IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: May 10, 2018
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

How exactly do you have a full show when there was one major story getting attention all week? This was the first week of Money in the Bank qualifying matches and that means a lot of the matches will be shown here, along with all of the usual stuff we see around here. In other words, the same people having the same matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander

Non-title and Nese is the hometown boy. Hang on though as Nese needs to give Long Island the posing. Cedric flips over him and snaps off an armdrag but gets shouldered in the corner. A good dropkick has Nese in trouble but he’s fine enough to pull Alexander off the ropes for a crash. We hit the neck crank for a good while before Cedric fights up with a DDT. Nese tries to speed things up and sends Cedric outside for a big flip dive and two back inside. The Neuralizer rocks Nese though and the Lumbar Check is good for the pin at 5:58.

Rating: C. Why not make this a title match? Nese getting a shot wouldn’t be a stretch and it’s Alexander getting a clean win so why not? Give Main Event even the slightest spark and see where you can go. Have Cedric insist that the title is on the line or something. It’s simple and doesn’t change anything while giving the show a quick boost. Or just let us have the same boring show. Same thing really.

From Raw.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman shoves Owens away to start, knocking the referee down in the process. Some whips into the corner knock Owens down twice in a row before sending him outside. Owens tries to bail into the crowd but manages to catch Strowman in a tornado DDT. Strowman beats the count at eight and Owens is losing his mind. Back in and Strowman hits him in the chest but Owens sends him outside again as we take a break. We come back with Strowman hitting the same kind of knockdown as he did earlier, only to get kicked in the head.

Owens gets two off a backsplash but Strowman pops up with a big boot. Strowman misses a charge into the corner and it’s a superkick into the bullfrog splash for two more. There’s another superkick but the Pop Up Powerbomb just isn’t happening. Instead it’s a splash in the corner and Owens bails outside. The running gag continues with Strowman shouldering him down three times in a row. Back in and the running powerslam sends Strowman to the ladder match at 8:42.

Rating: C. This wasn’t too bad with Owens getting in some offense before falling short. Strowman should be on his way to the Universal Title so hopefully this is a step in the right direction. However, there’s a good chance that Strowman is the guy who gets close to winning and comes up short while Lesnar holds the title for the better part of ever. You know, longer than he already has.

Also from Raw.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn

Sami yells at Reigns to start and gets punched in the face to send him outside. Balor speeds things up and dropkicks Reigns down for two as the announcers debate how important Money in the Bank is compared to the rest of the year. More right hands drop Balor and Zayn as we take an early break. Back with Balor stomping on Reigns until Sami grabs a rollup for two.

There’s a Samoan drop to put Zayn on the floor with Balor on the opposite side. The fans start a TOO SWEET chant and the double beating is on to one of the strongest reactions of the night. Even Balor and Sami seem taken aback by the YES chants. The three head into the crowd and the fans are annoyed when Reigns comes back. A Helluva Kick knocks Reigns into the tech area and the other two head back inside to kill time until Reigns spears one of them.

The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Sami two but Balor fights back and they head to the floor. The fans start booing and I think you know what that means. Cue Reigns diving over the barricade to take Sami out but Balor drops Reigns again. Back in and Reigns hits the Superman Punch on Sami. The Sling Blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Reigns rolls away. Instead it’s another Superman Punch but here’s Mahal to trip Reigns. The distraction lets Sami hit the Helluva Kick to drop Reigns but Balor hit the shotgun dropkick and Coup de Grace on Sami for the pin at 15:25.

Rating: C. I like the surprise ending, if nothing else for the sake of needing to see Jinder vs. Reigns, potentially in Chicago, where the fans might be so confused that they break into small camps and stage full revivals of Broadway classics instead of watching the match. Balor going on makes sense and the question about where Owens was is interesting as well. One last question: is there a clause in Roman’s contract that lets him have a break during every multi-man match? It seems to happen every time.

One more time from Raw.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Ruby Riott vs. Ember Moon vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha and Ember get together to start and take Riott down, only to have Banks roll Moon up for two. Some rather athletic armdrags have Banks in trouble but Riott comes back in to send Sasha face first into the middle buckle. Sasha gets sent outside again as we hear about how successful Money in the Bank cash-ins have been. A double DDT plants Sasha and Moon for two each and it’s off to a chinlock on Moon. That’s broken up with a jawbreaker but here’s Sasha back in to run people over.

Banks stops to dive onto the Riott Squad though, allowing Riott to run her over. Moon hits a heck of a suicide dive for two on Riott as the fans are distracted by something in the crowd, which gets a YOU DESERVE IT chant. Back in and Banks gets two off a sunset flip with the Riott Squad coming in for the legal save. Cue Bayley to help Sasha but the Squad takes her out as well. Moon heads up top for an Eclipse to both Banks and Riott at the same time for the pin on Riott at 10:23.

Rating: D. This felt like an indy match with a bunch of disjointed spots and no flow to the match whatsoever. Moon winning is the right call as Riott could be getting a title shot at the pay per view and Sasha will possibly be busy with Bayley, or in the match later on. This wasn’t a good match though and the ending wasn’t as exciting as it should have been.

And from Smackdown.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Charlotte vs. Peyton Royce

Before the match, Billie says Charlotte’s loss made her uncle overcome his stutter because he was laughing so hard. Peyton tries to imitate the look but it’s only funny when Charlotte does it. They lock up to start with Charlotte shoving her around. A toss to the floor takes us to an early break. Back with Peyton grabbing a chinlock before choking in the corner. A half nelson over the ropes with her legs has Charlotte in even more trouble and we hit another chinlock. Charlotte fights up with a neckbreaker by the hair but misses a big boot (but Peyton doesn’t sell it like Carmella did on Sunday).

A rollup gets two on Peyton and Charlotte dives onto Billie, leaving Peyton to grab a swinging neckbreaker on the floor. The referee gets distracted by Peyton so Billie can snap Charlotte’s neck across the top, setting up a spinning kick to the face for two. Charlotte is right back with the big boot, only to have the moonsault hit knees. Royce kicks the knee out for two but gets speared down. The Figure Eight makes Peyton tap at 12:56.

Rating: B-. This was a nice surprise, if nothing else as I was getting worried that Charlotte would lose back to back matches. They went with the right call here though as Charlotte is more interesting and you can put Billie in the match later. Just having one of them in there basically means they’re both in there and that’s all you need.

Here’s Curt Hawkins to issue an open challenge. Hawkins talks about this being his hometown and his parents being in the crowd tonight. Fans: “WE WANT RYDER!”

Zack Ryder vs. Curt Hawkins

For once, Main Event serves a purpose. Hawkins tries a cheap shot and gets punched in the face, followed by an armbar. A faceplant sends Hawkins to the apron and he backdrops Ryder to the floor, sending us to a break. Back with Hawkins getting two and grabbing a chinlock. Ryder is right back up with a neckbreaker (The Wooude Awakening. I hate myself for liking that.) and the middle rope missile dropkick.

The Broski Boot connects for two but Hawkins sends the Rough Ryder into the buckle for two. If this weren’t Main Event, I’d have bought that as a near fall. Ryder is right back up with a middle rope hurricanrana and the Rough Ryder gets two with Hawkins’ boot going on the rope. Ryder looks stunned and another Broski Boot is blocked, allowing Hawkins to grab a rollup with feet on the ropes. That’s caught, allowing a second Rough Ryder to pin Hawkins at 9:04.

Rating: C+. Where in the world did that come from? That was an actually entertaining match with some near falls and Ryder got to win a match in his hometown. It was nice to see Ryder get a chance for once and not be humiliated. I know it’s not going to lead anywhere, but for an old Ryder fan like myself, who always thought he got a horrible ending to his push, this was nice for a nice.

Post match Ryder says he wants to represent WWE a Mr. Money in the Bank.

Back to Smackdown.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz

Non-title. Miz cranks on the arm to start as the announcers talk about Miz’s history in the Money in the Bank match. Jeff sends him outside and hits Poetry in Motion against the barricade but it’s way too early for the Swanton. We take a break and come back with Jeff holding an armbar as the pace stays slow. The Reality Check gets two on Jeff but he elbows out of a Skull Crushing Finale attempt.

They head outside with Jeff getting the better of a slugout as the sleeves of Jeff’s shirt make me want a rainbow pop. The legdrop between the legs and the Twisting Stunner rock Miz but again he gets out of the way before the Swanton. Miz slams him neck first onto the apron and we take another break.

Back again with Jeff jawbreaking his way out of a chinlock and getting two off the Whisper in the Wind. A baseball slide knocks Miz to the floor but again he avoids the Swanton, this time with a good crotching. Instead it’s a sunset bomb for two as the back and forth continues. The Twist of Fate gets two and a corner dropkick sets up Hardiac Arrest (the other corner dropkick). Another Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton for real this time, but Miz rolls him up for the pin at 20:16.

Rating: B. First of all, good back and forth match. Now for the problem (and I’d bet on this being right): this isn’t going to mean a thing as far as the US Title is confirmed. The champion just got pinned clean and I have a feeling we’re not going to hear a word about Miz wanting to be champion. Money in the Bank has done this before and it makes things all the dumber. Miz just pinned the US Champion clean and I’d be actually surprised if anything happens to the title as a result. I really hope I’m wrong, but odds are that’s where this is going.

And one more time from the blue show.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev

Bryan starts in on the legs early on and kicks the arm out for good measure. Some more kicks sends Rusev outside so Bryan tries the suicide dive, only to be caught and thrown over the announcers’ table as we take a break. Back with Rusev throwing him around some more but getting dropkicked in the corner.

The Spinning Rock Bottom doesn’t work so Rusev kicks him in the head for two instead. A quick YES Lock sends Rusev bailing to the ropes and Aiden English is rather relieved. Rusev heads outside so Bryan hits the running knee off the apron for two. Back in and the running knee misses, setting up a Machka Kick to give Rusev the completely clean pin at 11:20.

Rating: C+. Uh…..huh? I’m not sure how the reaction to this one is going to go as Rusev winning a big match is nice, but Bryan losing clean almost has to be leading somewhere. You don’t have Bryan come in here and lose like that, but maybe they have something planned. If nothing else, I’m sure Miz has something to say about that loss.

Bryan looks devastated to end the show. It seems like they have something planned there.

Overall Rating: C-. Sweet goodness I know I said they were going to have one idea around here but egads I was expecting something more than that one idea. It would be nice to mix things up a little bit but when you only have that one idea on both shows, you’re kind of stuck. Throw in Backlash being Backlash and is there any wonder that this week’s shows didn’t do very well? Ryder vs. Hawkins was fun though and you almost never get that on Main Event.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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 8, 2018
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

You can really feel things getting back into a lull around here and that’s not a good thing to have happen so soon after Wrestlemania. It seems that every week features a tag match that doesn’t change anything about the story they’re telling. There’s nothing for them to do long term but there’s not enough depth to set up an official division. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the three matches scheduled for tonight, which works well in setting things up but doesn’t exactly have me wanting to see the show.

Opening sequence.

The announcers talk about the big fight feel in the air. Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali is not a big fight.

Gran Metalik/Lince Dorado vs. Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher

Speaking of tag matches that seem to be on a treadmill. Hang on though as Drew Gulak comes out for commentary. Dorado headscissors Gallagher down as Gulak calls Lince “Lindsay Dorito”. Jack tries to handstand up but gets spanked right back down. A pinfall reversal sequence has Gulak annoyed because he finds it silly. Metalik comes bouncing in for a dropkick to the face, which Gulak refers to as wasting time. Kendrick gets sent outside for a big flip dive but Gallagher offers a distraction so Brian can get in an enziguri.

It’s off to Gallagher for an arm crank as Kalisto plays with the noisemaker at ringside. Some kicks to the face get Metalik out of trouble though and the hot tag brings in Dorado to clean house. Gulak is NOT pleased with the high flying, including the Golden Rewind for two. Gallagher’s dropkick sets up the Sliced Bread #2 for two on Dorado as Metalik makes the save. Stereo suicide dives take out the bad guys and the shooting star gives Lince the pin on Gallagher at 7:49. Gulak: “Let him try that on me.”

Rating: D+. Like I said earlier: you can only do these same matches so many times before they stop meaning anything. There wasn’t anything special about this one but it feels like something I’ve seen over and over again. It’s not a bad match or anything, but it’s just doing the same matches time after time with no one actually getting anywhere. Change that or stop doing the matches.

Mustafa Ali was standing on some train tracks saying the path leads straight to Buddy Murphy. Buddy is built for show but Ali is built for go. He wants the Cruiserweight Title. These out of arena promos are a really good idea.

Murphy gives Tony Nese a pep talk and Nese wishes him luck. Tony leaves and Murphy says he hopes Cedric Alexander is watching tonight.

Tony Nese vs. Keith Clayball

Nese throws him into the corner to start as Nigel says he’s heard a lot about Clayball. Vic: “OH YOU HAVE???” Clayball is tied in the Tree of Woe for a bunch of kicks, including the crunches kicks. A hard elbow runs Clayball over again and an even harder forearm on the floor rocks him again. Back in and the running knee in the corner grazes Clayball’s forearm (Missing his head by a good six inches with the announcers saying it barely touched him. Terrible camera work there as the camera should have stayed in its regular position but switched to a side shot instead, showing how it was designed to miss.) for the pin at 3:04.

Rating: D. Well that ending was horrible looking (totally on the cameras and not the wrestlers) but this was just a boring squash with Nese getting back on the winning side before he gets to put someone else over. A match like this is a good idea but there’s not much you can do here, which is why keeping it so short is the right move.

Video on Hideo Itami, whose attitude is changing. Thank goodness, but it’s about three years too late.

Cedric is with Drake Maverick, who says the UK stars will be here next week when the show is in London.

Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali

They circle each other to start and Ali’s chop doesn’t have much effect. Murphy muscles him into the corner and tries a powerbomb, only to get hurricanranaed out to the floor. The baseball slide dropkick sends Murphy into the announcers’ table but a suplex on the floor cuts Ali off in a hurry.

Back in and a high backdrop has Ali in more trouble as Cedric is watching backstage. In a bit of a mind game, Murphy loads up a running kick to the back but stops for a chinlock instead. Back up and they both try a high crossbody for a double knockdown. It’s Ali up first with a dropkick and running forearm but the rolling X Factor is cut off with a sleeper for a smart counter. Ali reverses into a sleeper of his own but Murphy gets smart again, this time cannonballing himself, and Ali, into the corner for the break.

A tornado DDT plans Murphy again for two so he hits a DDT of his own for the save. This trading big spots is starting to work for me. That’s enough for Murphy, who powerbombs Ali three times in a row for a near knockout. Ali says don’t stop it though so Murphy tries another powerbomb, which is reversed into a big X Factor for two more.

With nothing else working, Ali takes him to the top but gets shoved to the floor, backflipping onto his feet because of course he does. Murphy dives into a superkick for two but the 450 onto the arm, which he used to beat Murphy in the tournament, misses. That bangs up Ali’s own arm and Murphy is right on it, only to be elbowed in the face. Ali is sent HARD into the post and Murphy’s Law is good for the pin at 15:46.

Rating: B. They need to get the title on one of these two ASAP as Alexander just doesn’t have the charisma to match either of them. Murphy is getting better and better every time and you can pencil Ali in for a good match almost every time. The match was more entertaining stuff, and if they cut off about two minutes, this would have been even better. Solid main event though.

Overall Rating: C+. We’re right back where we were before the tournament started: one good match a week and almost nothing else on the rest of the show worth mentioning. The tag stuff is nothing they haven’t done before and Nese is a midcarder at best. It’s the lack of stories aside from the title match that keeps holding them down and I’m not sure why WWE doesn’t get that. As a bonus, you can only see the same people rotated in and out for so long before it stops having any meaning. We passed that point about a year ago. I’m not sure how to fix this show, but it’s back to not being worth your time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

A few weeks before Wrestlemania, rumors began to surface. A mass exodus from Impact Wrestling was on the horizon, with the piece de resistance being the potential WWE return of Bobby Lashley. When the rumors were proven to be true, it should have been enormous news, but there was a major problem.

Bobby Lashley had returned.

It’s now almost two months later and Lashley’s return has fallen flatter than Titus O’Neill on a ramp. Easy jokes aside, let’s take a look at why the return has been such a failure.

First off, we must look at the return itself. In the world of WWE, MMA is currently king. Brock Lesnar is Universal Champion, Shayna Bazler is NXT Women’s Champion, and Ronda Rousey is treated as the biggest coup to the women’s division ever. In Bobby Lashley, you have a man who has been successful in the world of MMA, to the tune of a 15-2 record in his career. He’s every bit the legitimate fighter that Brock Lesnar is, but in the two months he’s been back, I can’t think of one instance where his MMA background has been mentioned. Not one.

Without that MMA background, he’s just Bobby Lashley, a guy that hasn’t been seen in WWE for about a decade. What was he doing in the decade away, baking cookies?

Now, I might be able to look the other way on this glaring omission if the re-debut itself positioned Lashley in a positive way. It did not.

Perception is everything in wrestling. Think back to 1999. In WCW, Chris Jericho was in the cruiserweight division and everyone in that division was positioned as such that they were less than the “important” members of the roster. They were a side show, and they would always be the side show. Realizing this, Chris Jericho left WCW to join the WWE. Now, had WWE debuted Jericho in a segment with Taka Michinoku in their Light Heavyweight division, I’m sure he would have done ok in that role, but he again would be treated as someone that lacks importance. Instead, the WWE chose to debut him in a segment with their biggest star, The Rock. This told the audience right away that Jericho was important, not fodder.

Conversely, the returning Bobby Lashley returned as the latest guy to interrupt Elias, which, while fun, tells the audience that he’s just like everyone else. Midcarders galore had interrupted the former drifter, so those new to Lashley see him as just another guy annoyed by the midcard heel.

Imagine though, if instead, his return went something like this: Paul Heyman is gloating in the ring about how even WWE’s golden boy Roman Reigns couldn’t defeat Brock Lesnar. No WRESTLER can beat Brock Lesnar…….and cue Lashley’s music. Out he comes, with Michael Cole explaining how Lashley is back after a decade of dominating in MMA. He stands toe to toe with Lesnar and they fight with no one getting the upper hand. They are pulled apart and the segment ends.

In this scenario, Lashley looks like a killer and a savior, and you don’t even have to follow up on that segment for months. That feud is ready to go when you want, and Lashley in the meantime looks like an enormous deal and someone to fear.

Going back to reality, we got Lashley the former star and quite honestly, he didn’t look or seem any different than he was in 2008. That’s not a good thing, considering his run from that time period was largely mediocre due to his total lack of personality. To alter that perception, this past Monday WWE decided to air an interview with Lashley to show the fans “what he’s all about”. What we got was an awkward sit-down where Lashley showed no range of emotion and told stories about his sisters. I suppose this is supposed to make us see him as a “family man”, but this is another case of WWE not understanding what they have.

The presentation of a Bobby Lashley should be simple. He’s similar to Brock Lesnar in that he’s huge, a successful athlete, and powerful. He also sounds like a 12-year-old when he speaks, so limiting that is always for the best. All you need to do is show him killing people and give him reason to do so. For a good idea of how, see how TNA booked him (yes, I’m praising TNA. Enjoy it while it lasts because it won’t happen often).

As it stands, we have a musclebound midcarder who’s happy to be back after a long hiatus, and one who’s first run we can’t even talk about because he once wrestled on behalf of our current US President. This is fixable though with an eventual turn on Braun Strowman. Maybe then we’ll get the Bobby Lashley we all want to see. It certainly can’t be any worse than the flop of a run we’re getting now.

Eric Cordova is the host of the Mouth of the South Shore Radio Show which can be found and followed at:

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: May 9, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

We’re in that odd period of NXT as we’re too far away from the next Takeover to really start building there but too far from the previous Takeover to deal with fallout. NXT is capable of pulling off something in the meantime though and that should be more than enough to bridge the gap. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Ricochet to get things going. Everywhere he’s gone in his career, he’s tried to have people talking about him. Over Wrestlemania weekend, his goal was to leave people talking. You can call it confidence or cockiness but it’s who he is. Now the only thing on his mind is the NXT Championship but here’s Velveteen Dream to interrupt. Dream says no no no and wants to know who gave Ricochet the authority to come out here and ask for title shots. He needs Ricochet to take a step back and asks about the One and Only nickname.

Dream questions if Ricochet makes things look good because Ricochet is looking at the one experience. Ricochet can jump around all he wants but remember he’ll land in the back of the line behind the Dream. Ricochet says Dream is a lot, but he’s not Ricochet so enjoy the spotlight while you can. That’s fine with Dream, because anything Ricochet can do, Dream can do better. Ricochet: “Prove it.” Dream teases throwing a punch but drops to the mat instead, leaving after Ricochet winks at him. I could go for this feud, but I’m not sure where Dream goes if he loses another big match.

Raul Mendoza vs. EC3

Mendoza grabs a headlock to start, followed by a missile dropkick. EC3 is right back with a reverse bulldog driver (I’m not sure how much that would hurt) and sends him face first into a buckle. A TKO is good for the pin (with two hands on the chest for the cover) at 2:44.

Post match EC3 says he doesn’t care about losing at Takeover because adversity makes a man. The only thing you’ll see out of him going forward is victory after victory. Then this place will be NX3.

Last week Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch told Pete Dunne that they don’t like him but they’ll have his back because they don’t like Undisputed Era either. Dunne leaves without saying anything. That’s about what I expected.

Dakota Kai vs. Vanessa Bourne

Kai hits a running dropkick but misses a running version in the corner. Bourne is right back with a kick to the ribs and a swinging fisherman’s neckbreaker for two. We hit the double arm crank for a bit before Kai is back up with more kicks. Now the running kick in the corner rocks Bourne, followed by a running sunset flip into a Backstabber (cool) for the pin on Bourne at 2:36.

Post match Shayna Baszler comes out and Kai is terrified. Shayna drops the title and chokes Bourne off as Kai leaves in fear (with Baszler staring her down) instead of making a save. When Kai stands up for herself, many months from now, the pop is going to be crazy.

Back from a break with Kai being unsure what just happened. Baszler comes in and tells her to do something about it. Kai still can’t move so Shayna laughs and leaves. Kai hears more laughter and Nikki Cross is hanging from piece of metal and laughing at her too. Now that’s kind of interesting.

Heavy Machinery vs. War Raiders

Rowe and Dozovic start things off and it breaks down into a four way forearm slugout in no time. Knight gets sent outside and Dozovic gets kneed in the ribs. He’s still able to suplex Hanson down so it’s off to Knight vs. Rowe. Hanson is right back in with a suicide dive to Dozovic, leaving Knight to take Fallout for the pin at 2:52. That’s all this needed to be.

We look back at TM61 cheating to defeat the Street Profits.

The Profits are training because this is serious.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kassius Ohno

Still no music for Ciampa. Ohno takes it to the floor early on and sends Ciampa into the barricade. One heck of a right hand sends Ciampa back into the ring but he snaps Ohno’s throat across the top rope. A running knee to the head rocks Ohno again and a kick to the side of the head puts him down as Ciampa asks if Ohno is Gargano’s big brother. Ohno blocks a chop and hits a bicycle kick. It’s time to go simple as Ohno stands on Ciampa’s head and then drops an exposed knee onto Ciampa’s damaged eye.

A shot to the face knocks something out of Ciampa’s mouth and puts on a cravate choke into something like a Bubba Bomb (with a cravate instead of a full nelson) for two. Ciampa is right back and pulls at Ohno’s eye, setting up a running knee to the back of the head for a near fall of his own (I thought that was it). A clothesline sets up a neckbreaker into a faceplant to put Ohno away at 9:32. Mauro is LIVID that Ciampa won.

Rating: C+. I can appreciate the idea of Ciampa as a violent guy who wants to injure people but sweet goodness he needs to switch those last two big moves up. A neckbreaker faceplant is a move that anyone could use and doesn’t look nearly as good as the running knee. It doesn’t fit the violent nature that Ciampa had been going for all match and didn’t feel like the end of the match. The rest was the right call with Ohno out for blood to avenge his friend and Ciampa not caring because he wanted to hurt someone. Just fix that finish.

Post match Ciampa hits Ohno in the back of the head with his knee brace and chokes him with it. Ciampa shouts that he broke Johnny’s spirit and broke Candace’s heart so the Gargano fairy tale is over.

Overall Rating: B. What more could you ask for? They covered about six stories in less than an hour and didn’t even touch the Undisputed Era or Aleister Black. As I’ve said before, if there’s one thing NXT knows how to do, it’s make everything feel like the most important thing in the world. This show flies by and that’s far more than you get anywhere else. Another very good show here that makes me want to see what they have in store.

Results

EC3 b. Raul Mendoza – TKO

Dakota Kai b. Vanessa Bourne – Sunset Backstabber

War Raiders b. Heavy Machinery – Fallout to Knight

Tommaso Ciampa b. Kassius Ohno – Neckbreaker into a faceplant

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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 8, 2003
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Armageddon, which has really snuck up on me this year. The big story coming out of last week was Mick Foley being named the new co-General Manager of Raw and balancing out Eric Bischoff’s power mad rampage. I’m sure this will be a new and innovative story that has never been done before in WWE. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week, which saw Foley firing a bunch of people but then revealing that he was just joking to end the show. That’s quite the use of two hours.

Opening sequence.

Here are Chris Jericho and Christian with flowers to beg Trish and Lita’s forgiveness. Cue the ladies with Trish holding up a Canadian dollar. Jericho is shocked that this is what’s wrong because it was just a stupid joke. They recap the feud with Jericho trying to sweet talk his way out of things and Jericho begs forgiveness until she slaps him in the face. Trish and Lita beat the heck out of them with the flowers and it’s time for a match. Well with Christian and Jericho’s scheduled opponents.

Tag Team Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Chris Jericho/Christian

Jericho/Christian are challenging and we’re joined in progress with D-Von elbowing Christian in the face and nailing a powerslam. It’s off to Jericho to stomp on Bubba and the Canadians start in on the leg as Trish and Lita glare from the floor. A chinlock sets up more stomping as they’re not exactly going deep into the heel offense playbook here.

Rating: C-. Kind of a boring match for the most part but anything with ticked off Trish and Lita at ringside is a good thing. There’s more to this story and I’m still interested in where things are going. Bubba and D-Von are good for this role as you could have them hold the titles for a long time and it’s not a stretch to have Christian and Jericho lose to them here. Good story for a not that bad match.

Evolution recaps the plans to get the World Title back on HHH. Randy Orton is cool with that but promises to leave Armageddon as the Intercontinental Champion.

Christian and Jericho rant to Bischoff so he makes a mixed tag at Armageddon.

Batista vs. Rob Van Dam

Non-title. Rob doesn’t bother with the feeling out stuff and kicks Batista to the floor early on. Back in and the shoulders in the corner are shrugged off with Batista’s hard clothesline. Rob gets shoved outside as Lawler keeps singing Evolution’s praises. Back in and Rob is put upside down in the Tree of Woe to no avail as he’s right back with more kicks.

A dropkick puts Batista down and the stepover kick does it again. It’s too early for the Five Star though and the ref gets bumped. The Batista Bomb is countered into a fairly botched hurricanrana but Flair breaks up the split legged moonsault. Now the Batista Bomb can connect for the pin.

Rating: D+. Batista is being brought along slowly but he can hit a great looking powerbomb. Rob losing here is fine as it sets up the numbers game problem on Sunday and the loss wasn’t clean. This was all it should have been and Rob’s botches didn’t even hurt it that badly.

Garrison Cade/Mark Jindrak vs. Val Venis/Lance Storm

Before the match, Cade and Jindrak make it clear that they were NOT whining last week. Jindrak jumps Storm from behind and stomps away in the corner as Lawler is hoping that Storm and Venis’ ladies will be in one of Val’s films soon. A double suplex gets two and we hit the chinlock. Storm fights up and hits a dropkick, allowing the tag off to Venis so everything can break down. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Jindrak but Cade’s distraction sets up a rollup (with trunks) to pin Venis. They didn’t have much time here and the match was really rushed.

Kane talks about killing his dog and leaving the carcass to rot in the woods. Every day he would go to see what was left of it, which made him feel good about himself. Goldberg being World Champion annoys him too so he’ll change that on Sunday.

Here’s Foley for a chat. He’s named himself guest referee for the Intercontinental Title match on Sunday, after several hours of consulting with himself. That brings him to Steve Austin, who needs to be reinstated. There are now over 500,000 signatures that want Austin back on Raw. We need more though so let’s pass this one around too. Before that can happen, here’s La Resistance to interrupt. They’re not cool with Foley humiliating him last week on national TV because Foley is a joke, JUST LIKE AMERICA!

We talk about Iraq some more (egads here we go again) and now it’s time to humiliate Foley. That’s why he’s going to salute the French flag or violence will ensue. Foley likes French fries, French toast and French’s mustard but he doesn’t like La Resistance. He’s not saluting the flag tonight so it’s almost on…..AND HERE’S THE ROCK! That wakes the fans up for the next year or so.

Rock isn’t sure what’s going on here because he knows Foley, he knows the people, he knows JR and King and he knows Lillian Garcia (“You still like the strudel?”) but he doesn’t know the two French guys. I think you know his reaction to their names and Rock wants to know if they were going to French kiss Foley to death. He accuses them of being a little Fifi themselves and threatens to smack their lips off their faces (that one never caught on). Dupree calls him Rocky and that doesn’t sit well with Rock.

They’re not going to win the Tag Team Titles on Sunday because one, they’re French and two, they suck. The French Army sucks too (and for some reason sounds like a Japanese stereotype) and would have surrendered to anyone. A tag match is teased until Foley calls the team the Sock N Rock Connection, which doesn’t sit well with Rock. The French guys jump them as they argue over the name but Rock remembers that he’s the Rock, meaning it’s time to nip up and beat the heck out of Dupree.

Mr. Socko sets up the spinebuster and People’s Elbow. Conway gets an Elbow of his own (from Foley this time) and Foley loads up Rock’s catchphrase. That is NOT cool though so Rock shows him how the tongue is supposed to go. Posing ensues and Rock even signs the Austin petition. This was a lot of fun and exactly the kind of a surprise that we needed after the boring stuff that goes on around here most weeks. Rock and Foley are always fun together and this was a blast all over again as it’s so rare to see Rock respect someone.

Bischoff has had Rock escorted from the building and makes Goldberg vs. Kane a lumberjack match with Bischoff himself picking the lumberjacks.

Booker T./Hurricane/Rosey vs. Mark Henry/Scott Steiner/Test

No Stacy Keibler in sight. Rosey runs Test over to start and drops a splash for two. It’s off to Hurricane for a rather positive reaction but Test tilt-a-whirl slams him down for some right hands. Steiner comes in for the push-up elbow and threatens Rosey with the same. A missed elbow allows the hot tag to Booker so house can be cleaned. The Spinarooni looks to set up the ax kick on Test but Henry comes in and runs people over as we take a break. Back with Henry dropping some big elbows and grabbing the chinlock.

Booker fights up but his rights and lefts have no effect. Henry’s clothesline gets two with Hurricane making the save and Steiner comes back in to some major booing. A forearm to the back keeps Booker down and Test slaps on a bearhug. Booker gets out with a spinebuster and brings in Hurricane to clean house. Hurricane’s neckbreaker drops Test but Henry comes in and runs him over, setting up the bearhug to knock Hurricane out for the win.

Rating: D. This was longer than it needed to be at nearly fifteen minutes, which didn’t help anyone but Henry. I know they’re going for the big monster push, but coming right after he lost to Goldberg isn’t the best strategy. He’s fine for what he is, but the bearhug and the monster offense feels like it’s out of the Hogan of the 1980s playbook.

Post match Booker gets bearhugged out as well.

Sign the petition!

Bischoff makes Evolution and Henry the lumberjacks.

The announcers recap the evening and run down the pay per view card.

Molly Holly/Victoria vs. Trish Stratus/Lita

Joined in progress with Trish chopping Molly in the corner as Jericho and Christian are watching from the ramp. A dropkick gives Trish two but Victoria gets in a knee from the apron. The spinning side slam gives Victoria two as Jericho wants Trish to show him what she has. It’s already back to Molly who powerbombs Trish to break up a hurricanrana attempt. Trish avoids a charge though and the hot tag brings in Lita for a monkey flip and an STO (there’s a combination you don’t often see). Cue Matt Hardy for a distraction though, allowing Molly and Victoria to hit a side slam/belly to back combo to pin Lita.

Rating: D+. Another uninspired match, as you probably guessed given how fast it had to go. Molly and Victoria have nothing going on, to the point where I completely forgot that Molly was Women’s Champion. Trish and Lita were the story of course here, and I’m almost scared to see what’s going to happen in the mixed tag.

Kane vs. Goldberg

Non-title lumberjack match. Goldberg goes right for him with heavy right hands and a shoulder but Kane sends him over the top. The obligatory lumberjack beatdown is on with JR saying they’d be in jail if not for Bischoff making them lumberjacks. Back in and Goldberg hammers away but gets thrown out again, meaning it’s time for Evolution to beat on him some more.

Kane nearly drops him on a side slam and it’s off to a sleeper. Goldberg gets up and counters the chokeslam into an FU, allowing him to send Kane outside. JR is INCENSED that the lumberjacks don’t beat on Kane so Goldberg goes outside and throws Kane back in himself. The spear is loaded up but Orton comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D. Sloppy and not much to see here but at least they stuck with the formula that makes sense for the match. Keeping it short was the right move though as Goldberg is best used in short bursts. Sunday’s title match doesn’t do much for me but the triple threat lets HHH (who has managed to miss a good portion of the build while filming a movie) get the title back again without repeating the same match for what, the fourth time? Who cares if it’s not interesting for the fans?

The beat down is on so here are Rob Van Dam and Booker T. to get taken out as well. Shawn Michaels is in for the save with a “straight martial arts kick” (better known as Sweet Chin Music to everyone but JR) to Flair. Sweet Chin Music (JR got it that time) to Kane sets up the spear to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Rock’s segment came close to shaving this show but there’s only so much you can do on the go home show for a pay per view as lifeless as Sunday’s. This show is dying for someone with some energy near the top of the show as Goldberg is pretty obviously just holding the title for HHH and after that it’s a bunch of midcarders trying to be next in line to lose to HHH. That’s been the case for way too long now and it’s dragged the rest of the show down.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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 8, 2018
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s Money in the Bank season and qualifying matches are in the air. Last night’s Monday Night Raw saw three qualifying matches and tonight Smackdown will equal that amount with three matches already announced. Unfortunately they’re not the most intriguing matches but at least they’re getting them out of the way early. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Backlash if you need a recap.

Here’s Paige to open things up. After recapping Backlash (erg, enough), it’s time to talk about Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles. The match was on its way towards being a classic (not exactly) when the double low blow stopped things. We’ll be back to that later but for now it’s time to talk about Money in the Bank. She needs the best in the match so we’ll start….now.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz

Non-title. Miz cranks on the arm to start as the announcers talk about Miz’s history in the Money in the Bank match. Jeff sends him outside and hits Poetry in Motion against the barricade but it’s way too early for the Swanton. We take a break and come back with Jeff holding an armbar as the pace stays slow. The Reality Check gets two on Jeff but he elbows out of a Skull Crushing Finale attempt.

They head outside with Jeff getting the better of a slugout as the sleeves of Jeff’s shirt make me want a rainbow pop. The legdrop between the legs and the Twisting Stunner rock Miz but again he gets out of the way before the Swanton. Miz slams him neck first onto the apron and we take another break.

Back again with Jeff jawbreaking his way out of a chinlock and getting two off the Whisper in the Wind. A baseball slide knocks Miz to the floor but again he avoids the Swanton, this time with a good crotching. Instead it’s a sunset bomb for two as the back and forth continues. The Twist of Fate gets two and a corner dropkick sets up Hardiac Arrest (the other corner dropkick). Another Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton for real this time, but Miz rolls him up for the pin at 20:16.

Rating: B. First of all, good back and forth match. Now for the problem (and I’d bet on this being right): this isn’t going to mean a thing as far as the US Title is confirmed. The champion just got pinned clean and I have a feeling we’re not going to hear a word about Miz wanting to be champion. Money in the Bank has done this before and it makes things all the dumber. Miz just pinned the US Champion clean and I’d be actually surprised if anything happens to the title as a result. I really hope I’m wrong, but odds are that’s where this is going.

Sheamus is eating Lucky Charms because it’s all that makes him feel better after losing to Xavier Woods last week. Cesaro compares it to a hawk losing a mouse between its claws. Sheamus: “I know! I was in the match!” Cesaro says he could have won so he agrees to face Woods tonight as well. He opens his bag and finds….pancakes. Sheamus finds the same thing and panic ensues. I like New Day a lot but WHY ARE PANCAKES FUNNY???

Sanity is coming.

We look at stills of Nakamura vs. Styles.

Renee Young talks to Nakamura, who isn’t cleared for competition tonight. In regards to the issues being over, no speak English. I mean, he knew it before but he’s forgotten it. As for AJ, they’re both nuts (laugh from the crowd) and they’re not finished.

Carmella screeches about beating Charlotte and it’s time to party. She’ll be celebrating next week in London. The Royal Family isn’t invited, just like Ric Flair isn’t invited. Speaking of Flair, did you know he has a daughter? Carmella beat her on Sunday.

Tye Dillinger says seven competitors down on the mat plus one contract plus one ladder plus one person left equals a perfect ten.

Naomi is going to make whomever is champion feel the Glow.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Charlotte vs. Peyton Royce

Before the match, Billie says Charlotte’s loss made her uncle overcome his stutter because he was laughing so hard. Peyton tries to imitate the look but it’s only funny when Charlotte does it. They lock up to start with Charlotte shoving her around. A toss to the floor takes us to an early break. Back with Peyton grabbing a chinlock before choking in the corner. A half nelson over the ropes with her legs has Charlotte in even more trouble and we hit another chinlock. Charlotte fights up with a neckbreaker by the hair but misses a big boot (but Peyton doesn’t sell it like Carmella did on Sunday).

A rollup gets two on Peyton and Charlotte dives onto Billie, leaving Peyton to grab a swinging neckbreaker on the floor. The referee gets distracted by Peyton so Billie can snap Charlotte’s neck across the top, setting up a spinning kick to the face for two. Charlotte is right back with the big boot, only to have the moonsault hit knees. Royce kicks the knee out for two but gets speared down. The Figure Eight makes Peyton tap at 12:56.

Rating: B-. This was a nice surprise, if nothing else as I was getting worried that Charlotte would lose back to back matches. They went with the right call here though as Charlotte is more interesting and you can put Billie in the match later. Just having one of them in there basically means they’re both in there and that’s all you need.

Daniel Bryan is ready to go win the Money in the Bank briefcase again because he cashed in the briefcase right here in Baltimore.

Shelton says he’ll win the briefcase.

Asuka says she’ll win the briefcase.

Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro

Hang on though as Big E. and Kofi have to throw out pancakes. Woods hits and moves but stops himself from running into the referee, allowing Cesaro to run him over. There’s a gutwrench suplex and we take a break. Back with Woods kicking him down and a wheelbarrow faceplant getting two. Sheamus gets on the apron but Big E. throws pancakes at him, allowing Kofi to hit a dive from the apron. The distraction lets Cesaro uppercut Woods out of the air for the pin at 7:07.

Rating: D+. Ok, enough with the pancakes. I don’t know if I’m just not getting the joke but it seems to be just more and more pancakes no matter what the situation is. That was funny for a little while but now it’s just an object that’s the joke instead of whatever was behind the object. Either come up with a reason they’re funny or come up with something that is funny, because this is annoying.

AJ Styles is still coming for Nakamura because it’s still about the title.

We see a bunch of destroyed action figures of tag teams. The Bludgeon Brothers say they have their own set of toys so come play with them. They smash the camera with their hammers.

Becky Lynch vs. Mandy Rose

In the back, Paige says Sonya Deville can’t go out there with Mandy. An early kick to the face gives Mandy two but a chinlock doesn’t last long. The Disarm-Her attempt sends Mandy outside so Becky catches her with the Bexploder instead. Becky’s bouncing kick out of the corner is broken up though and Mandy sends her throat first into the ropes for the pin at 2:26.

Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega debut next week.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev

Bryan starts in on the legs early on and kicks the arm out for good measure. Some more kicks sends Rusev outside so Bryan tries the suicide dive, only to be caught and thrown over the announcers’ table as we take a break. Back with Rusev throwing him around some more but getting dropkicked in the corner.

The Spinning Rock Bottom doesn’t work so Rusev kicks him in the head for two instead. A quick YES Lock sends Rusev bailing to the ropes and Aiden English is rather relieved. Rusev heads outside so Bryan hits the running knee off the apron for two. Back in and the running knee misses, setting up a Machka Kick to give Rusev the completely clean pin at 11:20.

Rating: C+. Uh…..huh? I’m not sure how the reaction to this one is going to go as Rusev winning a big match is nice, but Bryan losing clean almost has to be leading somewhere. You don’t have Bryan come in here and lose like that, but maybe they have something planned. If nothing else, I’m sure Miz has something to say about that loss.

Bryan looks devastated to end the show. It certainly seems like they have something planned there.

Overall Rating: C+. As usual, I’m not thrilled with the Money in the Bank season but at least most of the wrestling was good tonight. The Bryan loss is more perplexing than anything else but I could go for finding out where they’re heading with it. We’ve got four weeks of build to the pay per view left and that could go in a lot of directions, which is a good problem to have. Nice show this week, but more importantly it has me wondering about some things.

Results

The Miz b. Jeff Hardy – Rollup

Charlotte b. Peyton Royce – Figure Eight

Cesaro b. Xavier Woods – Uppercut

Mandy Rose b. Becky Lynch – Neck snap across the top rope

Rusev b. Daniel Bryan – Machka Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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 7, 2018
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

We’re coming off….whatever Backlash was supposed to be last night and that means it’s time to start setting up Money in the Bank. Aside from the weeks of singles matches between the qualifiers and that same song that they’ve used for at least five years now, I’m not sure what else we have coming up. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Kurt Angle to get things going, walking past the ladders on the stage on the way. Angle talks about how WWE never stops, fifty two weeks a year (tell me about it). That brings us to Money in the Bank qualifying matches, which start tonight with two triple threat matches. First up we’ll have Ember Moon vs. Ruby Riott vs. Sasha Banks, followed by Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn.

Cue Braun Strowman to interrupt and ask about when he was a kid and all of his friends built a tree house. No one asked him to help and he had to listen to them talk about their secret handshake to get into the tree house. Then one day, he waited until they were all in the tree house and knocked the whole tree down. With the story of attempted/successful murder out of the way, Angle thinks Strowman should deserve a shot (what kind of shot isn’t specified) at Money in the Bank.

Cue Kevin Owens (Happy Birthday) to point out that Sami wasn’t legal last night so Strowman isn’t on a roll. The only thing Strowman deserves is to go to a giant corner so he can reflect on how he’s been a very bad monster! Strowman offers Owens his hands but Kevin isn’t interested. Instead he talks about how Stephanie McMahon is watching and thinks he should be entered straight into the ladder match. Angle makes a qualifying match between Owens and Strowman, which starts RIGHT NOW. Well after the break but close enough.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman shoves Owens away to start, knocking the referee down in the process. Some whips into the corner knock Owens down twice in a row before sending him outside. Owens tries to bail into the crowd but manages to catch Strowman in a tornado DDT. Strowman beats the count at eight and Owens is losing his mind. Back in and Strowman hits him in the chest but Owens sends him outside again as we take a break. We come back with Strowman hitting the same kind of knockdown as he did earlier, only to get kicked in the head.

Owens gets two off a backsplash but Strowman pops up with a big boot. Strowman misses a charge into the corner and it’s a superkick into the bullfrog splash for two more. There’s another superkick but the Pop Up Powerbomb just isn’t happening. Instead it’s a splash in the corner and Owens bails outside. The running gag continues with Strowman shouldering him down three times in a row. Back in and the running powerslam sends Strowman to the ladder match at 8:42.

Rating: C. This wasn’t too bad with Owens getting in some offense before falling short. Strowman should be on his way to the Universal Title so hopefully this is a step in the right direction. However, there’s a good chance that Strowman is the guy who gets close to winning and comes up short while Lesnar holds the title for the better part of ever. You know, longer than he already has.

Roman Reigns says he’s the uncrowned Universal Champion. Tonight he’s going to qualify for Money in the Bank and then get his title.

Bayley wants to hug the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Breezango wants the golden ticket in the briefcase. Fandango: “I thought it was a contract.”

Goldust wants to go to Money in the Bank but here’s Jinder Mahal to interrupt. He wants to be in the triple threat match instead of Reigns so Angle gives him a match with Chad Gable. If Mahal wins, Angle will consider it.

No Way Jose/Titus Worldwide vs. Revival/Baron Corbin

But remember: Vince loves Corbin. Titus throws Wilder around to start before it’s off to Apollo for a suplex on Dawson. Corbin comes in to beat the heck out of Crews, including sending him face first into the apron. Dawson comes back in under more favorable circumstances with an abdominal stretch. That’s broken up and everything breaks down with Crews being low bridged to the floor. Corbin makes a blind tag as Jose hits the pop up punch on Dawson. End of Days knocks Jose silly for the pin at 4:59.

Rating: D. Pretty messy match here with Corbin hopefully wrapping things up with Jose (I like Jose but he’s WAY out of his league with Corbin). This feels more like just throwing people out there for the sake of filling in some time, which isn’t quite what you would be hoping for from Corbin. Not very good either, which isn’t helping things.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Ruby Riott vs. Ember Mon vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha and Ember get together to start and take Riott down, only to have Banks roll Moon up for two. Some rather athletic armdrags have Banks in trouble but Riott comes back in to send Sasha face first into the middle buckle. Sasha gets sent outside again as we hear about how successful Money in the Bank cash-ins have been. A double DDT plants Sasha and Moon for two each and it’s off to a chinlock on Moon. That’s broken up with a jawbreaker but here’s Sasha back in to run people over.

Banks stops to dive onto the Riott Squad though, allowing Riott to run her over. Moon hits a heck of a suicide dive for two on Riott as the fans are distracted by something in the crowd, which gets a YOU DESERVE IT chant. Back in and Banks gets two off a sunset flip with the Riott Squad coming in for the legal save. Cue Bayley to help Sasha but the Squad takes her out as well. Moon heads up top for an Eclipse to both Banks and Riott at the same time for the pin on Riott at 10:23.

Rating: D. This felt like an indy match with a bunch of disjointed spots and no flow to the match whatsoever. Moon winning is the right call as Riott could be getting a title shot at the pay per view and Sasha will possibly be busy with Bayley, or in the match later on. This wasn’t a good match though and the ending wasn’t as exciting as it should have been.

Post break, Ember promises to rise up and grab the briefcase.

Video on Bobby Lashley.

Lashley gets a sitdown interview, talking about his family, including his parents and sisters. At one point his sister’s security towel (instead of security blanket) was taken away by some bullies so he took care of them. We wrap it up with Lashley saying hello to his sisters. So….Lashley is a family man when he’s not a monster. Got it. Not sure if I want it, but got it.

Sami and Kevin aren’t sure about trusting each other but Owens reluctantly agrees to have Sami’s back in the triple threat tonight. Sami is rather pleased.

Chad Gable vs. Jinder Mahal

Gable wastes no time in getting two off a rollup, only to have Jinder knock him down without much effort. We hit a bearhug of all things on Gable before Mahal sends him chest first into the corner. Gable pops up top with the moonsault press for a close two, followed by an even closer rollup for the same. Not that it matters as the superkick sets up the Khallas to give Jinder the pin at 4:12.

Rating: D+. And there’s your 50/50 booking. Gable could go somewhere while Mahal has gone as high as he’s going to go, so let’s have Mahal win here for the sake of the two of them tying everything up. I’m so glad we wasted so much time to get us right back where we started too. It was a great use of Raw time.

Post match Mahal beats on Gable some more

Alexa Bliss promises to win the briefcase to become champion and beat the bully Nia Jax once and for all.

Ascension promises to win the briefcase. Wait is there a tag team MITB match that I didn’t hear about?

Zack Ryder wants to be in a Money in the Bank qualifying match in his hometown when Mahal comes in to demand the triple threat be turned into a four way. Angle says Woo Woo Woo, the answer is no, bro. Ryder is pleased despite not being put in a match either.

Heath Slater/Rhyno vs. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler and Rhyno start things off but it’s quickly off to Slater for a headlock. Drew comes in and gets punched a few times but kicks Slater down to take over. Ziggler tags himself back in and it’s a superkick into a reverse Alabama Slam to drop Slater. That one superkick is enough for Ziggler so it’s the Claymore/Zig Zag combination for the pin on Slater at 2:39.

Here’s Elias to talk about Bobby Roode jumping him last night. He’s not happy with Roode but hang on because the fans like Rusev Day. Elias cuts them off and sings about how Roode isn’t glorious and this city sucks.

Bobby Roode vs. Elias

Roode wastes no time with an enziguri putting Elias on the floor as we take an early break. Back with Elias backdropping him and hammering away in the corner. We hit a Crossface of all things (closer to a Banks Statement actually) to keep Roode down but he snaps off a spinebuster for a breather.

A backbreaker stops Roode and Cole confirms that there will be eight people in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match with four from each show. Wait wouldn’t that suggest just two ladder matches? SWEET! Elias loads up a ram into the buckle but gets kicked away. Roode can’t follow up though, allowing Elias to talk some trash. He talks a bit too much though and it’s the Glorious DDT for the pin at 10:26.

Rating: D+. Another match with potential Money in the Bank implications and not much going on otherwise because you can just throw that blanket over everything for the sake of not having to come up with anything else. Not a very good match, but that’s been the case for a long time for Roode now.

Post break Roode says he hopes that’s enough to get into the Money in the Bank picture because winning the ladder match will be GLORIOUS.

Here’s Seth Rollins to talk about how he’s a fighting champion and wants someone else to face for the title. After last night against Miz, he needs a new challenge so it’s Open Challenge time.

Intercontinental Title: Mojo Rawley vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending, we get Big Match Intros and Mojo is greeted with WE WANT RYDER chants. Rawley wastes no time in knocking Rollins outside and running him over, including a shoulder to send him into the barricade. Back from a break with Mojo throwing him down and talking more trash. A Downward Spiral into the middle buckle rocks Rawley and a clothesline puts him on the floor.

Back to back suicide dives hit Rawley and the Blockbuster gets two back inside. Rawley is right back with a spinebuster for two and frustration sets in at a rather fast pace. The low superkick gives Seth two but Mojo’s fireman’s carry faceplant gets the same. One heck of a Pounce knocks Seth into the corner but he’s right back up with a ripcord knee. A superkick to the ribs sets up the Stomp for the pin to retain at 10:56.

Rating: C. I like the booking here as they could go a long way with Rollins doing the weekly match against some random person. It’s not like Rawley has anything else going on and it’s not like he has anything to lose here. Rollins is on a roll right now and can do almost no wrong so let him elevate someone, even if it’s just for a week at a time.

Finn Balor says the victory at Money in the Bank will be so much sweeter.

Curtis Axel/Bo Dallas vs. Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt

Non-title and Axel/Dallas might be known as Stay Tuned. Bray runs Axel over to start as Graves goes over the history between Bray and Matt, going back thousands of years for as complete a version as possible. Axel blocks a Twist of Fate and DDTs Matt to give Dallas two. It’s off to Bray to run people over, followed by a kick to knock Dallas off the apron. Axel dives into a release Rock Bottom and a double Downward Spiral is good for the pin at 2:40.

Natalya promises to bring the MITB contract home to her cat.

Baron Corbin says he’s winning the contract again.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn

Sami yells at Reigns to start and gets punched in the face to send him outside. Balor speeds things up and dropkicks Reigns down for two as the announcers debate how important Money in the Bank is compared to the rest of the year. More right hands drop Balor and Zayn as we take an early break. Back with Balor stomping on Reigns until Sami grabs a rollup for two.

There’s a Samoan drop to put Zayn on the floor with Balor on the opposite side. The fans start a TOO SWEET chant and the double beating is on to one of the strongest reactions of the night. Even Balor and Sami seem taken aback by the YES chants. The three head into the crowd and the fans are annoyed when Reigns comes back. A Helluva Kick knocks Reigns into the tech area and the other two head back inside to kill time until Reigns spears one of them.

The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Sami two but Balor fights back and they head to the floor. The fans start booing and I think you know what that means. Cue Reigns diving over the barricade to take Sami out but Balor drops Reigns again. Back in and Reigns hits the Superman Punch on Sami. The Sling Blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Reigns rolls away. Instead it’s another Superman Punch but here’s Mahal to trip Reigns. The distraction lets Sami hit the Helluva Kick to drop Reigns but Balor hit the shotgun dropkick and Coup de Grace on Sami for the pin at 15:25.

Rating: C. I like the surprise ending, if nothing else for the sake of needing to see Jinder vs. Reigns, potentially in Chicago, where the fans might be so confused that they break into small camps and stage full revivals of Broadway classics instead of watching the match. Balor going on makes sense and the question about where Owens was is interesting as well. One last question: is there a clause in Roman’s contract that lets him have a break during every multi-man match? It seems to happen every time.

Overall Rating: D. Oh yeah it’s Money in the Bank season. You can tell as all that matters is qualifying for the match (hopefully just two of them, though a tag team one doesn’t seem to be out of the question) and the wrestling doesn’t mean much outside of just trying to get into the match. I didn’t hate the show, but next week’s England show and the following week’s show featuring even more jet lag isn’t going to help the talent feeling burned out. This show felt long again, but nowhere near as bad as last night’s mess.

Results

Braun Strowman b. Kevin Owens – Running powerslam

Baron Corbin/Revival b. No Way Jose/Titus Worldwide – End of Days to Jose

Ember Moon b. Ruby Riott and Sasha Banks – Eclipse to Riott

Jinder Mahal b. Chad Gable – Khallas

Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler b. Heath Slater/Rhyno – Claymore/Zig Zag combination to Slater

Bobby Roode b. Elias – Glorious DDT

Seth Rollins b. Mojo Rawley – Stomp

Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt b. Curtis Axel/Bo Dallas – Double Downward Spiral to Axel

Finn Balor b. Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns – Coup de Grace to Zayn

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

Originally, I was going to write this article for Friday, solely based on this tiny storyline going on in NXT. Then I read Cordova’s Commentary on the “Not So” Greatest Royal Rumble. Great read on the women. Then I saw Impact. Then I saw Backlash. It seemed like I was getting more and more fodder for this. You know the drill with main roster WWE. Their love of buzzwords, twisting perception, etc. But one buzzword that actually seems to resonate with many in a positive manner is “Women’s Revolution”. In short, Women’s wrestling in North-American TV no longer sucks. It’s no longer about their looks. Not that those are bad things, but {most} wrestling fans have grown to be sophisticated and long for quality in the ring. You can’t blind them with just being tall on in the case of females, by having a large rack. WWE has in fact developed a complete generation of women and are already working on the second one. Just look at NXT the past few weeks.

Since Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title, we’ve gotten a completely clean slate on the division. There is no more Ember Moon who could be seen as the last of the first generation of women in NXT. She carried what Asuka left. Her streak, her dominance and before her was Bayley with the rest of the 4 Horsewomen. NXT is now starting clean, introducing us to the likes of Lacey Evans, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair and one that has struck a cord with me lately: Dakota Kai.

See, Dakota has something I consider odd. When you binge Raw, Smackdown, 205, NXT and whatever other show WWE musters, you notice trends. And Dakota is breaking one by showing something a lot (and I mean A LOT) of people refuse to show in wrestling. Fear. She fears Shayna Baszler who broke her arm twice. Now to the “muy macho” world of WWE and pro wrestling at large, fear can be seen as synonymous with weakness. A big no-no for them. It shatters their image of manliness. Or wo-manliness here. Provided Saudi Arabia doesn’t make a generous donation. But fear is not a sign of weakness. No, it is a very powerful storytelling device that can show many things. Perseverance. Courage. Self-Improvement. That all starts with fear and can give a very dynamic story. Something you can see in say Jessica Jones where she fears Killgrave (The Purple Man for us real nerds) for the horrible things he did to her. That’s just one of many examples. But it gives Dakota Kai a point of interest and something very different to the norm. And if I do say so, a very positive story about how to deal with bullying if it does end up with Dakota eventually beating Baszler. It’ll certainly be better than Nia Jax dominating Alexa Bliss and then giving a pre-written Be A Star ad, that’s for sure.

But hey, that’s not the only dynamic story involving women on TV. Nope. Our pals on Impact Wrestling are also having their own “out of nowhere” renaissance of women’s wrestling. With Allie, Rosemary, Taya Valkyrie and Su Yung on top, Tessa Blanchard coming in, Kiera Hogan being an out of nowhere surprised. Last week Impact gave us something different when they headlined with Rosemary vs Su Yung. No, it wasn’t different because women closed the show. No, beforehand we saw what felt like a genuine friendship. Allie begging to help her best friend Rosemary who in turn, refused. Worried for her friend’s safely. The match takes place and Su Yung summons a casket. Planning to throw Rosemary in there, but Allie appears against the wishes of her friend to help. But just as Rosemary predicted, Allie falls in danger. But Su Yung ends up attacking Rosemary, driving her through a table as her best friend is forced to watch in horror. Now what? Allie disobeyed. Rosemary is hurt. Su Yung is still getting the upper hand. Is Allie heartbroken thinking this is all her fault? That is a gripping story right there. There’s emotions for you to grasp.

What’s Raw offering? Well, while people can relate to Nia Jax being bullied for her weight, that goes straight to the dumpster when you see her dominate a person a third of her size. As Backlash showed, fan’s did not buy it or her phony Be A Star promo afterwards. And what’s Smackdown offering? Not Asuka’s streak. Not a strong Charlotte reign. Nope. WWE decided to trade all that in favor of Carmella. Who in her second singles match of 2018 (besides the cash in) had a terrible match with Charlotte. That is what was selected to follow one of the best women’s matches in WWE history. It certainly was the best in Wrestlemania.

What’s my point? Well, it’s simple. The true appreciation for the “Women’s Revolution” doesn’t come from Raw and Smackdown who are yet to shake all the cobwebs of their “Divas” days. No, it still comes from the alternatives. Time will tell how WOH will shape up in ROH. But for now, if you want your women to be as dynamic if not more given the two examples above, than the men, you’re better off searching for it in NXT and Impact. It’s great that women now get to have big time matches and have prominent spots on your rosters but, we as fans also crave good storytelling to go with it and WWE’s main roster is just not delivering right now while it’s developmental field continues to show them up and now the same company that let themselves go for 5 years and fell on hard times is actually picking itself up to offer something WWE doesn’t yet again with it’s own new crop of women.

==

Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.

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IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: May 3, 2018
Location: Bell Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

The busiest month in WWE continues with this show featuring the highlights of this week where everyone other than the women and Sami Zayn were exhausted from the travel schedule. I’m not sure what to expect from this show but that’s been the case on Main Event several times now. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik vs. Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher

Dorado and Kendrick get things going with Brian taking him down, much to the fans’ annoyance. Lince speeds things up a bit by jumping over Kendrick and handing it off to Metalik as the masked ones take over. Unfortunately that means we hear more of Kalisto’s noisemaker on the floor so the bad outweighs the good. A jawbreaker staggers Dorado though and it’s off to Gallagher for some right hands.

Gallagher gets two off a clothesline and it’s back to Kendrick for the mock Lucha Dance. The copyright infringement kick (also known as an enziguri) puts Kendrick down and the hot tag brings in Metalik. That means a rope walk dropkick for two as everything breaks down. A double Golden Rewind sets up Metalik’s rope walk elbow for the pin at 4:56.

Rating: C-. Just a run of the mill cruiserweight tag match here but Lucha House Party is fine for a match like this. I’m still not wild on Kendrick and Gallagher but WWE certainly sees something in them. Hopefully we don’t get the cruiserweight Tag Team Titles as the more I think about them, the more I think they’re a bad idea. The division is barely deep enough for one title and tag titles would just get in the way even more.

From Raw.

Here’s Roman Reigns to some of the loudest non-Wrestlemania booing I’ve ever heard for him. The announcers give the “we’re in Canada” disclaimer, even saying this crowd is like the one after Wrestlemania. Reigns says he’s not making any excuses and talks about a tweet from the referee who said he made a mistake at the end of the cage match last week. He should be the Universal Champion but he’s not, yet.

Reigns promises he’ll be champion one day but here’s Samoa Joe on the screen to disagree. Joe promises to put Reigns’ dead career to sleep and here’s Jinder Mahal of all people to say he was cheated out of the United States Title. On Sunday, Reigns will be put to sleep but tonight, he’s losing to the modern day Maharajah. Cue Sami Zayn to the loudest pop of his WWE career with the fans singing his song.

Zayn cites a case of vertigo for not being at the Greatest Royal Rumble but he’s feeling much better tonight. That’s why he’ll be the one to take on Roman Reigns, drawing a heck of a YES chant. Now it’s Kevin Owens coming out to another major face pop (the Fleur-de-Lis version of his KO shirt helps a lot). Owens speaks French and draw a OUI chant, which is made even louder when he says he should face Owens tonight.

The three of the all want to face Reigns so let’s flip a coin. Actually hang on because he doesn’t have a coin and a coin only has two sides. Instead we’ll make it a popularity contest, which seems to be won by Owens. The beatdown is on but here’s Bobby Lashley for the attempted save. Cue Braun Strowman for the real save and we’ve probably got a six man for later.

From later in the night.

Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens/Jinder Mahal

Reigns and Mahal open things up and the fans just LOATHE Roman. Sami comes in before any contact and the fans are far more entertained. Owens gets the same treatment and it’s back to Sami again, who gets cheered just for kicking Reigns in the ribs. Roman hits a double apron dropkick to send us to a break.

Back with Reigns driving Mahal into the corner so Lashley can come in for some clotheslines. Lashley gets taken into the corner for a stomping from Sami but a neckbreaker gets him out of trouble in short order. Owens comes in to stomp away and prevent the tag and the fans are very pleased.

We hit the chinlock and another inset promo, this time about AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. Back to full screen with the chinlock continuing until Lashley suplexes his way to freedom. Reigns comes in to such a quiet hot tag that I didn’t realize he had come in. Clotheslines in the corner abound and a shot to the face puts Sami in even more trouble. Owens kicks Reigns in the ribs and gets two off a DDT as we take another break.

Back again with Reigns still in trouble, including Owens’ Vader Bomb elbow connecting for two. It’s off to another chinlock for a bit until Reigns gets in a Superman Punch. Jinder decks Lashley off the apron but gets Samoan dropped. Strowman finally comes in and runs Owens over on the floor, just like last week. Sami gets the same treatment but Owens sidesteps a second attempt. That earns him a whip into the barricade, leaving Jinder to send Strowman shoulder first into the post. Reigns spears Mahal and Strowman is right back up to powerslam Owens for the pin at 20:56.

Rating: C. This was the long tag match that you would expect when they’re coming back off a long international tour and everyone (save for Sami) is worn out. At least they went with the most over guy on the team (most of the time at least) getting the pin. Owens and Zayn felt like stars here though and I could go for them as a top face team down the line. Good match here, but you can tell they’re all exhausted.

From Raw again.

Intercontinental Title: Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending. They head outside in a hurry with Rollins nailing the suicide dive into the barricade as we take a very abrupt break. Back with Rollins holding a chinlock until Balor is up with the running forearm. Rollins scores with a Blockbuster but another suicide dive is blocked with a kick to the head. I love it when they learn during a match.

A DDT gives Balor two more and the Eye of the Hurricane is good for the same. Rollins is right back up with a jumping knee to the face but Balor kicks him down again. The Coup de Grace is broken up with another kick to the head and Rollins hits the superkick. Rollins’ superplex connects but Finn hits his own Falcon Arrow for a crazy close two.

With both guys spent and the crowd WAY into this, they trade kicks to the head with Rollins going to the floor. Balor adds a running flip dive, followed by the shotgun dropkick back inside. The Coup de Grace misses but so does the Stomp. Balor rolls him up for two and hits (mostly) a Sling Blade. Rollins is back up with a superkick though and the Stomp retains the title at 15:28.

Rating: B+. This took its time to get going but its last six or seven minutes were outstanding. I was thinking they would go with the title change here to set up another triple threat match. They’re doing something good with Rollins here and that could pay off very hard in the long run, especially when he gets back to the main event.

Video on the Greatest Royal Rumble.

Breezango vs. Revival

Dash and Fandango start things off with Wilder running him over and stopping to dance a bit. Fandango blocks a sunset flip and swivels the hips a bit, setting up a legdrop for two. It’s off to Breeze vs. Dawson with the former taking him down into an armbar. A sleeper works as well as it’s going to in a low level tag match and Revival takes over on Breeze. The armbar doesn’t last long so it’s a knee to the back to put Breeze down as we take a break.

Back with Breeze fighting out of an abdominal stretch and enziguring Dash. Dawson gets kicked to the floor and the diving tag brings in Fandango. Heel miscommunication lets Fandango DDT Wilder and dropkick Dawson at the same time. Dawson uppercuts Breeze into an uppercut from Wilder for two but Fandango gets in a shot from behind, setting up the Unprettier to end Dawson at 10:43.

Rating: C+. That’s one of the best Main Event matches I’ve seen in a very long time with both teams working hard and looking good, which is a lot more than you can ask for most of the time on this show. Unfortunately neither is likely getting close to the titles because that’s not how Main Event works. It’s a shame too, as both teams are quite good and looked solid here.

We run down the Backlash card.

From Smackdown.

Here’s AJ Styles to talk to Renee Young in the ring. AJ says he’s trying to defend the title and Nakamura is more interested in the wrong jewels. Now Nakamura wants a public apology so AJ should have left him sucking sand in the desert. He’s fine with the No DQ stipulation on Sunday because AJ can break rules too. On Sunday, a low blow will be the least of Nakamura’s worries. If Nakamura wants an apology, he can come get one.

Cue Samoa Joe to say that AJ needs to pay better attention to the more important match. After he puts Reigns to sleep on Sunday, he’s coming for whoever leaves with the WWE Championship. Oh….I think I can go for this. Nakamura’s music hits and Joe is ready but we cut to the ring where Nakamura hits AJ low again. Kinshasa knocks AJ silly for good measure and Nakamura holds up the title. I fully support Joe becoming more involved with the World Title situation.

Overall Rating: B-. As sick as I am of Backlash and all the stories that they have going on there, I was digging this week’s show. They did a good job with the slightly better original matches and offered the best of the week. Just shortening the amount of material that we have to deal with helped a lot, but unfortunately that’s not going to be the case as we go forward because, as usual, quantity equals quality in WWE.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2018
Date: May 6, 2018
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Jonathan Coachman, Tom Phillips

Yes it’s another big show as we’re closing in on the end of the longest month in WWE history. This is the third part of the Wrestlemania and Greatest Royal Rumble trilogy, meaning it’s time to redeem Roman Reigns. Again. Other than that we have AJ Styles defending the Smackdown World Title against Shinsuke Nakamura for the third time this month. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Ruby Riott vs. Bayley

The Riott Squad is in Ruby’s corner and there’s no Sasha Banks, despite Bayley asking her to be here. They fight over a headlock to start but Bayley takes him down, only to miss an elbow. A Sarah Logan distraction lets Ruby get in an STO and we take a break. Back with Ruby dropping a knee and grabbing a chinlock. Logan offers another distraction to cut off a comeback, followed by Riott sending Bayley face first into the middle buckle.

It’s off to a cravate for a bit until Bayley manages a double springboard crossbody (which only kind of hits) for two. Bayley slides outside for a hurricanrana on Logan and snaps Ruby’s throat across the ropes. The top rope elbow gets two but Liv Morgan gets on the apron, allowing Ruby to hit the Riott Kick for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C-. This was a story advancing match and that’s fine for what they had here. They basically had a Raw match and made it clear that Bayley needs Sasha around to help win this fight, even if they don’t get along. That was accomplished in about ten minutes and the crowd is warmed up rather than doing two battle royals and a title match over the course of an hour and a half. See how much better that is?

The opening video asks what Backlash is, which transitions into a discussion about how everything changes tonight with the shows being co-branded. You know, unlike Wrestlemania and Greatest Royal Rumble, which totally weren’t co-branded.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz

Miz is challenging and this is Raw vs. Smackdown. Cole already makes me scratch my head by saying the last person to switch brands with the title was Rob Van Dam in 2002. By what I can find, there have been about five such instances in between, including Dean Ambrose last year and MIZ the year before that. They fight over a wristlock to start with Rollins getting the better of it but getting kicked off the top to the floor.

Miz sends him face first into the announcers’ table and it’s chinlock time. A knee to the ribs sets up a DDT for two on Seth and it’s almost all Miz early on. Miz hits a running crotch attack to the back but Rollins sends him into the corner. A suicide dive has Miz in even more trouble and a rollup gets two. The Blockbuster gets the same and Rollins is rolling until Miz pulls him face first into the apron.

Not that it matters as Rollins kicks him down and scores with the frog splash for two. Another suicide dive is broken up with a forearm so it’s time for a slugout on the apron. The ripcord knee hits the post though (sick thud) and Miz grabs the Figure Four. With the announcers guaranteeing a new champion, Rollins turns it over for a bit but is turned back over, sending him straight to the ropes for the break. The Skull Crushing Finale is broken up and Rollins nails the enziguri.

Rating: B-. They were going for the big epic match here and that went flying out the window as soon as the Skull Crushing Finale didn’t work. At that point you knew Rollins wasn’t losing here (you could argue that was the case as soon as this was announced as brand vs. brand) and the rest was just Rollins limping between doing all of his usual stuff while WWE talked about how amazing he was. It was still good enough but nowhere near what WWE is going to present it as being.

We recap Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss. Nia won the title at Wrestlemania after dealing with Alexa bullying her for months. This turned into Bliss saying that Nia was the real bully, including some hilarious PSA style vignettes of Bliss talking about Nia being a horrible person. Tonight is the rematch with Bliss trying to get the title back.

Raw Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

Nia is defending. Bliss goes straight for the knee (she must have been watching the previous match) and tries a quickly broken sleeper. Nia bends the arm back and throws Bliss around but a kick to the head puts the champ down. A little trash talk gets Bliss in trouble as Nia puts her on her shoulders (and calls a ton of spots) until Bliss rakes the eyes.

Nia is still able to toss her off the top and then throws her from corner to corner three straight times. Egads at least don’t look like you’re stalling. Bliss shoves her off the top to break up a Vader Bomb though and a DDT on the steps knocks the champ silly. Back in and Nia tries the super Samoan drop but gets kicked in the leg to give Alexa two more. Twisted Bliss takes too long though and the Samoan drop retains Nia’s title at 10:37.

Rating: D. I get that they have to fill in time but my goodness they couldn’t miss the point with this feud any more if they tried. The two matches have combined to be about twenty minutes and they should have been about a tenth of that. Bliss shouldn’t be any sort of a physical threat to Nia but they had her get close to beating Nia multiple times, which is as dumb as you could get. The fans weren’t into this and I can’t blame them a bit as I wasn’t either. Nia isn’t an interesting champion but we’ll stick with her holding the title for now because….something about bullying.

Post match Nia says that was for everyone who has been bullied. So the solution to bullying is to grow to twice the bully’s size and beat them up?

We look at Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in the cage match at Greatest Royal Rumble.

Samoa Joe says he’ll beat Reigns tonight.

US Title: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Orton is challenging after winning a triple threat match a few weeks back. Jeff gets elbowed in the face to start and a shoulder puts him down for an early two. Back up and Jeff sends him outside for the clothesline from the apron, only to get dropkicked for two back inside. Orton sends him into the Tree of Woe and stomps away as the “methodical” pace continues. They head outside with Jeff hitting Poetry In Motion off the steps and there goes the shirt.

Back in and Orton dropkicks him outside again, setting up three straight drops onto the barricade. Inside again and this time Orton drops him onto the top rope to change the pace a bit. We hit the chinlock and the announcers bring up Orton losing the Smackdown World Title to Jinder Mahal at this show last year. In case the match wasn’t dull enough you see. The RUSEV DAY chants begin so I’m guessing you can pencil him in to lose in two minutes on Tuesday.

Jeff finally fights up and hits a basement dropkick to set up Whisper in the Wind (with Orton standing there and staring at him even as Jeff was climbing the ropes). The Twist of Fate and RKO are both countered so Orton settles for two off the powerslam. Jeff misses the slingshot dropkick in the corner (the Hardiac Arrest, which I kind of like) and Orton gets to stand there a bit longer. The hanging DDT connects but the RKO is countered into a Twist of Fate. Jeff drops the Swanton to retain at 12:02.

Rating: D. Nope. I’ve seen Orton put in more effort at a house show. This was a match I’d send back to the cook and ask him to actually try this time. It was clear that they weren’t even trying here and that makes for a very long match when there’s not much of a story in the first place. And yet, somehow this was better than the original idea of Orton vs. Mahal.

Here’s Elias for a song. Before he starts though, he talks about being friends with Bruce Springsteen, who calls him the boss and regrets being from New Jersey. Elias told Bruce to tune in tonight because Bruce is going to like his song. The fans keep applauding to prevent Elias from singing. He gets up and teases leaving over and over to draw some BOO/YAY chants until New Day cuts him off with Big E. carrying a marching band drum.

Elias: “You guys want some autographs or something?” New Day wants to walk with Elias but that means a solo performance. Elias tells Jojo to introduce him again but here’s Aiden English to cut them off with a song about how New Day needs to stick with the merchandise and Elias plays a nice guitar but today is Rusev Day.

Rusev says this isn’t about the bootleg Bob Dylan but Elias says this is his night and tells Jojo to introduce him again. Now it’s No Way Jose interrupting with a conga line, including Titus Worldwide and Breezango. Elias looks like he wants to shoot himself (I feel for you buddy) and even Graves is feeling sorry for him. Elias says cut the music and Jojo does her intro for the fourth time. This time Bobby Roode interrupts with a Glorious DDT and everyone leaves in the conga line. Well except English who Rusev cuts off.

By the way, it’s about 9:30pm EST and we have five matches left. This show is on the east coast so yes, they’re really expected to just be in the arena until after midnight on a Sunday night.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass. Bryan is back in the ring and Cass came over to Smackdown in the Superstar Shakeup. Cass is a bully to someone Bryan’s size and wants to show him how a superstar should be. For reasons unclear, Cass isn’t Miz’s new bodyguard yet.

Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan kicks at the knee to start (this is the second match of four tonight to focus on bullying and the third of four to include someone working on the knee) and tries the YES Kicks until Cass spinebusts him. Due to reasons of being rather horrible people with no taste in wrestling (or life in general), the fans want Enzo.

Cass stops to pose before hitting a loud chop up against the ropes. Bryan slips out of an over the shoulder powerbomb and kicks away in the corner but gets sent up into the air for a big crash. A running clothesline turns Bryan inside out for two but Cass misses the big boot. That’s enough to set up the big kick to the head and Bryan takes him down, hammers at the side of the head, and grabs the YES Lock for the very fast tap at 7:57.

Rating: D+. Yes that’s really it for Bryan’s single return on pay per view: a TV match with Bryan pretty easily dispatching of someone he should have pretty easily dispatched of. I’m as shocked as you are, but remember that they had to come up with something to make up for the time that was spent on the HILARIOUS segment that came between the matches.

Post match Cass beats Bryan up even more and hits the big boot.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match. Carmella cashed in Money in the Bank to take the title from Charlotte on the Smackdown after Wrestlemania and Charlotte is trying to win the title back from the less talented champion. The Iconics have been running around tormenting Charlotte as well.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Carmella vs. Charlotte

Carmella is defending and they trade struts to start. Charlotte misses a big boot so badly that I had to rewind to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. That sends Carmella to the floor (presumably with the wind knocking her down) and she tries to leave with the title, only to be sent back inside. Charlotte sends her outside but gets caught with a superkick for two. We hit the chinlock with Carmella telling the referee to ask her. She’s not Canadian enough for that.

A lot of screeching ensues, followed by Carmella cranking on both arms at once. Charlotte kicks her away but gets slammed head first onto the apron to cut her off again. Back in and Carmella tries the Staten Island Shuffle but gets speared in half. Carmella is right back with the Code of Silence (the leg Crossface) but Charlotte powers out. Charlotte goes up top for the moonsault, tweaks her knee, gets kicked in said knee, and gets rolled up for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: D. That would be four out of five matches involving a knee injury. Carmella winning clean helps a bit but every day she has the title is another day that someone like Becky Lynch doesn’t, which is rather irritating. She’s a very good character, but I’m over the “this person could be beaten at anytime” champion. The match was as tolerable as it was going to be, and that’s about as much praise as I can give the thing.

We recap the Smackdown World Title. AJ Styles beat Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the title at Wrestlemania but Nakamura turned heel and has abused Styles’ groin ever since. Tonight is No DQ with Styles wanting revenge.

And yes, this means Reigns is headlining. Again.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Styles is defending, there are no disqualifications, and this is the third time they’ve had a big match in four weeks, making it a recurring dream match. Nakamura channels his inner Kevin Owens and bails to the floor at the bell. AJ will have none of that and sends him into the barricade, followed by kicks to the back inside. They fight to the floor again with Styles sending him face and ribs first into the barricade.

Nakamura comes back by GOING AFTER THE KNEE (take a freaking shot) and hits some running knees to the head as the fans are split again. The pace slows and Nakamura gets two off a knee drop. A hard kick to the head drops AJ again and it’s off to a front facelock. The No DQ rule has only been a factor for a little bit so far and hasn’t meant anything since they’ve been back inside. The hold is let go and Nakamura kicks him to the floor. AJ starts a comeback until another shot to the knee cuts him off, followed by a dragon sleeper back inside.

That’s escaped as well and Nakamura hits a running knee in the corner. The jumping middle rope knee gets two on AJ and it’s time for a chair. AJ knocks it away but gets kicked in the head for his efforts. The reverse exploder onto the chair gets two but AJ chucks the chair at Nakamura’s knee (with the chair bouncing back into AJ’s face, drawing blood from his knee). The Calf Crusher goes on but Nakamura reverses into a triangle choke.

AJ powers up and hits a running forearm to the back of Nakamura’s head for two. There’s the low blow but AJ hits one of his own to even things out. They fight to their feet and stereo low blows take both guys down. The referee gets to ten and that’s a double knockout, meaning AJ retains at 21:12.

Rating: B-. This is where the Greatest Royal Rumble hurts things. That finish would be fine in the second match of a feud but it’s the second draw in nine days. There was zero reason to not give Nakamura the title here and now we probably have to wait for Money in the Bank for the big blowoff. The No DQ thing wasn’t much of a factor here, but that’s to be expected in something like this. I enjoyed what I saw but egads stop stretching things for the sake of stretching things.

Bobby Lashley/Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens

Fallout from some recent tag matches, including the first match between these teams a few weeks ago on Raw. Sami hides from Lashley to start before headlocking him for little success. Owens comes in, gets suplexed, and hands it back to Sami who gets sent into the announcers’ table. A dropkick knocks Lashley off the apron and the beating begins, including Sami’s chinlock. Lashley comes back with a Downward Spiral but Owens breaks up a hot tag attempt.

The actual hot tag comes in a few seconds later and it’s Strowman coming in to clean house. The chase is on with Strowman running Owens over, catching Sami to throw him into the barricade, and then running Owens over again to continue the rather running (ahem) gag. Sami loads up a Helluva Kick but opts to walk out instead. Owens talks him back into staying, but Sami throws Owens back in to face Strowman. Sami tries his luck and bails again, leaving Owens to take a spinebuster from Lashley. The delayed vertical suplex pins (the illegal) Owens at 8:20.

Rating: D. Yes, this got time on pay per view, and yes a former World Champion just got pinned by a vertical suplex. Somehow this felt even less interesting than I was expecting it to, even if it was about the same thing they did on Raw a few weeks ago. That’s this show in a nutshell though: we’ve seen it before and it’s not as interesting this time around.

Post match Sami yells as Owens takes a running powerslam.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe. In short, Roman is all sad because he can’t beat Brock Lesnar so Joe is going to choke him out of his misery.

Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns

Joe jumps him before the bell, drawing even stronger cheers than he had earlier. They fight to the floor and Joe Rock Bottoms him through the table before the match actually starts. Reigns gets thrown over two announcers’ tables but makes it into the ring, saying he can go. The bell rings and Joe hammers away in the corner, followed by a knee drop. Cole’s analysis: Reigns doesn’t want to lose tonight. We hit the neck crank with Joe saying Reigns just has to go away. So Joe is the new voice of the voiceless.

Reigns fights up but eats an enziguri in the corner for two. It’s off to another chinlock as the BORING chants start up. Joe sends him outside for the suicide elbow and we hit the armbar because this hasn’t felt long enough already. The fans try a THIS IS BORING chant before just going with the booing. Reigns fights up and hits a big boot, followed by the apron dropkick. Some clotheslines (running and corner variety) have Joe in trouble but he knocks Reigns down and gets two off the backsplash. Fans: “PLEASE DO SOMETHING!”

A spinebuster gives Reigns two but a second apron dropkick is countered into a choke. That’s broken up as well and Reigns gets two off the Superman Punch. The Rusev Day chants are cut off as Joe cuts off a spear with a kick to the head. The spear hits a few seconds later with Joe getting his foot on the ropes for two.

Another spear is blocked with another spear and the Koquina Clutch goes on. Reigns stacks him up into a rollup for two but an O’Connor Roll is countered into another Clutch. Reigns is almost out but fights up, which is enough to make Joe let the hold go for whatever reason. Back up and the spear ends Joe at 18:08.

Rating: D-. Reigns wins. Why? Because F*** YOU that’s why! This was a wreck with a huge chunk of the match being spent laying around in holds, possibly for the sake of being able to blame the bad match on Joe (Would that really shock you?) and then HAHA SPEAR FOR THE PIN. Reigns gets his win to make himself feel better while Joe loses again because who cares about Joe (or so says WWE). Totally terrible main event with the wrong ending in the wrong spot on the card in front of a crowd that did not care at all.

Overall Rating: D-. I wanted to call this a failure but the Intercontinental Title and Smackdown World Title matches just barely keep it afloat. The problem here wasn’t about the wrestling, which while bad, has been done far worse before. This was a combination of nothing happening (no title changes, little angle advancement, and AJ vs. Nakamura is continuing) and feeling like the company putting it together had never done a major show. There was never a point where I was excited or interested in what was going on here and the show felt like it was never going to be over.

Nine days ago, the Greatest Royal Rumble ran over five hours but this show felt longer. It really was so uneventful and so boring that I was trying desperately to find anything to care about by the end. I don’t know if creative is out of ideas (REALLY bad sign this close to Wrestlemania) or if the wrestlers are just spent but we’re right back where we were before Greatest Royal Rumble started. Other than Matt and Wyatt being Tag Team Champions, what has changed since then? We really are just going in a circle at this point and I’m not sure why Money in the Bank is going to make things any better.

This show was far from the worst thing I’ve ever seen but it was one of the biggest wrecks I’ve ever seen. There’s no flow to the show, there’s little logic in the booking, there’s very little that interests me, and now we’ll have to wait for Reigns to get his smile back or whatever it is that he’s doing while waiting on Lesnar’s next title match to be set up. There are some nice moments on here, but my goodness these people look like they just need a vacation soon. Let us have a nice break or change something up, because I haven’t seen them running on empty like this in a LONG time.

Results

Seth Rollins b. The Miz – Stomp

Nia Jax b. Alexa Bliss – Samoan drop

Jeff Hardy b. Randy Orton – Swanton Bomb

Daniel Bryan b. Big Cass – YES Lock

Carmella b. Charlotte – Kick to the leg

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura went to a double knockout

Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley b. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn – Suplex to Owens

Roman Reigns b. Samoa Joe – Spear

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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