommaso Ciampa comes out with a chair to watch (Owens: “Oh he’s going to sit. That’s not so bad.”) as Thatcher takes him down by the arm to start. Kushida slips out of a front facelock and kicks at the leg, only to have to kick Thatcher in the face. A belly to belly plants Kushida and Thatcher grabs a leglock, which Kushida reverses into one of his own. Make that a Muta Lock, which doesn’t last long by definition.

Thatcher is sent to the apron where he manages to bend Kushida’s leg around the rope as Ciampa isn’t looking pleased. We take a break and come back with Kushida striking away until an uppercut cuts him off. Kushida gets taken down into another leg crank but he’s right back with some stomps to the chest. The Hoverboard Lock goes on but Thatcher blocks a lot of the pressure by grasping his hands. Thatcher reverses into a Hoverboard Lock of his own, with Kushida reversing that into a failed cross armbreaker attempt.

With that not working, Kushida goes to an ankle lock but switches into a bridging rollup for two instead. Thatcher is out of that too and grabs a sleeper, only to be sent outside in a big crash. Kushida drives him down by the arm on the floor as Thatcher is bleeding from the nose. Back in and Kushida kicks him in the arm, only to get caught in a butterfly suplex. Ciampa pops up and shoves the chair away, with the distraction setting up the Hoverboard Lock for the tap at 12:35.

Rating: B-. I think you can get the idea here and they worked rather well with all of the submission stuff here. The ending wasn’t quite the screwy finish that you usually get as Kushida wasn’t beaten when Ciampa stood up. Thatcher vs. Ciampa should be good, though I’m still waiting to see Kushida actually get to do something of note.

Post match Ciampa thinks Thatcher might have a problem with him now.

We look back at last week’s main event with Io Shirai defeating Rhea Ripley to retain the Women’s Title in a hard hitting fight. Even the ringside physician gets to talk about how banged up they are after that kind of a match. Rhea Ripley isn’t sure what she is going to do next.

Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are a little more fired up for Pete Dunne’s match with Kyle O’Reilly than Dunne is. Dunne promises to break Undisputed Era’s spirit tonight.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show, with Owens saying last November he was in WarGames and this time he’s doing commentary so maybe he’ll be a referee next time. Either way, this week it’s time to talk to someone who just had the biggest win of his career: the North American Champion Leon Ruff. Leon is glad to be here and Owens wants to give him the chance to tell his story. The fans are happy to see him and Ruff can’t believe that he only signed his contract seven weeks ago.

We look at Ruff winning the title, even with the title not fitting. Owens: “Same thing happened to me when I won the NXT Title.” Owens talks about how great of a feeling this is and Ruff needs to appreciate what he is getting to do. Ruff talks about wanting to be an inspiration to others, but Owens doesn’t think that he’s selling it hard enough. You need to let them hear who you are so Ruff starts shouting about how he beat Johnny Gargano twice, even shoving his chair away.

Owens facepalms, with Ruff immediately apologizing for the chair. Owens says it isn’t the chair because he knows what’s about to happen. Cue Johnny Gargano (Owens: “I was a little off on the count but that’s what I meant. I knew it.”) to ask if this is a prank show. Owens gets Gargano his own chair, which is thrown over the top rope. That means Owens grabs another chair, which is for someone other than Gargano.

That’s shaken off so Gargano can get in Ruff’s face as he rants about Damian Priest. Owens: “Come on Johnny, I just told him what happened.” Owens counts it down again (and again….Owens: “Oh man maybe things in NXT are different!”) so here’s Priest to get in Gargano’s face. Owens: “Before this gets too far, do you need a chair?” Gargano yells at the smiling Ruff but Priest says hang on a second.

Priest remembers Ruff saying he could beat both of them at once. Owens: “Oh man. What a shame that Teddy Long isn’t in NXT!” He wishes the NXT version of Teddy Long could come out and make a triple threat match so here’s William Regal to make the triple threat title match at WarGames. Regal: “Playa.” I knew that last line was coming and I laughed anyway.

Finn Balor talks about preparing for war. Some advice for whomever wins the war: don’t put checkers on his chess board. He isn’t hard to find.

Shotzi Blackheart has some fun with a blowtorch and asks what is the best part of war. That would be crushing your enemies and she laughs a lot.

Cameron Grimes vs. Jake Atlas

Atlas goes right after Grimes to start but a German suplex drops him down for an early two. Grimes ducks his head for a backdrop and gets it kicked right back up, only to have Atlas do the exact same thing. Now it’s Atlas with his own German suplex and a shot to the face gets two. That’s enough for Grimes though as he hits Atlas in the face and finishes with the Cave In at 2:46. Nice to see Grimes being himself again.

Post match here’s Dexter Lumis to scare the hat off of Grimes. That’s enough to send Grimes running off but a video of Grimes running away from the haunted house match, complete with a singalong, starts playing on the screen. Lumis pulls out a strap and I think we know where Takeover is going.

Post break, Grimes is trying to leave but William Regal makes a strap match between Grimes and Lumis at Takeover. Grimes asks Regal why he hates him so much, with Regal thinking it’s his personality.

Here’s Rhea Ripley to address her future. She had a big fight with Io Shirai last week and then hugged her after the match. That was all about respect though, because Ripley isn’t going anywhere. All that matters is winning the NXT Women’s Title but here are Candice LeRae and Toni Storm to interrupt. LeRae makes fun of her for never being able to win and says she’s all talk. On the other hand, LeRae can walk the walk, so here are Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai, with the former carrying the unconscious Io Shirai on her shoulder. Ripley tries to fight but the numbers game catches up with her. Sign her up.

A terrified looking Xia Li and Boa go up to what appears to be their master and beg her forgiveness for losing again. They plead for one more change but a mark is written on their hands and the master says it’s time.

Here’s Ever Rise for a tag match but the Grizzled Young Veterans are back to beat them down instead. The beatdown is on and Zack Gibson promises to dominate going forward.

The Garganos take Indi Hartwell, in a neck brace, to the car. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae promise to dominate at Takeover….and there’s another Ghost Face in the car next to Hartwell.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne

It’s a ladder match for the WarGames advantage. They go straight to the brawling before the bell with Dunne being knocked outside as we take a break. Back with the match joined in progress and O’Reilly knocking him outside again for the running knee from the apron. Dunne gets in a shot to take over though and bridges a ladder between the apron and the barricade. O’Reilly gets back up though and catapults Dunne face first into the Plexiglas.

Back in and Dunne runs over the ladder to put O’Reilly down, with the ladder landing on his leg for a painful visual. O’Reilly’s arm is crushed in the ladder but he manages a dragon screw legwhip into a knee hold with Dunne on the ladder to make it worse. The knee is fine enough to pick O’Reilly up for a powerbomb onto a ladder in the corner but O’Reilly is back up to nearly knock Dunne into the bridged ladder. A charge hits a raised boot though and Dunne suplexes him through the ladder for the huge crash.

We take a break and come back with O’Reilly kicking a chair out of Dunne’s hand and suplexing him down onto a ladder. The top rope knee only hits ladder though (that looked and sounded great) and a limping Dunne goes up. O’Reilly pulls him down by the leg though, only to have Dunne’s enziguri only hit the ladder. They slug it out from underneath the ladder and then get up so Dunne can go for the fingers.

That means a double knockdown and the ladder goes down as well, landing on Dunne’s knee. It’s time for the big stereo climb until O’Reilly snaps the arm. Dunne snaps the fingers to knock O’Reilly down….but he can land on his feet just fine, meaning Dunne gets knocked down again.

A heck of a rebound lariat drops Dunne and they’re both down. O’Reilly goes up but gets chaired in the knee and then the back to make it worse. The Bitter End onto the barricade leaves O’Reilly laying but he’s up again to turn the ladder over, sending Dunne into the ladder in the corner. O’Reilly goes up again but here’s a man with a hood over his face to jump from the floor to the apron shove O’Reilly down in a crash. Dunne wins at 15:53.

Rating: B. This was your usual violent ladder match without much drama in the end. I think you can guess who the masked man was and that’s a fine way to go, as even WWE knows better than to have the heels go into WarGames at a disadvantage. They did their thing here and kept popping up over and over, which tends to be the case in a ladder match. I’m not sure why this needed to be a ladder match (and hey we’ll be seeing another one next week) but at least they did what they needed to do.

Post match, Dunne poses with Lorcan and Burch while the Undisputed Era yells at ringside.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event was the big spectacle to set up the REALLY big spectacle later on but that’s about the only thing worth your time. Candice LeRae was all over this show, appearing in about five segments. LeRae is good at this wrestling thing but that’s a lot for almost anyone. The rest of the show was designed to set things up for Takeover and the show needed that, but it wasn’t the big awesome show that they needed to get us ready for WarGames. That’s probably next week, and they need it at this point.

Result

Candice LeRae b. Ember Moon – Wicked Stepsister

Kushida b. Timothy Thatcher – Hoverboard Lock

Cameron Grimes b. Jake Atlas – Cave In

Pete Dunne b. Kyle O’Reilly – Dunne pulled down the briefcase

 

 

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

This year’s show is all about the Battle For Brand Supremacy, but NXT is involved as well and the invasions have been red hot for a change. They have set up a pretty awesome looking show, even with the amount of triple threat matches, including triple threat elimination matches. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the end zone straight across from the Titantron in the upper deck.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

Raw: OC, Street Profits, Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Smackdown: Revival, Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

When one member is out, the team is out. Where to begin? First of all, there are no graphics to tell you which brand the teams are on. I get expecting people to know that at the time, but WWE knows that they have the Draft every year and that the Network is a thing here. Throw up a show graphic.

Second, a year later and five of these teams are gone, with four of them out of the company. Third, Hawkins and Ryder are “glad to still be here.” These people were the Tag Team Champions at Wrestlemania seven months and a half months earlier. That’s a heck of a fall. Oh and I had forgotten about that Tag Team World Cup deal the OC had from Crown Jewel. I’ve heard worse ideas.

It’s a brawl to start (shocking I know) with Jaxson Ryker saving Gran Metalik for no reason. General stupidity maybe? The Sons are out in a hurry as I try to get over Dolph Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat in the match. Yeah they need graphics on their name but it’s Ziggler so by definition it’s a stupid thing to do. Angelo Dawkins throws out Gran Metalik to get rid of the Lucha House Party as Ziggler (now minus the hat) is thrown to the apron for his traditional save fest.

Hawkins is sent through the middle rope but Ryder is thrown over the top and onto him for the elimination. Barthel catapults Ziggler over the top for the skinning of the cat and Roode gets rid of Aichner to eliminate Imperium and save Ziggler (again). Otis falls trying the Caterpillar and gets dumped by OC/Revival. Breezango is out thanks to Revival and that’s it for NXT.

We’re down to Revival, OC, Roode/Ziggler and the Profits, with the Profits dropkicking Revival out in a hurry. Ziggler saves Roode from the Magic Killer and superkicks Gallows out to get us down to two. The brawl is on with Roode busting Dawkins’ spine but Ziggler superkicks Roode through the ropes by mistake. The Sky High looks to set up the frog splash but Roode saves Ziggler (that man needs a lot of saving). Ford hits the frog splash on Ziggler instead, only to be thrown out by Roode for the win at 8:19.

Rating: D+. It’s a battle royal and a tag team one at that, with the teams barely being identifiable outside of commentary throwing out a brand here and there. It will get better later on and since this was a bonus match, it’s hard to get that upset. What impresses me the most is how much the tag team division changes so quickly, as this feels like it could have been four or five years ago. That probably shouldn’t be happening and yet it doesn’t seem out of place.

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Kalisto (Smackdown) vs. Lio Rush (NXT)

Rush is defending and gets double teamed to start but Tozawa and Kalisto waste no time in turning on each other. That means it’s time for Rush to start his bobbing and weaving, which always looked awesome. Kalisto pulls Rush to the floor and cuts off Tozawa’s dive before walking the rope to kick Rush in the face.

A spinning wristdrag takes Tozawa down but Tozawa shoves Kalisto into Rush’s raised boot. Rush hits a double handspring elbow to take both of them down but Tozawa punches him in the face. Kalisto gets kicked to the floor and Tozawa’s sliding boot gets two on Rush. Tozawa and Kalisto take Rush to the top but he double armdrags both of them down for a huge crash.

A circle chop off is capped off by Tozawa German suplexing Rush but Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two. Tozawa is back up with a Shining Wizard to send Kalisto outside and the top rope backsplash hits Rush. Kalisto dives in for the save and the slugout is on, with Kalisto hitting the Salida del Sol on Tozawa. That’s fine with Rush, who comes in with the Final Hour to pin Tozawa and retain at 8:20.

Rating: C. It’s a match that has been done before but what we got worked out just fine with the three of them flying around and doing their high flying stuff. That’s something that is always going to work because it is a style that never gets old and Rush retaining is a fine way to get NXT on the board. I know he might have some issues, but dang Rush can do the flying thing.

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT) vs. Viking Raiders (Raw)

Non-title (with all three as respective champions) and it’s Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, fresh off WarGames the previous night, for the Era. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off, which may be a little harder to keep track of but it makes a lot more sense than having two people in there at once instead. O’Reilly is taken down in a hurry so it’s Fish coming in, earning himself a beating of his own from Ivar. Both parts of the Era come in and get dropped by Ivar and Big E. before they turn on each over.

They take turns flipping away from each other until Big E. runs Ivar over in the power display. O’Reilly comes back in for the rapid fire knees to Big E. but the Raiders knee O’Reilly down without much effort. It’s back to Fish, who gets Ivar slammed onto him to make it even worse. Kingston comes in to slug away on Erik and it’s New Day double teaming O’Reilly down for two.

The Era is sent outside and it’s the New Day/Raiders showdown. The slugout goes on until Kofi is left alone, meaning it’s time for the Era to come back in and take over on Kingston’s leg in the corner. Ivar dives in with a splash to break up a kneebar so O’Reilly and Kingston slug it out on the apron instead. Big E. misses his spear through the ropes so Kofi and the Era join him, meaning Erik can slam Ivar onto the other four.

Back in and Fish starts taking over on Erik’s knee before handing it off to O’Reilly for the same. Erik manages to suplex O’Reilly into the corner to take Fish down, allowing the hot tag to Ivar. House is cleaned and O’Reilly kicks Fish in the corner by mistake. Big E. gets kicked in the face as well and Erik hits the shotgun dropkick on Fish. Ivar’s Bronco Buster misses though, meaning Kofi can come in with a standing double stomp to Erik.

Big E. suplexes the Era and it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp to crush Erik. Kofi’s big dive over the top takes out Ivar and the Era, with Big E. hitting the spear to take Erik down as well. Everyone gets back up and Erik knees Big E. in the face, setting up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination (always cool), sending Big E. outside again.

Kofi takes the High/Low on the floor meaning it’s the Era vs. the Vikings for a change. Erik is knocked outside so the Era kicks Ivar…who doesn’t seem to mind. The handspring double elbow (second in two matches) connects for Ivar and it’s the Viking Experience to drive O’Reilly into Fish to give Ivar the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B. This was the kind of all action match that they should have been having and it got enough time to make it work really well. New Day is a team who can be put in there at any time to make other teams look good and the Era can work with anyone. The Raiders needed the win most and it worked out well all around. Good stuff here and a nice way to wrap up the Kickoff Show.

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

The opening video looks at how this is usually Raw vs. Smackdown but then NXT jumped in to make it a lot more interesting in a hurry. There are some other matches thrown in but this is ALL about the three way brand fight, which did have a heck of a build.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Raw – Charlotte, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Natalya, Sarah Logan

Smackdown – Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans

NXT – Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Toni Storm

The NXT team was announced after last night’s Takeover and some of them are coming off of WarGames so they’re a little banged up. Storm, Evans and Logan start things off with Lacey taking over early on. That earns her a double flip out to the floor and it’s Cross tagging herself in to take her place. Logan hits a cartwheel knee to Storm’s back for….well nothing actually as she talks trash until Cross jumps on her back for the choking.

They’re both a bit odd so that fits well. Back up and Storm German suplexes both of them at once so it’s off to Sane, Carmella and Shirai. The fans get rather excited about two of these people and I’ll let you guess who they are. Carmella hands it off to Brooke, who is fine with just standing in the corner while the other two trade headscissors and clotheslines. Shirai hits a running basement dropkick to Sane’s face but Brooke sends them both into the corner for a double handspring elbow.

The Swanton hits both of them for two on Shirai so Evans comes in for a double hiptoss instead. Candice gets the tag and strikes away at Evans as Asuka comes in as well. A quick snapmare drops Asuka so Candice can hit a step up backsplash and there’s a middle rope faceplant for two on Evans. It’s off to Ripley, who gets caught in Asuka’s armbreaker so Belair makes the save, triggering the parade of secondary finishers. Banks is left alone in the ring with everyone else down…including Shirai and LeRae need medical attention.

Everything pauses as Raw and Smackdown wave goodbye to them instead of, I don’t know, trying to eliminate each other. We settle down to Banks vs. Ripley vs. Charlotte, which does sound like a heck of a match. Ripley doesn’t seem to be very impressed and since this feels big, it’s off to Belair, Logan and Cross instead. Cross hits a neckbreaker on Logan but gets sent to the apron for her efforts. A dive to the floor takes Ripley down and Cross hammers away on Storm against the apron.

Ripley picks Cross up though and puts her on the apron, allowing Belair to grab a rollup (with Ripley holding the feet) for the elimination at 9:39. Carmella comes in with a big headscissors to Belair and a superkick to Logan, only to walk into Belair’s KOD. That sends her into the ropes but Logan sends both of them out to the floor. Running knees takes Carmella and Belair down again with Natalya having to make a save back inside. Belair punches Logan down though and hits the 450 to get rid of her at 12:10.

That puts us at Raw and Smackdown with four each and NXT with three as Charlotte comes in to face Belair and doesn’t seem impressed. Belair gets clotheslined but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte down. The big boot drops Belair again but Carmella breaks up the moonsault that will never hit no matter what anyway. Charlotte pulls Carmella up for a powerbomb, which is countered into a hurricanrana onto Belair to give Carmella a pair of two’s each on both.

Carmella grabs Belair by the ponytail but takes too long, allowing Charlotte to hit Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38. Sane, Storm and Banks come in with Storm kicking Banks in the face. Storm Zero to Shirai is broken up though and the Insane Elbow connects, with Sasha breaking up the pin and….then pinning Sane herself at 16:48. Asuka gets so frustrated that she comes in and wrecks the place, including kicking the now legal Brooke in the face to get rid of her at 17:25.

We’re down to Ripley/Belair/LeRae/Shirai (with the latter two backstage) for NXT vs. Evans/Banks for Smackdown vs. Charlotte/Asuka/Natalya for Raw. Charlotte tags herself in and gets into a shoving match with Asuka as a result, eventually slamming Asuka down by the hair. Lacey tries to jump Charlotte but Asuka is back with the green mist (BIG pop for that) to blind Charlotte before walking out. The Woman’s Right gets rid of Charlotte at 19:09 and Raw is down to just Natalya. I’ll take that over Asuka taking another loss and Charlotte is going to be the focal point of everything she does so a tainted loss doesn’t mean a thing.

Since Natalya is the only one left for Raw, she comes in with the discus lariat to Storm and then rolls Evans up for a fast elimination at 19:51. That leaves us with Storm/Belair/Ripley for NXT, Banks for Smackdown and Natalya for Raw and Ripley is rather pleased. Banks and Natalya get smart and take Storm down for a Sharpshooter/Banks Statement combination for the tap at 20:47.

Belair comes in and Natalya tries to talk trash before going with the smarter move of playing Jim to Banks’ Bret on the Hart Attack for the pin at 21:16. So it’s down to Banks vs. Natalya vs. Ripley….or at least it is until Banks decks Natalya for the pin at 21:57, eliminating Raw completely.

The fans REALLY like the idea of Banks vs. Ripley though and it’s Ripley hammering away and getting two off a dropkick. Back up and Banks can’t hit a tornado DDT so it’s a sleeper to limited avail instead. Banks hits the running knees in the corner and the middle rope Meteora gets two. More knees to the back of the head send Ripley into the corner again but this time she superkicks the Meteora out of the air.

The Prism Trap (dang that looks awesome) is on but Banks rolls into the Bank Statement instead. Ripley is in trouble so here are LeRae and Shirai, who were never officially eliminated, to pull Ripley to safety. That earns them a dropkick through the ropes each and they head back in, where Banks has to slip out of Riptide. Shirai hits her with a springboard missile dropkick though and now Riptide can give Ripley the final pin at 27:53.

Rating: B-. They got some time here and the important thing is NXT wins a major match. That’s an awesome thing to see and it’s really cool that it actually happened on a big stage. You want to set things up well for the rest of the night and having an NXT all star team lose to teams involving Logan, Brooke and Carmella wasn’t going to work. Above all else, Ripley looked like a total star here, eclipsing almost everyone else in the match and the fans treated her like one. I wouldn’t have had Shirai and LeRae save her at the end, but Ripley pinning Banks for the win is all that matters.

NXT – 2

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

We look at the closing moments of WarGames last night when Kevin Owens became the final member of Team Ciampa and helped them win.

Seth Rollins, Raw Team Captain, comes up to Owens to ask where his loyalties lie. Owens says last night was just to get back at the Undisputed Era so tonight, he’s Team Raw. He also finds it funny that SETH ROLLINS is questioning loyalty. A mock Shield pose takes us out.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT) vs. AJ Styles (Raw)

Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn is in Nakamura’s corner. Nakamura strikes away at both of them to start but AJ gets them into the corners for some running elbows. Strong’s backbreaker gets him out of trouble but AJ knocks him to the floor and hits a shot to the face. Back in and Nakamura breaks up AJ’s springboard and kicks Strong to the floor for a bonus. A knee gets two on Styles and there’s the running knee in the corner.

The gutbuster fireman’s carry gives Strong two on Nakamura but AJ comes back in with a sleeper to give Nakamura a breather. Strong fights back up and runs them both over a few times, including the alternating running forearms to AJ in the ropes. AJ fights up and gets in a few shots, only to be monkey flipped into a shot to the face from Nakamura. A slugout puts Strong down in a hurry and Nakamura hits the sliding knee for two.

The Styles Clash to Nakamura is broken up and Sami pulls Nakamura outside for a break. Strong unloads on Styles in the corner but gets caught in an Electric Chair, with Nakamura coming in off the top with a kick to the chest. AJ breaks that up as well but Sami pulls him outside, leaving Strong to hit a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Back in and AJ cuts off Kinshasa, setting up the circle of strikes to the face.

Nakamura drops AJ and hits a reverse exploder on Strong (whose knee got very close to AJ’s face), setting up Kinshasa….for two as AJ makes another save. AJ and Nakamura slug it out so Nigel can talk about their Japanese rivalry. The Landslide gets two on AJ but Kinshasa is countered with a shot to the face. AJ hits the Phenomenal Forearm but Strong comes in to get rid of AJ and steal the pin at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was the action packed match that you would have expected and the cool thing is that it made Strong look like he was on their level. Strong isn’t someone who has been proven on the big stage before and seeing him win here, especially by outsmarting the other two, is great to see. Again: it’s not like Nakamura or Styles are going to be hurt by the loss, especially to another champion. Throw in the fast paced action and having commentary boosting it that much more than this was a great time.

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

Miz comes up to Daniel Bryan in the back and says they’re both family men. That’s why Miz wants Bryan to stop the Fiend once and for all, because he is an evil that must be stopped. Bryan doesn’t want to hear it from Miz.

NXT Title: Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne

Cole is defending, but the interesting thing here is the lack of Mauro Ranallo, who apparently blew his voice out last night at Takeover. This would be code for “did not like Corey Graves calling him out for making too many Chicago rap music references and not letting Phoenix and McGuinness talk enough. He would be gone for a little while before returning, but it was clear that something wasn’t quite right. Cole has bad ribs and Dunne has a bad knee coming in.

The wristlocking doesn’t work well on Cole as Dunne flips out before going straight after the bad ribs. Dunne starts in on the hand before taking it outside to stomp the elbow in the steps. Back in and Cole kicks him down to stomp away before a dropkick cuts off Dunne’s knee. Dunne grabs the X Plex for a breather and Cole lands hard on the ribs again. There’s an enziguri into the corner to set up a release German suplex.

A sitout powerbomb gets two on Cole and he heads outside, with Dunne hitting a middle rope moonsault to the floor. Back in and Dunne’s moonsault hits knees, setting up the Last Shot to give Cole two. The Panama Sunrise misses so they take turns hitting each other in the face. The brainbuster onto the knee gives Cole two but another Last Shot misses and Dunne grabs the Bitter End for a close two. They slug it out again and Dunne unloads with chops but Cole superkicks his moonsault out of the air.

That’s good for two as well, as is Dunne’s sitout X Plex. They fight to the apron (because of course they do) and Cole busts out the Panama Sunrise to put them both down on the floor. Back in and Cole kicks him in the head and the kickout has Cole panicking. Dunne talks trash as they get up and snaps the finger but the Bitter End is countered into a Panama Sunrise (that looked great). The Last Shot retains the title at 14:09.

Rating: B+. Now that’s what you were hoping to see from these two and it was an awesome match throughout. Dunne is an absolute star and Cole looks like someone who should be the future whenever he is in the ring. This is one of those matches that makes you drool when you hear it announced and then they delivered on top of it. Great stuff here and worth seeing for that NXT style that works so well.

Team Smackdown argues over who should be the captain.

We recap the Fiend taking the Smackdown World Title from Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel. Then Miz questioned if Daniel Bryan was the same person he used to be, which got the Fiend involved as well. Bryan finally said YES again and that’s just what Fiend wanted as Bryan brought back the YES Movement.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Fiend is defending and there is something so creepy about watching him in person. The red lights are on and Bryan hits the running dropkick into the corner. A running clothesline cuts him off though and they head outside with Bryan being sent into the post. Back in and Fiend hits the release Rock Bottom and there’s the toss suplex to drop Bryan again. We hit the neck crank as Fiend laughs a lot.

They head outside again with Bryan hitting a running knee from the apron. A top rope dive takes Fiend down again and there’s a missile dropkick back inside. Bryan nips up and the YES chants set up the YES Kicks. The big kick to the head just makes Fiend laugh but another one keeps him down for a change. The running knee connects for two but Fiend grabs the Mandible Claw. Bryan manages to reverse into an armbar but another Mandible Claw finishes Bryan at 10:01.

Rating: C+. The point here was to have Fiend get over as a monster in his first title defense and that’s what he did. They made Fiend feel like a movie monster and that’s the kind of thing you want to do in this situation. Bryan not being able to win, even with the most successful stuff he has, is a good way to go and it told they story they wanted. Fiend is an unstoppable monster and that’s how it should be.

Rey Mysterio says it has been fifteen years since he first faced Brock Lesnar. A few months ago, he was ready to hang up his mask but his son Dominik made him keep going. Tonight, Rey is swinging his lead pipe for Lesnar’s knees and hopes his son is watching when he becomes WWE Champion.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton

Smackdown: Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Mustafa Ali, Shorty G., Braun Strowman

NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Walter, Keith Lee, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle

The NXT team was announced on the Kickoff Show again. The fans are way into Walter, more or less sealing his fate. Strowman, Ciampa and Rollins start things off and Strowman dropkicks both of them down. Walter and McIntyre come in and Walter is all over a three way battle of the big men. The double teaming works on Strowman this time before slugging it out themselves. A big boot into the running seated senton hits McIntyre and there’s a German suplex to drop him again.

Walter chops Strowman to make him mad, tells him to bring it, and hits a dropkick into the corner. McIntyre hits the Claymore to finish Walter at 2:59 and the fans are MAD, as they should be in that spot. Priest comes in to strike away at McIntyre and Strowman. Shorty comes in to moonsault Priest and it’s Ricochet coming in as well. That earns him a Chaos Theory from Shorty and it’s off to Riddle for the grapple off. Both ankle locks miss and neither can hit a spinning kick so we’ll go with the standoff. Ciampa comes in so Ricochet kicks both he and Shorty down at once. Owens frog splashes Shorty for the pin at 6:27.

Reigns and Corbin both come in with Corbin hitting him in the face like the horrible teammate that he is. Owens heads outside to superkick Corbin and hit the Cannonball on Reigns against the barricade. Back in and….Ciampa grabs Willow’s Bell to get rid of Owens at 7:42. Orton slides in behind Ciampa and the fans really like this one. The RKO is blocked and Ciampa clotheslines him outside but Willow’s Bell is blocked as well. Orton drops him onto the apron and it’s time for the circle stomp back inside. Priest gets a blind tag as Orton RKOs Ciampa, so it’s an RKO to get rid of Priest at 10:16.

Riddle comes in and rolls Orton up for the fast pin at 10:30. Riddle is SHOCKED at the win….until Orton hits him with an RKO so Corbin can steal the pin at 10:56. We’re down to Rollins/McIntyre/Ricochet for Raw, Reigns/Corbin/Ali/Strowman for Smackdown and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Lee comes in to face Corbin but Strowman tags himself in as the fans are recommending that we BASK IN HIS GLORY.

Strowman runs Lee over and starts cleaning house, including the freight train around the ring. He does it again but this time Lee Pounces him, followed by a Claymore from McIntyre for the countout at 13:14. Ricochet comes in to kick Corbin down and the big flip dive drops Reigns on the floor. That just earns him the End of Days from Corbin for the pin at 14:30. Ali, the hometown boy, comes in to clean house and soak in some cheers. The wicked tornado DDT plants Rollins and Ali hits a suicide dive…but Corbin yells at him, allowing Rollins to hit the Stomp on Ali for the elimination at 16:10.

Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor as a quick CM PUNK chant starts and stops just as fast. Back in and McIntyre hits the reverse Alabama Slam on Ciampa. Reigns spears McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39 though, leaving us with Rollins vs. Reigns/Corbin vs. Ciampa/Lee. Rollins rolls Reigns up for two but gets kicked in the face. Willow’s Bell drops Reigns but the Fairy Tale Ending is blocked. Corbin cuts off Lee and drags Reigns over for the tag, only to have Reigns spear Corbin. Ciampa will take that pin at 19:54 and Smackdown is down to Reigns.

Rollins and Reigns go after Ciampa, who is fine with these odds. Rollins throws Ciampa outside though…and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table. Lee breaks up the DoubleBomb though and Ciampa hits Project Ciampa for a close two on Rollins back inside. The Fairy Tale Ending is countered so Ciampa hits a running knee, only to eat the Superman Punch from Reigns. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:01 and we’re down to one man each.

Lee comes back in to throw Rollins around and he crossbodies both of them at the same time. Rollins is back with an enziguri into a low superkick and the frog splash gets two, with Lee LAUNCHING him off the kickout. Rollins is all fired up but walks into the Big Bang Catastrophe to give Lee the pin and get rid of Raw at 26:36. Lee smiles down at Reigns, who hits back to back Superman Punches for a VERY close two. The spear is countered into the Spirit Bomb for a nearer fall but the moonsault misses. Reigns hits the spear for the final pin at 29:18.

Rating: A-. I came to Survivor Series wanting to see one of the classic elimination matches and that’s what I got here, with one elimination after another and some crazy drama near the end. Lee looked like a STAR here and pinning Rollins clean is as big of a moment as he was going to get. There is no shame in being pinned by Reigns and what we got here was great stuff. I loved this match, save for the way Walter was put out, and it’s all I could have asked for.

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

NXT – 1

Becky Lynch is ready for Shayna Baszler and there is no one who can keep her down tonight. She has been traveling the world and every day out means one day out of the gym. Becky sees something of herself in Bayley, so tonight she is going to show both of them what she is.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio for Brock’s Raw World Title. Brock came after Rey and his family so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez. That didn’t go so well as Brock destroyed him, leaving no one to protect Rey. That’s why Rey grabbed a lead pipe and started swinging, setting up this No Holds Barred title match.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio

Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is defending and it’s No Holds Barred. Rey is the Joker here for no apparent reason. Heyman says Lesnar weighs about two and a half Rey Mysterios. Rey grabs a pipe to start so Lesnar drops to the floor. He comes right back in though and blasts Rey with a clothesline. Rey is thrown over the announcers’ table and an overhead belly to belly sends him into the announcers’ table covering.

Brock posts him but Rey does the same to him, meaning it’s pipe time. Back in and Brock suplexes him onto the pipe and then adds another suplex. Cue Dominik to try to throw in the towel but Rey uses the distraction to hit a low blow. Some pipe shots from Rey and a chair shot from Dominik set up stereo 619s. Back to back frog splashes into a double cover gets two on Lesnar, who is back up with a suplex on Dominik. The F5 retains the title at 6:53.

Rating: C+. The whole point here was that one moment of drama and it worked a lot better than I was expecting. I don’t think anyone was realistically expecting Rey to win here but they managed to get in that little bit of drama and that was a great surprise. Lesnar was running out of opponents so having him wreck Mysterio was as good of a move as they had here, with Rey knowing how to sell this perfectly.

We recap the Women’s Champions triple threat. Becky Lynch said being the champ was all that mattered but Shayna Baszler just wanted to snap a limb. Bayley wanted to know why she was an afterthought and now it’s match time.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title again. They stare each other down to start and Bayley shoves Baszler into Becky. The brawling continues to the floor so Becky dives onto both of them. Back in and Bayley avoids the running spinning legdrop but Becky kicks her in the head. Baszler is back in as well and starts cleaning house until Bayley knocks her outside. Bayley stomps on Becky but charges into an elbow in the corner. With Baszler being dropped to the floor again, Bayley drops onto Becky’s back for two.

All three are back in with Becky kicking Baszler down and starting the Bexploders. A DDT gets two on Bayley and the top rope legdrop is good for the same with Baszler making the save. Becky gets sent outside so Bayley can hit a running knee for two on Baszler. Back up and Baszler sends Bayley outside, meaning it’s time for the big showdown with Becky. Bayley crossbodies both of them at once though and Becky is back outside. Bayley has to elbow her way out of a gutwrench superkicks but Becky breaks up the Kirifuda Clutch.

A powerbomb out of the corner gives Becky two on Baszler, who knocks Bayley off the apron. That means the Disarm-Her on Baszler but Bayley makes a save. They all head outside again with Becky tweaking her knee, allowing Baszler to drop her onto the announcers’ table. Becky gets dropped onto the table again but Bayley runs Baszler over. Back in and Bayley hits the top rope elbow, only to get pulled into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 18:05.

Rating: C. Another viewing helped this a lot but it was longer than it needed to be and the action was only so good. Bayley was obviously there to take the fall and there is nothing wrong with that. If nothing else this should set up Becky vs. Baszler in a mega showdown later as Becky is unstoppable and Becky looks that way. Not overly great, but it did its job, albeit in the very long form.

Final Standings:

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Overall Rating: B+. The two last matches drag this down a bit but otherwise it’s a heck of a show with nothing bad and some good drama/shock as NXT runs away with things. What matters most here is they took some chances (some good some bad) and gave us a special moment with NXT. The wrestling was good throughout and it felt like the Survivor Series I had wanted to see for such a long time. Awesome show here and proof of what NXT can offer when they get the chance (and win the trophy).

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D

Redo: D+

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+

Redo: C

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B

Redo: B

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B

Redo: B

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-

Redo: B+

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B

Redo: C+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+

Redo: C

Overall Rating:

Original: B+

Redo: B+

Other than the main event, the memories seem strong with this one.

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

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/12/01/survivor-series-2019-they-really-did-that/

 

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

We have finally arrived. After several weeks of Raw, Smackdown and NXT invading each others’ shows, it is time to see which show is best and that could be interesting. Raw has won the competition three years in a row, though this is NXT’s first time being included. The card looks good, albeit huge. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck end zone, looking straight at the Titantron.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

Raw: OC, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

Smackdown: Revival, Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

When one member is out, both of them are out and that’s quite the advantage for Smackdown. Vic on Hawkins and Ryder: “Here are two guys who are just happy they’re still here.” Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik for the House Party and Fabian Aichner/Marcel Barthel for Imperium, with Walter on the outside. It’s a big brawl to start with Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat (he finds new ways to look stupid every day) and it’s the Sons being out in a hurry.

The House Party quickly follow them with Hawkins and Ryder going as well to really start clearing the ring out. We get the standard Ziggler save because he does these things in every battle royal but never wins the things. Aichner and Ziggler slug it out on the apron with Roode knocking Aichner out for the elimination. Otis gives Ziggler the spinning slam and takes off the shirt to set up the Caterpillar, only to get tossed by the OC and the Revival.

Fandango gets sent through the ropes so he’s able to catch Breeze as he’s thrown out, only to have the Revival get rid of them anyway. That’s it for NXT and the Profits dropkick Revival out to get us down to the OC, the Profits and Ziggler/Roode. Ziggler breaks up the Magic Killer to Roode and superkicks Gallows out and we’re down to two. Roode gets knocked through the ropes and it’s the spinebuster to Ziggler but Roode knocks Ford off the top. Ford is right back up with a frog splash to Ziggler, only to have Roode throw him out for the win at 8:21.

Rating: D. What a great way to start the show: eliminate all of the popular teams and go with the least interesting team from Smackdown instead of the popular Heavy Machinery. It’s not like it matters one way or another in the grand scheme of things, but that’s what we get anyway because WWE loves itself some Roode and Ziggler. The match was your usual battle royal and that’s not exactly interesting.

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto (Smackdown) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Lio Rush (NXT)

Rush is defending and we’ve got armbands for the brands. It really is amazing how much effort they put into trying to get this Brand Supremacy thing over but it’s better than the stupid shirts. Tozawa and Kalisto knock him to the floor to start so Tozawa can roll Kalisto up for two, setting off the issues in a hurry. Rush comes back in and starts the dodging but gets pulled to the floor. Kalisto’s kick to the head cuts off Tozawa’s dive and everyone gets back in.

It’s Rush dodging Kalisto’s shots to the head and hitting a double handspring elbow to put both of them down. A left hand to the face puts Rush down and Tozawa plants him with a fireman’s carry faceplant. Everyone heads to the same corner and it’s Rush with a super double armdrag so all three can be down at once again. The three way slugout goes to Rush until Tozawa snaps off a German suplex for two.

Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two more and they’re down for the fourth time. There’s the Salida Del Sol to Rush with Tozawa breaking it up with a Shining Wizard. The top rope backsplash gets the same as Kalisto gets to make a save this time. Kalisto and Tozawa slug it out for a bit until it’s another Salida Del Sol to plant Tozawa. Rush dives in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain at 8:28.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be: three talented guys going out there and doing a bunch of fast paced offense for a few minutes. The crowd was into it too, which makes me feel a little bit better for these guys. The cruiserweights have been treated terribly on 205 Live and it’s nice to see them getting a chance to actually shine on the big stage for once.

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the Tag Team Champions. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off and the early beating sends O’Reilly over for the tag to Fish. The fans are behind the Era to start so Big E. and Ivar run both of them over, leaving us with the big power showdown. Big E. can’t slam him but he can shoulder the heck out of him instead, only to have O’Reilly come back in for some knees to Big E.’s ribs.

Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s Ivar slamming Erik onto Fish. Kofi comes in to hammer on Erik before jumping over Big E. for a backsplash to O’Reilly. The Era is sent to the floor so it’s New Day slugging it out with the Vikings. That doesn’t last long as Erik and Big E. head to the floor, allowing the Era to come back in and double team Kofi. The knee gets taken out with O’Reilly hitting the top rope knee to said knee, setting up a kneebar.

Ivar comes back in to break that up with a splash as everything breaks down again. The knee is fine enough to kick away at O’Reilly on the apron as Big E. misses the spear to the floor. With everyone else on the floor, Erik slams Ivar from the apron onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Fish kicks Erik in the face before O’Reilly starts in on the knee at the slower pace.

That’s broken up and it’s back to Ivar to clean house. O’Reilly kicks Fish in the face by mistake and it’s Jeff Cobb’s Tour of the Islands to Kyle. It’s back Erik, who gets caught by Kofi’s double stomp out of the corner. That’s not it though as it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp for two with Ivar making the save. Big E. hits the spear on Erik this time and everyone is down on the floor at once.

Back in and the knee to Big E.’s face sets up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination. Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise on the floor and takes the High/Low, leaving the Era vs. the Vikings. Ivar shrugs off the kicks and cartwheels away from High/Low to take both of them down. The Viking Experience sends O’Reilly into Fish for the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but once they hit their stride, this was a pretty crazy set of spots with a bunch of different styles on display. It was a lot of fun and Raw gets on the board, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. However, they did enough of a job of making you believe that any team could win to get around thing. None of the teams looked bad here either so they even protected the champions. Really fun match that had just the right amount of time too.

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

The opening video is your big recap of the NXT Invasion, which goes exactly as you would have guessed. They’re doing a good job of making NXT look like an equal here and that is what matters most out of the whole thing. All of the individual matches get some attention as well.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Sarah Logan

Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross

NXT: Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair

For the sake of sanity, they do team entrances instead of having fifteen individual entrances. Everyone but Toni on Team NXT was in WarGames last night so they’re a bit banged up. There will be three in at once but you can only tag your own partners so it won’t be completely insane. Lacey, Logan and Toni start things off with Logan getting knocked down early on.

Cross comes in to clean house until Toni takes her down as well, leaving Logan to hit some cartwheel knees to the back. Logan drops Cross onto Toni for two on each but Storm is up with a double German suplex. It’s off to Shirai vs. Sane vs. Carmella with Carmella just kind of being annoying as they have their staredown. Brooke comes in and lets them fight in the smarter move. Sane rolls her up for two so Brooke steals her own rollup to Sane for two more.

Brooke’s Swanton gets two on Sane and it’s off to Lacey for a kick to the face and her own two. Lacey talks trash to Candice and gets beaten up in the corner with Asuka getting dropped as well. A middle rope Downward Spiral gets two on Lacey and it’s Rhea coming in to dropkick Lacey to the floor. Everyone starts coming in for the parade of secondary finishers until Sasha is left alone in the ring. Hold on though as Candice and Shirai are both down on the floor and the match just kind of stops. They’re taken out and we’ll call that a double elimination at about 7:30.

We settle down to Ripley vs. Banks vs. Charlotte in the battle of the captains….but it’s Belair, Logan and Cross coming in before anything happens. Cross dives onto Ripley and then hammers on Storm for a bonus but Belair rolls Cross up for the pin at 9:39. Belair hits the KOD on Carmella, who rolls straight over to the ropes to save herself. Logan jumps Belair to the floor and dives onto Ripley and Storm on the floor. Back in and Belair punches Logan down, setting up a gorgeous 450 for the pin at 12:12.

Charlotte comes in and clotheslines Belair down but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte in the ribs. Carmella’s super hurricanrana sends Charlotte into Belair for a pair of twos each, plus a lot of Carmella’s screaming. Some low superkicks give Carmella two more on Belair but it’s Charlotte hitting Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38.

That leaves us with Charlotte/Asuka/Sane/Natalya vs. Ripley/Storm/Belair vs. Banks/Brooke/Lacey. Storm comes in and beats up Shirai and Banks until Shirai’s spinning backfist takes her down. The Insane Elbow gets two on Storm but Banks breaks it up with a Meteora to Sane for the elimination at 16:48. It’s three apiece now with Asuka coming in and kicking away to take over, including a big spinning kick to the head to get rid of Brooke at 17:22.

Charlotte and Asuka get in a fight though with Charlotte pulling her down by the hair. Lacey comes in and gets suplexed into the corner, only to take Asuka’s mist to the face. That’s it for Asuka, who walks out at about 19:00. The Woman’s Right finishes Charlotte at 19:08 and Natalya is the only one left for Raw. Natalya’s discus lariat drops Storm and a rollup gets rid of Lacey at 19:52.

NXT has a pretty commanding leave now so Natalya puts Toni in the Sharpshooter. Banks adds the Bank Statement and Storm is done at 20:42. Banks and Natalya get together for a Hart Attack and the pin on Belair at 21:17, leaving us with Ripley vs. Banks vs. Natalya. Banks and Natalya smirk at Ripley but Banks punches Natalya out for the win at 22:01.

Ripley slams Banks down for an early two and blocks a tornado DDT attempt. Banks sends her into the corner for a crash and there are the running knees in the corner. The Meteora gets two on Ripley but she’s back up in time to kick Banks out of the air for trying it again. The standing Cloverleaf comes on but Banks reverses into the Bank Statement. Cue LeRae and Shirai (never officially eliminated) to pulls Ripley to the floor so Banks takes both of them down. LeRae offers a distraction though and it’s Shirai hitting a springboard missile dropkick. Riptide finishes Banks at 27:53.

Rating: B-. Well there’s your star making performance. It might have been a little bit of a dirty finish but Ripley looked like a star of the highest order out there, which is exactly what they were going for here. The match worked rather well, but there were a few too many people in there and it got messy at times. Still though, seeing NXT pull off the huge upset and actually getting somewhere in this whole thing more than made up for it.

We look at Kevin Owens joining Team Ciampa to help defeat the Undisputed Era at WarGames.

Seth Rollins comes in to see Owens and accuses him of wanting to turn on Raw tonight. Owens says last night was about getting even with the Undisputed Era and yes he loves NXT, but he’s Raw. Rollins doesn’t seem convinced.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. AJ Styles (Raw) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn (an awesome hype man) is here with Nakamura. They go straight into the exchange of strikes to start and it’s Strong getting the better of it off the backbreakers. Nakamura gets dropped on the apron but AJ knees Strong in the face. Back in and Nakamura starts striking away, including the running knee to the ribs to knock Styles right back to the floor.

Strong’s fireman’s carry into the double knees to the chest get two on Nakamura and Strong bends him over his back. AJ is back in with a sleeper on Strong before throwing him into Nakamura for the break. He can’t follow up though and Strong hits AJ with a clothesline, followed by the running forearms to make it even worse. The belly to back faceplant gets two and Strong monkey flips AJ into a running knee from Nakamura.

Strong gets knocked down and Nakamura’s sliding knee to the head gets two more. AJ’s reverse DDT is good for another two and some frustration is setting in. The fireman’s carry backbreaker gives AJ two more with Strong not being able to make the save. Strong can break up the Styles Clash, but the crash means Nakamura lands on his face anyway. The Angle Slam gives Strong two on AJ as Sami is helping Nakamura with his breathing on the floor.

The coaching works though as Nakamura goes up and hits a doomsday kick to the chest for two on Strong, who grabs his knee and screams. Cole: “You’ve got to wonder if Strong is hurt.” Does Vince go out of his way to make Cole say these stupid things? Sami posts AJ as Strong hits a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Just to egg the crowd on a bit, Nakamura hits a Go To Sleep on Strong but AJ breaks up Kinshasa. A spinning backfist staggers Strong and Nakamura suplexes him onto AJ.

There’s Kinshasa to Strong and AJ dives in for a save. That puts Strong on the floor so Nakamura tells AJ to COME ON. The striking exchange is on with Nakamura hitting a middle rope knee to the face. Nakamura’s Landslide gets two but AJ hits a forearm out of the corner. The Phenomenal Forearm connects but Strong comes in and steals the pin at 16:44.

Rating: B. Much like the previous one, this was all about action with all three guys looking like they could pull it off. Strong stealing the pin is fine enough and again, the bigger name taking the fall is protected. They were beating the fire out of each other here and we have our second good match in a row, though a little better than the first due to less chaos.

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

Therefore, NXT can only be tied and can’t lose.

The Miz tries to give Daniel Bryan a pep talk but get glared away.

Cole explains the Mauro Ranallo is missing due to blowing his voice out. Right.

NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Dunne is challenging after winning a triple threat match last night. They’re both very banged up after Takeover but Cole should be in far worse shape of the two. Dunne spins out of a wristlock to start and Cole’s headlock works just as badly. A shot to the ribs puts the injured Cole down but Dunne’s knee is bothering him as well. Cole’s arm gets twisted around and Dunne takes him to the floor to stomp on it again.

Back in and Cole gets smart by going after the bad knee with some cranking and a dropkick to the leg to make it worse. Dunne’s leg is good enough for the X Plex and you can see the shock of pain going through Cole as his ribs hit the mat. An enziguri in the corner lets Dunne stomp on Cole’s fingers and a sitout powerbomb gets two. Cole tries to bail to the floor so Dunne takes him out with a moonsault.

Back in and Dunne kicks him in the head but a moonsault hits raised knees. The Shining Wizard gets two as Cole was too banged up to hit it at full strength. Dunne shrugs off a pump kick to the face but can’t shrug off the brainbuster onto the knee. Back up and Dunne grabs a quick Bitter End before going for a moonsault out of the corner. Cole is right there with a superkick to the upside down Dunne (still awesome and incredible timing) for two more.

A big forearm puts Cole on the floor but he gets in a kick to the knee. They fight on the apron and Dunne’s knee gives out, allowing Dunne to hit a crazy looking Panama Sunrise onto the apron. They barely beat the count back in and Cole superkicks his head off for two more. Dunne tells him to come on and snaps the fingers but the Bitter End is countered into another Panama Sunrise. The Last Shot retains the title at 14:04.

Rating: A-. This is a case where the televised version worked a lot better than the live version as commentary and the better camera angles focused on Dunne’s knee injury that much better. You couldn’t get much out of that in the arena (or at least from the upper deck) and commentary sold the story very well. This was a heck of a back and forth match with both guys working very hard and selling their damage from the previous night.

Some wrestlers visited an elementary school.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend. Bray Wyatt won the title earlier in the month at Crown Jewel and started taunting Bryan to make him his first victim. Bryan has teased bringing back the YES Movement to fight Wyatt but won’t go all the way with it. Therefore, he might not be ready to face the Fiend.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan is challenging and we get the full Fiend entrance, complete with severed head lantern. The crowd goes almost silent as the red lights come on and that’s an impressive reaction. Bryan hits a running dropkick into the corner to start but tries another and gets blasted by a clothesline. An uppercut puts Bryan on the floor and Bray plants him in the ring for a bonus.

There’s the toss suplex and Bray starts writhing around before grabbing the neck crank. With that broken up, they head outside where Bray misses a charge into the steps. He’s right back up though and Bryan has to break up Sister Abigail, meaning it’s a posting to stagger Bray again. A big dive off the top drops Fiend and he’s taking a little more time to get up.

Back in and Daniel hits the missile dropkick, followed by the YES Kicks to….just bring Bray back up. Fiend laughs at him and seems to say bring it on so Bryan hits the big kick to the head. More stomps have Fiend in trouble and the running knee (with YES chants from Bryan) gets two. Bray charges into a boot in the corner but grabs the Mandible Claw anyway. That’s reversed into an armbar over the top rope but dives into a right hand. Bryan tries the running knee again and charges straight into the Mandible Claw for the pin at 10:01.

Rating: B. They were getting somewhere with this one but it never hit that next level. It’s like Bryan needs one more gear, like the YES Movement, to get all the way over the hump. The Fiend comes off like a movie monster and it is going to take someone special to beat him. Having Bray beat a star like Bryan is a good move for him, but it’s hard not to imagine Roman Reigns getting the nod at this point. Anyway, this was a good match but it needed one more level to make it great.

Rey Mysterio says he first faced Brock Lesnar almost fifteen years ago. He’s a new man now and pulls out the pipe to prove it. Normally Rey would want his son Dominick to turn away but tonight he wants his son to watch and see what happens when Rey takes out Brock’s legs.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens

Smackdown: Roman Reigns, Shorty G., Mustafa Ali, King Corbin, Braun Strowman

NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Matt Riddle, Damian Priest

Same rules as the women’s match: triple threat and you can only tag your team members. Ali is rather happy to be in his hometown, as he should be. The fans are behind Walter, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Rollins and Ciampa slug away at Strowman to start so he dropkicks both of them down at the same time. McIntyre and Walter come in for the big three way hoss showdown and it’s Strowman being hammered down in the corner. Walter and McIntyre chop it out with Walter kicking him down but getting run over by Strowman.

The chop to Strowman doesn’t work so Walter dropkicks him into the corner…but walks into the Claymore to get rid of Walter at 2:58. The fans are MAD over that and I can’t say I blame them a bit as you don’t bring in a champion for a show like this and have him get pinned clean in less than three minutes. Priest comes in to kick away at McIntyre and Strowman, who misses a charge into the post. Gable comes in with a moonsault to Priest but Ricochet comes in to pick the pace way up.

A heck of a Rolling Chaos Theory hits Ricochet and it’s Riddle coming in to a big reaction. Gable gets the ankle lock on Riddle but it’s broken up in a hurry for the staredown. Another Chaos Theory doesn’t work on Riddle as Ciampa tags himself in, only to get kicked in the head by Gable. Ricochet kicks both of them down and it’s Owens going up top. He thinks about splashing Gable or Ciampa before going with the frog splash to get rid of Gable at 6:29.

Corbin comes in and bails from the threat of a Stunner so Owens follows him with the Cannonball. The Stunner connects on the floor but Ciampa catches Owens with Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:41. Orton is behind Ciampa but Ciampa is smart enough to turn around without walking into the RKO. Ciampa hammers away and tries another Willow’s Bell but gets dropped onto the apron instead. Back in and it’s the Garvin Stomp but Ciampa gets over for the tag to Priest, only to walk into the RKO. Another RKO gets rid of Priest at 10:16 but Riddle rolls Orton up for the pin at 10:26.

Orton RKOs Riddle as well and it’s stealing the pin at 10:54 to some great heel heat. That’s how you use Corbin and it worked great here. Lee and Strowman come in so the fans are already singing. McIntyre breaks up the staredown with a forearm to Lee but gets run over by Strowman. That means the big running train around the ring, which works so well that Strowman does it again. This time though, Lee runs him over for a change and McIntyre adds a Claymore to count Strowman out at 13:17.

We’re down to Lee/Ciampa vs. Ricochet/McIntyre/Rollins vs. Ali/Corbin/Reigns. Ricochet springboards in with a clothesline to Corbin and there’s the big running flip dive to Reigns. The 450 misses Lee though and Corbin hits the End of Days to finish Ricochet at 14:31. Ali tags himself in and starts cleaning house with some kicks to the face.

Rollins counters the rolling X Factor by launching Ali over his head, only to have Ali X Factor Ciampa instead. The tornado DDT hits Rollins and it’s Ali hitting a suicide dive onto a bunch of people. Corbin won’t let Ali get a cover though and the distraction lets Rollins hit the Stomp to get rid of Ali at 16:10.

Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor until McIntyre and Rollins break it up. Back in and McIntyre’s reverse Alabama slam gets two on Ciampa but the spear cuts McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39. Rollins, the only member left of Team Raw, kicks Reigns to the floor but the suicide dive is blocked with a right hand. Willow’s Bell cuts Reigns off but he reverses the Fairy Tale Ending into the Superman Punch.

Corbin pulls Reigns over to the corner for the tag, only to yell at Reigns instead of going after Ciampa. Eventually Ciampa escapes the chokeslam, leaving Reigns to spear and Superman Punch Corbin to give Ciampa the pin at 19:57. It’s Reigns for Smackdown, Rollins for Raw and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Reigns, Rollins and Ciampa slug it out with Lee coming in for a failed save attempt.

That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins because we need to get the Shield stuff in. They decide to work together again but can’t hit a DoubleBomb. Instead Ciampa catches Rollins with Project Ciampa for a VERY close two but it’s a Superman Punch to Ciampa. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:02 and we’re down to one apiece.

Lee is ready to go and slingshots in with a double crossbody to put them both down. The Limit Breaker is countered by Rollins and a superkick sets up the frog splash for two as the fans are behind Lee. Rollins goes after Lee again but walks into the Limit Breaker for the completely clean pin at 26:32 to get rid of Raw. The roof goes off the place as Lee is instantly a legit contender to pull off the major upset.

Reigns starts fast with a Superman Punch for a very quick two and Graves is DEMANDING a replay. The spear is loaded up but Lee cuts it off with a Spirit Bomb for a very, very close two. Lee misses the moonsault though and gets speared down for the pin at 29:18 as the air doesn’t go all the way out of the place.

Rating: B+. The ending sequence was the reason I’ve always wanted to see one of these shows in person: they hit the drama out of the park and had you believing that Lee could pull off the impossible. Lee got the big pin on Rollins so he’s a made man as a result, along with Ciampa for pinning Owens and Corbin. Just like in the women’s match, the NXT men felt like they belonged here and that was the point of the whole thing. Very fun match here with a lot of people (including Gable) getting to show off for a long time. Lee got the big rub here though, and they nailed every bit of what they wanted to do with him.

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Post match Reigns and Lee show respect.

Becky Lynch talks about being the man seven days a week while Shayna Baszler has been training every day. Shayna is going to have to destroy her completely and no one can do that to her. Then there’s Bayley, who thinks Becky has been ducking her. Becky even broke her own rule and came looking for Bayley. Tonight, Becky is taking them out and showing that she is the Man.

We recap Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar. Brock attacked Rey and his son so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez to help him fight. Once Lesnar got rid of Cain in less than three minutes, Rey fought for himself and took out Lesnar’s knee with a steel pipe. Tonight it’s No DQ so Rey can have a chance.

Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and anything goes. Rey is dressed as the Joker (again) and that might not be the best visual for a match that is supposed to be rather serious. Paul Heyman introduces Brock as weighing about two and a half Rey Mysterios for his funny line of the night. Rey goes straight to the floor and pulls out the pipe so Lesnar bails to the floor in a smart move.

Brock gets Rey to chase him and the big clothesline makes him drop the pipe. The beating begins as Rey is sent outside and over the announcers’ table in a crash. The announcers’ table is loaded up and Brock throws him into the cover. Rey is beaten down so badly that Brock can even stop to tie his boot. It takes so long that Rey can get in a posting but Brock won’t let him grab the pipe. A release German suplex drops Rey onto the pipe (geez) and another (no pipe) makes it even worse.

There’s a third suplex so here’s Dominick with a towel. Brock takes that away and throws it out (maybe in a shot at the ending to Cody vs. Chris Jericho at Full Gear). Brock grabs Dominick so Rey hits him low and even Dominick gets in his own shot. Some pipe shots set up a double 619 (sweet) and Dominick adds a frog splash (in a nice tribute to his dad). Rey adds his own frog splash for two and the fans know it isn’t happening. Dominick gets suplexed down and the F5 retains the title at 6:54.

Rating: C+. This was all about that one short stretch and man alive did they make it work for about a minute. There’s more to it than that though and the rest of it was Brock’s standard operating procedure. Brock can do good things when he’s motivated and that…wasn’t exactly happening here but the comeback and near fall were great so it’s more good than bad.

We recap the women’s triple threat match. Becky Lynch knows she is the best but Shayna Baszler came in and said she’d beat Becky just like the rest. Bayley has been fighting to make people think she matters in this whole thing other than to take the fall.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the Women’s Champions. Ignore how Bayley’s shirt with BAY over LEY with the belt around her waist spells AEW of course. The announcers mention Ronda Rousey quite a few times during the entrances and I can’t imagine that’s a coincidence. Bayley knocks Baszler into Becky to start and the fans aren’t exactly interested early on. Baszler and Bayley hammer away at each other on the mat and fight to the floor.

Becky takes both of them down before throwing Bayley back inside. The spinning legdrop misses but Becky is right back up with a slingshot dropkick through the ropes to keep Baszler down. Bayley hits (or close to it) a sunset bomb into the corner as the silence is notable here. With Becky down, Baszler starts working on the arm but Becky cuts off a charge into the corner. Bayley stomps Becky down and slams her face into the mat a few times as the fans try to get a weak Becky chant going.

Baszler is back in to break it up but Bayley knocks her down as well. Becky gets back up this time with a DDT to Baszler and a reverse DDT to Bayley at the same time, though it isn’t enough to get the crowd going. The guillotine legdrop gets two on Bayley and Baszler has to break up the Disarm-Her. The Bayley to Belly gets two on Baszler but she’s back up with a suplex of her own. Becky comes back in with a missile dropkick to make Baszler drop Bayley.

We get the CM PUNK chants as Baszler and Becky slug it out until Bayley sends Becky outside. The charge on the apron is cut off with a Kirifuda Clutch but Becky comes back in with a sitout powerbomb for two on Baszler. Now it’s Becky getting Clutched inside until Bayley makes the save, only to get sent outside again. They all wind up on the floor with Becky being sent into various steel objects. Bayley takes Baszler back inside and has to suplex her way out of a quick Clutch attempt. The top rope elbow is countered into the Clutch though and Bayley taps at 18:05.

Rating: D+. They were trying here but the match didn’t have much of a flow and wasn’t the most thrilling. You can also see the amount of influence that the crowd can have as they weren’t interested here. However, there were some rather negative chants in the arena and they didn’t get picked up by audio here, which is a rather good thing. The match wasn’t good but it also wasn’t a nightmare and the heavily negative chants weren’t deserved. It didn’t help when the best Bayley could have done was tie the score and Becky had no chance to win anything for Raw, but there were other issues going on.

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Post match Shayna celebrates on the announcers’ table but Becky jumps her from behind. A legdrop off the apron lets Becky pose to end the show. That doesn’t get the best reaction either.

Overall Rating: B+. Aside from a not great main event, this was a heck of a show with one good to great match after another. They would have been better off having a tie coming into the main event but WWE hasn’t seemed interested in drama around here for the last few shows. NXT got the rub it was looking for though and that is the best thing that could happen. I’m sure it’ll be enough to fight off AEW, which is one of the major points of this whole thing so well done? In theory? Anyway what we got was borderline great though and I got what I was wanting out of the show so I’ll call it a major positive.

Results

Team NXT b. Team Raw and Team Smackdown last eliminating Sasha Banks

Roderick Strong b. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura – Phenomenal Forearm to Nakamura

Adam Cole b. Pete Dunne – Last Shot

The Fiend b. Daniel Bryan – Mandible Claw

Team Smackdown b. Team Raw and Team NXT – Spear to Lee

Brock Lesnar b. Rey Mysterio – F5

Shayna Baszler b. Bayley and Becky Lynch – Kirifuda Clutch to Bayley

<img class=”size-medium wp-image-40776″ src=”https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Survivor-Series-2019-400×204.jpg” alt=”” width=”400″ height=”204″ /> IMG Credit: WWE
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u><b>Survivor Series 2019
</b></u></span></span></span><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Date: November 24, 2019
</span></span></span><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
</span></span></span><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We have finally arrived. After several weeks of Raw, Smackdown and NXT invading each others’ shows, it is time to see which show is best and that could be interesting. Raw has won the competition three years in a row, though this is NXT’s first time being included. The card looks good, albeit huge. Let’s get to it.</span></span></span><!–more–></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck end zone, looking straight at the Titantron.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw: OC, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown: Revival, Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>When one member is out, both of them are out and that’s quite the advantage for Smackdown. Vic on Hawkins and Ryder: “Here are two guys who are just happy they’re still here.” Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik for the House Party and Fabian Aichner/Marcel Barthel for Imperium, with Walter on the outside. It’s a big brawl to start with Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat (he finds new ways to look stupid every day) and it’s the Sons being out in a hurry.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>The House Party quickly follow them with Hawkins and Ryder going as well to really start clearing the ring out. We get the standard Ziggler save because he does these things in every battle royal but never wins the things. Aichner and Ziggler slug it out on the apron with Roode knocking Aichner out for the elimination. Otis gives Ziggler the spinning slam and takes off the shirt to set up the Caterpillar, only to get tossed by the OC and the Revival.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Fandango gets sent through the ropes so he’s able to catch Breeze as he’s thrown out, only to have the Revival get rid of them anyway. That’s it for NXT and the Profits dropkick Revival out to get us down to the OC, the Profits and Ziggler/Roode. Ziggler breaks up the Magic Killer to Roode and superkicks Gallows out and we’re down to two. Roode gets knocked through the ropes and it’s the spinebuster to Ziggler but Roode knocks Ford off the top. Ford is right back up with a frog splash to Ziggler, only to have Roode throw him out for the win at 8:21.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>D. What a great way to start the show: eliminate all of the popular teams and go with the least interesting team from Smackdown instead of the popular Heavy Machinery. It’s not like it matters one way or another in the grand scheme of things, but that’s what we get anyway because WWE loves itself some Roode and Ziggler. The match was your usual battle royal and that’s not exactly interesting.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw – 0</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT – 0</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto (Smackdown) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Lio Rush (NXT)</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Rush is defending and we’ve got armbands for the brands. It really is amazing how much effort they put into trying to get this Brand Supremacy thing over but it’s better than the stupid shirts. Tozawa and Kalisto knock him to the floor to start so Tozawa can roll Kalisto up for two, setting off the issues in a hurry. Rush comes back in and starts the dodging but gets pulled to the floor. Kalisto’s kick to the head cuts off Tozawa’s dive and everyone gets back in.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>It’s Rush dodging Kalisto’s shots to the head and hitting a double handspring elbow to put both of them down. A left hand to the face puts Rush down and Tozawa plants him with a fireman’s carry faceplant. Everyone heads to the same corner and it’s Rush with a super double armdrag so all three can be down at once again. The three way slugout goes to Rush until Tozawa snaps off a German suplex for two.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two more and they’re down for the fourth time. There’s the Salida Del Sol to Rush with Tozawa breaking it up with a Shining Wizard. The top rope backsplash gets the same as Kalisto gets to make a save this time. Kalisto and Tozawa slug it out for a bit until it’s another Salida Del Sol to plant Tozawa. Rush dives in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain at 8:28.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>C+. This was exactly what it needed to be: three talented guys going out there and doing a bunch of fast paced offense for a few minutes. The crowd was into it too, which makes me feel a little bit better for these guys. The cruiserweights have been treated terribly on 205 Live and it’s nice to see them getting a chance to actually shine on the big stage for once.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw – 0</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Non-title Battle of the Tag Team Champions. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off and the early beating sends O’Reilly over for the tag to Fish. The fans are behind the Era to start so Big E. and Ivar run both of them over, leaving us with the big power showdown. Big E. can’t slam him but he can shoulder the heck out of him instead, only to have O’Reilly come back in for some knees to Big E.’s ribs.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s Ivar slamming Erik onto Fish. Kofi comes in to hammer on Erik before jumping over Big E. for a backsplash to O’Reilly. The Era is sent to the floor so it’s New Day slugging it out with the Vikings. That doesn’t last long as Erik and Big E. head to the floor, allowing the Era to come back in and double team Kofi. The knee gets taken out with O’Reilly hitting the top rope knee to said knee, setting up a kneebar.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Ivar comes back in to break that up with a splash as everything breaks down again. The knee is fine enough to kick away at O’Reilly on the apron as Big E. misses the spear to the floor. With everyone else on the floor, Erik slams Ivar from the apron onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Fish kicks Erik in the face before O’Reilly starts in on the knee at the slower pace.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>That’s broken up and it’s back to Ivar to clean house. O’Reilly kicks Fish in the face by mistake and it’s Jeff Cobb’s Tour of the Islands to Kyle. It’s back Erik, who gets caught by Kofi’s double stomp out of the corner. That’s not it though as it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp for two with Ivar making the save. Big E. hits the spear on Erik this time and everyone is down on the floor at once.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Back in and the knee to Big E.’s face sets up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination. Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise on the floor and takes the High/Low, leaving the Era vs. the Vikings. Ivar shrugs off the kicks and cartwheels away from High/Low to take both of them down. The Viking Experience sends O’Reilly into Fish for the pin at 14:42.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>B. This took some time to get going but once they hit their stride, this was a pretty crazy set of spots with a bunch of different styles on display. It was a lot of fun and Raw gets on the board, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. However, they did enough of a job of making you believe that any team could win to get around thing. None of the teams looked bad here either so they even protected the champions. Really fun match that had just the right amount of time too.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>The opening video is your big recap of the NXT Invasion, which goes exactly as you would have guessed. They’re doing a good job of making NXT look like an equal here and that is what matters most out of the whole thing. All of the individual matches get some attention as well.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Sarah Logan</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT: Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>For the sake of sanity, they do team entrances instead of having fifteen individual entrances. Everyone but Toni on Team NXT was in WarGames last night so they’re a bit banged up. There will be three in at once but you can only tag your own partners so it won’t be completely insane. Lacey, Logan and Toni start things off with Logan getting knocked down early on.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Cross comes in to clean house until Toni takes her down as well, leaving Logan to hit some cartwheel knees to the back. Logan drops Cross onto Toni for two on each but Storm is up with a double German suplex. It’s off to Shirai vs. Sane vs. Carmella with Carmella just kind of being annoying as they have their staredown. Brooke comes in and lets them fight in the smarter move. Sane rolls her up for two so Brooke steals her own rollup to Sane for two more.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Brooke’s Swanton gets two on Sane and it’s off to Lacey for a kick to the face and her own two. Lacey talks trash to Candice and gets beaten up in the corner with Asuka getting dropped as well. A middle rope Downward Spiral gets two on Lacey and it’s Rhea coming in to dropkick Lacey to the floor. Everyone starts coming in for the parade of secondary finishers until Sasha is left alone in the ring. Hold on though as Candice and Shirai are both down on the floor and the match just kind of stops. They’re taken out and we’ll call that a double elimination at about 7:30.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We settle down to Ripley vs. Banks vs. Charlotte in the battle of the captains….but it’s Belair, Logan and Cross coming in before anything happens. Cross dives onto Ripley and then hammers on Storm for a bonus but Belair rolls Cross up for the pin at 9:39. Belair hits the KOD on Carmella, who rolls straight over to the ropes to save herself. Logan jumps Belair to the floor and dives onto Ripley and Storm on the floor. Back in and Belair punches Logan down, setting up a gorgeous 450 for the pin at 12:12.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Charlotte comes in and clotheslines Belair down but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte in the ribs. Carmella’s super hurricanrana sends Charlotte into Belair for a pair of twos each, plus a lot of Carmella’s screaming. Some low superkicks give Carmella two more on Belair but it’s Charlotte hitting Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>That leaves us with Charlotte/Asuka/Sane/Natalya vs. Ripley/Storm/Belair vs. Banks/Brooke/Lacey. Storm comes in and beats up Shirai and Banks until Shirai’s spinning backfist takes her down. The Insane Elbow gets two on Storm but Banks breaks it up with a Meteora to Sane for the elimination at 16:48. It’s three apiece now with Asuka coming in and kicking away to take over, including a big spinning kick to the head to get rid of Brooke at 17:22.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Charlotte and Asuka get in a fight though with Charlotte pulling her down by the hair. Lacey comes in and gets suplexed into the corner, only to take Asuka’s mist to the face. That’s it for Asuka, who walks out at about 19:00. The Woman’s Right finishes Charlotte at 19:08 and Natalya is the only one left for Raw. Natalya’s discus lariat drops Storm and a rollup gets rid of Lacey at 19:52.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT has a pretty commanding leave now so Natalya puts Toni in the Sharpshooter. Banks adds the Bank Statement and Storm is done at 20:42. Banks and Natalya get together for a Hart Attack and the pin on Belair at 21:17, leaving us with Ripley vs. Banks vs. Natalya. Banks and Natalya smirk at Ripley but Banks punches Natalya out for the win at 22:01.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Ripley slams Banks down for an early two and blocks a tornado DDT attempt. Banks sends her into the corner for a crash and there are the running knees in the corner. The Meteora gets two on Ripley but she’s back up in time to kick Banks out of the air for trying it again. The standing Cloverleaf comes on but Banks reverses into the Bank Statement. Cue LeRae and Shirai (never officially eliminated) to pulls Ripley to the floor so Banks takes both of them down. LeRae offers a distraction though and it’s Shirai hitting a springboard missile dropkick. Riptide finishes Banks at 27:53.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>B-. Well there’s your star making performance. It might have been a little bit of a dirty finish but Ripley looked like a star of the highest order out there, which is exactly what they were going for here. The match worked rather well, but there were a few too many people in there and it got messy at times. Still though, seeing NXT pull off the huge upset and actually getting somewhere in this whole thing more than made up for it.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We look at Kevin Owens joining Team Ciampa to help defeat the Undisputed Era at WarGames.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Seth Rollins comes in to see Owens and accuses him of wanting to turn on Raw tonight. Owens says last night was about getting even with the Undisputed Era and yes he loves NXT, but he’s Raw. Rollins doesn’t seem convinced.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. AJ Styles (Raw) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT)</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Non-title Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn (an awesome hype man) is here with Nakamura. They go straight into the exchange of strikes to start and it’s Strong getting the better of it off the backbreakers. Nakamura gets dropped on the apron but AJ knees Strong in the face. Back in and Nakamura starts striking away, including the running knee to the ribs to knock Styles right back to the floor.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Strong’s fireman’s carry into the double knees to the chest get two on Nakamura and Strong bends him over his back. AJ is back in with a sleeper on Strong before throwing him into Nakamura for the break. He can’t follow up though and Strong hits AJ with a clothesline, followed by the running forearms to make it even worse. The belly to back faceplant gets two and Strong monkey flips AJ into a running knee from Nakamura.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Strong gets knocked down and Nakamura’s sliding knee to the head gets two more. AJ’s reverse DDT is good for another two and some frustration is setting in. The fireman’s carry backbreaker gives AJ two more with Strong not being able to make the save. Strong can break up the Styles Clash, but the crash means Nakamura lands on his face anyway. The Angle Slam gives Strong two on AJ as Sami is helping Nakamura with his breathing on the floor.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>The coaching works though as Nakamura goes up and hits a doomsday kick to the chest for two on Strong, who grabs his knee and screams. Cole: “You’ve got to wonder if Strong is hurt.” Does Vince go out of his way to make Cole say these stupid things? Sami posts AJ as Strong hits a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Just to egg the crowd on a bit, Nakamura hits a Go To Sleep on Strong but AJ breaks up Kinshasa. A spinning backfist staggers Strong and Nakamura suplexes him onto AJ.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>There’s Kinshasa to Strong and AJ dives in for a save. That puts Strong on the floor so Nakamura tells AJ to COME ON. The striking exchange is on with Nakamura hitting a middle rope knee to the face. Nakamura’s Landslide gets two but AJ hits a forearm out of the corner. The Phenomenal Forearm connects but Strong comes in and steals the pin at 16:44.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>B. Much like the previous one, this was all about action with all three guys looking like they could pull it off. Strong stealing the pin is fine enough and again, the bigger name taking the fall is protected. They were beating the fire out of each other here and we have our second good match in a row, though a little better than the first due to less chaos.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT – 3</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Therefore, NXT can only be tied and can’t lose.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>The Miz tries to give Daniel Bryan a pep talk but get glared away.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Cole explains the Mauro Ranallo is missing due to blowing his voice out. Right.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Dunne is challenging after winning a triple threat match last night. They’re both very banged up after Takeover but Cole should be in far worse shape of the two. Dunne spins out of a wristlock to start and Cole’s headlock works just as badly. A shot to the ribs puts the injured Cole down but Dunne’s knee is bothering him as well. Cole’s arm gets twisted around and Dunne takes him to the floor to stomp on it again.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Back in and Cole gets smart by going after the bad knee with some cranking and a dropkick to the leg to make it worse. Dunne’s leg is good enough for the X Plex and you can see the shock of pain going through Cole as his ribs hit the mat. An enziguri in the corner lets Dunne stomp on Cole’s fingers and a sitout powerbomb gets two. Cole tries to bail to the floor so Dunne takes him out with a moonsault.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Back in and Dunne kicks him in the head but a moonsault hits raised knees. The Shining Wizard gets two as Cole was too banged up to hit it at full strength. Dunne shrugs off a pump kick to the face but can’t shrug off the brainbuster onto the knee. Back up and Dunne grabs a quick Bitter End before going for a moonsault out of the corner. Cole is right there with a superkick to the upside down Dunne (still awesome and incredible timing) for two more.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>A big forearm puts Cole on the floor but he gets in a kick to the knee. They fight on the apron and Dunne’s knee gives out, allowing Dunne to hit a crazy looking Panama Sunrise onto the apron. They barely beat the count back in and Cole superkicks his head off for two more. Dunne tells him to come on and snaps the fingers but the Bitter End is countered into another Panama Sunrise. The Last Shot retains the title at 14:04.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>A-. This is a case where the televised version worked a lot better than the live version as commentary and the better camera angles focused on Dunne’s knee injury that much better. You couldn’t get much out of that in the arena (or at least from the upper deck) and commentary sold the story very well. This was a heck of a back and forth match with both guys working very hard and selling their damage from the previous night.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Some wrestlers visited an elementary school.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We recap Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend. Bray Wyatt won the title earlier in the month at Crown Jewel and started taunting Bryan to make him his first victim. Bryan has teased bringing back the YES Movement to fight Wyatt but won’t go all the way with it. Therefore, he might not be ready to face the Fiend.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Bryan is challenging and we get the full Fiend entrance, complete with severed head lantern. The crowd goes almost silent as the red lights come on and that’s an impressive reaction. Bryan hits a running dropkick into the corner to start but tries another and gets blasted by a clothesline. An uppercut puts Bryan on the floor and Bray plants him in the ring for a bonus.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>There’s the toss suplex and Bray starts writhing around before grabbing the neck crank. With that broken up, they head outside where Bray misses a charge into the steps. He’s right back up though and Bryan has to break up Sister Abigail, meaning it’s a posting to stagger Bray again. A big dive off the top drops Fiend and he’s taking a little more time to get up.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Back in and Daniel hits the missile dropkick, followed by the YES Kicks to….just bring Bray back up. Fiend laughs at him and seems to say bring it on so Bryan hits the big kick to the head. More stomps have Fiend in trouble and the running knee (with YES chants from Bryan) gets two. Bray charges into a boot in the corner but grabs the Mandible Claw anyway. That’s reversed into an armbar over the top rope but dives into a right hand. Bryan tries the running knee again and charges straight into the Mandible Claw for the pin at 10:01.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>B. They were getting somewhere with this one but it never hit that next level. It’s like Bryan needs one more gear, like the YES Movement, to get all the way over the hump. The Fiend comes off like a movie monster and it is going to take someone special to beat him. Having Bray beat a star like Bryan is a good move for him, but it’s hard not to imagine Roman Reigns getting the nod at this point. Anyway, this was a good match but it needed one more level to make it great.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Rey Mysterio says he first faced Brock Lesnar almost fifteen years ago. He’s a new man now and pulls out the pipe to prove it. Normally Rey would want his son Dominick to turn away but tonight he wants his son to watch and see what happens when Rey takes out Brock’s legs.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw: Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown: Roman Reigns, Shorty G., Mustafa Ali, King Corbin, Braun Strowman</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Matt Riddle, Damian Priest</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Same rules as the women’s match: triple threat and you can only tag your team members. Ali is rather happy to be in his hometown, as he should be. The fans are behind Walter, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Rollins and Ciampa slug away at Strowman to start so he dropkicks both of them down at the same time. McIntyre and Walter come in for the big three way hoss showdown and it’s Strowman being hammered down in the corner. Walter and McIntyre chop it out with Walter kicking him down but getting run over by Strowman.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>The chop to Strowman doesn’t work so Walter dropkicks him into the corner…but walks into the Claymore to get rid of Walter at 2:58. The fans are MAD over that and I can’t say I blame them a bit as you don’t bring in a champion for a show like this and have him get pinned clean in less than three minutes. Priest comes in to kick away at McIntyre and Strowman, who misses a charge into the post. Gable comes in with a moonsault to Priest but Ricochet comes in to pick the pace way up.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>A heck of a Rolling Chaos Theory hits Ricochet and it’s Riddle coming in to a big reaction. Gable gets the ankle lock on Riddle but it’s broken up in a hurry for the staredown. Another Chaos Theory doesn’t work on Riddle as Ciampa tags himself in, only to get kicked in the head by Gable. Ricochet kicks both of them down and it’s Owens going up top. He thinks about splashing Gable or Ciampa before going with the frog splash to get rid of Gable at 6:29.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Corbin comes in and bails from the threat of a Stunner so Owens follows him with the Cannonball. The Stunner connects on the floor but Ciampa catches Owens with Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:41. Orton is behind Ciampa but Ciampa is smart enough to turn around without walking into the RKO. Ciampa hammers away and tries another Willow’s Bell but gets dropped onto the apron instead. Back in and it’s the Garvin Stomp but Ciampa gets over for the tag to Priest, only to walk into the RKO. Another RKO gets rid of Priest at 10:16 but Riddle rolls Orton up for the pin at 10:26.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Orton RKOs Riddle as well and it’s stealing the pin at 10:54 to some great heel heat. That’s how you use Corbin and it worked great here. Lee and Strowman come in so the fans are already singing. McIntyre breaks up the staredown with a forearm to Lee but gets run over by Strowman. That means the big running train around the ring, which works so well that Strowman does it again. This time though, Lee runs him over for a change and McIntyre adds a Claymore to count Strowman out at 13:17.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We’re down to Lee/Ciampa vs. Ricochet/McIntyre/Rollins vs. Ali/Corbin/Reigns. Ricochet springboards in with a clothesline to Corbin and there’s the big running flip dive to Reigns. The 450 misses Lee though and Corbin hits the End of Days to finish Ricochet at 14:31. Ali tags himself in and starts cleaning house with some kicks to the face.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Rollins counters the rolling X Factor by launching Ali over his head, only to have Ali X Factor Ciampa instead. The tornado DDT hits Rollins and it’s Ali hitting a suicide dive onto a bunch of people. Corbin won’t let Ali get a cover though and the distraction lets Rollins hit the Stomp to get rid of Ali at 16:10.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor until McIntyre and Rollins break it up. Back in and McIntyre’s reverse Alabama slam gets two on Ciampa but the spear cuts McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39. Rollins, the only member left of Team Raw, kicks Reigns to the floor but the suicide dive is blocked with a right hand. Willow’s Bell cuts Reigns off but he reverses the Fairy Tale Ending into the Superman Punch.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Corbin pulls Reigns over to the corner for the tag, only to yell at Reigns instead of going after Ciampa. Eventually Ciampa escapes the chokeslam, leaving Reigns to spear and Superman Punch Corbin to give Ciampa the pin at 19:57. It’s Reigns for Smackdown, Rollins for Raw and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Reigns, Rollins and Ciampa slug it out with Lee coming in for a failed save attempt.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins because we need to get the Shield stuff in. They decide to work together again but can’t hit a DoubleBomb. Instead Ciampa catches Rollins with Project Ciampa for a VERY close two but it’s a Superman Punch to Ciampa. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:02 and we’re down to one apiece.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Lee is ready to go and slingshots in with a double crossbody to put them both down. The Limit Breaker is countered by Rollins and a superkick sets up the frog splash for two as the fans are behind Lee. Rollins goes after Lee again but walks into the Limit Breaker for the completely clean pin at 26:32 to get rid of Raw. The roof goes off the place as Lee is instantly a legit contender to pull off the major upset.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Reigns starts fast with a Superman Punch for a very quick two and Graves is DEMANDING a replay. The spear is loaded up but Lee cuts it off with a Spirit Bomb for a very, very close two. Lee misses the moonsault though and gets speared down for the pin at 29:18 as the air doesn’t go all the way out of the place.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>B+. The ending sequence was the reason I’ve always wanted to see one of these shows in person: they hit the drama out of the park and had you believing that Lee could pull off the impossible. Lee got the big pin on Rollins so he’s a made man as a result, along with Ciampa for pinning Owens and Corbin. Just like in the women’s match, the NXT men felt like they belonged here and that was the point of the whole thing. Very fun match here with a lot of people (including Gable) getting to show off for a long time. Lee got the big rub here though, and they nailed every bit of what they wanted to do with him.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT – 3</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown – 2</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Post match Reigns and Lee show respect.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Becky Lynch talks about being the man seven days a week while Shayna Baszler has been training every day. Shayna is going to have to destroy her completely and no one can do that to her. Then there’s Bayley, who thinks Becky has been ducking her. Becky even broke her own rule and came looking for Bayley. Tonight, Becky is taking them out and showing that she is the Man.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We recap Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar. Brock attacked Rey and his son so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez to help him fight. Once Lesnar got rid of Cain in less than three minutes, Rey fought for himself and took out Lesnar’s knee with a steel pipe. Tonight it’s No DQ so Rey can have a chance.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Lesnar is defending and anything goes. Rey is dressed as the Joker (again) and that might not be the best visual for a match that is supposed to be rather serious. Paul Heyman introduces Brock as weighing about two and a half Rey Mysterios for his funny line of the night. Rey goes straight to the floor and pulls out the pipe so Lesnar bails to the floor in a smart move.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Brock gets Rey to chase him and the big clothesline makes him drop the pipe. The beating begins as Rey is sent outside and over the announcers’ table in a crash. The announcers’ table is loaded up and Brock throws him into the cover. Rey is beaten down so badly that Brock can even stop to tie his boot. It takes so long that Rey can get in a posting but Brock won’t let him grab the pipe. A release German suplex drops Rey onto the pipe (geez) and another (no pipe) makes it even worse.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>There’s a third suplex so here’s Dominick with a towel. Brock takes that away and throws it out (maybe in a shot at the ending to Cody vs. Chris Jericho at Full Gear). Brock grabs Dominick so Rey hits him low and even Dominick gets in his own shot. Some pipe shots set up a double 619 (sweet) and Dominick adds a frog splash (in a nice tribute to his dad). Rey adds his own frog splash for two and the fans know it isn’t happening. Dominick gets suplexed down and the F5 retains the title at 6:54.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>C+. This was all about that one short stretch and man alive did they make it work for about a minute. There’s more to it than that though and the rest of it was Brock’s standard operating procedure. Brock can do good things when he’s motivated and that…wasn’t exactly happening here but the comeback and near fall were great so it’s more good than bad.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We recap the women’s triple threat match. Becky Lynch knows she is the best but Shayna Baszler came in and said she’d beat Becky just like the rest. Bayley has been fighting to make people think she matters in this whole thing other than to take the fall.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Non-title Battle of the Women’s Champions. Ignore how Bayley’s shirt with BAY over LEY with the belt around her waist spells AEW of course. The announcers mention Ronda Rousey quite a few times during the entrances and I can’t imagine that’s a coincidence. Bayley knocks Baszler into Becky to start and the fans aren’t exactly interested early on. Baszler and Bayley hammer away at each other on the mat and fight to the floor.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Becky takes both of them down before throwing Bayley back inside. The spinning legdrop misses but Becky is right back up with a slingshot dropkick through the ropes to keep Baszler down. Bayley hits (or close to it) a sunset bomb into the corner as the silence is notable here. With Becky down, Baszler starts working on the arm but Becky cuts off a charge into the corner. Bayley stomps Becky down and slams her face into the mat a few times as the fans try to get a weak Becky chant going.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Baszler is back in to break it up but Bayley knocks her down as well. Becky gets back up this time with a DDT to Baszler and a reverse DDT to Bayley at the same time, though it isn’t enough to get the crowd going. The guillotine legdrop gets two on Bayley and Baszler has to break up the Disarm-Her. The Bayley to Belly gets two on Baszler but she’s back up with a suplex of her own. Becky comes back in with a missile dropkick to make Baszler drop Bayley.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>We get the CM PUNK chants as Baszler and Becky slug it out until Bayley sends Becky outside. The charge on the apron is cut off with a Kirifuda Clutch but Becky comes back in with a sitout powerbomb for two on Baszler. Now it’s Becky getting Clutched inside until Bayley makes the save, only to get sent outside again. They all wind up on the floor with Becky being sent into various steel objects. Bayley takes Baszler back inside and has to suplex her way out of a quick Clutch attempt. The top rope elbow is countered into the Clutch though and Bayley taps at 18:05.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Rating: </b>D+. They were trying here but the match didn’t have much of a flow and wasn’t the most thrilling. You can also see the amount of influence that the crowd can have as they weren’t interested here. However, there were some rather negative chants in the arena and they didn’t get picked up by audio here, which is a rather good thing. The match wasn’t good but it also wasn’t a nightmare and the heavily negative chants weren’t deserved. It didn’t help when the best Bayley could have done was tie the score and Becky had no chance to win anything for Raw, but there were other issues going on.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>NXT – 4</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Smackdown – 2</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Raw – 1</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Post match Shayna celebrates on the announcers’ table but Becky jumps her from behind. A legdrop off the apron lets Becky pose to end the show. That doesn’t get the best reaction either.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><b>Overall Rating: </b>B+. Aside from a not great main event, this was a heck of a show with one good to great match after another. They would have been better off having a tie coming into the main event but WWE hasn’t seemed interested in drama around here for the last few shows. NXT got the rub it was looking for though and that is the best thing that could happen. I’m sure it’ll be enough to fight off AEW, which is one of the major points of this whole thing so well done? In theory? Anyway what we got was borderline great though and I got what I was wanting out of the show so I’ll call it a major positive.</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”><u>Results</u></span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Team NXT b. Team Raw and Team Smackdown last eliminating Sasha Banks</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Roderick Strong b. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura – Phenomenal Forearm to Nakamura</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Adam Cole b. Pete Dunne – Last Shot</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>The Fiend b. Daniel Bryan – Mandible Claw</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Team Smackdown b. Team Raw and Team NXT – Spear to Lee</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Brock Lesnar b. Rey Mysterio – F5</span></span></span></p>
<p align=”left”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: small;”>Shayna Baszler b. Bayley and Becky Lynch – Kirifuda Clutch to Bayley</span></span></span></p>
<p class=”western” align=”left”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: medium;”>Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:</span></span></p>
<p class=”western” align=”left”><span style=”color: #000080;”><span lang=”zxx”><u><span style=””><span style=”font-size: medium;”><span lang=”en-US”>http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/</span></span></span></u></span></span></p>
<p class=”western” align=”left”><span style=””><span style=”font-size: medium;”>And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:</span></span></p>
<p class=”western” align=”left”><span style=”color: #000080;”><span lang=”zxx”><u><a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6″><span style=””><span style=”font-size: medium;”><span lang=”en-US”>http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6</span></span></span></a></u></span></span></p>

NXT
Date: November 18, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

We’re coming off a huge upset last week as Leon Ruff won the North American Title from Johnny Gargano, albeit with a big assist from Damian Priest. Tonight it’s time for a rematch so Gargano can set the world right, but we also have Women’s Champion Io Shirai defending against Rhea Ripley in a showdown. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look back at Ruff winning the North American Title, including Gargano trying to rig the whole thing. Priest laughing in shock at the win was a great touch.

North American Title: Leon Ruff vs. Johnny Gargano

Gargano is challenging but before the match he says he wants everyone to stop talking about last week. The fans chant JOHNNY FAILURE but he says that the real failure is holding his title. Gargano knocks Ruff down and we’re ready to go in a hurry. The shoulders in the corner have Ruff in early trouble and there’s a hard whip to make it worse. Gargano hammers away in the corner, even hurting his own hand in the process.

Ruff is back with a quick enziguri but the crucifix bomb is countered. Gargano hits a pair of Lawn Darts but as he loads up a superkick, here’s Damian Priest for a distraction. That lets Ruff grab a rollup for two but the Swanton misses. A superkick drops Ruff and there’s One Final Beat for two as Priest pulls Ruff to the floor. Priest apologizes in advance and hits Ruff in the face for the DQ to keep the title at 4:50.

Rating: C-. The wrestling wasn’t the point here and there’s nothing wrong with stretching this out for another week. It’s still not like Ruff is being presented as anything better than Gargano as this is little more than a prop in the Priest vs. Gargano feud. The match was a squash until the ending and Priest’s “I’m sorry” before knocking him out was a good idea. Fine little storyline advancing match here.

Post match Gargano grabs the title but Priest takes it away and hands it to the champ.

Cameron Grimes says that he showed that Dexter Lumis is just a man. Tonight, Grimes is going to prove that he’s a rocket ship.

Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis

Blindfold match. Grimes puts his hood on and misses an early dropkick before barely being able to stand up. The referee has to duck a wild swing from Grimes, as Lumis has been standing in the middle of the ring the entire time. Grimes knocks the referee down in the corner and stomps away, allowing him to take his mask off for some reason.

Lumis is still standing in the middle of the ring without moving, but he’s still able to avoid the Cave In. Now Lumis takes his own mask off and hammers away but Grimes elbows his way out of the Silence. They head outside with Grimes being sent into various things before he finally just jumps the barricade and runs off at about 4:15.

Rating: D. This was barely a match and the ending was just there to set up something else, likely at the next Takeover. As usual, Grimes came off like the star here as he’s a ball of energy and charisma, while Lumis literally just stood there for a few minutes. I’m not sure how that makes him worthy of this much screen time, but if it means more Grimes, I’m all for it.

William Regal asks Damian Priest what was up with that and Priest says Ruff is just a joke. Ruff comes up and sounds crushed, saying that if he’s a joke he shouldn’t be defending the title. He even tries to hand Priest the belt but Regal says no. Ruff says he’s sorry to Priest, just like Priest did to him, and then hits his own slap. He says he’s no one’s joke and Regal says it serves Priest right.

Takeover: WarGames is on December 6, with Shotzi Blackheart telling Candice LeRae to find an army because they’re going to war. So what is her new tank going to look like?

Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell vs. Kayden Carder/Kacy Catanzaro

Carter goes for Hartwell’s leg to start and finally manages to take her down, even sitting on Hartwell’s back. It’s off to Catanzaro for a kick to the face and a slingshot hilo gets two. LeRae comes in and counters a backflip into a gutbuster to put Catanzaro down. Hartwell’s spinning side slam gets two but LeRae misses the step up backsplash. The hot tag brings in Carter to clean house as Catanzaro dives onto Hartwell. Back in and LeRae hits a neckbreaker into the Wicked Stepsister for the pin on Carter at 4:33.

Rating: C-. They didn’t have a ton of time here but is anyone going to want to see these four having a longer match? It’s the best thing that they can do for a tag match like this as we start getting ready for Takeover. Above all else, it’s nice to have the women’s division getting some matches to build things up like this, because some of them just need to be in the ring and establish themselves a bit more.

Video on Arturo Ruas.

Arturo Ruas vs. Kushida

Ruas takes him to the mat and goes for the neck before slipping out of Kushida’s attempt at the same. Back up and Kushida kicks out of an armbar attempt, only to have Ruas snap him down by the arm. The armbar has Kushida in trouble as we get a voice over saying that Finn Balor isn’t here yet but once he is, he’ll have all the time he needs. At least they didn’t put a camera on the announcement.

Ruas keeps cranking on the arm before taking him down into a Kimura. That doesn’t last long either as Kushida fights up for some kicks, including the basement dropkick for two. An elbow to the face gets Ruas out of a German suplex attempt. Ruas goes for the leg but Kushida ties him up in a leglock and bridges backwards for the pin at 4:24.

Rating: C. I liked this one rather well as it was cool to see Kushida having someone who either matched or even surpassed his submission skills so he had to switch things up a bit. I could see Kushida going towards the North American Title, or I could also see myself saying that for even longer than I have been, which is getting a little frustrating already.

Ember Moon and Toni Storm are ready to take out Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez tonight because they’re tired of being shoved around. Storm wants the Women’s Title though and there can only be one. Moon says we can worry about that later.

Various wrestlers make their picks for Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai.

Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez vs. Ember Moon/Toni Storm

Gonzalez throws Storm around to start and sends her into the corner for a running boot from Kai. It’s off to another corner for a facewash but Storm is right back with a basement dropkick. A snap suplex gets two and it’ Moon coming in for a double clothesline to put Gonzalez on the floor.

Back from a break with Storm snapping off a headscissors to put Gonzalez in the corner and Moon coming back in to clean house again. The middle rope Codebreaker gives Moon two with Kai having to make a save. Moon is pulled outside for a boot to the face and a drop onto the apron gives Gonzalez two. It’s off to a Gory Stretch to put Moon in more trouble and something like a Pounce cuts off the tag attempt.

Moon is right back up with a headscissors to Kai though and now the hot tag brings in Storm for some release German suplexes to Kai. Everything breaks down and Moon hits a tornado DDT on Gonzalez, only to walk into a superkick from Kai. Storm and Kai forearm it out until a double clothesline puts both of them down as well. They get back up for another slugout until Gonzalez sends Storm into the post. Moon suicide dives onto Gonzalez but Storm small packages Kai for the pin at 12:07.

Rating: B-. They went with the formula here but the people involved had the skills to make the whole thing work out well. You can see some of the setup for Takeover coming from here and that makes these matches a little more interesting than usual. Good stuff, and it’s nice to see Storm getting a win.

Post match Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell run in to attack Moon and Storm, allowing Gonzalez and Kai to leave them laying. Sounds like a WarGames team.

Pat McAfee and company are here. McAfee has heard Finn Balor is back and there are four guys interested in what he has to say.

Timothy Thatcher vs. August Grey

They go right to the slugout to start with Grey managing to pull him down for two off a backslide. That’s just dumb to do against Thatcher, who snaps off a belly to belly into a chinlock. A front facelock suplex drops Grey again and it’s time to crank on the arm for a bit. The comeback is cut off with a single uppercut and it’s time for another armbar on Grey. A leglock is broken up with some kicks to the leg and Grey hammers away before being sent to the apron. Grey hits a superkick from the apron but dives into an uppercut. Thatcher hits a butterfly suplex and guillotines him for the win at 4:26.

Rating: C-. Just a quick squash for Thatcher here and that’s the kind of match that he needed. Grey got destroyed in short order here and that makes him look like a monster all over again. Thatcher beat up someone he shouldn’t have had trouble with and now he’s ready for someone else, which is the right idea.

Post match Thatcher says there is one more lesson so he slaps on the guillotine again, drawing out Tommaso Ciampa for a pretty interesting staredown. Thatcher says he has no problem here and backs off.

Post break, Ciampa says he came out there because he wants to fight Thatcher. Well that’s to the point.

Damian Priest comes out for a match but Johnny Gargano jumps him during the entrance. The brawl is on with Priest hitting a big forearm to put Gargano outside. Priest follows him outside and throws Gargano onto the announcers’ table for the forearms to the head. Gargano kicks him away though and hits an elbow off of said table. It’s time for a chair but here’s Leon Ruff to go after both of them. Ruff avoids a big boot to put Priest into the ropes and then sends Gargano into him, sending both guys outside in a heap. The two of them get inside and scare Ruff off, leaving Priest to stare down at Gargano. Cool segment and fight.

Next week, Wade Barrett is going to be out for some reason but Kevin Owens is going to be replacing him.

We look at the older man giving Boa a message last week.

Earlier today, William Regal came to Boa’s home, saying he has missed a week of training. Boa says she is coming so he isn’t leaving. It’s not Xia (who Regal says hasn’t been at training in two weeks), because she’s in hiding too.

Regal caught Ruff leaving and asked what he was doing. Ruff said he’ll fight both of them at once. That takes Regal a bit off guard.

Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai

Shirai is defending and gets shoved down with raw power to start. Back up and Shirai says bring it before snapping off a headscissors. That just earns her a shot to the face but Shirai is back with a dropkick to put Ripley on the floor. The big dive is cut off with a forearm though and Shirai is dropped face first onto the apron. We take a break and come back with Shirai missing some double knees in the corner and being dropped face first onto the mat.

Shirai’s small package is blocked with more muscle and a suplex gives Ripley two. The seated abdominal stretch is broken up so Ripley takes her up top, only to have Shirai slip out of a suplex. Ripley punches the buckle by mistake and gets German superplexed down in a big crash. A basement dropkick gives Shirai two as Ripley’s ear is bleeding. Shirai’s Crossface doesn’t last long so Ripley is back up with a big boot to kick her head off. Shirai grabs the arm for a flying armbar though and there’s a dropkick to the arm to make Ripley scream some more.

The arm is snapped across the top rope and Shirai slams the arm into the apron. Ripley gets sent into the steps and we take a break. Back with both of them down as the fans declare this awesome. Ripley knocks her down again and grabs the Prism Trap. It’s spun around and they go to the mat with Ripley cranking on the leg even more. The rope is grabbed so Shirai is right back with a Cross armbreaker, which Ripley can’t muscle her way out of.

She can however rope grab her way out of it and avoid a pair of 619s from the champ. Instead Shirai knocks her into the ropes and hits the third attempt, followed by the missile dropkick for two. Shirai nails the running knees in the corner and steps over Ripley to set up the moonsault. Well in theory at least as Ripley is up in time and nails a running clothesline for two.

Riptide is countered into a snappy DDT and there’s the NXT chant (haven’t heard that in a bit). Ripley goes to the apron so Shirai hits a running sunset bomb through the announcers’ table for the massive crash. Ripley staggers back in so Shirai immediately moonsaults her (legs) for the pin to retain at 22:04.

Rating: A-. The chants were right as these two destroyed each other and had an awesome match doing so. This had the big fight atmosphere and Shirai popping up for the moonsault because she knew it was the only chance she had was a brilliant finish. Beating Ripley clean is the crowning jewel of her reign, which has gone on for quite a long time now. The good thing is the division is deep enough for Shirai to have a bunch of challengers, but she needed the classic to really solidify an already good reign. Ripley was awesome too and she’s going to be awesome for a long time to come. Check this out if you get the chance.

Post match hugs abound and here’s Finn Balor (not through the entrance because he doesn’t steal the spotlight) to praise Shirai for the win. After talking about how he defended his title with a broken jaw in two places, here are Pat McAfee and company to interrupt. McAfee calls Balor the Princess of NXT and talks about how he must have seen what the four of them were doing while Balor has been gone.

They got rid of Killian Dain, took the Tag Team Titles, and then killed all four members of the Undisputed Era. Now they want to know what Balor is going to do and get on the apron to find out all the faster. Balor needs to hand over the title before it gets even worse for him. That’s not happening because it’s easy for the mice to play while the cat’s away….and look what the cat dragged in.

Cue the Undisputed Era and the big fight is on, with Cole kicking McAfee’s head off on the floor. Chaos reigns to end the show (notice that the brawling wasn’t finished, which you don’t see at the end of the night too often). This is the first time in a VERY long time that something felt hot around here and it was a heck of a way to finish the show.

Overall Rating: B. That last half hour was excellent stuff and felt like the NXT of old, which is a great feeling to have again. It felt like they were building stories up and now we are getting ready for the payoffs. That is the kind of thing that you get around here and it feels so nice. There were some outstanding parts to this show and while not everything is perfect, it’s the first time that I’ve been actually excited about what they’re doing in far too long. Do this more often and be NXT again.

Results

Leon Ruff b. Johnny Gargano via DQ when Damian Priest interfered

Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes went to a no contest

Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell b. Kayden Carter/Kacy Catanzaro – Wicked Stepsister to Carter

Kushida b. Arturo Ruas – Bridging rollup

Toni Storm/Ember Moon b. Raquel Gonzalez/Dakota Kai – Small package to Kai

Io Shirai b. Rhea Ripley – Moonsault

 

 

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

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

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

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