IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 20, 2019
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re done with Money in the Bank and believe it or not, that means Brock Lesnar is now a big deal again because of course he is. Lesnar took Sami Zayn’s place in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match and stole the briefcase, meaning it’s time to find out how long we get to have that hanging over our heads. Super ShowDown is in less than three weeks so let’s get to it.

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

We get some highlights from last night.

Here are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar to get things going. Of course Heyman is more than capable of gloating about Lesnar being Mr. Money in the Bank because that’s what Heyman does best. Heyman talks about all the conspiracy theories about last night, and how Lesnar got into the ladder match. In reality, all that happened was Lesnar attacked Sami Zayn and made a quick deal to get into the match.

All that matters now is that the two World Champions are now vulnerable to the best assassin in WWE history. Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston need to realize that while the whole world might not be against them, Brock Lesnar is and that might be even worse. This brings out Rollins to say he should be on top of the world after last night but he’s not in a good mood because he has to see this looking at him. He’s out here to be the champion that Lesnar never could be so he needs to get rid of the contract.

Since that’s the case, let’s do that right here tonight. Of course that’s a big negative, because Lesnar wants to make him wait. Heyman brings up Seth having to wait for his girlfriend to main event Wrestlemania and that’s nearly enough for the fight to be on. Heyman holds Lesnar back, saying he might be coming after Kofi Kingston instead. Cue Kofi so the announcers can explain the Wild Card Rule again.

Kofi wants to be one of the best champions of all time so he’s going to need Lesnar to cash that in tonight. Heyman laughs at the idea that the two champions are auditioning to face Lesnar tonight. The way Heyman understands it, Kingston and Rollins aren’t done yet so stay tuned because the Beast is yet to come.

Mick Foley arrives with the new title and is greeted by Dana Brooke, Drake Maverick, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. So the Raw Tag Team Champions now exist to greet a legend who is bringing in a new title.

Sami Zayn has to face Braun Strowman tonight and tries to get Bobby Lashley to take his place. Lashley tells him to go soften Strowman up for him. So Sami is fine after the attack from last night? Just like he was fine the night after being crushed in a trash compactor? How is this not a bigger story?

Seth and Kofi ask HHH what Heyman meant and are told that they’re in the main event against Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin. As soon as I heard that they were in another match, I knew Corbin would be involved. It’s always Corbin and I don’t think WWE can explain why he’s always in these spots.

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Sami, with bad ribs (and yes that’s all that wrong with him after last night), runs into the crowd to start and heads to the back, where they run into Lashley. The staredown with Strowman has Sami telling Lashley to DO SOMETHING but Strowman says he’ll deal with Lashley later.

Strowman goes after Sami and sends him into various things before dragging him into the arena. Sami manages to post Strowman a few times but gets sent into the barricade so they can head inside. Strowman misses a charge and hits the post so we can have the opening bell. That just earns Sami a hard clothesline (Sami: “OWWW!!!!”) to the floor where Strowman runs him over again. The running powerslam finishes Sami at 45 seconds.

Charly Caruso brings Lars Sullivan to the ring for a chat. She talks about how dominant he has been since showing up and we see a quick package of such destruction. Before he can say anything, here’s the Lucha House Party (Cole: “The Lucha House Party is back!” Yes indeed. They need a proclamation for showing up to work the day after they appeared last night.) to send Sullivan outside. Double suicide dives take Sullivan down again but he fights them off. The Freak Accident plants Dorado but Kalisto and Metalik save him from the running powerbomb.

Video on AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins from last night.

Ricochet vs. Cesaro

Fallout from Ricochet getting hurt in the ladder match last night and Cesaro mocking him for being injured. Ricochet has the Kinesio tape on, which is bad idea against the king of the king of Kinesio tape. Cesaro gets a new entrance to replace the James Bond one, which is a good idea since the Bar is done. Cesaro starts fast with a huge backdrop and Ricochet bails to the floor. Ricochet is fine enough to hit the moonsault off the apron but bangs up his back even more. That’s fine with Cesaro, who catches another dive and slams him back first onto the apron as we take a break.

Back with Ricochet fighting out of a chinlock and countering Swiss Death by being tossed into the air and landing on the standing Cesaro’s shoulders. As in Ricochet is standing on Cesaro’s shoulders, because a human can do that. A headscissors puts Cesaro on the floor for the big dive, which is shown in a split screen for the sake of a Secret Life of Pets 2 ad. Back to full screen with Cesaro hitting Swiss Death, followed by a gorilla press backbreaker. The Neutralizer finishes Ricochet at 6:48.

Rating: C+. I knew the tape was a bad idea. This was a lot of fun with the power vs. speed formula still working because it’s one of the best things that can be done in wrestling. Cesaro winning isn’t the biggest problem in the world as his singles push is still being built up and Ricochet wasn’t healthy coming in. Now do something with both of them already.

AJ Styles knows he can beat Rollins but it just wasn’t last night. Baron Corbin comes up to mock him with the claps to say AJ is the kind of guy who always says next time. AJ brings up all of Corbin’s failures but Corbin says he should have gotten the shot since he beat Rollins two weeks ago. AJ doesn’t think that was a slap in the face as Corbin puts it and shows him what a slap in the face is. Corbin promises that AJ will pay.

Here’s Roman Reigns for a chat but before he can say anything, here’s Shane McMahon to cut him off. Shane says he’s done with the Miz and now he has a new target in Reigns. Roman hit his father a few weeks ago and Shane wants to know what kind of a man does that. The announcers don’t bring up the irony, likely because Vince forgot to tell them to bring it up.

Reigns says he hates spoiled rich kids (49 year olds with three children are rarely referred to as kids) and says that since he’s done with Elias (the rematch was already announced for tomorrow night), his schedule is wide open tonight. Let’s put that up to the audience, who seem interested.

Post break McIntyre and Shane are in the back when Miz comes up. Apparently he has McIntyre tonight and isn’t done with Shane. I’m so happy.

Usos vs. Revival

Before the match, we get a recap of what the Usos have done to the Revival over the last few weeks. Revival jumps them before the bell though the referee counts a near fall anyway because the referees have been pretty terrible lately. Jimmy gets sent into the barricade and the beatdown is on inside. An assisted suplex gets two but Jimmy gets over to the tag a few seconds later so the hot tag can bring in Jey. The Revival gets knocked to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Jey fighting out of a chinlock and hitting the enziguri, followed by more kicks to the head. The Revival takes over with a shot to the head of their own, setting up a powerbomb/top rope elbow combination (it was a little different though as Wilder powerbombed Jey at the same time Dawson jumped, meaning that at first it looked like they were on the wrong page) for two. Jey and Dawson slug it out until Jimmy comes back in for a double superkick. Everything breaks down again and Jey kicks Wilder in the face for two more. Dawson sends Jimmy outside and rolls Jey up for the pin (with tights) at 10:37.

Rating: B-. Let me guess: the win over Bryan and Rowan last night isn’t going anywhere is it? I’ll spare you another rant about WWE doing the same stupid things over and over and lament the Revival not likely going anywhere off this win. Odds are the feud continues with more pranks as we wait on more HILARIOUS WWE tropes.

Nikki Cross apologizes to Alexa Bliss for not winning last night and pleads her case when the Revival comes in to say they should be the next guests on a Moment of Bliss. Alexa isn’t sure as they parade off.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House, which now has an opening sequence of kids playing. This breaks down into images of LET ME IN painted on people’s faces and a closeup of Bray’s mask saying Let Me In.

It’s time for A Moment of Bliss with Nikki Cross sitting in. The guest is Becky Lynch though, meaning we’re going to need another chair. Nikki moves to behind the table as Bliss asks how it feels to no longer be Becky Two Belt. Before she can answer, here are the IIconics to interrupt. Now she’s Becky One Belt but they still have their two belts, which they won at WRESTLEMANIA! They dance a bit to show off the belts but Becky calls them out for their lack of defenses.

If they don’t shut up, she’ll drag them to the ring and become Becky Three Belts. This brings out Lacey Evans to say she’s the reason Becky lost last night. Becky offers to beat up Lacey and the IIconics right now but Nikki offers to be Becky’s partner. Lacey says that’s still one short so Becky picks Bliss. Becky: “You just got to stand there and look pretty sweetheart. The Man will take care of the rest.”

IIconics/Lacey Evans vs. Becky Lynch/Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

As Bliss stands on the floor with her coffee, Becky runs Billie over to start. Peyton comes in and takes Becky down for two so Becky bridges up and kicks her in the ribs. Nikki comes in for a running splash in the corner and a bulldog gets two on Peyton. A middle rope crossbody gets the same and it’s time for Nikki and the IIconics to have a yell off.

Lacey comes in and hits the running Bronco Buster in the corner as Alexa is more interested in the temperature of her coffee. Peyton misses a charge into the post though and it’s back to Becky to pick up the pace. Lacey walks out and Billie rolls Becky up for two. The Bexploder sets up a middle rope legdrop to finish Billie at 5:31.

Rating: D+. This is a thing that happened and another instance of a champion losing a match they didn’t need to lose. I’m also surprised that the coffee didn’t get involved in the finish somehow but that might have been a bit too obvious. More Becky vs. Lacey isn’t the most appealing thing, but who else is she supposed to fight?

Here’s Mick Foley to debut the new title. He thinks there is something missing from Raw and it’s time to revisit those three letters: R-A-W. As the cover is falling off the new title, Foley says it takes a lot to be a champion in WWE (get with the times buddy). It’s something that you should sacrifice teeth and an ear for and fight 24/7 to achieve. The new title is the 24/7 Title, with a big 24/7 as the center plate.

This title can be defended anytime, anyplace, anywhere. The fans rightfully boo this out of the building and Foley seems a little shaken. You could get pinned going down the slide at Chuck E. Cheese or even in the shower, as long as there is a referee present. We are going to crown a new champion right here in the form of a scramble, with any every superstar from the Raw, Smackdown, 205 Live, NXT, NXT UK and maybe a legend being eligible to win the title. The title is laid in the ring and whomever retrieves it achieves it.

24/7 Title: Scramble

The lower card runs to the ring to get the title with Eric Young even making an appearance. We get the classic idea of fighting instead of running into the ring to get the title. Eric Young and Cedric Alexander get in the ring but get pulled out, allowing Anderson and Gallows to pick it up. That doesn’t count because it’s not one (But the Usos are one Wild Card entry?) so No Way Jose and EC3 break that up. Drake Maverick and Titus O’Neil go after it next with Titus throwing Maverick over the top and picking up the title to win at 2:37.

And then Robert Roode runs out and rolls Titus up on the ramp to win the title. Everyone gives chase, which I’m sure is what passes for entertainment around here.

Post break Roode hides as the mob runs the other way.

The lights have been turned down, which makes me think that it’s either a bad idea for making the third hour seem important or a bunch of people have left.

Miz vs. Drew McIntyre

Shane is here with McIntyre. During Drew’s entrance, we get a graphic for the Super ShowDown match between Shane and Reigns. Cole: “That match taking place at Super ShowDown, which will be equal to or exceed Wrestlemania!” This line brought to you by the Kingdom of Jeddah.

Miz goes for the legs to start to little avail and gets tossed across the ring. A sunset bomb to the floor is countered with a right hand so Miz punches Drew in the knee to slow him down. Back from a break with Miz powerbombing him out of the corner and sending McIntyre shoulder first into the post. Miz hits a springboard (minus the spring) ax handle and hurricanranas his way out of a powerbomb, only to get caught in the reverse Alabama Slam for two.

Another shot to the knee looks to set up the Figure Four but McIntyre kicks Miz into Shane for a right hand. McIntyre’s spinebuster gets two but Miz is right back with the Figure Four. That’s broken up with some chops and Miz goes after Shane again. The chase lets Shane get in another cheap shot and the Claymore finishes Miz at 13:08.

Rating: C. This wasn’t bad if you cut out the Shane stuff. Shane vs. Miz is coming up on seven months now and I have no idea why anyone would want to see it continue. Miz and McIntyre were trying but when it comes after a chase scene and includes two Shane interferences, there’s only so much that can be done.

Post match Shane loads up Coast to Coast but Reigns comes in for the save.

Seth and Kofi are ready for Lesnar and their tag match. Seth won’t shake his hips though.

We look back at Rey Mysterio winning the US Title last night with the announcers talking about the shoulder clearly being up. Rey suffered a separated shoulder in the post match attack.

Samoa Joe says he never lost last night because he wasn’t pinned. He may be a monster, but Rey can have a chance to hand the title back like a man. Be the man that Rey wants Dominic to be, or imagine the example Joe will set for him.

Roode runs for the parking lot and hides in R-Truth’s trunk. The mob comes up and Truth says he went that way. They run the other way and Truth gets Roode out of the trunk. Roode opens the door and finds…..a referee. Truth sends him into the side of the car and gets the pin and the title before driving off. At least Truth can bring some funny stuff to the title.

Seth Rollins/Kofi Kingston vs. Baron Corbin/Bobby Lashley

No DQ in a surprise stipulation. Corbin jumps Seth from behind on the ramp and the fight starts on the ramp. They get inside and Corbin gets two off Deep Six. Kofi comes in to chop away at Lashley and the Boom Drop connects. Everything breaks down and the champs are sent into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Rollins hitting the Sling Blade on Corbin and bringing Kofi in.

That means a chokebreaker from Corbin as the announcers talk about Lesnar possibly cashing in tonight, all but guaranteeing that it won’t be happening. Rollins grabs a chair to break up a double superplex but Corbin punches him in the face. A springboard knee takes Corbin down and there’s a low superkick to make it worse. The suicide dive takes out Lashley and Corbin, followed by the trust fall from Kofi. Back in and Trouble in Paradise finishes Corbin at 10:36.

Rating: D+. Just a match to fill in time until Brock can come out and not cash in to end the show. Corbin losing doesn’t mean anything as he’ll likely be in a similar spot next week no matter what happens to him. The announcers made it clear that this was just about having Kofi and Seth out there for Brock, which really doesn’t do anything positive for the titles.

Post match Lashley spears both of them down and here’s Brock. Rollins has the chair though so Lesnar walks around the ring and changes his mind. Heyman says they’ll make the announcement next week.

Overall Rating: D. I really can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a show that goes from perfectly watchable at times to bouncing off the rocks at the bottom of a cliff the next. There is some nice stuff in here but then you have the return of the Hardcore Title, Baron Corbin again, two Shane feuds and going back to square one with Lesnar. It’s like they know they need to fix things but are scared to put in any kind of effort and instead go with old ideas that didn’t work in the first place.

The most frustrating thing is they know how to do things well. Bayley’s win on Sunday was a nice moment and there were good matches on this show. It’s like once you get to a certain set of people, everything goes flying out the window though and it’s getting worse every week. Instead of writing up a feud or a good match or letting people get some time on TV (Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, and how many others from the Shakeup are still waiting for their first match while Titus O’Neil, No Way Jose and various other losers literally chase a title?), this is what we’re getting?

It really does feel like Vince books a part of the show and others run the rest. That’s making for some rather horrible television and hearing “it will be equivalent to or exceed Wrestlemania” for the next few weeks isn’t going to make things any better. The shows feel like they need an editor or a massive overhaul because the bad is expanding and the good is feeling weaker and weaker every week.

Results

Braun Strowman b. Sami Zayn – Running powerslam

Cesaro b. Ricochet – Neutralizer

Revival b. Usos – Rollup with a handful of tights

Becky Lynch/Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross b. IIconics/Lacey Evans – Middle rope legdrop to Kay

Titus O’Neil won a Scramble by picking up the title

Drew McIntyre b. The Miz – Claymore

Kofi Kingston/Seth Rollins b. Baron Corbin/Bobby Lashley – Trouble in Paradise to Corbin

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

….might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.It’s the 24/7 Title, which is the same rules as the Hardcore Title without the violence.  Foley introduced the title to a disturbing amount of booing/silence and laid it down with the first champion being whomever ran out and picked it up.  Titus O’Neil won and then got pinned by Robert Roode on the stage.

So yeah, it’s a jobber title and open to all rosters and the belt’s center plate just says 24/7.  But hey, it’s like in the Attitude Era and everything about that time was brilliant right?

IMG Credit: WWE

Money In The Bank 2019
Date: May 19, 2019
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

It’s time to climb, even if the build for the show hasn’t been as aggressive as previous years. The last few weeks have been all about the Wild Card Rule and Counting Lessons With WWE, meaning the ladder matches have felt like afterthoughts. No wonder this one has been one of the least frustrating. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Rowan/Daniel Bryan vs. Usos

Non-title because now the Brand Split means something. Jey and Bryan get things going with an exchange of chops but it’s Rowan coming in as we take a break. Back with Jey in trouble thanks to a powerslam during the commercial. Bryan strikes away in the corner before it’s back to Rowan for the fists squeezing Jey’s head.

Bryan’s surfboard makes Jey cringe some more but Bryan misses the running dropkick in the corner, allowing Jimmy to come in and pick up the pace. The Whisper in the Wind gets two on Rowan with the kickoff launching Jimmy. Something close to a Jackhammer plants Jimmy for two more and we take a break.

Back again with Rowan superplexing both Usos at the same time for a pretty cool visual, allowing Bryan to come back in for the YES Kicks on Jey. A superkick gets Jey a breather but he gets pulled down into the LeBell Lock, drawing Jimmy in for the save. Four superkicks put Rowan down on one knee and a double suicide dive takes him down for good, leaving Bryan to get kicked in the face. The Double Us finishes Bryan at 11:05. Graves: “What does this mean?” Like WWE knows. Oh and this is billed as part of the Wild Card Rule, which makes even less sense than usual.

Rating: B-. You know, I should have known that WWE couldn’t help themselves with this as it’s a couple of annoying things in a row. Not only do champions lose in their first regular tag match since winning the titles, but now we’ll get the Wild Card Rule to have the Usos get a shot, meaning that again I’m supposed to go with the Usos, as in TWO Usos, counting as one Wild Card Rule spot because THAT RULE IS STILL TOO COMPLICATED FOR WWE TO FIGURE OUT!

In Memory of Ashley Massaro.

The opening video looks at diving off of high things. As someone with a lifelong fear of heights, MOVE ON ALREADY! Regular opening, title matches get attention, we’re done.

Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

We’ve got Ember Moon, Bayley, Naomi, Natalya, Dana Brook, Nikki Cross, Mandy Rose, Carmella with Nikki replacing an injured Alexa Bliss. Sonya Deville is here with Mandy. The fight is on in a hurry with Nikki grabbing the ladder for the spinning ladder shots to the face. Brooke gets caught in the corner with the ladder and Ember drives Nikki into said ladder for a big crash.

Naomi, with her hair shaped like Mickey Mouse ears and gear that looks like a bumblebee, comes in for the house cleaning but gets knocked outside by Bayley. Carmella and Mandy slide back in and knock everyone down, leaving a bunch of women to come in and pick up a pair of ladders. That lets Naomi walk onto the ladders for a jumping kick to Mandy and then drop down between the two of them in a bunch of spots that felt rather choreographed.

As the overly scripted part takes place, Carmella is down and having her knee looked at, meaning she has to be taken to the back. Dana sends Ember into the ladder in the corner but Bayley does the same to take her down. The big ladder is set up but Mandy and Natalya make a save by crushing Bayley between the legs. Naomi’s split legged moonsault onto Bayley onto the ladder makes for a good crash and Nikki spears Natalya down.

Ember makes the save this time and Dana shoves a ladder over, sending it crashing hard onto Nikki’s head for a scary crash. Dana and Mandy go up with Dana dangling from the briefcase, eventually hanging over Mandy’s head in a scary crash. Four women go up at once with the ladder falling over, leaving Ember to hit a huge Eclipse from a ladder on the floor onto Natalya in the ring.

Mandy goes up but here’s Carmella limping down to superkick a bunch of people and go up. Sonya makes a save of her own and spears Carmella down before helping Mandy go up. Since Mandy can’t stand, Sonya throws her in a fireman’s carry but Bayley is right there. Mandy and Sonya get shoved down and Bayley wins at 13:39.

Rating: C+. Convoluted spots aside, this was short and to the point with a good choice in Bayley. I mean it’s two years late and her career has been wrecked due to WWE having no idea what they’re doing with her as she has been on a treadmill for over a year, but at least they did something with her. It’s a good match, though eight (or seven at times) people in one match is still too many.

Post match Charly Caruso talks to Bayley about the win and mentions Sasha Banks staying on Raw while Bayley moved to Smackdown. Bayley says she’s proud of what she and Sasha accomplished but she’s here to prove a point, which she just did.

We look at Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman’s issues over the last few weeks.

Sami interrupts HHH’s phone call to look for Shane McMahon and gets him off the phone. Sami is worried about Strowman going insane and killing him later tonight but HHH assures him that Strowman has been banned from the building. Zayn: “I’ve heard that one before.” He wants protection so HHH tells him to tape up his fists and leave.

US Title: Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is challenging in the rubber match and his son Dominic is watching in the back. Rey hammers away in the corner so Joe sends him to the apron, earning himself an enziguri. The springboard seated senton takes Joe down but he’s right back with a chop. Joe’s nose is busted as he loads up a powerbomb….with is reversed into a hurricanrana for the pin and the title at 1:40??? Joe’s shoulder was a good foot off the mat, which is likely going to be addressed.

Post match Dominic comes out to celebrate but Joe runs Rey over and destroys him in the ring.

Strowman is here and wants to know where Sami is.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. the Miz, which started back in November and is still going today because Shane is that great. Shane attacked Miz’s dad and Miz has sworn revenge, even though he lost at Wrestlemania. Tonight it’s a cage match to keep them in one place.

The Miz vs. Shane McMahon

In a cage and Shane goes to escape twice in a row early on to no avail. Some kicks to the ribs and chest have Shane down until he comes back with right hands. The CM PUNK chants start up as Shane sends Miz into the cage. A torture rack neckbreaker gets two and Shane is already drenched in sweat less than five minutes in.

Coast to Coast is caught and Miz slaps on an ugly Figure Four, sending Shane to the door for the break but not the escape. A chair is dragged in though, with Miz taking it away and blasting Shane in the back with the chair instead. The Skull Crushing Finale onto the chair knocks Shane silly….but he puts his foot on the rope for the break. In a cage match. Five minutes after Shane grabbing the rope in the Figure Four wasn’t a break.

Cole and the fans call the referee out for that MAKING NO SENSE BECAUSE THEY CAN’T KEEP CONTINUITY IN THEIR OWN MATCHES ANYMORE, probably along with a World Champion’s finisher onto a chair isn’t enough to pin Shane. Also, there was almost no way the referee would have been able to see the foot from that angle.

Miz hits Shane in the leg to keep him from climbing out and slams him face first into the cage for the big crash. A top rope splash gives Miz two but Shane is right back with his triangle choke. Miz bridges back into a cover so Shane has to let go. Shane climbs so Miz catches him and loads up a superplex….but Shane falls to the floor to win at 13:10.

Rating: F. Yeah no. Under no circumstances does this make sense or come off as the right move, mainly because it seems that this feud is going to continue for reasons that I do not want to understand. The match was more Shane McMahon Is Awesome with continuity problems and Shane winning AGAIN because of course he does. Keep defending this. I beg of you.

Mick Foley will be on Raw tomorrow to introduce a new title. Let the ratings gimmicks continue.

Sami Zayn has been attacked and hung upside down.

Cruiserweight Title: Ariya Daivari vs. Tony Nese

Nese is defending and Daivari drives a Mercedes into the arena. They start fast with Daivari missing a kick to the head and getting legdropped for two. Daivari goes to the eyes to take over and stomps away as the fans call this boring. A Billy Goat’s Curse (reverse Boston crab) keeps Nese in trouble but he gets out and hits a spinwheel kick as the crowd still doesn’t care. The springboard moonsault gives Nese two but a pumphandle is escaped.

They head outside for a few seconds with Nese throwing him back in and then back out for the running Fosbury Flop. Back in and the 450 gets two on Daivari as the fans want this to end. That’s not fair as it’s been fairly good but the lack of a 205 audience doomed this from the start. Daivari hits a superkick and the Persian Lion frog splash connects. The hammerlock lariat gets two and that’s it for Daivari’s chances. Nese sends him into the corner for the running knee and the pin to retain at 9:28.

Rating: C. These guys tried and I feel bad for the lack of a reaction they received. 205 Live is a good show and it’s not their fault that no one watches it due to how ridiculous their taping schedule is or that WWE raided their talent pool (and hey, Cedric and Buddy have done wonders on the big shows so far). They were working hard out there and tried to get the fans into things but they weren’t going to get a chance. Not a bad match at all, but not the right audience.

HHH asks Strowman to leave, though Strowman says he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Ad for Super ShowDown in Jeddah. No country listed or anything. Just Jeddah.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans. Lacey wants to get rid of the Nasties and that starts by winning the Raw Women’s Title. Becky has to defend both titles in one night and this is the first of two matches.

Raw Women’s Title: Lacey Evans vs. Becky Lynch

Lacey is challenging and has the traditional money guns (in holsters of course) for her entrance. They start brawling in a hurry and head outside with Lynch sending her hard into the barricade. Back in and Lacey winds up the arm to send Becky face first into the mat and stomp on the arm and shoulder. The arm gets slammed into the apron as Graves points out the picture of Lacey punching Becky on Lacey’s boots. Renee: “Cute.” Probably not what she was going for there.

The arm cranking continues and it’s a swinging neckbreaker to keep Becky down. Lacey pulls out a napkin to wipe down a bit and shoves it into Becky’s face, earning herself a middle rope clothesline. Becky starts the comeback with the Bexploder and a top rope dropkick which might not have completely connected.

It’s still enough to send Lacey outside so the delayed cover can only get two. Something like a middle rope Dudley Dog gives Lacey two and she chop blocks Becky down. The referee takes forever to start counting (making sure to check the shoulders to avoid a fine) and it’s reversed into the Disarm-Her to make Lacey tap at 8:41.

Rating: D+. The lack of strong villains continue to vex WWE as there was nothing to make me believe that Lacey was a threat to the title. That’s the case in a lot of title feuds right now and it’s really showing. Shane McMahon is the top heel in the company and it’s all downhill from there. You can be the biggest champion in the world and get all the rubs like Becky has, but without a good challenger, it doesn’t matter. That’s the case with Becky, plus several others at the moment.,

And here’s Charlotte for the second title defense.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Becky is defending again. Charlotte takes her straight into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs and Becky’s rollup goes nowhere. Some chops keep Becky rocked and a Boston crab has her crawling over to the ropes for the break. Becky’s comeback is cut off with a kick to the leg but a running forearm drops Charlotte. The Disarm-Her is blocked but here’s Lacey to punch Becky in the face. Becky is right back with a small package for two but Charlotte hits a big boot for the pin and the title at 6:12.

Rating: D+. And thus we get one step closer to Charlotte winning her sixteenth title, because Charlotte and her dad both having sixteen titles is such a cool idea that I’m sure HHH, Shawn and Flair will all love very much. I’m rather over Charlotte as champion and it was nice to have someone new in there for all of six weeks. At least we got something out of it though and that’s an improvement.

Post match Becky goes after Lacey but gets double teamed. Cue Bayley with the briefcase but she gets beaten down as well. Becky and Lacey fight to the floor and Bayley sends Charlotte into the corner, meaning the cash-in is on.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending and the top rope elbow gives Bayley the title at 22 seconds. Ignore the rule about the champion having to be on her feet being waved. Oh and ignore Sasha Banks because WWE is making it pretty clear that they don’t care about her.

Bayley celebrates in the crowd in a cool moment. I give them three weeks before they screw it up.

Elias blasts Roman Reigns in the back with a guitar and heads to the ring in a long tracking shot. There’s an electric guitar waiting on him and we get a song about how much Elias hates Hartford. He can’t stand it here and is getting out, just like the Whalers. Elias stops to pose on the ramp and here’s Reigns to take him to the ring.

Roman Reigns vs. Elias

Spear in six seconds. If you don’t have time to run these matches and have to rush through so many matches, maybe your show is too freaking long/has too many matches. It makes sense to have Reigns run him down like that because Elias is no threat to him, but then why book the match?

We recap Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles. Rollins wants to prove that he’s the best and AJ wants to prove that he can win on the Raw stage. Now go have a great match.

Universal Title: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles

Rollins is defending and they start with a wrestling sequence as AJ takes over early on. The second such sequence goes to Seth and it’s a hard whip into the corner to take AJ down this time. A knee drop gives Seth two but AJ is right back up with the dropkick to take over. Some shots to the ribs keep Seth down as AJ is the subtle heel here. Rollins blocks a hiptoss and hammers away, followed by the Downward Spiral into the middle buckle.

They head to the apron with Rollins saving himself from a Styles Clash but a sliding knee to the face takes him down. Rollins is right back with the suicide dive to send AJ into the announcers’ table, followed by a second for a bonus. Back in and Rollins grabs the Sling Blade, setting up the springboard clothesline for two. The fireman’s carry onto the knee (thankfully now with the normal name of the Revolutionary Knee) drops Seth again and it’s off to the pinfall reversal sequence.

The Buckle Bomb drops AJ and the frog splash gets two. AJ’s torture rack powerbomb gets the same but Seth breaks up the Phenomenal Forearm. The reverse superplex into a reverse suplex slam gives Seth two more and they’re both down. The Stomp is countered into the Calf Crusher so Seth goes with a shot to the head for the break. AJ is right back up with the moonsault into the reverse DDT for another near fall. Seth superkicks his head off but the Stomp is countered into the Styles Clash (SWEET) for the closest two yet. Rollins’ Ripcord knee sets up the low superkick and the Stomp retains the title at 19:52.

Rating: A-. Well yeah this was great and I’m not sure why you would have expected anything else. They beat the heck out of each other and traded a bunch of spots, which is exactly what this was going to be the entire time. Rollins getting a big win is a great sign for his title reign, but that title defense against Lesnar scares me more and more every day. Great match though.

Post match they shake hands as everything is cool.

Kofi Kingston is ready to prove that he’s a champion on his own. He might not be here without the New Day, but Xavier Woods doesn’t want to hear that. Kofi earned this and tonight, Kofi gets to prove things one on one. Woods is even going to honor his wishes and let Kofi do this on his own.

Lucha House Party comes out for a six man tag but Lars Sullivan (gotta work to pay off that fine) comes out and destroys them all. Lars busted himself open in there somewhere.

We recap Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens. Kofi won the title at Wrestlemania and Owens pretended to be his friend for about two weeks before attacking him to set up the title match. The idea here is that Kofi can’t do it on his own and wants to prove himself.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens

Kofi is defending and they start fast with Kofi knocking him to the floor for a running chop off the steps. Another top rope shop to the head keeps Owens in trouble but he’s right back with a shot to the face of his own. The running backsplash gives Owens two and the trash talk begins. Kofi knocks him away and goes up, but gets kicked out of the air. The buckle bomb is countered with a backdrop into the corner and Kofi is getting fired up.

The Boom Drop is countered into a Boston crab to keep Kofi’s ribs sore. Kofi is in the ropes soon enough and they head to the apron, with Owens walking into the standing double stomp. Kofi’s top rope spinning chop is superkicked out of the air as Owens keeps cutting him off. Back in and the Pop Up Powerbomb is countered into the SOS for two to put them both down.

Another superkick is blocked and Kofi hammers away with forearms to the head on the mat. Kofi is fired up but walks into the Pop Up sitout powerbomb for another near fall. Owens demands that the fans stop clapping and tries the Stunner, which is reversed into Trouble in Paradise. Kofi throws him back in and walks into the Stunner for two with the champ having to grab a rope. Owens’ Swanton hits knees and it’s Trouble in Paradise to retain the titles at 14:55.

Rating: B. The ending felt kind of out of nowhere but what mattered most here was a well done story with Kofi having to fight through adversity and win the big match on his own. I’m not sure where it goes with New Day, but the way Smackdown goes, we should be leading to Kofi vs. Shane. Tell me that isn’t a possibility at the moment.

Super ShowDown ad.

Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

We’ve got Baron Corbin, Ricochet, Andrade, Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Ali, Randy Orton and no Sami Zayn, meaning it’s a seven man match this time around. Orton wastes no time in taking Ali outside for a whip onto the announcers’ table. That leaves us with a Ricochet vs. Balor showdown but Orton throws Balor onto the table as well. Orton drops Ricochet back first onto the table, meaning it’s time for the ladder.

Andrade breaks that up with an elbow to the face but it’s Corbin and McIntyre cleaning house with the ladders. Ali breaks that up and hits a suicide dive, setting up a staredown with Ricochet. They both climb with McIntyre and Corbin making some quick saves. McIntyre throws Ricochet hard into a ladder and Corbin does the same to Ali. Orton gets back inside but walks into the Claymore to send him outside again.

Balor comes back in and starts taking people out with the ladder but Andrade’s ladder shots break it up. Now it’s Ali getting back in for a reverse hurricanrana on Ricochet but Andrade ties Ali up in the big ladder. Ali gets out and hits the middle rope Spanish Fly to Andrade, only to be pulled outside by McIntyre for another beating. Corbin chokeslams Ali through the announcers’ table and now it’s McIntyre being pulled off the ladder. Deep Six plants Ricochet on the floor but McIntyre hits the Claymore to drop Corbin.

A suplex onto the ladder takes Balor out and the reverse Alabama Slam sends Andrade onto Balor for a bonus. Ricochet is back up and gets thrown over the top and through a bridged ladder. That leaves McIntyre to climb the ladder until Orton pulls him into the RKO. Ali and Corbin climb up at the same time but come back down so Ali can hurricanrana him to the floor. Ali is alone….and BROCK LESNAR is here to take Sami’s place and win the briefcase at 19:00.

Rating: B. I’m going to try and remain calm until Lesnar actually cashes in, but EGADS if they go back to him as champion anytime soon I think my head will explode. The match was a lot of fun but I was hoping for someone a little more interesting than Lesnar. Then again this is WWE, where the solution to things not getting better in six weeks is go to right back to what people got sick of in the first place to get them into trouble. I’m hoping they just do this in Saudi Arabia and move on to something fresh, but I have no reason to believe that’s going to be the case.

Brock laughs and says he’s back to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a case where the wrestling was mostly good but the booking took a lot out of things. Having the show not be quite four hours helped a bit, but that took three matches totaling about two minutes to get there. If that’s the best they can do with a lot of this stuff, don’t bother doing it.

Throw in somehow being at the point where Shane and Lesnar at the top heels and it’s a mess of a time in WWE again. They bring in all these people to the main roster but rarely want to ever actually use any of them as top stars. At some point they need to bite the bullet eventually and that’s not what they did here. I liked the show in parts, but other times made me want to pull my hair out.

Results

Bayley won the Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Rey Mysterio b. Samoa Joe – Hurricanrana

Shane McMahon b. The Miz – McMahon escaped the cage

Tony Nese b. Ariya Daivari – Running knee

Becky Lynch b. Lacey Evans – Disarm-Her

Charlotte b. Becky Lynch – Big boot

Bayley b. Charlotte – Top rope elbow

Roman Reigns b. Elias – Spear

Seth Rollins b. AJ Styles – Stomp

Kofi Kingston b. Kevin Owens – Trouble in Paradise

Brock Lesnar won the Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: December 16, 2004
Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re done with Armageddon so now it’s time to get to the Royal Rumble, but before that we have the real important thing to get through: the finals of Tough Enough. Normally I would say the competition hasn’t been that bad, but some of the last few weeks have been such a mess that I can’t bring myself to go there. At least it’s wrapping up though and we can get back to something better. Like JBL. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Orlando Jordan to welcome JBL to the ring. It’s a special introduction this week with the limo decked out in bunting and JBL standing on top with Amy Weber, who is helped down by the Bashams. Naturally we get the red, white and blue balloons and confetti falling because that’s the kind of thing JBL would do. JBL talks about some great moments in American history, such as the end of the Great Depression and Ronald Reagan tearing down the Berlin Wall.

Those are the kind of moments that were joined by him defeating three challengers on Sunday, despite a General Manager being so biased and corrupt against him. How many people here bought a ticket to see a new champion here tonight? That’s ok, because he has a Christmas gift for Amy. That would be a tiara, followed by JBL starting a chant of his own name.

This brings out Kurt Angle of all people and it’s a staredown between Angle and company and the Cabinet. JBL hopes this is so Angle can offer congratulations but Angle is confused. He can’t believe that JBL thinks he’s the greatest champion of all time or that his victory was the greatest title win ever. Angle: “Are you out of your freaking mind?”

JBL wants his congratulations and an exit from Angle but instead it’s Kurt saying that HE is the greatest champion of all time. Like when he beat Steve Austin, the Rock, Rikishi, Undertaker and HHH inside the Cell at Armageddon 2000. Angle: “I INVENTED the over the top championship celebrations bucko!” JBL: “You didn’t just call me bucko.” Angle affirms that he did call him bucko, bucko. JBL says the Cell match was four years ago, but this year he lost a 3-1 match to Big Show.

Rob Van Dam/Rey Mysterio vs. Akio/Billy Kidman

Non-title. Rey and Kidman start (good idea) with Mysterio getting taken into the corner and stomped down. That’s fine with Rey, who comes back with some kicks to Akio’s legs but it’s too early for the 619. Instead Rey is sent outside and knocked off the apron so Kidman can get in a great dropkick on the floor.

Rey fights out of a chinlock and grabs a reverse neckbreaker but spins around into a faceplant for a move I haven’t seen before. Rob comes in to start clotheslining away, setting up Rolling Thunder for two. A monkey flip sends Kidman into the middle of the ring for a basement dropkick but Akio takes Rey to the floor. The BK Bomb plants Rob but Rey comes back in to break up the shooting star. The Five Star finishes Kidman.

Rating: C. This is the kind of match that the show could benefit from. Kidman and Akio aren’t going to be a regular team and they’re not the next big thing but it’s cool to see them thrown together in a one off match like this for a fresh option. It’s not a bad little match either, which is always a plus.

Here’s Torrie Wilson in a rather revealing Uncle Sam outfit. She’s proud of having helped entertain the troops last year and she’ll be doing it again next week. This was just an excuse for Torrie to be in the outfit.

The announcers talk about Tribute to the Troops when Heidenreich raids commentary. With Michael Cole running away (makes sense), Heidenreich puts a chair in the ring and reads a poem about wanting to replace Undertaker. Can we please find something better for Undertaker to do already???

Eddie Guerrero say they’re on the same page when another new woman named Lauren comes up. Booker hits on her and Eddie makes fun of him as she leaves. Eddie is ready to have a singles match next week for Tribute to the Troops, nearly triggering a fight. That might have been the most random cameo I’ve seen in years.

Michelle McCool says Theodore Long is meditating and can’t see Orlando Jordan. She slams the door in his face so here’s Luther Reigns to talk about hoe great Kurt Angle is. They go back and forth over how awesome their bosses are, down to Angle is nice to animals and JBL gives to charity. JBL offering medical care gets Reigns’ attention but he gets back to his normal arguments. All this did was show how lame both guys’ lackeys are.

Kenzo Suzuki/Rene Dupree vs. Eddie Guerrero/Booker T.

Booker and Rene start slowly as Tazz can’t remember what kind of warrior Kenzo is. Eddie comes in and gets elbowed in the face as Booker is facing the crowd for some reason. Some stomping in the corner has Rene in trouble with some blood coming from the nose. Booker comes in and kicks Kenzo in the face for two as the announcers talk about anything but the match. The fast tagging continues with Booker sending Kenzo outside as we take a very abrupt break.

Back with Kenzo still in trouble until a tag to Rene lets him get beaten up instead. A cheap shot lets Rene take over on Booker though and it’s Kenzo grabbing the nerve hold. That’s broken up and Booker hits a nice flapjack to drop Rene face first. That’s enough for the hot tag to Eddie so the pace can pick up but Kenzo blocks the third Amigo. Everything breaks down and it’s a Book End to Suzuki. Hiroko’s kendo stick interference is broken up so it’s an ax kick to set up the frog splash for the pin.

Rating: C-. Kind of sloppy at times here but it’s nice to see Kenzo and Dupree going away already. There isn’t anything special to them and getting them out of the title picture is the best thing that can happen for everyone involved. They’re fine as jobbers and little more, but having them as champions for two months was a chore. Eddie and Booker don’t seem like a long term solution, but at least they had a watchable match.

JBL is fine with Jordan not getting the match called off. He’s not happy with getting to go wrestle in the Middle East next week though and backtracks in a hurry. Carlito comes in and suggests they get together to deal with Theodore Long. JBL is interested.

And now, here’s the full John Cena vs. Jesus match from the pay per view, complete with black and white shots when Jesus was bleeding. For the sake of filling in some space:

US Title: John Cena vs. Jesus

Cena is defending and it’s a street fight with falls counting anywhere. Just to rub in the awful of this show, Cena debuts the spinner US Title design which would beget the most annoying title in wrestling history. Jesus, still carrying Cena’s chain, and Carlito mock Cena’s kidney injury because they’re not that bright. Cena starts before the bell and hits one of the longest strings of punches I can remember to knock Jesus silly early on.

Carlito slips Jesus a kendo stick for a shot to the bad kidney but Cena takes it away and beats on Jesus even more. The stick is broken over Jesus’ arm and Cena glares Carlito up the ramp. A busted open Jesus is kicked into the crowd and Cena knocks him around the arena as this is completely one sided. Carlito runs back in for a cheap shot to save Jesus from being thrown off a balcony but Cena doesn’t seem to mind. The beating takes Jesus back to ringside and some metal shots to the head make things even worse. The FU finishes Jesus in a complete squash.

Rating: D. This was a squash that just happened to go about eight minutes. It was smart to have Cena pushed this hard because it’s not like anyone was buying Jesus as a threat to the title at all. After a performance like that, there is no way you can hold him back from the main event much longer and I think WWE knows it. This was it for Jesus too, as there wasn’t much you could do with him at the moment without a big repackaging.

Here’s Al Snow for the Tough Enough finale. Daniel Puder and Mike Mizanin come out and Puder is announced as the winner, which should have been the case given how much charisma he showed. Nearly making Angle tap on TV helped too. Puder talks about how hard he trained to get here and he isn’t done yet. Snow has another surprise: Puder is officially in the Royal Rumble. That comes off as an actual surprise as Puder looks stunned. Mizanin doesn’t get to say anything, but he does congratulate Puder on his win.

Angle rants about the state of American sports today and says America needs him. Reigns hints at Angle giving him healthcare for a back injury but Angle shouts him down instead.

Theodore Long is on commentary for the main event but first he has an announcement: next week it’s Heidenreich vs. Undertaker.

Here’s Joy Giovanni in a rather nice Santa outfit to throw candy canes to the crowd.

Smackdown World Title: John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Kurt Angle

Angle is challenging. JBL accepts a candy cane from Joy and Amy doesn’t like it, meaning the catfight is on with both of them losing their tops. Joy runs when Reigns gets too close and everyone is ejected for the sake of some sanity. We take a break and come back joined in progress with JBL giving us a clean break out of the corner. Angle takes over on the arm until a right hand takes care of that.

A belly to belly works a bit better for Angle but JBL runs him over and drops three straight elbows for two. The chinlock goes on for all of a few seconds before Angle escapes into the ankle lock. That’s enough to send JBL to the ropes and then the floor, with Angle being whipped into the steps. Back from a break with JBL shouldering Angle down again and grabbing an armbar of his own.

That’s broken up so JBL grabs a powerslam, which is countered into a reverse DDT for a double knockdown. JBL gets in the fall away slam but the Clothesline From JBL is countered into the rolling German suplexes. The ankle lock goes on so JBL kicks away, setting up the Angle Slam for two.

JBL pulls Angle down by the bad shoulder but a powerbomb is countered into another ankle lock. Cue the Bashams/Reigns/Jindrak for the brawl on the floor as JBL taps but the referee is distracted. Jordan comes in with the belt shot for a close two and Angle grabs the ankle lock again. This time Jordan comes in for the DQ to save the title.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t a bad match at all with both guys looking pretty good, even with the obvious ending taking place. JBL’s matches continue to be pretty decent most of the time, but that doesn’t make him the most exciting champion in the world. This is likely going to set up the Royal Rumble title match, though it’s going to need a little more.

Post match Big Show runs in to clean house and motion that he wants the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. It was a pretty tame show this week with that Cena vs. Jesus match in the middle being rather weird. Maybe Cena went ahead overseas and wasn’t available for the show? Anyway, the rest of the show wasn’t terrible, but it was also nothing very interesting. At least Tough Enough went by quickly and didn’t take up a lot of time. We’re starting to gear up for the Rumble though and that’s the best thing that can happen to the company at the moment. Not a very good show this week, but they at least have a direction for the time being.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: May 16, 2019
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Renee Young, Vic Joseph

It’s the final show from the two day mini marathon in London and that means a lot of highlights from the week. Thankfully that’s a little better than what we usually get this week, despite the issues with counting in the Wild Card Rule. Hopefully it’s just not that bad this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Titus O’Neil vs. EC3

Titus shoves him down without much effort and the overhand chops just cause pain. EC3 gets an elbow up in the corner though and it’s time to choke on the ropes, which somehow works by pulling Titus’ throat away from the ropes. The chinlock goes on, followed by a middle rope dropkick to give EC3 two. There’s the EC3 Elbow but Titus isn’t about to be suplexed. The running splash in the corner sets up the Clash of the Titus to finish EC3 at 5:35.

Rating: D+. What else is there even to say here? The match was inconsequential to the fact that EC3, the guy who looks carved out of stone, has a ton of charisma and success elsewhere was called up to the main roster to job to Titus O’Freaking Neil. Send him back to NXT or something at this point as whatever he’s doing here isn’t worth it either in the long or short run.

We get the long video from Raw, comparing Seth Rollins and AJ Styles’ paths to the main event. It’s a good video with some cool highlights, but I’m still not feeling the title match.

From Raw.

And now for the show’s centerpiece: a double contract signing! Lacey Evans, Charlotte (that’s five) and Becky Lynch all come out for the signings with the fans being behind the champ. Becky talks about how great it is to be back in London before promising that Lacey will crumble under the pressure of the Man being on her neck.

Charlotte talks about Becky’s big mouth getting her in trouble again and how it’s always been her issues. Lacey complains about Becky not wearing the proper clothing to such a formal occasions. This isn’t a fight in a barn. Who wears a camisole and leather pants to a barn fight? Becky laughs it off and signs, leaving Charlotte to talk over the BECKY TWO BELTS chants. She finds this hilarious and Becky’s confidence can’t hide her jealousy. On Sunday, Becky will bow down to the Queen.

Charlotte signs and Lacey says the WWE needs a lady to show them the way. Lacey says Becky can “continue to pretend to swing around something that she doesn’t have” and it’s not going to be enough to take out two real ladies. Becky offers her a free shot as Becky signs. The table is shoved aside and the fight is on with Lacey getting caught in the Disarm-Her. Charlotte breaks it up with a big boot and a double powerbomb puts Becky through the table. Both titles are held up for a pretty good visual.

That’s the second contract signing in three weeks. Is that really the best thing that they can come up with? It’s not like it’s some brilliant trope that you never see anywhere else. They’re just sitting there trading shots at each other. Do they really have nothing better to do than the contract signing? Just have them yell at each other on stage or something for the save of a little change of pace.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House but Bray is nowhere to be seen but pops up from behind a table. Rabbity is seen in a chair with a bandage over his eye as Bray talks about having a secret. It’s almost time to show the world what he has been working on, but he’s going to need the help of all his Fireflies.

The cheering warms his soul, but there is still a lot of darkness in his noggin. This time though, he has learned how to control it. Bray gets a lot more sinister and asks if we want to see his secret. He turns to the door and we cut to some rather creepy images of what looks like a bunch of toys, and Bray morphs into something like an evil clown with his hair down. Bray, in a dark voice: “Yeowy wowwy.” Well that worked. I’m not sure how well it’s going to work in an arena, but the vignettes are the highlight of the show.

Revival vs. Lucha House Party

It’s certainly better than the humiliation stuff and Gran Metalik is the odd Lucha out here. Kalisto rolls away from Wilder to start and kicks him in the head before snapping off a headscissors to Dawson. Dorado adds the splash for two and a standing Lionsault drops Dawson and Dash, sending them outside. Back from a break with Wilder suplexing the heck out of Kalisto to take over as the announcers talk about the Usos being rather rude as of late.

Wilder slaps on a Gory Stretch but Kalisto slips out without much trouble and it’s back to Dorado for a double high crossbody. A triple moonsault gets two on Dawson with Wilder making the save and dragging Dawson back to the corner. Everything breaks down and Kalisto’s suicide dive doesn’t work so Dorado hits a big dive onto Revival. Back in and the Shatter Machine takes care of Dorado at 10:40.

Rating: C+. Matches like this just make me cringe even more about what Revival has been doing on Raw. They can have a good match, yet we can’t get the titles off of Hawkins/Ryder and the big feud on Raw at the moment is over Usy Hot and back shaving. And WWE doesn’t understand why the fans are leaving.

Money in the Bank rundown.

We see the end of Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman from Raw, with Sami winning Braun’s Money in the Bank spot. So yeah, no Smackdown this week.

Overall Rating: D+. A nice Revival match isn’t bad, but what in the world are we supposed to get when Smackdown doesn’t exist? I get that they were focusing a bit more on Money in the Bank this week but I could go for a little more than a DOUBLE CONTRACT SIGNING to get my interest up. It’s not a terrible show, but not one single thing from Smackdown? How is that even possible?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: May 14, 2019
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Aiden English, Byron Saxton, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the go home show for Money in the Bank, meaning it’s time for the final push towards Tony Nese defending against Ariya Daivari. Tonight is a special show though as we have NXT vs. the UK with some guest stars from NXT UK filling in some of the spots. That could be interesting, but you never know around here. Let’s get to it.

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

General Manager Drake Maverick introduces the show and runs down the two matches.

Opening sequence.

Jack Gallagher vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. James Drake vs. Mark Andrews

Drake bails straight to the floor so it’s a triple headlock from the other three, even though there are only two headlocks included. A standoff sets up a series of dropkicks for some near falls with Drake’s attempt to steal one not going well. Drake gets caught back inside with Andrews chopping away and doing the slide on his knees to send Drake right back to the floor. That leaves Carrillo to hit his really high springboard spinning crossbody on Gallagher.

Drake pulls Andrews to the floor for a reverse powerbomb onto the apron as the pace picks up. Back in and Drake kicks Carrillo in the face to put him down in the corner. With the other two on the floor, a snap suplex gets two on Carrillo and Drake even has the time for a chinlock. Gallagher gets back on the apron for an exchange of forearms with Drake but a hard one puts him on the floor again. Carrillo sends Drake outside as well for the big flip dive to leave the ring empty.

Andrews grabs a running hurricanrana off the apron to Carrillo, followed by a spinning DDT to plant Drake on the floor. With everyone else down, Gallagher busts out William the umbrella for the Mary Poppins dive off the top. Just to show off some more, Gallagher grabs a very delayed vertical suplex on Andrews to the delight of his home country crowd. Drake catches Gallagher on top but takes too long going up, allowing Andrews to snap off a top rope hurricanrana.

Gallagher gets in a headbutt, followed by Carrillo hitting Twisted Bliss for two with Gallagher and Andrews making a save. Stundog Millionaire hits Carrillo and the moonsault kick to the head takes both Carrillo and Gallagher down. Gallagher is back up with a headbutt to Andrews, but knocks himself silly, allowing Carrillo to grab a rollup pin at 9:48.

Rating: B. It was cool to see Gallagher this fired up and inspired again. I know his character would suggest that he is fairly one note but there is some charisma inside there and it can come out at times. Carrillo getting a big win is nice, though Drake or Andrews winning wouldn’t have made a bit of sense.

Post match Carrillo and Gallagher shake hands.

Ariya Daivari, in a tanning bed, thinks Tony Nese is intimidated by him. Now Nese is flying eight hours for a match he doesn’t need to be in. Daivari will be fresh and massaged for Money in the Bank and have no problem beating a tired champion.

Nese is wrestling tonight because it’s right rather than smart. Yeah he could be in a tanning bed or training, but he’s a champion and got there by working hard.

Video on Ligero. It’s rather strange hearing him talk.

Lucha House Party accepts the Singh Brothers’ challenge to a rematch for next week.

Tony Nese vs. Ligero

Non-title. They battle over arm control to start with Ligero flipping around quite a bit, earning a drive into the corner from Nese. Ligero ties himself up in a ball on the mat and rolls Nese up as he comes near, setting up a long pinfall reversal sequence. That’s good for a handshake, plus one for the referee for keeping up with them. You don’t see that one every day.

Nese gets two off a rollup, followed by Ligero snapping off a hurricanrana for the same. Back up and Nese moonsaults over him before ducking a clothesline with a nipup. A kick to the ribs sends Ligero to the floor but he catches Nese with a pump kick. The running dive is cut off by an elbow to the face to give Nese two more though and it’s off to the waistlock.

Ligero uses a rollup to block the running knee in the corner so Nese goes back to the bodyscissors. This time Ligero fights up with a tilt-a-whirl into a crossbody but it bangs up the ribs again. With the wrestling not working so well, Nese goes with the shots to the face, including a spinwheel kick for two. The springboard moonsault misses so Ligero nails a springboard splash, which only hurts his ribs again.

Nese bails to the floor and you just don’t do that against a luchador, meaning it’s a big flip dive to take him down again. Back in and a super hurricanrana drops Ligero again, followed by the 450….for two. Nese’s stunned face gets superkicked but C4L is countered into a powerbomb into the corner. The running knee finishes Ligero at 14:20.

Rating: B. The lack of drama didn’t help things here as you can only do so much to convince people that the champ is going to lose five days before the title match. Ligero looked good here though and could easily hang on a show like this full time. Nese is rapidly settling in but he needs a far more interesting challenger than Daivari to make the title reign feel more important.

Post match Nese raises Ligero’s hand but Daivari runs in to beat both of them down. They’re trying so hard to make this work but there’s a limit to what can be done given the circumstances.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a one off show with two rather good matches and that made for one of the best shows they’ve had in a long time. The title angle still isn’t working but it certainly isn’t for a lack of trying, which I can always respect. It’s one of the best shows they’ve had, even if it means nothing in the long term.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 13, 2004
Location: Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

The year is starting to come to a close and Eric Bischoff is back to run things again. This time around that means we need a solution to the World Title being vacated, which should mean some kind of big gimmick match for the January’s pay per view. That would be the regular January show and not the Royal Rumble, because January suddenly needs to pay per views. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Eric Bischoff with the World Title to get things going. Bischoff recaps all the changes since he went on vacation and then gets into the meat of things. Two weeks ago, both Chris Benoit and Edge got a fall at the same time, but traditionally a tie goes to the champion. That would be HHH, so all three are standing in the back watching intently. HHH says no one beat him, clearly not understanding how triple threats work.

That starts an argument with Benoit so Edge says this is how it always goes. Edge has had it with waiting and the fight is on. Bischoff has had it and makes HHH/Batista vs. Chris Jericho/Chris Benoit. As for Edge, he can fight Randy Orton RIGHT NOW. The decision on the title can come later tonight. I think you can guess what it is based on the people put in those two matches, but let’s wait a little longer.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

The fans remind Edge that he tapped out and he’s so shaken up that Orton can shove him into the corner. They go with some amateur stuff in a bit of a surprise, followed by an exchange of missed dropkicks for a standoff. Orton goes with the hard clothesline to put Edge on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Orton grabbing a chinlock (he does love his chinlocks) for a bit until Edge gets a foot on the rope. You don’t see that as a counter to a chinlock very often but you don’t often see a heel in one for that long either. Edge gets up and baseball slides him to the floor, followed by a spear off the apron. Back in and the chinlock with a bodyscissors goes on with Orton taking his sweet time getting up.

A crossbody gives Orton two and they’re both down again (that’s happened a lot in this one). It’s Edge up first but Orton dropkicks him out of the air, followed by the backbreaker for two. The Edge-O-Matic gives Edge two of his own and it’s time to yell at the referee. Orton snaps off the powerslam but misses the high crossbody. The spear misses as well and it’s the RKO to finish Edge.

Rating: C+. Good match, but you could cut off the first ten minutes and not miss anything. These two like to go for the big epic match and it really doesn’t work all that well. Edge losing again doesn’t exactly help his case for the World Title, but we have to keep Orton hot for his title push….whenever that actually happens again.

Ric Flair lists off HHH’s accomplishments so HHH can convince Bischoff to make him champion again. Violence is threatened but here’s Batista to say that’s a bad idea. Batista wants HHH to play the game properly and show Bischoff instead of telling him. When they win tonight, Bischoff will know who the real champion is.

Christy, Melina and Maria are here with a t-shirt gun. After the announcers recap the opening sequence, here’s Gene Snitsky to interrupt, with Melina taking a few extra moments to notice him. Since no one will give him a match around here, he’d rather come out here and play with the t-shirt gun….and dance? Thankfully he reverts to monster form by grabbing Christy by the throat, because he has fun when someone is suffering.

This brings out Lita, who says Snitsky must feel like a big man right now. Despite everything Snitsky did to her, Lita is the Women’s Champion. Uh, he did like one thing to you. Anyway, Kane is coming back to deal with Snitsky. The complete non-reaction to that announcement is rather telling. Snitsky goes after Lita, who escaped behind a wall of fire.

Christian rants about Chris Jericho making him dress like a superhero last week while Candice Michelle does his makeup. Eugene comes up and gets on Christian’s nerves by saying Captain Charisma isn’t as good as Aquaman. He even asks for an autograph but gets broken up by a cameo.

Mick Foley of all people pops up and Eugene freaks out because Foley is tied for his four favorite wrestlers. It’s Foley, the Rock (Foley: “That’s a good choice.”), Papa Shango (Foley: “Ok that’s a weird one.”) and Beautiful Bobby Eaton, because he’s from right here in Huntsville, Alabama. Has Eaton ever been mentioned on Raw before? Foley leaves with Eugene, even though he stole his cheap pop. Eugene tells Christian and Tomko to have a nice day, Bang Bang.

Simon Dean is in Eric Bischoff’s office to sign his official Raw contract when Chris Benoit comes in. Dean leaves and Benoit says he worked so hard to get the title. He wants a rematch of the triple threat match for the title but Bischoff says Benoit is already in a tag match. Benoit isn’t happy and says if Bischoff gives the title back to HHH, he’ll just be showing how spineless he really is.

Chris Benoit/Chris Jericho vs. HHH/Batista

Ric Flair is here with Evolution. Benoit slugs away at HHH to start and the loud chops in the corner follow. HHH gets smart by going with the power to drive Benoit into the corner for the boot choke from Batista. It’s off to Jericho who can’t do anything with Batista either so it’s back to HHH for some more first gear grappling. A shoulder and the jumping knee to the face move things up a bit and take Jericho down, followed by a heck of a whip into the corner from Batista.

The chinlock keeps Jericho in trouble and it’s back to HHH for some choking in the corner. A delayed vertical suplex into the knee drop gives HHH one with Benoit making the save. Flair goes after the referee and gets decked by Jericho, sending him into the trademark rage. HHH calms him down though and we take a break.

Back with Benoit hitting a German suplex on HHH but missing the Swan Dive, even with Batista not being able to grab Benoit’s foot in time. HHH whips Benoit back first into the corner for two and it’s off to the abdominal stretch to cause some screaming. The assist from Batista gets HHH caught so he throws some right hands in the corner while calling spots.

HHH’s jump off the middle rope that is designed to land on a raised boot lands on a raised boot, meaning Jericho can come in. Jericho rolls Batista up for two and slips out of the Batista Bomb, setting up an enziguri. The Lionsault connects and HHH is sent to the floor, leaving Benoit to hit the Swan Dive. The Sharpshooter goes on and the saving HHH is pulled into the Crossface. That’s enough of a distraction for Batista to hit the spinebuster for the pin on Benoit.

Rating: B. This was working the formula rather well and Batista is getting better and better every week. His star power is rising as well as he gets sick of HHH, which is only going to mean great things for him. Giving him the pin like that makes things look even better, as HHH isn’t going to be happy.

Here’s Mick Foley for a chat. After all, what would Christmastime be without a Mick Foley book plug? He’s not telling you to buy it or that it’s a great Christmas gift idea though. Actually he’s here to mention that he’s going to be on Smackdown next week, because he’s going to Iraq for the Tribute to the Troops. We get a look at last week’s show and Foley mentions that he still has some John Kerry bumper stickers in his garage. The fans boo and Foley remembers that this is a red state.

Supporting the troops goes beyond political affiliation though and he’s honored to be going over there and entertain the troops. This brings out Muhammad Hassan and Daivari for something that is going to go very badly in a hurry. Hassan talks about blindly supporting the troops and the country, but then 9/11 happened.

People like the two of them are the real victims of the war and none of the people here are real patriots. Why would they support a war that causes the unfair treatment of Arab Americans? Hassan feels the “patriotism” around every airport and right now, though Foley disagrees with almost every word. Foley puts over America as the place where you can say any stupid views you want so Hassan calls Americans infidels. That’s too far for Foley, who lists off various people who were hurt or killed defending his rights. Hassan: “YOU SUPPORT AN EVIL AND UNJUST WAR!” Foley: “I SUPPORT AMERICA!”

Those rights don’t apply in the ring (Foley Island) though and if Hassan comes inside, he’ll get a fist in his mouth. Hassan and Daivari walk away again. I know it was a different time, but this stuff is as heavy handed as it gets these days, with the Love It Or Leave It stuff being a lot to take. I get where these debates have an audience, but it’s not the most interesting thing on a wrestling show.

We look back at Lita winning the Women’s Title last week.

Trish Stratus doesn’t care what the interviewer’s name is because she isn’t happy with what happened. She’ll get her title back.

Rochelle (egads another random woman on the roster) is in Bischoff’s office when Edge comes in to say he deserves the title. We hear his usual list of times where he got cheated and is told that the decision is coming tonight.

Christian/Tyson Tomko/Maven vs. Eugene/William Regal/Shelton Benjamin

Eugene backdrops Christian to start and pulls out his own version of Mr. Socko as Lawler insists that Christian could beat Aquaman. Maven and Christian both take airplane spins but Tomko takes Eugene’s head off with a clothesline. The chinlock keeps Eugene in trouble (Regal: “Come on Eug!”) and it’s back to Maven for an elbow to the head. Regal’s overly loud shouting continues as JR sucks up to the troops all over again. Eugene gets two each off a backslide and small package so Christian rips at his face.

Shelton and Regal are knocked off the apron as the announcers talk about Simon Dean. Come on the match isn’t THAT bad. Maven puts on a chinlock of his own with a knee in Eugene’s back until a Stunner breaks things up. Shelton finally comes in to start taking over and an exploder getting two on Maven as Christian makes the save. Christian gets Socko from Eugene but Maven rolls Shelton up and grabs the rope for the upset.

Rating: D. This felt a lot longer than the seven minutes it lasted. Maven’s continued push isn’t helping anything, but at least having it be in the midcard instead of the main event is a little more believable. The match wasn’t even very good as it was Eugene getting beaten until the last minute when Shelton got pinned.

HHH glares at Bischoff and then nearly begs him to return the title. He seems near tears as he talks about how important the title is to him as this is getting WAY too deep into HHH’s psyche than I’m comfortable with being. See, HHH needs to be champion so people can recognize him. Oh and it’s good for business.

Next week: the Best of 2004. Pick your favorite “that’s going to be a short show” joke.

Bischoff comes to the ring and calls for HHH, Edge and Benoit to join him. The three of them do, with Flair and Batista joining HHH. All the team does is win and the World Heavyweight Champion should be a winner. Bischoff liked the idea of another triple threat match but that’s not what he wants to do. Or maybe he could hand the belt to Edge, but that’s not a good move since Edge has never been champion before.

With that WCW philosophical line out of the way, Bischoff gets to his idea: the Elimination Chamber at New Year’s Revolution, which was the pretty clear pick the entire time. In addition to the three of them, Jericho, Batista and Orton will be involved as well. Only Batista seems to be happy as Bischoff leaves. Benoit gets beaten down so here are Jericho and Orton for the big six way brawl. Orton RKO’s Batista to stand tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The longer wrestling was nice for a change, but the bigger problem here was how we spent weeks waiting to find out what is going on with the title and the answer is we wait another month. That’s going to make for some very long shows before we get to the title change, but it means they can do very little until we get to the Royal Rumble where things can actually happen. Not a terrible show, but another case of filling time until we get to what really matters.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: May 14, 2019
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the second of two nights in London and that means we get to see how close to four names WWE can bring in from Raw this week. This is also the go home show for Money in the Bank so it’s time for the brawl between Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens. Throw in the required build towards the ladder matches and we could be in for a nice little show. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to call out Elias, but first he wants the Miz out here. After sucking up to the crowd, Miz talks about how he has five days until Shane McMahon is trapped in a cage. Shane attacked Miz’s father and that is not acceptable, so it’s time for payback. It’s also time for Shane and Elias with Shane saying that Miz isn’t a Wild Card because he’s just disgusting. Therefore, Miz is banned from the building tonight.

Elias doesn’t like Reigns calling him a wedding singer and Reigns has underestimated him. At Money in the Bank, Reigns will find out what WWE stands for. Shane wants to get rid of Miz and Reigns right now so here are Rowan and Daniel Bryan to help. The beatdown is on so it’s the Usos for the save.

Post break Shane makes himself, Rowan, Bryan and Elias vs. Reigns/Usos. If Miz interferes, the cage match is off.

Randy Orton vs. Andrade vs. Ali vs. Finn Balor

Non-title. Before the match, Orton says he’ll win the briefcase on Sunday and make RKO the dangerous letters for the WWE Champion. Zelina Vega promises a spoiler for Sunday, which means Andrade wins the briefcase. Joined in progress with Ali holding his leg but being able to roll Orton up for two. The snap powerslam drops Ali but he comes back with a dropkick for a breather.

Orton teases the RKO out of the corner so Ali hangs on and takes Orton down instead, meaning it’s Andrade coming in for the save. Andrade runs Balor and Ali over, setting up the running knees in the corner. Instead of covering though, Andrade listens to Vega and throws a ladder in. Said ladder is superkicked back into his face by Ali, who dives into another ladder shot from Andrade to take us to a break.

Back with Balor hitting a Sling Blade on Andrade and dropkicking him into the corner. Ali hits the rolling X Factor on Balor but misses the 450, instead rolling into the RKO. Balor takes care of Orton though and we’re down to two for the moment. Andrade is back up and sends Balor into the steps, setting up the hammerlock DDT for the pin at 9:58.

Rating: C+. Gotta pin that champ! It’s another match where there were more options to take the fall but instead of going with Orton, which would mean more and hurt him less. I doubt this is going to go to another title match between Balor and Andrade, though it would make sense to give Andrade the title at this point after pinning Balor twice.

Post match Andrade climbs the ladder but here’s Ricochet to springboard onto the ladder and punch him down. Ricochet grabs the briefcase, more or less guaranteeing that he won’t do it on Sunday.

Carmella says she’s the favorite this Sunday and is going to threepeat.

Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston fire each other up.

Here’s Charlotte for a chat. She talks about her historic rivalry with Becky Lynch, which will end on Sunday with her as the Smackdown Women’s Champion. We get a video history of their feud, dating back to NXT. They met in the main event of Wrestlemania and now they’re doing it again here. It is quite the feud, but I could go for something else already. The problem though is the lack of challengers for Lynch, which has been the case for awhile now. Charlotte didn’t need to be in the ring for this.

Lacey Evans promises to make Becky Two Belts Becky Black Eye. On the other hand, she’ll go from Lacey Evans to Lacey Evans: Raw Women’s Champions.

Aleister Black talks about appearances being deceptive and how no one likes the place they try to venture into when they try to accomplish their goal. He tries to hide his villainy with old odd ends, stolen from various places, when most he plays fade to black. I think I need an English degree to understand what he just said.

Shane McMahon/Daniel Bryan/Rowan/Elias vs. Roman Reigns/Usos

Jimmy and Bryan start things off with a basic sequence, including Bryan hitting a shoulder block. Jey comes in and gets taken into the corner for some chops from Elias as the villains take over. Something off the top bangs up Jey’s knee and it’s off to Shane for some elbows to the new target. Bryan comes in to add a running dropkick to the knee. Jey gets shoved off the top for a hard crash into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Jey in trouble and Elias slamming him down for some near falls. An enziguri finally takes Shane down so Reigns can come in to clean house. Reigns fires off clotheslines in the corner to keep Bryan in trouble but an Elias distraction lets Bryan get in a kick to the ribs. Rowan comes in so Elias immediately tags himself in, much to Rowan’s annoyance. A jumping knee to the face gives Elias two, followed by an elbow from Rowan as we take a break.

Back again with Elias getting caught in a Samoan drop so Jimmy can come back in to pick up the pace. Bryan misses a superkick but all of his teammates take one, followed by Jey tagging himself in for some double superkicks. Everything breaks down and Rowan knocks Jimmy to the floor. Reigns comes off the steps with a Superman Punch to Rowan, leaving Jimmy to take the Coast to Coast for the pin at 19:12.

Rating: C-. Gotta keep Shane strong, just in case being the top heel in the company isn’t enough. This one is a lot less annoying than Balor taking a fall though as Shane has a brighter present than Andrade and possibly even a better future. As much as I cringe saying that, at least Shane vs. Miz should be done on Sunday, a mere six and a half months after it started.

Post match Miz comes in and cleans house with a chair but Shane escapes unscathed.

Here’s this week’s Firefly Fun House, which seems to be the start of Wyatt’s return to the ring.

Ember Moon says she’ll risk it all to win it all.

Bayley says Sunday is a chance to show what she can be.

Pay per view rundown, which doesn’t look bad.

Asuka/Kairi Sane vs. Sonya Deville/Mandy Rose

Back with Sane getting two off a crossbody to Rose, who nails a Kiss of the Rose to take over. Deville’s running knee gets two but Mandy misses a running boot in the corner. It’s back to Asuka to clean house with the Asuka Lock getting broken up by Sonya. That’s enough for Sonya to come back in for some kicks to the chest and a spinebuster. Mandy wants the pin though, allowing Asuka to roll her up for the fast pin at 8:46.

Rating: D+. This show is dragging and this was another case of the same. The ending was a quick one though and a way to make Sonya think that she might have made the wrong decision by letting Mandy have the spot. At the same time, Kabuki Warriors? They really spent time and came up with that?

Video on Lars Sullivan.

Lars Sullivan has nothing to say.

Kevin Owens can’t wait to interview Kofi Kingston and isn’t worried about the rest of the New Day. He talks about the various things he could do to hurt Kofi but New Day’s entrance cuts him off.

We come back from a break with Kofi sitting in the KO Show chairs with no Owens in sight. Kofi says he accepted an invitation to come onto the show and asks where Owens is. Owens pops up on screen to say that Kofi is on his own for the first time in eleven years. After he loses the title, reality sets in. That reality is that Kofi doesn’t win the title without New Day and on Sunday, he’s facing the most dangerous man in WWE. We see a video on Owens rising to the top of WWE, starting with laying out John Cena on his first night on the main roster.

Owens finally comes out but stops in the aisle, meaning Kofi charges out to go after him. Cue Sami Zayn to jump Kofi from behind, I guess confirming that the Usos only count as one Wild Card entry, because WWE STILL CAN’T MAKE SENSE OUT OF THIS STUPID RULE! Woods runs in for a failed save attempt so Owens shouts about how he has help and Kofi doesn’t. The Cannonball misses and the Helluva Kick only hits rope. Trouble in Paradise takes Sami down and Kofi shouts at Owens to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. It felt like they had been on tour for a long time and now they’re just running on fumes. Tonight’s show actually felt long for a change and that hasn’t been the case for Smackdown lately. The lack of a major focus on the ladder matches helped though as I’m liking the Kofi vs. Owens story more and more every week. They’ve got a little something with Kofi being on his own and Owens knows just how to exploit it. Not a very good show here, but it could have been worse. Oh and they still can’t count to five (spare me about the Usos being one Wild Card as that would be stretching it even for WWE).

Results

Andrade b. Finn Balor, Randy Orton and Ali – Hammerlock DDT to Balor

Shane McMahon/Rowan/Daniel Bryan/Elias b. Roman Reigns/Usos – Coast to Coast to Jimmy

Kabuki Warriors b. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville – Rollup to Rose

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 13, 2019
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Renee Young, Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re over in England this week for a taped show, which happens to be the go home show for Money in the Bank. I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing this week but odds are we’ll be getting a match between the people involved in Sunday’s ladder matches. Oh and at least four people from Smackdown, because the Wild Card Rule is a mess. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Miz for MizTV top open things up. He talks about how important Money in the Bank is for the future but there is something else we need to get out of the way. That would be Miz’s match with Shane McMahon, when they will be locked in a cage. Miz promises to win and then brings out Roman Reigns as his guest. Reigns doesn’t think much of his Money in the Bank opponent Elias, who has never actually done anything in this company. That sounds good to Miz, who talks about Reigns’ movie career and suggests a buddy comedy.

Reigns doesn’t like it because that sounds like the old Miz. He wants to talk to the new Miz, who chased Shane McMahon and Elias out of the arena with a chair last week. After seeing a clip of that chase, Miz talks about getting some respect after thirteen years around here. Last week he brought the fight, which is what he is going to do to the daddy’s boy on Sunday. Shane is going to go down faster than his dad did to a Superman Punch.

This brings out Shane to say that he is still the boss and therefore, MizTV is over. Cue Bobby Lashley and Elias to attack from behind and join Shane in the aisle. Actually let’s get a referee out here, as the show opens with a fifteen minute talking segment, Shane McMahon, and an impromptu match.

Elias/Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns/The Miz

Shane is at ringside. Miz hammers on Elias to start and gets two off an early Reality Check. It’s off to Reigns, sending Elias bailing to the floor. Back in and the good guys clean house, with Miz hitting alternating YES Kicks to both of them. Lashley picks Miz up and tries a powerbomb but settles for a Downward Spiral.

We take a break and come back with Shane choking Miz on the ropes, allowing Elias to hit an Old School Meteora for two. Lashley’s delayed vertical suplex has Miz in more trouble but he DDTs Elias to get a breather. The hot tag is cut off by Lashley though and Miz is still down. Lashley misses a charge into the post but Shane pulls Reigns off the apron and sends him into the steps for the DQ at 11:08.

Rating: D+. Just a tag match here though at least they kept it a little shorter than they did before. That being said, just having Reigns around isn’t going to be enough to fix the ratings woes as this was the same main event style tag match that they run ever week, albeit with Shane interfering. It was watchable, but nothing that they haven’t before.

Post match the brawl is on until Miz cleans house with a chair.

We get a long video on Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles, looking at a comparison of the two paths they took to get here. Rollins rose up the ranks and has been successful everywhere he has gone. Styles on the other hand started in the dying days of WCW, then did something else for a long time, and was in WWE to show how great he really was. Seth defeating Brock Lesnar while AJ failed is the big difference, with AJ wanting to prove that he can win the big one on Raw.

We look at Braun Strowman nearly murdering Sami Zayn last week. How Sami survived that and appeared on Smackdown the next night still hasn’t been explained.

Strowman says he regrets that the trash compactor didn’t turn Sami into a cube. No one can stop him from becoming the Monster in the Bank again. An assistant comes in to say Shane wants to talk to Strowman. Did Strowman just admit to attempted murder?

Post break, Sami is pleading his case to Shane when Strowman comes in. Sami thinks he deserves something for what happened last week, like Strowman’s Money in the Bank spot. He’ll even fight for it tonight. That sounds good to Shane, who removes Strowman from his match against Drew McIntyre and makes it Sami vs. Strowman, falls count anywhere, for the spot in the ladder match. Strowman promises to eat Sami alive and fear sets in.

Mojo Rawley vs. Apollo Crews

Crews would be your fourth Smackdown name, assuming you count Shane (Vince had to write him off as part of the Wild Card Rule last week and his profile on WWE.com says Smackdown so I’d think he counts.). Some stomping in the corner has Rawley in trouble to start but a flip from Crews tweaks his knee. Crews says he can go and gets his leg taken out, allowing Rawley to yell a lot. The running right hand in the corner sets up the Alabama Slam to give Rawley the pin at 1:13. So he screams a lot and paints his face. That’s the best they can come up with?

Alexa Bliss complains about her luggage being lost because she’s a celebrity. Nikki Cross, now sounding completely sane, comes up to ask if anything is wrong. Bliss doesn’t know how Cross grew up in a place like this and could use someone to talk to. Cross didn’t think anyone had noticed her being here in four weeks so Bliss spills her guts about her recent issues. She can’t wrestle tonight without her gear, so Cross gets the chance instead.

And now for the show’s centerpiece: a double contract signing! Lacey Evans, Charlotte (that’s five) and Becky Lynch all come out for the signings with the fans being behind the champ. Becky talks about how great it is to be back in London before promising that Lacey will crumble under the pressure of the Man being on her neck.

Charlotte talks about Becky’s big mouth getting her in trouble again and how it’s always been her issues. Lacey complains about Becky not wearing the proper clothing to such a formal occasions. This isn’t a fight in a barn. Who wears a camisole and leather pants to a barn fight? Becky laughs it off and signs, leaving Charlotte to talk over the BECKY TWO BELTS chants. She finds this hilarious and Becky’s confidence can’t hide her jealousy. On Sunday, Becky will bow down to the Queen.

Charlotte signs and Lacey says the WWE needs a lady to show them the way. Lacey says Becky can “continue to pretend to swing around something that she doesn’t have” and it’s not going to be enough to take out two real ladies. Becky offers her a free shot as Becky signs. The table is shoved aside and the fight is on with Lacey getting caught in the Disarm-Her. Charlotte breaks it up with a big boot and a double powerbomb puts Becky through the table. Both titles are held up for a pretty good visual.

That’s the second contract signing in three weeks. Is that really the best thing that they can come up with? It’s not like it’s some brilliant trope that you never see anywhere else. They’re just sitting there trading shots at each other. Do they really have nothing better to do than the contract signing? Just have them yell at each other on stage or something for the sake of a little change of pace.

Baron Corbin vs. Ricochet

Ricochet starts with the flips, including one over Corbin to set up a springboard crossbody. Corbin heads outside so Ricochet kicks him in the face and hits the moonsault off the middle rope. Back in and a heck of a clothesline drops Ricochet as we take a break. We come back with Ricochet trying more flips until running into Deep Six.

Ricochet spins around into a DDT for two but the 630 misses. Instead he settles for a hurricanrana and a standing shooting star for two, with a rather big surprise at the kickout. Corbin hits End of Days for the pin at 9:31. Graves: “You may not like it but you have to accept it.” The WWE booking philosophy ladies and gentlemen.

Rating: D+. Graves’ line at the end is great and sums up Corbin quite well. He’s winning more and more big matches despite not exactly being thrilling, while Ricochet’s only win as of late has been a pin over perennial midcarder Robert Roode. I know we’re going to get Corbin as World Champion at some point and I kind of wish we could just get it over with already so the nightmare can be real.

Post match Corbin pulls out a ladder but Ricochet shoves him off.

Rey Mysterio says Samoa Joe crossed the line by yelling at his son last week. Cesaro comes in and asks when Raw became bring your kid to work day. Well Shane was first a referee in 1988 so somewhere around then? Cesaro says Dominic looks more like Joe than Rey because he’s a foot taller, so is Dominic even Rey’s kid? The fight is on as I wonder how many more people we can accuse of being Dominic’s father.

We get a long video on Roman Reigns, the same one we saw last week on Smackdown.

AJ says he’s ready to win on Raw and make Monday Night Rollins the House that AJ Styles built.

Naomi vs. Nikki Cross vs. Natalya vs. Dana Brooke

During the entrances, everyone, including Bliss, gets to talk about how important winning MITB would be. Cross is her usual fired up self during her entrance. Bliss comes out for commentary so Corey can lose his mind again. It’s a brawl to start with Naomi hitting a Bubba Bomb on Dana, leaving Nikki to tie Natalya in the ring skirt for the forearms. Naomi knocks the two of them down and we take a break. Back with Dana’s handspring elbow getting elbowed in the back so Natalya can put on the surfboard. Nikki goes up top to dive onto it but Naomi shoves her down and breaks it up herself.

Brooke and Natalya get together and double gorilla press Naomi but Nikki comes back in with something like the Rings of Saturn on Naomi, plus some screaming. This time Natalya makes the save so Naomi gives her the split legged moonsault for two as Brooke makes her own save. Hang on though as we now have a ladder set up at ringside, with Nikki spearing Natalya underneath it. Brooke dives onto the other three but Nikki pops up and takes her down. Back in and Nikki’s hanging swinging neckbreaker finishes Natalya at 9:20.

Rating: C-. Not terrible here and it’s nice to see Nikki win, though I could go for her being in the ladder match over Natalya. That being said, we can’t do that because Natalya is a veteran and that means she needs to be around every single time. Naomi was rather energetic here, though I don’t give her much of a chance to win on Sunday.

Sami rants about Braun being part of the toxic fantasies around here because everyone wants to run through their problems. It’s better to be right than strong though, which is why Sami will figure something out tonight.

Cesaro vs. Rey Mysterio

During the entrances, Samoa Joe says Rey is the one who crossed the line by bringing his son into WWE. On Sunday, he hopes he sees Rey and Dominic. Rey starts fast with the short hurricanrana and a better headscissors out of the corner. Cesaro grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Rey winds up on his shoulders.

Another headscissors tries to take Cesaro to the floor but he lands on his feet….with Rey still on his shoulders. The third headscissors sends Rey into the barricade but Cesaro is right back with a pair of swings into the barricade to knock Rey silly. There’s a one armed apron superplex for two more and we take a break.

Back with Rey reversing a suplex into a DDT and speeding things back up. The spinning faceplant sets up la majistral for two and Cesaro is rocked. The 619 is countered into the Swing but Cesaro misses the Swiss19. A Code Red gives Rey two of his own but the Neutralizer is reversed into a headscissors. That means the 619 into the top rope splash to finish Cesaro at 10:40.

Rating: B. Best match of the night by a mile here as both guys were allowed to show off a bunch of their rather impressive stuff. It’s a fine move to have Rey get built up for his title shot on Sunday, though Cesaro’s latest singles push is already starting to falter, which tends to be the case every single time.

We recap the Usos tormenting the Revival over the last two weeks.

The Revival is sick of the Usos tormenting them and it stops now.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House but Bray is nowhere to be seen but pops up from behind a table. Rabbity is seen in a chair with a bandage over his eye as Bray talks about having a secret. It’s almost time to show the world what he has been working on, but he’s going to need the help of all his Fireflies.

The cheering warms his soul, but there is still a lot of darkness in his noggin. This time though, he has learned how to control it. Bray gets a lot more sinister and asks if we want to see his secret. He turns to the door and we cut to some rather creepy images of what looks like a bunch of toys, and Bray morphs into something like an evil clown with his hair down. Bray, in a dark voice: “Yeowy wowwy.” Well that worked, though you need to see it to get the full effect. I’m not sure how well it works in an arena, but these are great.

We look back at the contract signing.

Money in the Bank rundown.

Seth Rollins says it is personal with AJ now. We see a match between the two of them from 2006 (which isn’t fifteen years ago like Seth says) at NWA No Limits, where Seth says his family got to see him. Now it’s time to show what he can do as the backbone of Raw, but now he isn’t looking up at AJ anymore. Now it’s AJ looking up at him.

Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn

Falls Count Anywhere with Braun’s Money in the Bank spot on the line. Braun starts fast and rips Sami’s hoodie off before sending him outside. That means the running shoulder so Sami bails into the crowd. A beer to Braun’s face lets Sami run even more and they make it to the concourse. Some trashcan shots to the head just annoy Braun, who throws Sami into a column for two.

Cue Baron Corbin with a chair to the back plus some trashcan shots to put Strowman down. A belly to back suplex puts Strowman through a merchandise table so Sami can get two. Strowman is back up and sends Corbin into a wall as we take a break. Back with Strowman in control again and throwing Sami into a barricade in the arena. The threat of a ladder sends Sami bailing to the back again but this time it’s Drew McIntyre jumping Strowman.

A DDT onto a chair gives Sami two so Strowman gets up and hits McIntyre with an ice chest. Sami crawls away and goes through a curtain to get back into the arena. Strowman follows and drops a bunch of ladders on Sami but here are Corbin and McIntyre to beat Strowman up. A ladder to the face puts Strowman down and the two of them suplex him through a ladder. The Claymore is enough to give Sami the pin at 14:36.

Rating: C+. This was a nice garbage brawl with Sami having to come up with something to survive against the monster. I can go for having Sami in the ladder match as he’s a more interesting candidate than Strowman, who isn’t likely to win the title anytime soon. The interference was a good idea and I liked the match well enough, with the right decision helping a lot.

Post match Strowman gets up so Corbin throws Sami to him. A chokeslam through the announcers’ table leaves Sami laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. After the last two weeks, this was a major relief and it still wasn’t that good of a show. They kept things moving and they even had some stuff happen, but most importantly it wasn’t a show with a lot of explanations or meaningless matches that didn’t change anything. Those promos during the show helped a lot as well and were a lot more effective than having the wrestlers come out and talk where they take forever to say something. Money in the Bank is looking a little better, but it might just be that Raw wasn’t as much of a slog this week.

Results

The Miz/Roman Reigns b. Elias/Bobby Lashley via DQ when Shane McMahon interfered

Mojo Rawley b. Apollo Crews – Alabama Slam

Baron Corbin b. Ricochet – End of Days

Nikki Cross b. Natalya, Naomi and Dana Brooke – Hanging swinging neckbreaker to Natalya

Rey Mysterio b. Cesaro – Top rope splash

Sami Zayn b. Braun Strowman – Claymore from Drew McIntyre

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: May 9, 2019
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Renee Young

Just when you think you know what is going on with this show, they throw you a curve ball of three matches last week instead of the regular two. That being said, after this week’s shows, WWE might be better off showing a bowling tournament here instead of the highlights. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Just two announcers this week, with Renee rocking a Miss Elizabeth shirt.

EC3 vs. Cedric Alexander

Cedric starts fast and takes EC3 down with a drop toehold, followed by the signature anklescissors. EC3 gets in a running clothesline in the corner and we hit the chinlock to slow things down. With that not working, EC3 hammers away at the head and goes with a seated full nelson to keep Alexander in trouble. The EC3 Elbow connects but the 1%er is escaped. Alexander’s springboard Downward Spiral gets two but he walks into the forward DDT for the same. That’s about it for EC3 though as it’s the Neuralizer into the Lumbar Check to give Alexander the pin at 5:23.

Rating: C-. Cedric is talented but the fact that he lost in his Raw debut and has been on Main Event since then isn’t a good sign for his future. It’s way too early to call him a failure or a lost cause or anything close to that, but this isn’t looking good so far. Hopefully he gets a chance, because he really is a talented performer.

From Raw.

Here’s Vince McMahon to get things going. Vince introduces himself but here’s Roman Reigns to cut him off. Cole: “Reigns is here on Monday Night Yard!” Vince threatens to have the Cincinnati police take care of Reigns if he tries another Superman Punch. Reigns talks about watching Vince’s spoiled kids ruining Raw while he was gone and now they’re doing it even though he’s back. He doesn’t take orders from Vince and his kids because he takes orders from the people.

If the people keep cheering him, he’ll show up every Monday. Vince says that can’t happen because it would be anarchy….and here’s Daniel Bryan for the first time since Wrestlemania. Bryan says he was robbed of the title at Wrestlemania and spent the last month in solitude. He’s been searching for answers….and here’s Kofi Kingston to interrupt. Vince shakes his head as Kofi talks about Bryan just wanting a title shot.

All he had to do was ask and an argument ensues, but Vince cuts them off. He sees all these people coming here and decides we need something called the Wild Card Rule. From now on, three people can come and go to both shows as they like (specifics aren’t given). Kofi thinks that’s what Vince had in mind from the first place but since Reigns is here, he figured he would come out here too. Bryan gets back to the point of wanting his title shot, but here’s Drew McIntyre to cut him off.

Drew says this isn’t Smackdown presents Raw and calls out Reigns for going to Smackdown to duck him. Reigns is an egomaniac who punches his boss in the face so it’s a Claymore for him right now. Reigns: “It didn’t work out for you at Wrestlemania.” Vince says hang on again and makes Reigns vs. McIntyre and Kofi vs. Bryan for the title. Vince: “I’M BRILLIANT!”

And from Raw again.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

Wrestlemania rematch. Reigns starts fast with the right hands in the corner but Drew clotheslines him down. A rather impressive dead life suplex sets up the chinlock to keep Reigns down. Back up and Reigns gets planted again, meaning it’s time to go to the floor for a posting. A big boot cuts off Reigns’ comeback and it’s the reverse Alabama Slam onto the apron.

We take a break and come back with Drew countering the Superman Punch into a spinebuster for two. The Glasgow Kiss gets two but Reigns comes back with a hard DDT for two of his own. They head outside with Drew sending him into the steps and hitting a swinging sitout Rock Bottom for two back inside. McIntyre goes up but gets Superman Punched out of the air to give Reigns his own near fall, setting up the spear. Cue Shane McMahon and Elias for the DQ at 14:27.

Rating: B-. Good match until the bad ending, but we had to get Shane involved somehow. It makes sense for the story, assuming you don’t mind Shane being in two feuds at the same time. These two had a heck of a fight though and that’s a good sign for McIntyre, who didn’t take the pin. That being said, what does it say when a guy like McIntyre is treated better than the champions?

Post match Miz comes in for the save and chases Shane off with a chair. Shane gets to his limo in the back but Miz is waiting on him with the chair. Shane fights back and gets away in the limo.

And hey it’s from Raw again.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Kofi is defending and Bryan is back in the dark red gear. An early clothesline puts Bryan on the floor for the big dive over the top. Back with Kofi hitting a Vader Bomb from the middle of the ropes but getting kicked in the chest. Kofi fires off right hands in the corner but charges into a kick to the ribs to cut him off again.

The spinning kick to the head out of the corner doesn’t quite work and Bryan double underhooks him into an armbreaker. That’s broken up as well and a collision takes us to another break. Back again with Kofi being backdropped over the top and banging his head on the floor. He’s fine enough to avoid a whip into the steps and hit a spinning crossbody off the top to the floor for a double knockdown.

They get back in with the LeBell Lock going on until Kofi gets his feet in the ropes. Kofi slugs away and stomps Bryan in the corner, followed by a jumping clothesline. The Boom Drop connects but Trouble in Paradise is countered with a dropkick. Bryan gets two off a German suplex but can’t get the LeBell Lock. Instead it’s Trouble in Paradise to finish Bryan at 17:27.

Rating: B. These guys work well together and I’m a bit surprised by the clean ending with Kofi retaining. I’m glad that he did as I’m interested in seeing how long he can hold the title, but this should wrap up Bryan’s time chasing the belt. That opens up some fresh doors, and I’m glad they covered this instead of waiting around forever to get there. Good main event too.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House where Mercy the Buzzard has something in a box. The witch wants to know what’s in there….and it’s the decapitated Rambling Rabbit. Bray declares this Mercy expressing himself as a bunch of kids, who aren’t laughing or smiling and look like they’re in a trance, sit by watching. That’s all the time we have for this week. It’s also probably the last time we’ll see a good one of these as you can see the complaints coming from here.

Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross

Nikki doesn’t seem impressed by Peyton to start and trips her down for a low dropkick. An armbar has Royce in trouble and a sleeper on her back makes things even worse. Peyton gets out and kicks her in the face as we take a break. Back with Royce posing on the apron, which gets a rather nice reaction.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here, other than Peyton of course. Cross losing against doesn’t look great for her future but given the promo she put up on YouTube, she might be in for a gimmick change anyway. I mean, why have something unique and different when you can have something already done and the same?

We look at the last few seconds of Daniel Bryan and Rowan winning the Smackdown Tag Team Titles.

Money in the Bank rundown.

From Smackdown to wrap things up.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn

Kofi is defending and the fans tell Sami to take a shower. Sami gets knocked down to start and it’s an early middle rope Vader Bomb for two. AJ hits a gutbuster on Kofi and chops at Sami in the corner but Kofi is back with a rollup for two. With AJ staggered, Kofi goes up for the top rope splash to the back and the referee makes sure to check on him. A pair of clotheslines drop Sami and Kofi adds his jumping chop to Styles. There’s the Boom Drop to keep Styles down but Sami breaks up Trouble in Paradise.

We take a break and come back with Kofi chopping his way up but getting powerbombed by Sami. AJ comes back in and hammers on Sami in the corner until a rake to the face slows him down. The tornado DDT gives Sami two of his own and a heck of a top rope superplex gets the same on the champ. AJ catches Sami on top with a hurricanrana and a fireman’s carry backbreaker drops Kofi again. The moonsault DDT looks to drop Sami but Kofi grabs the SOS on AJ, who reverse DDTs Sami at the same time in a cool spot.

Rating: B. This was a bit longer than it needed to be but they had me on a few of those near falls from the Blue Thunder Bomb (all the more impressive given how rarely that gets a pin). Kofi is getting some collateral out of these wins and that’s a good idea for someone who isn’t considered the strongest champion in the first place. Good stuff here, and Kofi vs. Owens is getting a little stronger.

Overall Rating: C+. The original wrestling here was nothing as usual but the highlights made the five hours of nonsense from this week a lot easier to watch. The Wild Card Rule already seems to be crumbling before our eyes and that’s the best thing for everyone involved. It was a really bad week for WWE, but when you cut out about 80% of the content, it’s a lot easier to watch.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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