WWE Releases Zelina Vega

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-releases-zelina-vega/

Are you really surprised?

Vega is one of the more prominent Twitch streamers in WWE and on Friday, she sent out a tweet saying she supported unionization. The release came less than an hour later and I’m surprised it took that long.

At the end of the day, this could be the tip of a nasty iceberg, but at the same time it also shows why forming a union is going to be really difficult: WWE can drop someone at the drop of a hat. How many wrestlers do you think would be right there waiting to take Vega’s spot and become a star on WWE’s back? I’m not saying it can’t happen, but it’s an uphill climb starting in loose rocks. WWE is being rather extreme in the Twitch battle, but at the same time, until something changes, they’re going to be able to do almost whatever they want.

Smackdown – November 6, 2020: See? It Can Be Done.

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: November 6, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

Survivor Series is coming up and since that is all about brand vs. brand, this show and its major stories are almost going to exist in a vacuum for the time being. We do however have a big title match as Sasha Banks is getting to defend her Women’s Title against Bayley in a match that could be interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long and rather nice package on Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, chronicling their team, split and the title change. Nice job on making this feel pretty big.

Bayley hopes Sasha got her photo shoots in because she’s losing her title tonight, like she always does. Tonight, this ends like it began, with Banks crippled in the ring.

Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Banks is defending and drives Bayley into the corner to start. A forearm to the face sets up the rope walk wristdrag to take Bayley down but it’s too early for the Bank Statement. Back from a break with Banks hitting the running knees in the corner and Bayley heading to the apron. Banks gets a running charge so Bayley tries to use her legs to send Banks into the post…but leaves her over a foot short, meaning Banks falls onto Bayley/the apron instead in a nasty fall. Thankfully Banks is able to get back in for two and we hit the chinlock.

Banks gets back up and uses her legs to pull Bayley into the corner for a breather. The middle rope Meteora (almost more of a Thesz press this time) puts Bayley down but Banks can’t follow up. Instead Bayley rolls to the floor and it’s a crossbody off the apron to take her down again. We come back from another break with Bayley catching her on top but Banks takes it to the floor. Bayley counters a powerbomb with a hurricanrana into the announcers’ table but Banks breaks up the top rope elbow.

A running elbow on the apron sets up Banks’ frog splash for two but the Bank Statement is blocked. Bayley kicks her from the apron into the barricade…and it’s kendo stick time. The referee stops that so Bayley brings in a chair, but Banks throws it away. The distraction lets Bayley hit a Backstabber into the Bayley to Belly for a rather hot near fall.

Bayley’s top rope elbow gets two, mainly because it didn’t come close to making serious contact. A belly to back suplex gives Bayley two so she grabs the Bank Statement on Banks. That’s reversed into a cradle for the break and they head to the apron again. Bayley’s charge hits the post and now it’s the Bank Statement to retain Banks’ title at 18:24.

Rating: B-. Some of those moves either not connecting or just not working well hurt this a good bit though they never felt like they were going long and that’s a great thing. Above all else though, they made it feel like Banks FINALLY defending a title was a big deal and that’s what mattered the most. Good match, though it needed to be a little sharper to really work.

Post match Banks celebrates but Carmella pops up on stage with a superkick into an X Factor. Well to be fair Banks needed a fresh challenger and Carmella is far from the worst choice.

Kevin Owens comes up to Jey Uso at the coffee table and asks why Jey is getting Roman Reigns’ coffee. Jey doesn’t like that but it was just a joke. Owens talks about the Survivor Series team instead because they’re partners. It seems that Jey has a lot on his mind though so Owens leaves him alone. Jey’s emotional stuff has been very sharp this whole time and it’s making the story.

Survivor Series will be the Undertaker’s Final Farewell. Cool idea, if you believe it’s his final anything.

Jey Uso looks at a long video on his aggression against Daniel Bryan last week, which did come with a win. He doesn’t like the suggestion that he has to do everything Roman says but here’s Paul Heyman to ask if Reigns authorized this interview. Roman needs to talk to Jey and he shouldn’t be kept waiting.

Rey Mysterio can’t find Aalyah or get her on the phone when Dominick comes in to say his match is now. Rey tells him to go find his gear but here’s King Corbin, Mysterio’s opponent, to jump him from behind.

Heyman says he respects Jey but he has to run things like this by Roman. Jey: “I have to run an interview on TV by my cousin???” Heyman: “I’m glad you understand.” Jey has to stay outside while Heyman goes to get Reigns, who isn’t happy with the interview. Reigns doesn’t like what Kevin Owens was saying because if Owens disrespects one of them, he disrespects the entire bloodline. Is that what Jey is going to allow? Jey says he’s going to handle it and leaves.

Reigns asks Heyman if he knew about this and Heyman seems nervous. Reigns says Heyman is supposed to handle things so Reigns doesn’t have to. He tells Heyman to go find Adam Pearce so we can solve this Owens problem tonight. Heyman looking terrified of angering Reigns is great and can build up to a lot more things later.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. King Corbin

Rey is banged up but has Dominick in his corner. Corbin snaps off a spinebuster for an early two as Rey isn’t even in his gear. A few more shots keep Rey down and Corbin stands on his head for a bonus. They head outside with Corbin missing a charge into the steps but he’s right back with an elbow to the face back inside. Rey starts fighting back again but here’s Seth Rollins for a distraction.

We take a break and come back with Rey hitting a springboard splash but getting launched into the corner. An over the shoulder spinning faceplant drops Rey again and Corbin hammers away at the back. Rey knocks him off the top and tries a dive but gets caught in a series of backbreakers. The World’s Strongest Slam gives Corbin two so Mysterio rolls out to the floor. Corbin is right out there with him for some rams into the apron and the bearhug goes on.

Rey fights out of that because it’s a bearhug and some kicks put Corbin down. The springboard seated senton gets two but Corbin ducks to the floor to avoid the 619. Corbin decks Dominick from behind, which earns him a slingshot dive from Rey. Now the 619 connects but Rollins jumps Dominick this time around. Rey breaks that up but now it’s Murphy and Aalyah (who is having some issues keeping her dress up) coming down as well. Rey yells at them and walks into End of Days for the pin at 14:03.

Rating: C-. It didn’t feel overly long but at the same time there were a few too many things going on in there near the end. I can live with Corbin going to Survivor Series (you knew it was coming) but at the same time, how much longer can they actually drag out Mysterio vs. Rollins? We’ll be at six months next week and it actually seems to be extending out even longer. Lucky us.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Natalya vs. Zelina Vega vs. Ruby Riott

Ruby has gotten a heck of a haircut and her remaining hair is dyed green. Vega is knocked outside early on and it’s Natalya slamming Riott down for two. They had to the corner but Vega is back in to knock Natalya outside and hit a hurricanrana driver for two on Riott. Natalya comes back in and gets Vega into the Sharpshooter. Riott adds in an armbar but Natalya lets go, leaving Vega to tap to Riott at 3:08. That was unique.

Rating: C-. The match didn’t have time to go anywhere but that was a creative finish and I can go for more of Riott in a bigger spot. She comes off as more of a natural around here and is certainly unique looking, so at least they have something a little different with her. It’s better than Natalya at least.

Big E. is in the back hustling people at Trivial Pursuit when the Street Profits come in to offer him a spot in the champions’ lounge. He appreciated the offer but thinks they’re just trying to get some information on New Day. Big E. has a tip for them: lay down in the ring and New Day won’t beat them up so badly. Maniacal laughter ensues and Big E. leaves, with Billie Kay coming in to replace him. She offers them her head shot/resume and says she has some inside information on the red brand. Dawkins: “Billie, we were on Raw at the same time as you.” Billie is stunned as they leave.

We get another video on the recent Murphy vs. Rollins vs. Mysterios drama.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins vs. Otis

Rollins knocks him down to start but has some issues with the power of giggling. Cue Murphy for a distraction as we see the Mysterios watching in the back. So much for those issues I guess. A backdrop puts Rollins in front of Murphy and the distraction lets Otis run him over. Otis looks at Murphy but walks into a Sling Blade on the way back inside.

For some reason Rollins tries a shoulder to the stomach, which works as well as you would expect. Shaking and gyrating ensue and Otis runs him over a few times. Rollins gets a boot up in the corner but he dives into a fall away slam. There’s the running splash in the corner but Murphy gets on the apron to distract Murphy. The superkick into the Stomp sends Rollins to Survivor Series at 4:34.

Rating: D+. You’re only going to get so far with Otis in a singles match and thankfully they didn’t go with a rather ridiculous move by having him beat Rollins. I’m not all that interested in seeing more from Rollins/Murphy but we’re way past the point where that is going to matter. Otis’ push seems to be done though and while I can’t say I’m complaining, I do feel sorry that he had everything pulled out from under his feet thanks to the pandemic.

Murphy leaves almost immediately as Rollins seems both pleased and confused.

Post break Rollins catches up to Murphy (he must be a slow walker) and thinks he knows what he saw out there tonight. Rollins nearly begs Murphy to tell him that he’s right. Murphy points to Rollins and calls him messiah, then points to himself and says disciple. That’s what Rollins wanted to hear and he’s rather pleased as he walks off. Aalyah comes in and yells at Murphy, who tells her to calm down because he knows what he is doing. This is for the greater good.

Earlier today, Michael Cole sat down with Lars Sullivan, who reiterated his hatred of bullies because he has been bullied his entire life. People have gotten on him for the way he looks, dresses and talks. Those bullies would shoves him down, steal his lunch and call him freak. When he was thirteen years old, he started lifting weights and gained 50lbs of muscle in eighteen months.

That stopped the bullying and he became the bully. He would bully the kids who laughed at him because they deserved it and he could bully whomever he wanted. Sullivan could make them say or eat whatever he wanted, like bugs. Or he could do this, and he screams. That’s intimidation and bullying and he loves it. These interviews are oddly working for me.

Kevin Owens is ready for his match and says he is going to have to fight his Survivor Series partner. Sometimes he has a bad habit of speaking his mind and it can get him in trouble. If what he said earlier got him in trouble, then so be it. Last week, Jey got out of hand with Daniel Bryan but Owens can’t talk much as he has done some questionable things. The difference is that he did them himself because he is his own man, unlike Jey. The beating Jey has coming is 100% from Owens.

Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso

Owens grabs a headlock as Reigns and Heyman are watching in the back. Jey sends him to the apron though and snaps the throat across the top. The suicide dive is left a bit short, so Owens catches him for a toss into the barricade. The frog splash off the apron crushes Jey and sends us to a break. Back with Owens hitting a DDT and going up top but here’s Heyman for a distraction. Uso is not one to look a gift Heyman in the mouth and superkicks Owens to the floor for a ram into the steps.

Jey’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Owens is right back up with a superkick. Another superkick sets up the Cannonball and the Swanton gets two. Uso is back with a neckbreaker for two of his own but Owens is right back with the Pop Up Powerbomb for two as Uso gets his foot on the rope. Reigns’ music comes on though and Jey hits a low blow into a low superkick. The Superfly (not frog Cole) Splash gives Jey the pin at 11:27.

Rating: C. This was another storyline development win and it’s not like Owens lost clean. That being said, even though he is just Reigns’ minion at this point, Jey has now beaten AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens in a little over a month. That’s a good run for anyone and the match was pretty watchable. Well done on making a new star and having a great story to boot. See? It can be done.

Post match Jey poses with Reigns and Heyman to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They had three distinct parts to this show with the title match taking up the first fourth, then a bunch of Survivor Series qualifying matches (with the Rollins/Mysterios stuff tied into the men’s) and then the Uso/Reigns/Owens stuff. That makes for a packed but also entertaining show, which flew by as it tends to do. I’m liking this show a lot more than I used to and so much of that goes to Reigns and company, because they are having one of the most interesting stories of the year. Good show here, even though it isn’t like to get much attention given the election coverage.

Results

Sasha Banks b. Bayley – Bank Statement

King Corbin b. Rey Mysterio – End of Days

Ruby Riott b. Zelina Vega and Natalya – Armbar to Vega

Seth Rollins b. Otis – Stomp

Jey Uso b. Kevin Owens – Superfly Splash

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

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

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

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

Smackdown – October 23, 2020: Happy Birthday Wife

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: October 23, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Hell in a Cell and maybe that means WWE can remember to build the show a bit. Granted I wouldn’t bet on it as last year’s show only had three matches announced going into the weekend and this year’s already has four. I don’t know what the deal is with that, but at least they’re mostly consistent. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with the Kevin Owens Show, with Owens being rather happy to be in his new home. To make it even better, we are starting the new show with a special guest, who is one of the most technically sound wrestlers of all time: Daniel Bryan. After praising the set, Bryan talks about being really excited to be on Smackdown with all of these great, young wrestlers. He thinks it would be even better if the Intercontinental Title was defended every single week.

Owens likes the idea of titles, but wants to talk about the Tag Team Titles. Bryan is confused, but Owens says it is the one thing he hasn’t won around here. Bryan: “You’ve betrayed a lot of people.” Owens thinks they would be a great team and even has a great name for them: Team Hell KO.

Bryan points out that would be Owens and Kane, which seems to surprise Owens. Anyway, here are Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (Owens: “Why?”) with Ziggler speaking in Van Halen song titles. They’re a great team, so here are the Street Profits to say they want the smoke. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura come out as well and the big brawl is on.

Kevin Owens/Daniel Bryan/Street Profits vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler/Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro

Joined in progress with Owens dropping a backsplash on Nakamura and handing it off to Dawkins. Roode comes in to drop Dawkins but misses the elbow drop, meaning it’s Dawkins belly to back suplexing Ford into a moonsault on Roode for the early two. Ziggler comes in to dropkick Ford and the villains start taking turns with the beating. Ford finally hits a dropkick for a breather, allowing the hot tag to Bryan. That means the pace picks up and Cesaro is low bridged to the floor for the suicide dive.

Back in and Bryan hits a running corner dropkick on Cesaro but may have injured his knee. Cesaro uppercuts him back out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Ziggler wrapping Bryan’s knee around the bottom rope and grabbing a half crab. Cesaro comes in for half a second before it’s back to Ziggler, who gets catapulted into the corner.

Roode cuts off the crawl to the corner and puts Bryan on the top, only to get shoved back down. A missile dropkick allows the hot tag off to Dawkins so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down and Cesaro rolls Dawkins up with feet on the ropes…but gets caught. The referee breaks that up so it’s the Cash Out into the frog splash to give Ford the pin on Cesaro at 13:53.

Rating: C. This was very similar to the four way women’s tag match on Raw, though the action was better and it didn’t have the annoying team winning so I can go with it a bit more. You would think we would be coming up on someone beating the Street Profits here to set up a title shot at the pay per view, but that’s not the Cell’s way.

And now, egads, it’s Law And Otis as Miz and John Morrison take Otis to court over the Money in the Bank briefcase. Ron Simmons is the bailiff and JBL is the judge as Miz talks about how horrible Otis has been for the briefcase. He is here to end this nightmare and put the briefcase in his own better hands (it worked the first time around). Otis says it should be his because he won the match. Miz’s attorney: “That’s a good argument.” Miz fires her in the only funny part of the segment.

Video on Bianca Belair.

Daniel Bryan is all fired up with the Street Profits and Kevin Owens but here’s Sami Zayn to say he doesn’t share Bryan’s vision for the Intercontinental Title. The title is Sami’s and he is going to defend it his way.

Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega

Belair puts her on top to start but Vega slaps her in the face. That earns Vega a toss off the top and Belair slams her again. Vega’s headscissors is countered with a front flip and there’s a standing moonsault into a nip up from Belair. Vega kicks her away and gets in a kick to the head, followed by a middle rope hurricanrana. Belair isn’t having that and punches her out of the air before dead lifting Vega into a gorilla press drop onto the turnbuckle. The KOD finishes Vega at 2:38. So much for Vega’s push but that worked well for Belair.

Video on Lars Sullivan.

Shorty G. is fed up with not being drafted anywhere and it’s time to right the ship. That’s why he’s calling out Lars Sullivan to prove that he belongs.

Shorty G. vs. Lars Sullivan

Sullivan wastes no time in hitting a fall away slam and faceplants Gable for a bonus. Gable rakes the eyes to escape a powerslam though and hits a rolling kick in the corner. A missed charge annoys Sullivan though and he sends Gable flying, followed by a hard clothesline. The Freak Accident finishes Gable at 1:57.

Post match, Gable quits. Good. Get out while you still can. Go work in a corrugated box factory or test discount parachutes or something else with a better future.

Seth Rollins talks about how he requested his match with Murphy tonight. In the Greater Good, everyone has a role, with Rollins being a leader. Tonight, Murphy’s role will be defined and that sounds like fun to Rollins.

Post break, Shorty G. says he’s done being a character who accepts who he is because he doesn’t accept it. He’s done being a punching bag who shows up in a public service announcement. There’s only one man who can achieve anything he wants: an Olympian, a state and national champion, and his name is Chad Gable. Well it freaking took long enough, though I have no reason to believe that this is going to go anywhere whatsoever.

Here’s Bayley with her chair for a chat. She did four interviews this morning and every time it was the same question: why is she hesitant to face Sasha Banks in the Cell? Not about her title reign or anything that she has done, but all about Sasha. Not that it matters, because she hasn’t and won’t sign the contract for Sunday.

Cue Sasha with the contract but Bayley swings the chair at her. That lets Sasha grab the title to set up a tug of war. A knee to the face drops Bayley and Sasha wraps the chair around her neck. Bayley kicks her in the head but Banks chokes her with the chair, demanding that Bayley sign. A lot of choking makes Bayley sign, because WWE still doesn’t know how contracts work.

It’s back to the court room where Morrison is the current witness. Otis has assaulted a lot of people and the biggest scars are in his heart.

Rey Mysterio says Otis should get the contract because he won the match.

Asuka rants in Japanese, prompting JBL to ask the court reporter if he got any of that. Teddy Long: “Every single word.”

Tucker says Miz went too far by having Mandy Rose sent to Raw so he deserves everything that happens to him. Miz asks for permission to treat the witness as hostile, with JBL saying it’s about time. Miz asks if Otis neglected the contract so Tucker is ready to fight. Violence is teased but JBL says we’ll take a recess and be back with the verdict. Long has to go to the bathroom anyway.

Back from a break with JBL saying you have to be violent around here but Otis not cashing in yet isn’t negligent. Therefore, JBL is ready to rule in favor of….and Miz cuts him off because he has a key piece of evidence. Miz provides a briefcase, which makes JBL hear a cash register sound. Therefore, JBL rules in Miz’s favor, meaning it’s Miz vs. Otis for the briefcase on Sunday. Simmons ends it with the catchphrase. So we needed THREE segments to set up a match that they have teased for two months. And we got maybe two funny lines? How WWE of them.

Video on Seth Rollins vs. Murphy.

Seth Rollins vs. Murphy

Aalyah is watching in the back. Murphy drives him into the corner to start so Rollins makes it clear that he’s the messiah. That earns him an armbar with Murphy taking it to the mat until Rollins cranks the arm back. A headlock lets Rollins talk about how Murphy is against him but Murphy hits a hard slap to the face. Murphy’s hurricanrana puts Rollins on the floor and a backdrop onto the announcers’ table takes us to a break.

We come back with Rollins knocking him off the top and out to the floor as we see Rey Mysterio and Dominick telling Aalyah to stop watching this. She can do what she wants though, which includes watching Rollins hit a gutbuster for two. Rollins’ waistlock is broken up so he puts Murphy on top, earning himself a missile dropkick.

Rollins is sent outside for a big flip dive (with Murphy almost clearing him), setting up a top rope Meteora for two. Murphy is favoring his arm after the landing though and has to go outside instead of following up. The injury sends Murphy outside to try and pop his shoulder back in, meaning Rollins can hit a suicide dive. Back in and the springboard knee to the head gives Rollins two. Rollins drives the bad shoulder into the apron and we take a break.

We come back with Rollins hitting the buckle bomb but Murphy is back with a knee to the face for two more. Murphy can’t follow up so Rollins yells some more and they slug it out until Rollins hits a step up enziguri. The Falcon Arrow gets two but the Stomp misses. Rollins goes up top but gets kicked in the face, only to slip out of a fireman’s carry. Another twist of the arm sets up the Stomp to finish Murphy at 17:31.

Rating: B. This got some time and that was a good thing as it felt like a much bigger match than it would have otherwise. I really don’t need more of the Mysterio story but at least it was something that didn’t involve the same people over and over. Murphy hung with Rollins and while a win would have meant more, he looks like he has gotten a lot out of this story.

Post match Rollins grabs the kendo stick so Aalyah asks her dad and brother to help him. They aren’t doing it so she goes down herself as Rollins beats on Murphy with the stick. Aalyah gets in the ring and tries to cover Murphy so here’s Dominick to keep things safe. Rollins teases running but comes back in to jump Dominick, drawing in Rey for the save with a chair. That’s enough to send Rollins off for good, as the Mysterios tell Aalyah to forget this. She helps Murphy up instead as the drama WILL continue.

Here are Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman to discuss the consequences for Sunday. Jey pops up on screen in Reigns’ dressing room where he eats some of his fruit. The whole family is disappointed in Roman but it’s nice to be part of the family with food and water like this. Hold on though as that’s Jimmy, who says Jey is right behind him. Jey jumps Reigns in the ring and the fight is on, with Jey grabbing a chair.

Reigns hits a big boot and takes the chair but Jey hits a superkick into the Superfly Splash to leave Reigns laying. The Usos celebrate on the ramp but Reigns grabs the mic to talk about what happens if he loses on Sunday. If Reigns loses, he stops being the Tribal Chief and the provider for the family.

Reigns can live with that, but if Jey quits, and he will, he will take orders from Reigns and respect him for what he is in the WWE and for what he does for the family. If Jey can’t, the brothers, their wives and their children are out of the family. They will all turn their backs on them, and those are the consequences. The Cell is lowered so Jey climbs up the wall to stare down at Reigns to end the show. This feud continues to deserve the greatest praise for making me want to see Jey Uso in a major singles match on pay per view. That’s a heck of a trick and they’ve made it work.

Overall Rating: C. Well, they did add something, though we had to sit through another HILARIOUS pop culture parody of a show that peaked….I don’t know, fifteen to twenty years ago? The wrestling was fine enough and the go home segment was good, but they are really not doing themselves any favors by making this show feel like the most slapped together pay per view of the year. The Cell matches are looking good, but it would be nice to have something underneath those to support things a bit.

Results

Street Profits/Kevin Owens/Daniel Bryan b. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler/Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura – Frog splash to Cesaro

Bianca Belair b. Zelina Vega – KOD

Lars Sullivan b. Shorty G. – Freak Accident

Seth Rollins b. Murphy – Stomp

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

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

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

Main Event – October 1, 2020: The Talent Upgrade

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 1, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

It’s the first show after Clash Of Champions, meaning we are probably not going to be seeing a single thing from Raw. That can make for some interesting shows, but what can be even more interesting is having some bigger names around here. That has been the case in the last few weeks so maybe it can continue here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Erik vs. Riddick Moss

Moss’ headlock doesn’t last long as Erik shoves him off and knees him in the ribs. Moss is back with a spinebuster and we hit the front facelock. A suplex gives Moss two and we hit the chinlock. Erik is right back up with a suplex and the shotgun knees to the chest. A cross between a spinebuster and a Boss Man Slam gets two on Moss but he gets to the apron for a snap over the top. Moss’ neckbreaker is good for the pin at 4:53.

Rating: D+ They were starting to get somewhere before things wrapped up. Someone is going to have to explain Moss to me. He’s pushed on Raw Underground, he’s winning matches here, he’s been on Raw before, and yet for some reason he isn’t on the regular Raw’s these days. Is he that much worse than some of the people on the show?

We look at Asuka beating Zelina Vega at Clash Of Champions.

We recap the Smackdown side of Clash Of Champions.

From Raw.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Zelina Vega

Asuka is defending and mouths the Big Match Intros for a nice touch. Vega fights out of an armbar to start and grabs an Octopus on the mat. They head outside with Asuka knocking her down as we take a break. Back with Vega grabbing an armbar and making Asuka hold her up at the same time. Asuka muscles her over with a suplex for the break and tries the Asuka Lock, sending Vega straight to the ropes. A Backstabber gives Vega a quick two but her moonsault only hits knees. Asuka is right back with the Asuka Lock to retain at 8:38.

Rating: C. Nothing close to their match last night but that is usually the case with the post pay per view rematches. They really didn’t need to do a rematch in the first place as Vega got a lot out of last night’s match. This was a downgrade, though it wasn’t terrible by any means. It just didn’t need to happen, but why go with what makes sense when you can just do the same thing?

From Raw.

Seth Rollins comes up to Murphy in the back and mentions that the Mysterios will be on the King’s Court tonight. Murphy is in his gear though and Rollins doesn’t like it. Rollins had a suit ready for him and says go put it on, which Murphy begrudgingly does. With Murphy gone, Rollins steals Murphy’s phone and pockets it.

It’s time for the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler bringing out the Mysterio Family. Rey and Dominik want to finish things with Rollins and Murphy but Lawler asks about Murphy talking to Aaliyah last week. She says she’s 19 years old and Murphy talked to her. What she does know is that someone who associates with Rollins needs to evaluate things because he is evil.

Rollins pops up on screen to say he needs to tell them the truth. The truth is that one of them isn’t being 100% honest with the rest of the family. The truth is that Aaliyah might not be telling the truth about Murphy. Rollins shows us a screenshot from Murphy’s phone of Murphy and Aaliyah texting each other.

Murphy apologizes again and Aaliyah seems interested in his offer to spend some time together, even wishing him a happy birthday. Back in the arena, Aaliyah says Murphy isn’t like Rollins and leaves, with Rey and Angie following her. Murphy comes up to Rollins in the back and grabs him by the shirt as Rollins laughs. Dominik runs up and jumps Murphy until agents break it up. The soap opera drama isn’t making up for the fact that this story has been going on for almost five months.

From Raw again.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy

Dominik starts fast and hammers away in the corner before they go outside. Murphy sends him over the announcers’ table for a nine count but Dominik is back in with a high crossbody. Some shots to the face have Murphy in trouble until he scores with a pump knee to the face. Dominick is back with a tornado DDT and some stomps in the corner send Murphy outside. It’s kendo stick time but here’s Aaliyah to say don’t do it. The distraction lets Murphy roll Dominik up for the pin with tights at 7:13.

Rating: C-. This is a situation where the wrestling doesn’t matter. The problem here is how this story has dragged on for months and they just keep finding ways to extend it. Dominik and the rest of the family aren’t interesting but we’ve had so much between Rey and Rollins that it can’t be done any more. The match was fine, but I can’t bring myself to care about anything involved.

Post match Dominik unloads with the kendo stick but Aaliyah tells him to stop. Dominik says this is for the family but Aaliyah says Murphy isn’t like Rollins. Dominik says she really is naive and she slaps him in the face.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Dolph Ziggler

Speaking of names you wouldn’t expect on the show. Ziggler grabs a headlock to start but Carrillo is back up with a wristlock to get out. An elbow to the face staggers Ziggler but he’s right back with his own elbow. There’s a neckbreaker for two on Carrillo and it’s time to grind a forearm into the face. Carrillo is back up with the springboard armdrag and we take a break. Back with Ziggler working on a Kimura but Carrillo fights up with some shots to the face. The missile dropkick drops Ziggler for two and there’s a springboard spinning kick to the face for the same. Ziggler is back with the Fameasser for two but he misses the superkick. Carrillo’s moonsault misses though and now the superkick can finish Carrillo at 9:15.

Rating: C. The match was better than usual for around here because there were more talented people involved. This isn’t that big of a surprise but it’s great to see someone like Ziggler around here. Well maybe not great but it’s at least something different and allows them to use their crazy deep talent pool.

We look back at Drew McIntyre retaining over Randy Orton in the ambulance match.

From Raw.

Here are Ric Flair, Big Show, Christian and Shawn Michaels to get things going. Shawn welcomes us to the show and introduces Drew McIntyre for the big congratulations. Drew talks about knowing all of these people for years, including how they all guided him as far as he has gotten. Drew tells a story of Flair being on the active roster when he first arrived in American (Drew: “Before somebody retired you.”). He couldn’t believe he was on the main roster as Ric Flair and it was one of the coolest things he had ever seen.

Then last night he defeated Randy Orton and is he is still WWE Champion. Shawn talks about how they’re all here to congratulate him and he hopes that Drew isn’t mad about that. If he is mad, it was all Ric’s fault. Drew is cool with them….and here’s Orton on the Titantron. Orton says this is over when he says it is, so Drew knows he is going to beg for another match.

Orton says he won’t have to beg because he is Randy Orton and will get another title shot. He’s here today to say there is a price to pay when you cross the Legend Killer. Orton walks over to….get his bag and leaves. Drew wants to be a fighting champion so tonight, anyone who has never gotten a shot against him can get a title match. Somebody please step up.

From Raw.

Here’s Drew McIntyre for the Open Challenge for a title shot. No one comes out at first so McIntyre asks how Charles Robinson’s day is going. Cue Dolph Ziggler though and we have an opponent.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Robert Roode

Roode is challenging and rakes Drew’s damaged back to put the champ in early trouble. They’re out on the floor in a hurry though, with Drew hitting the reverse Alabama Slam onto the apron as we take an early break. Back with Roode knocking McIntyre into the Tree of Woe, only to have McIntyre sit up for the choke throw off the top. Ziggler offers a distraction though and Roode goes after the leg to take over.

The leg is wrapped around the post and then dropped onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Roode hits a top rope clothesline for two, followed by the Figure Four in the middle of the ring. McIntyre turns it over to send Roode bailing to the ropes for the break and they both need a breather.

It’s McIntyre back up first with the Glasgow Kiss into the overhead belly to belly suplexes. There’s the nip up but McIntyre’s knee gives out. Roode’s spinebuster gets two and McIntyre’s Futureshock gets the same. McIntyre takes Roode out but walks into the Glorious DDT for two more. That’s enough for McIntyre as he hits the Claymore to retain at 12:38.

Rating: B-. Perfectly nice main event here with a bit of drama before McIntyre retained. Roode is someone who may not have the most varied offense but he does everything rather well, which is a style that is going to make anyone look good. I liked the match well enough, even though the challenger was pretty obvious.

We cut to the back where Randy Orton, dressed as a janitor, goes into to the Legends’ Lounge (yes it has its own sign), whips out some night vision goggles, turns out the lights, and apparently nearly massacres everyone with a chair. Orton leaves, throws his hood up, and points referees and trainers to the room to end the show. So….it’s pretty much the same way they set up Summerslam but now it’s the third match in the trilogy and it’s going to be in the Cell?

Overall Rating: C+. This was a better than usual Main Event with the surprise of Dolph Ziggler and some good recaps from Clash Of Champions and the bigger parts of Raw. I don’t like having Smackdown basically wiped out, but it makes sense given how much things change with a pay per view. Pretty good show here though, and that’s always nice to see.

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

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

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Monday Night Raw – October 5, 2020: Turn It Up Higher

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 5, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

The road to the Cell continues as we are now less than three weeks away from the next pay per view. There is little secret to the fact that we are coming up on Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre III inside the Cell for McIntyre’s title, though the match has not been announced just yet. Let’s get to it.

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

Randy Orton is in the back where he talks about how he could have left Clash Of Champions as WWE Champion. Instead, he left in an ambulance. He remembers a little bit about the match, which included Big Show, Christian and Shawn Michaels all interfering and Ric Flair driving the ambulance away. All Orton felt was excruciating pain and then the next night, Drew McIntyre stood in front of the four of them and celebrated.

That sight made him sick and then the four of them played poker all night. It was too much for Orton, so he turned out the lights, grabbed some night vision goggles, and beat all of them down. Orton talks about how all four of them looked lost and how he attacked them, including chair shots and a Punt to Shawn Michaels. He wishes he could have seen Drew’s face when he heard what happened. McIntyre still has to deal with Orton, so let’s do it in the Cell. McIntyre bursts in and beats Orton down until agents and referees break it up. Kind of a long way to get to the obvious but it was a little bit of a different presentation.

Zelina Vega/Natalya/Lana vs. Asuka/Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke

Natalya rolls Dana up for two to start but Dana is back up and Natalya grabs Dana’s legs while Dana spins around, eventually flipping Natalya over. Now usually this would be called a headscissors, but given that Dana’s legs were in no way putting pressure on Natalya and Dana was literally being held in the air to spin around, there was nothing involving a headscissors whatsoever. That was so bad that I actually had to rewind to make sure I saw it right and I still don’t quite believe it.

Mandy comes in and this has to be better. Tom: “It’s officially Mandy Night Raw.” Ok maybe it is just going to get….ok it can’t be worse than that headscissors but it isn’t any better. Mandy hits a basement dropkick for two on Natalya but Zelina runs over to pull Asuka off the apron.

Mandy pulls Zelina in and Natalya throws her down by the hair for two. It’s off to Zelina in a legal way this time for a seated Octopus but Mandy counters into a quick rollup. Natalya comes in and immediately hands it off to Lana for a sliding kick to the face. The Sharpshooter is broken up though and the hot tag brings in Asuka to clean house. Mandy tags herself in and knees Lana in the face for the pin at 4:49.

Rating: D. That headscissors alone kept this from being a good match. As much as I like Dana, that was completely inexcusable and they should have just bailed on the move instead of making it look that horrible. I can go with them pushing Mandy as she is the definition of all the elements being there, provided she can make it work with the parts that matter.

Post match the winners leave so here are Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to beat up Lana and Natalya, with Lana being driven through the announcers’ table. HEY! DID YOU KNOW THAT LANA’S HUSBAND WORKS FOR AEW NOW???? I DIDN’T KNOW IF WWE HAD VOICED THEIR DISPLEASURE WITH THAT LOUDLY ENOUGH YET!!!

R-Truth, mock draft, Drew Gulak is a fake custodian, Truth trips in a mock bucket, the chase continues.

We look back at Apollo Crews/Mustafa Ali/Ricochet beating the Hurt Business last week.

MVP comes up to see the trio and brings up the Draft. Their careers could change in a snap, just like Apollo Crews. He went from doing nothing on Smackdown to being the US Champion. For tonight though, there is an opening in the Hurt Business and being drafted to the black and gold means business is booming. They’re on the clock. MVP leaves and Ricochet seems intrigued.

We look back at Seth Rollins revealing Murphy’s texting with Aaliyah Mysterio. I’m still not sure why people were up in arms about this when they made it clear she was 19 but maybe I’m too old to get why it’s an issue.

Rollins and Murphy come out for their tag match and Murphy won’t hand him the mic because he has to get something off of his chest. For months, he has been Rollins’ perfect disciple but that can’t happen unless Rollins apologizes….to Aaliyah. Rollins slaps the mic out of his hand and screams that he is the messiah and Murphy is the disciple. He went easy on them last week by revealing all of the DM’s they shared, like the ones where she talks about how she thinks her family ignores her. Rollins yells some more but here are their opponents to cut them off.

Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. Humberto Carrillo/Dominik Mysterio

Carrillo and Mysterio charge the ring and clear the villains out with stereo dives as we take an early break. We’re joined in progress with Mysterio getting stomped down in the corner in a hurry. Rollins hits a gutbuster into a waistlock and then the abdominal stretch as he stays on target. Murphy and Rollins get in an argument though, allowing the hot tag off to Carrillo. House is cleaned again with Dominik hitting a dive to take both of them out on the floor. Back in and Carrillo goes up top for a dive with the sole purpose of having Murphy knee him out of the air for the pin at 4:19.

Rating: C-. They had a point to this one at least, though you might not want to have back to back matches end with such similar moves. Either way though, this feud is going to continue because it has to, even as it is going to clear five months next week. I’m sure that is going to keep going, and that has been the problem for a long time now.

Murphy storms off on his own.

Braun Strowman demands a match but Adam Pearce says no. Pearce can’t make it an official match but he can give Braun an exhibition. That’s fine with Braun so he leaves, with Keith Lee coming up behind him. Lee: “Sign me up.”

Rollins yells at Murphy in the back and demands an apology. Murphy has until 10PM or there will be h*** to pay.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show and he doesn’t want to waste time. He met the Fiend for the first time on Smackdown and he can still feel the evil and the dread. Tonight isn’t about a nice chat though, so he throws the set out to the floor. Tonight it’s about this, and we see a clip from Smackdown with the Fiend attacking him and taking Alexa Bliss’ hand. What’s next from the Fiend? The Brood? The Ministry of Darkness maybe? All he cares about right now is having Bray come out here for a nice face to face chat.

Instead it’s time for the Firefly Fun House, with Bray welcoming him in French. Bray says Kevin is his new friend and he’s so happy that he has a song about it. The rest of the Funhouse gang gets in on it, though Mercy eats Ramblin Rabbit. Owens cuts them off and says they could have been friends.

For not though, Bray needs to come down here and take a beating because he isn’t going to brainwash Owens like he did to Bliss. Bray doesn’t like that, and neither does HE. This Friday, Owens will know what that means. Consider this a warning, because that’s what friends are for. Bray leaves and Owens knows what that means. He’s coming for Bray tonight but here’s Aleister Black to lay him out with Black Mass. Nice segment, though I do wonder if they have already forgotten about Wobbly Walrus.

Drew says he’s ready to fight Orton at any time and yes, he’ll face him in the Cell.

Video on Braun Strowman.

Keith Lee vs. Braun Strowman

They make it clear that it’s an exhibition, because this can’t be part of the Brand To Brand Invitational deal due to reasons of oh my goodness look at the size of that meerkat. Strowman dropkicks him to the floor but Lee stops a charge with straight power. Lee gets sent into the steps though and it’s a double countout at 1:15.

Post match Strowman tackles him through the barricade. Strowman goes to leave but Lee rises up and the fight is on, with Strowman going into an LED board on the stage. Lee drives him off the stage and through a bunch of tables for the crash.

Bianca Belair wins a trivia game because she’s the smartest.

R-Truth jumps out of a dumpster to jump Drew Gulak and knocks him into a trashcan…which contains Akira Tozawa. They all fight into the dumpster and Truth somehow gets the pin and the title back. Joe: “Duke the Dumpster Droese would be proud.”

Here’s the Hurt Business for a chat before their match. MVP talks about how they didn’t lose last week, even if the Hurt Business got pinned. They might lose a match, but they never lose the fight. It was all because of Retribution, so MVP is officially putting them on notice. If Retribution wants to play tough, they need to learn: when you see the black and gold, be prepared to fold. They are what nightmares are made of but here are Mustafa Ali and company to interrupt. Ricochet says he’s going to pass on joining the team, which Crews and Ali find funny. Ali isn’t running, so MVP tells the team to focus on Ricochet.

Ricochet/Apollo Crews vs. Hurt Business

Benjamin starts fast with an upside down cross armbreaker on Ricochet, who goes straight to the ropes for the break. The Hurt Business is knocked to the floor in a hurry though and we take a break. Back with Lashley suplexing Ricochet for two and choking on the ropes. Ricochet is fine enough to slap a yapping MVP in the face, only to get caught with a Downward Spiral for two.

Back up and Ricochet slips over for the hot tag to Crews so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down and Ricochet scores with some superkicks until Lashley scores with the spinning Dominator. A German suplex drops Crews but he hits an enziguri on Lashley. The big spinebuster drops Crews again though and the Hurt Locker is good for the tap at 9:45.

Rating: C-. I think we’ve gotten the point here as it’s the same kind of a match with the same people that we’ve seen for months now. The good thing though is the feud only seems to have continued for the sake of Retribution being gone. They didn’t have much else to do here, but that’s mainly because we’ve done this so many times now and there isn’t much else to do here.

Murphy comes up to Aaliyah, who says this is all Seth’s fault. Murphy isn’t going to apologize.

Ali comes up to the Hurt Business in the back because he wants to face MVP one on one.

Here is Seth Rollins to receive Murphy’s apology. Cue Murphy, who isn’t exactly looking happy. Rollins wants Murphy to get on with it already and gets all the more frustrated when Murphy says nothing. He even grabs Murphy by the beard, shouting that he made Murphy what he is. Murphy charges at him and the fight is on with the two of them heading outside.

Rollins whips out the kendo stick but Murphy drives him into the barricade and gets in some swings of his own. They get inside with Rollins begging off and getting beaten up even more. Rollins calls for Aaliyah to come out here and then apologizes after another stick to the head. Murphy begs off so Rollins goes for the eye and gets in his own stick shots. It’s chair time but here’s Aaliyah to cover Murphy. The Mysterios run out to chase Rollins off and we see Rollins watching from the back. Dominik tries to talk Aaliyah out of this because of everything he has done.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler vs. Riott Squad

The Squad is challenging and starts by double teaming Jax down. Jax has to lay down so Riott can drop Morgan onto her for the early near fall, but Jax knocks Liv out of the air. Riott gets tied in the Tree of Woe and Baszler goes outside to glare at her a bit. Back in and Baszler stomps on Riott’s arm and then snaps it back for a bonus. Riott gets sent outside and Jax whips her hard into the apron a few times as we take a break.

Riott forearming her way to freedom and making the hot tag off to Morgan. A hurricanrana sends Jax into the middle turnbuckle and the rolling elbows in the corner hit both champs. Jax runs her over with a clothesline though and the screaming ensues. Baszler comes back in but her knee hits the turnbuckle. The hot tag brings in the one armed Riott to clean house but gets pulled into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap to retain the titles at 9:43.

Rating: C. This was kind of messy but they did a nice job of making the Squad look like a team who could give the champs a challenge. That being said, there wasn’t much drama here and that’s most acceptable. It’s better than having Jax destroy Lana week after week, or at least doing something other than that for a change.

The Street Profits aren’t cool with Orton attacking the legends last week. Tonight, they want the smoke. Drew McIntyre is here too and seems pleased with the whole thing.

MVP vs. Mustafa Ali

The rest of the Hurt Business is here and MVP takes Ali down for an early knee drop. A clothesline out of the corner gives MVP two but Ali is back with a running dropkick to the floor. The rest of the Hurt Business gets in the ring but here’s Retribution. MVP tells Ali to fight with them but Ali rolls to the floor to get in the team’s face….and then stands with Retribution instead. Ali: “GET EM!” The match is thrown out at about 2:30 or so.

Retribution destroys the Hurt Business in short order and Ali seems pleased. Ali gets in the ring and the rest of the team (seven members this week) join him as Ali holds up his hand. Now this could be very interesting, especially if they find a way to tie it into the hacker deal (not a requirement, but it would be a nice way to tie up a loose end).

Video on the Draft.

Drew McIntyre/Street Profits vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler/Randy Orton

The good guys waste no time in cleaning house and we take a break. Back with Dawkins diving over for the hot tag to Ford so the pace can pick up in a hurry. Ford’s standing moonsault gets and it’s off to Roode, who scores with the spinebuster for two. Orton pulls Ford outside and drops him hard onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Orton slowly hammers away but stops to mock McIntyre, allowing Ford to score with a DDT. The double tag brings in McIntyre and Ziggler, with Drew launching him into the corner.

That’s enough for Ziggler though as McIntyre pulls Orton in to start the brawl. Roode and Ziggler make the save and everything breaks down. Dawkins’ Anointment is countered into a DDT though and he winds up right in front of Orton. The hanging DDT plants Dawkins but he’s right back with the Anointment into the Cash Out with Roode and Ziggler diving in for the save. McIntyre tags himself in as Ziggler hits the Fameasser on Ford. The Claymore puts Ziggler on the floor and there’s another to Roode. Orton is back up though and the RKO finishes McIntyre at 10:14.

Rating: C+. They kept the pace up here and I can go for putting off the announcement of Roode and Ziggler getting a title shot for as long as I can. Pinning the champ to build up towards a title match is a good idea and something that has worked for the better part of ever. Go with something that works and keep Ziggler away from any title at the same time. That’s certainly a nice way to end the show, even if we’ve seen it before.

Overall Rating: C-. This was an up and down show with some points being a lot better than others. They set up the obvious main event with Orton vs. McIntyre and the Ali to Retribution stuff is rather interesting. Other than that though….yeah it’s kind of downhill from there. The Rollins/Mysterios stuff is as old hat as you can get and Strowman vs. Lee didn’t need to be a match. At the same time though, you have whatever Brooke did to Natalya and that is going to drop any show. Raw’s half of the pay per view is really feeling like the most warmed over of leftovers, but maybe the Draft can fix things. It kind of needs to.

Results

Asuka/Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose b. Zelina Vega/Lana/Natalya – Jumping knee to Lana

Murphy/Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio/Humberto Carrillo – Jumping knee to Carrillo

Keith Lee vs. Braun Strowman went to a double countout

Hurt Business b. Apollo Crews/Ricochet – Hurt Lock to Crews

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler b. Riott Squad – Kirifuda Clutch to Riott

MVP vs. Mustafa Ali went to a no contest when Retribution interfered

Randy Orton/Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode b. Drew McIntyre/Street Profits – RKO to McIntyre

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

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

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Monday Night Raw – September 28, 2020: Get The Microwave Ready

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 28, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

Clash Of Champions has come and gone and we are on the way to the Cell. That could mean a few different directions, though Orton vs. McIntyre III would seem to be in the cards. At the same time though, the Draft is looming and that means we could be in for a big shakeup in the next few weeks. Hopefully we don’t have a big lull for the next few weeks on the way there. Let’s get to it.

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

We recap Asuka beating Zelina Vega to retain the Raw Women’s Title, followed by Vega attacking her after the match.

Vega says she is ready but here’s Asuka to yell at her. They have to be held apart.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Zelina Vega

The legends are still here and a poker game has broken out.

Post break Andrade is in the ring to yell at Zelina Vega for being nothing without him. Vega leaves and Andrade starts ranting about how he was holding the team together last night before Angel Garza got hurt. He is the best in the company and it’s open challenge time.

Andrade vs. Keith Lee

Lee shoves him around to start but Andrade slips away. Some arm cranking has Andrade in more trouble but he goes for the knee to slow Lee down. The running knees in the corner connect but Lee is right back with the Spirit Bomb for the pin at 2:53. Presenting the Spirit Bomb (or hopefully the Big Bang Catastrophe as well) as this sudden freight train that no one can handle is a good way to go and something that could work out well.

Earlier today, the Hurt Business was in catering when a random guy came and took Bobby Lashley’s seat. Lashley showed up and the guy moved over, but that was still Lashley’s seat. Some glaring got rid of the guy, but Lashley had him leave his food anyway. MVP looks a little confused but they all start laughing.

We look back at Akira Tozawa being eaten by a shark.

R-Truth is playing chess with Little Jimmy but here’s a Ninja with a letter for him. It’s in Japanese, but the Ninja provides an English version as well. The letter says that if Truth is readying this, Tozawa has been eaten by a shark. Their battles were epic though and now that he is gone, Truth needs to have this. It’s Tozawa’s black belt, leaving truth to wonder why Tozawa had to be devoured. Tozawa pops out from under a table and wins the title. The Ninja jumps Tozawa though and steals the title, revealing himself as Drew Gulak. Truth hits him in the head and steals it right back.

We look back at the Seth Rollins/Mysterio Family genetics drama last week.

Here are Lana and Natalya to say that they want the Women’s Tag Team Titles because Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax can’t defend them. Adam Pearce comes out and makes a tag match for right now.

Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke vs. Lana/Natalya

Natalya headlocks Dana to start but Dana fights up and hits the handspring elbow in the corner. A cartwheel kick to the face gets two on Natalya but Lana comes in off a blind tag for her own kick to Dana’s face. Lana grabs the chinlock for a bit until Dana fights up and brings Mandy back in. A faceplant gets two on Lana and a jumping knee finishes her off at 3:10.

Rating: D. Yeah this didn’t work and I’m not exactly surprised. These four are not the ones you need out there to make a match work and that was the case here again. Lana, Brooke and Mandy are not exactly polished in the ring and Natalya is hardly the most popular star. This was almost never going to work and it really didn’t here.

We look back at Aleister Black attacking Kevin Owens last week.

Black thought Owens was a good man but Black isn’t buying Owens saying one thing and having everyone change their thoughts on him. Owens has a history of betraying people and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many people forget and forgive. The eye patch comes off and Black says he will not forget.

The legends are playing poker when the Street Profits come in to join the party.

Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black

Black has lost the rising board entrance and now has music with a voiceover at the beginning. Owens jumps him to start and the fight heads outside with Black being driven into various things. Black comes back with some strikes of his own, only to get hit in the face. A clothesline takes him down again and the backsplash crushes Black again.

Black is suplexes down again and rolls out to the floor, with Owens hitting a Swanton off the apron. We take a break and come back with Black kicking Owens between the shoulders and adding a running kick to the chest for two. The front facelock keeps Owens in trouble for a bit and a big kick to the head gives Black two more.

Owens gets in a hard shot for his own two but gets sat on top. Black’s superplex attempt is blocked and shoved away but the Swanton hits knees. Black nails a jumping knee to the face for some near falls but the referee yells at Black for attacking on the ropes. Owens slugs back but Black unloads, accidentally hitting the referee in the process for the DQ at 13:18.

Rating: C. This wasn’t the most thrilling stuff after the break and I’m not exactly looking forward to what we are going to be seeing with Black’s latest moodiness. He was getting somewhere with the face run and the longer matches, but this was a bunch of kicks and a chinlock until we got to the finish. Black worked a lot better as a face, but for now we’re stuck getting through this.

Post match Owens gives Black a Stunner.

Mustafa Ali runs into the Hurt Business, who isn’t pleased. They hit him in the face but here are Apollo Crews and Ricochet to say they’ll see them tonight.

24/7 Title: R-Truth vs. Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa

Truth is defending and gets double teamed to start, but Gulak and Tozawa fight over who gets to go for the cover. With that argument out of the way, we hit a double arm crank until Gulak throws Tozawa outside (bumping into the referee in the process). The Gulock has Truth in trouble until Tozawa makes the save. A sitout gordbuster hits Tozawa and Gulak gets AA’d onto Tozawa to retain Truth’s title at 4:17.

Rating: D+. This was a weird situation as they just had a match instead of doing any wacky shenanigans. That being said, it was kind of a downgrade to not have the goofiness as it left them with a run of the mill triple threat. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but this was about five minutes that just came and went.

Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose are coming for the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Also, Dana sees Mandy as an inspiration. I’d ask how but that might just make things worse.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy

Dolph Ziggler talks to Adam Pearce about his idea for the open challenge. It’s going to be Robert Roode isn’t it?

Here’s the Hurt Business, minus Cedric Alexander, for their six man. Before the match, MVP says Cedric Alexander messed up last week so he’s off at Hurt Business Boot Camp to avoid future mistakes. As for Apollo Crews, he is the definition of insanity as he keeps trying to take on the Hurt Business and gets dropped over and over. It happened at Payback, it happened at Clash of Champions and it is going to happen again tonight.

Hurt Business vs. Ricochet/Apollo Crews/Mustafa Ali

Ricochet and company jump the Hurt Business before the bell and the brawl is on outside. Hold on though as the lights flicker and Retribution’s logo pops up everywhere. We take a break and come back with the match in progress and Benjamin grabbing a chinlock on Crews. MVP comes in but misses the running boot in the corner, only to have Lashley break up the tag attempt. Crews hits a German suplex and frog crossbody to MVP though, allowing the hot tag to Ricochet.

The pace picks up in a hurry but Ricochet has to bail out of the Phoenix splash, allowing MVP to kick him in the face. The Playmaker is countered though and Ricochet hits his own kick to MVP’s face. It’s off to Ali to pick up the pace, including a running neckbreaker for two. Lashley pulls Ali to the floor where Crews makes a save with a moonsault off the apron. Back in and Ali hits most of his tornado DDT (thankfully commentary doesn’t act like it was hit perfectly), setting up the 450 for the pin at 5:23 shown.

Rating: C. This was more of the same feud that we’ve seen from everyone involved and I can take that over a lot of the other things that we have seen on the show. The Hurt Business seems ready to move on but with Retribution in quarantine, there is only so much that they can do. Granted having them lose isn’t the most logical move, but I can go for Ali getting another win.

Ric Flair keeps winning at poker.

Bianca Belair outruns a bunch of other people because she’s the fastest.

Video on Retribution.

Here’s Drew McIntyre for the Open Challenge for a title shot. No one comes out at first so McIntyre asks how Charles Robinson’s day is going. Cue Dolph Ziggler though and we have an opponent.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Robert Roode

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was passable enough tonight and they have set up a few things for the future, but there was a lot of warmed over leftovers on this show and it made the show feel long. Asuka vs. Vega II, R-Truth still doing his wacky 24/7 stuff, MORE Mysterios vs. Rollins/Murphy, the Hurt Business vs. Ricochet N Pals and a spinoff of McIntyre vs. Ziggler to set up McIntyre vs. Orton III. That isn’t quite inspiring stuff and while a lot of what we had here was fine, it wasn’t exactly fun to watch. Oh and there is an open challenge for the World Title and Keith Lee chose to face Andrade. How bright of him.

Results

Asuka b. Zelina Vega – Asuka Lock

Keith Lee b. Andrade – Spirit Bomb

Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose b. Lana/Natalya – Jumping knee to Lana

Kevin Owens b. Aleister Black via DQ when Black hit the referee

R-Truth b. Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa – Gulak was AA’d onto Tozawa

Murphy b. Dominik Mysterio – Rollup with tights

Mustafa Ali/Ricochet/Apollo Crews b. Hurt Business – 450 to MVP

Drew McIntyre b. Robert Roode – Claymore

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

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Clash Of Champions 2020: And That’s Why He’s A Star

IMG Credit: WWE

Clash Of Champions 2020
Date: September 27, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe

We’re back to the show that is all about titles, which should be the majority of shows but this one is special due to reasons of they need a theme. The big story at the last minute is two matches being changed for reasons that aren’t entirely clear but virus issues seem like a strong possibility. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Lucha House Party vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura, now sleeveless, and Cesaro are defending and it’s Kalisto/Lince Dorado for the House Party. Cesaro takes Dorado down to start and then drops him with a single shot to the face. Back up and Dorado sends him into the corner for a knee to the face and the back to back splashes get two on Cesaro. Kalisto spins into a sleeper on Cesaro but it’s broken up in a hurry. Dorado comes in with a missile dropkick to knock Cesaro into the corner for the tag off to Nakamura as things slow down a bit.

Nakamura kicks him to the floor and then kicks him down back inside, followed by Good Vibrations in the corner. A knee to the chest gets two on Dorado and it’s back to Cesaro for a forearm to the face. Dorado manages a sunset bomb for two of his own, earning himself a big boot from Cesaro. Back up again and Dorado manages to kick Nakamura down, setting up the high crossbody for the breather.

Kalisto…is not tagged in as Cesaro knocks him off the apron. Some more knees in the corner have Dorado in trouble but he rolls over for the hot tag off to Kalisto. Everything breaks down and Kalisto hits a DDT for two on Cesaro. They all head outside with a double superkick dropping Nakamura. Back inside and a pair of moonsaults get two on Cesaro but Nakamura pulls Dorado outside. The reverse exploder sends Dorado over the barricade, leaving Kalisto to be swung into the knee from Nakamura to retain at 10:45.

Rating: C. This started slowly but picked up a lot of steam near the end. I was expecting some kind of an angle with the House Party but thankfully they kept it simple here and had the champs retain as they should. It wasn’t anything special, but it would have gotten a live crowd into the show, which is all you can ask for.

John Cena narrates the opening video, talking about how hard it is to become a champion but then how it is even harder when you realize that some people have trained just as hard as you have. We then shift into a regular hype video on the main events.

Intercontinental Title: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn

Hardy is defending in a ladder match with both titles above the ring. We get a classic ladder match moment from all three during the entrances for a nice bonus. The bell rings and Sami informs them that his belt shouldn’t be up there, earning himself a shot to the face. It’s Jeff going for the ladder first but AJ baseball slides it into his ribs. Sami follows with an Arabian moonsault to AJ and it’s time to throw a ladder inside. Hardy is right there to backdrops Sami into the ladder against the ropes and then turns the ladder upside down.

Jeff dives at AJ but only hits the ladder in a bump he shouldn’t be taking. AJ whips Sami hard into the ladder in the corner, leaving AJ as the only person standing. That means AJ can go climbing but he has to come back down for a Pele on Sami (whose back is looking HORRIBLE early on). Jeff goes up to catch him but gets knocked down HARD, only to pop back up to pull AJ down again.

Everyone is down until Sami suplexes AJ into the ladder in the corner. They all head outside with AJ getting the better of things until he misses a charge into the barricade. Jeff hits Poetry In Motion to AJ against the barricade, only to get caught with Sami’s Helluva Kick. Sami goes up so AJ chucks a mini ladder at him, possibly breaking Sami’s hand in the process. Hardy and Styles go up but the ladder tips over into the corner, with Sami wisely covering up and having the ladder only graze his knees.

Sami goes up so AJ tries the Phenomenal Forearm but Jeff shoves the ladder over to knock AJ out of the air. Jeff hits a Twist of Fate on Sami and goes up but Sami is there to grab the ladder. The ladder is tipped over so Jeff starts crawling over the top, leaving him upside down on the end that is going into the air. The ladder goes over the ropes and Jeff crashes down to the floor in another very nasty landing. Sami bridges the ladder between the ring and the announcers’ table but AJ hits the moonsault reverse DDT to take him down.

Sami is put across the ladder and Hardy hits AJ in the face with another ladder. Jeff climbs a big ladder and Swantons through Sami through the ladder for your crazy spot of the match. Cole says this is part of Jeff’s redemption year but Graves asks what good is a redemption year if you can’t get out of bed.

AJ goes up but Hardy turns the ladder over for the next big crash. The THIS IS AWESOME crowd noise is pumped in as Sami sends Jeff into the barricade a few times. With everything else not working, Sami whips out some handcuffs…and attaches Jeff’s EAR to the ladder. Sami isn’t done though and tries to handcuff AJ to the ropes but AJ fights up in time.

Somewhere in there Sami handcuffed himself to AJ though, leaving AJ to hammer away as he realizes what just happened. AJ loads Sami up in a fireman’s carry and climbs the ladder as Jeff, still earcuffed to the other ladder, is back in. Sami has a key and unhooks himself as Jeff rams a ladder into AJ. That means AJ can be cuffed to the ladder hinges, leaving Sami to climb up and win the titles at 26:42.

Rating: B. The handcuffs deal was creative and there were some big spots with a surprise ending, but at the same time I can’t quite feel right when you have people taking a bunch of bumps that they really don’t need to be taking. Jeff is a human wreck and now he’s doing these things that are just going to bang him up even more. I know he’s ok with them, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. This got hard to watch at times, but they didn’t have Jeff rip his ear off to win or something so….that’s a positive?

Post match Sami says he didn’t recapture anything because he is AND STILL Intercontinental Champion.

On the Kickoff Show, R-Truth, in a wig and hat, was panning for more gold because it’s a gold rush.

R-Truth, still in disguise, comes into the referee’s room and yells at Little Jimmy for giving them away. Drew Gulak sneaks in to win the title and runs off.

We get a clip from Jey Uso’s WWE Network Chronicle.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Zelina Vega

Asuka is defending and takes her down with ease to start. A test of strength is teased but Asuka dances away as only she can. Vega gets creative by going after the arm, only to get headlocked for her efforts. An armdrag attempt doesn’t work whatsoever as Asuka reverses into a cross armbreaker. That sends Vega bailing to the ropes and she pulls Asuka down by the arm for a change.

Again Asuka is out of it in a hurry, this time with a hip attack to send Vega outside. Asuka gets pulled bad arm first into the steps though and an arm wringer gives Vega two back inside. The armbar goes on and Vega even flips forward to crank on the arm even more. Vega tries her own cross armbreaker but Asuka switches into a failed Asuka Lock attempt. That sends Vega to the apron, where she avoids another hip attack.

Back in and Vega snaps off a hurricanrana, setting up some running knees in the corner for two (Joe: “THAT WAS CLOSE! THAT WAS CLOSE!”). The Backstabber is blocked so Vega rolls over to kick her in the head for two more. Asuka has had it and tries the Asuka Lock but Vega reverses into a victory roll for two. Another rollup is countered into the Asuka Lock to retain the title at 7:08.

Rating: B-. This was WAY better than it had any right to be with Vega showing off a lot more than she usually gets to do in the ring. Vega took her time to start in on the arm and had Asuka in some trouble before getting beaten. Asuka gave her a lot here and this was a heck of a surprise. Nice job to both of them.

Post match Asuka calls Vega a firecracker and offers respect so Vega bows. Asuka bows back but Vega kicks her in the ribs, sending Asuka into her crazed screams as Vega bails.

US Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Apollo Crews

Lashley, is defending in a rematch from Payback where he took the title from Crews. MVP and Ricochet are here as bonuses. Lashley starts with the power but gets knocked to the floor, setting up a moonsault from the apron. Back in and Lashley runs him over, meaning it’s time for the beating in the corner. MVP yells from the floor, asking if Crews is feeling the hurt and if they are in business. A suplex gives Lashley two and MVP starts more trash talk.

Crews gets in a shot of his own though and hits a running elbow against the ropes. A dive to the floor takes Lashley down again and Crews hits the gorilla press into the standing moonsault for two back inside. Lashley is right back with a superplex for two of his own but the spinning Dominator is countered. Crews hits the standing shooting star into a frog splash for another near fall. Back up and Lashley hits the big spinebuster into the Hurt Lock for the tap to retain at 8:14.

Rating: C+. Another match where they were cranking up the energy before the right decision. There was little reason to have Lashley drop the title here as the Hurt Business seems to be moving on towards a bigger feud with Retribution. I liked what we got here though and that’s a nice thing to say about a match that didn’t feel like much coming in.

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

The Profits are defending. Andrade cranks on Dawkins’ arm to start but it’s quickly off to Ford. Garza grabs Andrade from the apron to cut Ford off, meaning Garza can TAKE OFF HIS PANTS. A running kick to the face gets two on Ford as Joe is VERY impressed by Garza and Andrade’s teamwork. Ford fights his way up with a belly to back suplex and the hot tag brings in Dawkins to clean house. Garza gets splashed in the corner but Andrade cuts Dawkins off with a dropkick.

A blind tag brings in Garza, meaning he can break up the Cash Out. Ford and Garza go up top with a super Spanish Fly giving Garza his own two. The running knees in the corner give Andrade two more but a jumping enziguri gets Ford out of trouble. The hot tag bring sin Dawkins for the spinebuster (now the Anointment) to Andrade…for the pin at 8:17. Andrade’s shoulder was WAY up at two and no one seemed to expect that as the finish.

Rating: C. Let me guess: that means we get ANOTHER match between these guys. The fact that there just aren’t any more teams available to challenge for the titles should tell you a lot about what the titles mean at this point. The Profits don’t need the belts at this point so find someone new to lose the titles to already.

Drew Gulak talks about always being prepared and gets jumped by R-Truth, who wins the title back.

Here’s Bayley with the chair to laugh about Nikki Cross not being here, even though she would have lost anyway. It’s open challenge time.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Bayley

Only Bayley is defending as Asuka suplexes her down to start. It’s too early for the Asuka Lock as Bayley makes the rope and grabs her own belly to back suplex. Bayley yells at Cole for saying her name and then dives into a Codebreaker. They head outside with Asuka hitting another German suplex but Bayley hits her with the chair for the DQ at 3:38.

Rating: D+. Yeah that’s fine. I’m not sure what else they could have done here as Asuka was a safe pick to make people’s eyes go up at the possibility of a title change before doing the quick DQ to get Bayley out of there. They were in a bad place with Cross’ condition so this was as good of an idea as they could have gone with at the moment.

Post match here’s Sasha Banks in a neck brace to jump Bayley. A kick sends Banks away but Bayley spends too long setting up a chair, allowing Banks to get in some kendo stick shots. A scared looking Bayley runs off.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the Raw World Title. McIntyre escaped with a win at Summerslam but Orton kicked him in the head three times. McIntyre did the same to him, meaning they were even on putting the other in an ambulance. Therefore, it was time for an ambulance match for the title.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

Drew is defending and you win by putting your opponent in an ambulance. They slug it out to start but Orton kicks the rope for a low blow. There’s the hanging DDT to plant the champ and it’s time for the Punt….but Big Show of all people shows up to grab Orton’s leg. The chokeslam sends Orton through the announcers’ table and Show leaves. McIntyre drops Orton face first onto the barricade and it’s time to head up to the ambulance.

For some reason there are crutches and chairs inside (the chair even has a red cross) but McIntyre takes too long and gets crutched in the ribs. Orton drives the chair into McIntyre’s bad jaw before trying to put him inside. McIntyre fights out in a hurry though, meaning it’s time to fight around to the side of the ambulance. The driver’s side door is opened up but McIntyre blasts him with the Glasgow Kiss. The Claymore only hits the door, sending it flying off the hinges.

They fight backstage and Drew chops him against a wall, only to be sent into another wall for his efforts. It’s time to go to catering next, where Christian jumps Orton and pounds him down next to the tables. With Christian gone, they head back to the ambulance and Orton gets in a rake to the eyes. Orton sends him through the windshield and they wind up on top of the ambulance. A shot to the face puts McIntyre, with his bloody back, down again and Orton knocks him down to the floor to make it worse.

Orton stands on top of the ambulance but it’s Shawn Michaels running in to superkick him down through part of the set. McIntyre picks him up for the toss into the ambulance but Orton slips out and hits the RKO on the floor. That’s enough to put McIntyre inside for one door shut….and then Orton pauses for a bit. McIntyre shoves him away and goes to the eye, setting up the Claymore. That’s not enough though as McIntyre adds his own Punt to finish Orton at 21:33.

Rating: B. I was worried when Big Show got involved but the ending worked out well. If nothing else, at least they didn’t have Ric Flair come out and shockingly side with Orton so at least they’re doing a bit of thinking. Odds are this goes to the Cell though, because winning two matches isn’t enough to end a feud these days. Good stuff here though, with some rare longer form storytelling from WWE.

Post match, Ric Flair drives the ambulance away.

We recap Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns. It’s a battle of the family, as they are cousins and part of one of the most important wrestling families of all time. Reigns is the big star and Jey wants to know why he can’t be the guy. When someone talks about him, all they ask is which twin is he. Now Jey wants to be the new chief of the tribe and Reigns is not cool with that. Either this same video or a similar version was aired on Smackdown and it is still excellent with a great look at the family.

Smackdown World Title: Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns, now shirtless and with Paul Heyman, is defending. Reigns glares him down and drives it into the corner for another sneer. Uso gets shoved away and says he’s trying to get this too. A jump over Reigns in the corner doesn’t get Jey very far as Reigns shoves him outside. Reigns: “How are you going to be the chief if you can’t even stay on the island?” Back in and the jumping clothesline has Jey down for two and Reigns chokes on the rope. Reigns says Jey should have listened to the tribal chief and it’s time to send Jey outside again.

They trade shots to the face and Jey goes onto the announcers’ table. Reigns says he loves him and they head back inside, with Jey getting in a few shots to the face. A Samoan drop gives Jey two but Reigns is right back with the big Superman Punch. It’s already back to the floor for a slugout with Reigns getting the better of it in a hurry. Back in and Reigns says Jey should have laid down and taken the payday but now he has to take this beating. More hard shots to the face have Jey down again. Reigns: “You’re trying to level up but I live at this level.”

Some corner clotheslines rock Jey again but Reigns runs into a shot to the face. Jey sends him shoulder first into the post and it’s a suicide dive to the floor. The jumping enziguri sends Reigns right back to the floor and it’s another suicide dive to keep the comeback going. Reigns hits a high crossbody into a low superkick for two more and they’re both down. The Superfly Splash doesn’t work and Reigns busts out a Rough Ryder of all things for two more.

The spear is countered into a crucifix for two and it’s a superkick into the Superfly Splash for the big near fall. Reigns seems to have hit him low on the kickout though and the fans find this awesome. The spear cuts Jey in half but Reigns doesn’t cover. Reigns says he isn’t ready yet because Jey brought the chief all the way out. He demands that Jey acknowledge him as the tribal chief so Reigns can end this. Jey says no so Reigns spears him again for no cover. Reigns makes him look into the corner and tell the people who the chief is.

That’s still a no so Heyman shouts that Reigns is his tribal chief. Reigns says he needs to heat it from Uso and unloads on him. The referee tries to break it up so Reigns threatens to knock him out and make him lose his job. Reigns demands Jey acknowledge him and knocks Uso silly with shots to the head. Jey is sent face first into the mat and Reigns hammers at the back of his head.

Cue Jimmy Uso to say he’s throwing in the towel. Reigns says Jimmy can come in and acknowledge him and this will all end. Jey says don’t do it so Reigns pulls him back in and drops hard right hands. Jimmy throws in the towel (even Heyman is telling him to do it) for the stoppage at 22:58.

Rating: A. And that’s your winner for “match that should have been a squash and turned amazing because they played it perfectly”. I absolutely loved this and got sucked into the entire thing, as Jimmy coming out was the perfect way to end it. Reigns looks like the most heartless killer in a long time and it’s going to take something special to get the title off of him. I didn’t quite buy Jey as having even a prayer of a chance, but that’s the biggest criticism I can think of in an outstanding display from everyone involved.

Post match Jimmy holds Jey and says Reigns is the tribal chief if that’s what he wants. Heyman puts the lei that Jey wore around Roman’s neck and looks terrified.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a heck of a show that went WAY beyond what it should have been able to accomplish. The only bad thing was Bayley vs. Asuka, which wasn’t even a scheduled match and didn’t break four minutes. The two big matches over delivered and there were some surprises along the way. If there is a drawback, it would probably be the complete lack of impact this show seemed to have (I had to be reminded that any title changed hands only a few hours into the show) so the Champions part was hardly the most important. Other than that though, heck of a show and one of WWE’s best in a good while.

Results

Sami Zayn b. AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy – Zayn pulled down the titles

Asuka b. Zelina Vega – Asuka Lock

Bobby Lashley b. Apollo Crews – Hurt Lock

Street Profits b. Andrade/Angel Garza – Anointment to Andrade

Asuka b. Bayley via DQ when Bayley used a chair

Drew McIntyre b. Randy Orton – McIntyre put Orton in an ambulance

Roman Reigns b. Jey Uso – Jimmy Uso threw in the towel

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

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Clash Of Champions 2020 Preview

IMG Credit: WWE

WWE runs a show like this every year and every year I try to figure out if it makes sense to have a show built entirely around titles. On one hand it is about as easy of an idea as you can have for a pay per view, but at the same time, aren’t most shows built around title matches? Either way I’m not driving six hours one way for a middle of the road pay per view this year so things are looking up. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Raw Women’s Title: Asuka(c) vs. Zelina Vega

This one was thrown together pretty recently but WWE did something smart to help set it up: they gave Vega a clean win over Mickie James. It is no secret that Vega does not have the most polish in the ring, but she has enough to get by. Now though, she has beaten someone with an established resume and that should give her enough to be a decent enough challenger to Asuka.

Now that being said, there is no reason to believe that Vega has even the tiniest prayer here so it’s Asuka retaining in a walk. Asuka is someone who could be champion for a good while to come as it’s not like there is any major credible challenger on her horizon. Let her beat Vega here and maybe again in a rematch on Monday Night Raw while we wait and see who else WWE can find for her. For now though, Asuka wins and does so with ease.

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

Sweet goodness it feels like we have been here quite a few times now. This is one of those matches that WWE seems to want to run at multiple pay per views and that is what we have seen so far. The Street Profits have held the titles for a LONG time (at least for these titles) and they have beaten Garza and Andrade several times as champions. That should mean something, but I’m not sure if it does.

For probably the third time in a row, I’ll take Andrade and Garza to win the titles. We’re kind of at the point where they have to or there is nothing left for them to do as a team. We’ve kind of been here for months now and until they actually win the belts, the team might as well be on a treadmill. We are way past the point where the Street Profits need to prove themselves and they will probably get the titles back later, but for now, we need new champions.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley(c) vs. Nikki Cross

Speaking of long reigning champions and matches we’ve seen before, we have this one, with Bayley continuing her practically 500 day reign as champion against Cross, who Bayley seems to have beaten about half a dozen times already. The idea here is that Bayley is vulnerable without Sasha Banks in her corner, but the only thing that I can think of from that concept is “….oh come on.”

Of course Bayley retains here, because the ONLY thing that this should be setting up is the mother of all showdowns for Bayley and Banks. You could put that one in the Cell, but it might need something even bigger than that. I don’t think they can stretch it all the way to WrestleMania, but if anything deserves that kind of a stage, it would be Banks FINALLY dethroning Bayley. If it sounds like I’m treating Cross like an afterthought here, it’s only because she is one in this case.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Lucha House Party

WWE is doing a really bad job of making these matches seem like they don’t matter because there are other stories already being set up. In this case it would be Lucha House Party imploding as Kalisto seems to be thinking about himself more than the team. Now that could go multiple ways here, as it isn’t clear which members of the team will be getting the shot. That being said, I don’t think it’s going to matter.

I’ll go with the champs retaining here, but there is a little voice in the back of my head that could see the titles changing hands, setting up a story where the new champs have to decide what to do with Kalisto. I don’t think WWE has thought that far ahead or put that much thought into the idea of the Lucha House Party splitting up though, so I think it’s safe to drop that idea and just go with Cesaro and Nakamura retaining.

US Title: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Apollo Crews

It’s a Payback rematch here but things have already changed. Not only has Lashley already figured out a better name for the Full Nelson than the Full Lashley, but the Hurt Business is good when they are fighting Retribution and bad when they are fighting Crews and his friends. That’s confusing enough, but at least the match should be a pretty easy result to figure out.

This is the best (or maybe worst depending on how you look at it) example of a match where they needed to have a title match and since there is no one fresh to challenge (because Ricochet doesn’t exist on pay per view), they’re going with a rematch from last time. Lashley should retain here as Crews already got what he could out of the title and there is no need to change it back.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. AJ Styles

It’s the monthly ladder matches because we need to have one of some kind about every month in WWE. Hardy is champion, Styles wants a rematch, Zayn looks like Fidel Castro and has his own title from five months ago (not six because WWE can’t count) so let’s put two titles above the ring for a ladder match. As usual, this has me worried about a screwy finish, and I can’t even say WWE wouldn’t go there.

I’ll play it safe and say Hardy retains here, but it wouldn’t shock me to see two people pulling down titles to make this a glorified elimination match. Zayn has no real claim to the title and while Styles should get a rematch, I think he might be the odd man out here. Zayn has been more interesting than he has in years in his current heel run (again, if you cut out the five month hiatus) and I’d like to see him get something going, but it doesn’t seem to be this. At least not with both titles.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Riott Squad

Oh yeah this is a thing they’re doing too. This isn’t a match that has any interest from me as Jax and Baszler have already sucked the life out of the titles. I’m not sure what that means for the titles’ futures, but it isn’t doing much for their present. Lately the champs have mainly existed to beat up Lana because her husband is now working elsewhere, leaving this match as kind of an afterthought.

The champs retain here, as WWE sees them as more interesting than anyone else. At the moment, that does seem to be the case when compared to the Riott Squad, though having Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan slipping on one banana peel after another is getting a little tiresome. Maybe they throw in a curve here, but I have a feeling that the wacky tag team partners idea is going to continue for a good while.

Smackdown World Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Jey Uso

I wanted to put this one on last because it’s the best story in WWE today. While there might not be much doubt in who is going to win, this is a lesson in how to take something that should be nothing and turn it into something. They’re members of the same family, Reigns is the star, Uso wants to know why he can’t be the new big dog. If you have a sibling, there is a good chance you have been in one of their shoes before. That’s how you make a wrestling story work: by giving the fans something to grab onto.

I don’t think there’s any real doubt about who wins here. Reigns is Reigns and Uso is waiting on his brother to get back to action. What is going to be interesting here is seeing how Reigns retains. There is a case to be made for Uso to get in some offense and come off looking like a star, or there is a case for Reigns to beat him in two minutes, including a cold stare at Uso’s unconscious body. I’m expecting something in the middle, as Reigns turns it on when he needs to in order to retain, but Uso should get in a little something (emphasis on little) in defeat.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Randy Orton

So what we have here is the champion who won the title at Wrestlemania and held it against some questionable opponents before escaping with the title against Orton at Summerslam, setting up a rematch at Clash Of Champions. Oh dang it I have the wrong notes here. That’s the story they did with Kofi Kingston against Orton last year. And people wonder why this company is seen as creatively bankrupt.

I’ll take….dang who will I take? I’ll go with Orton here, as I have a feeling they still want to do something else with both of them down the line. I’m not sure what, but I didn’t feel right putting McIntyre. The biggest problem for both is I’m not sure where they go next, but maybe the Draft can shake things up enough. That has to be coming soon, though so is the Cell, which could make for a good blowoff match. Orton wins here though, in a pick I have zero confidence in making.

Overall Thoughts

The more I think about it, the less I like this card. It feels like WWE is running on creative fumes at the moment and that isn’t surprising. This show is taking place on September 27 and is their third pay per view in six weeks (with Takeover running next Sunday night). It’s a case of WWE needing to let them have a breather but content is king these days and this is what we have to work with. This show has some matches which could work out rather well and probably will, but after two pay per views so recently, it’s a little hard to get up for this one.

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

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

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Monday Night Raw – September 21, 2020: It Worked While It Lasted

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 21, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Clash Of Champions and we still have some more to do for the show. First up is a triple threat match to crown new #1 contenders, but we also have a rematch from last week when Retribution interrupted Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre. Other than that, expect some more Retribution interference. Let’s get to it.

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

Retribution hacks the opening feed and here they are to get things going. They have officially signed contracts (because that’s a good company move) and unmask (mostly), revealing Mia Yim, Mercedes Martinez (I believe), Dominik Dijakovic, Dio Madden and a fifth member (Shane Thorne maybe?).

They talk about wanting to drain the lifeblood of this company because this place has betrayed them for the love of money. Cue the Hurt Business to chase them off and issue a challenge for tonight. Cue more masked members of the team to surround the ring and the beatdown is on. The goons are kicked out but the original members get in and the Hurt Business is overwhelmed.

Rey Mysterio is proud of his son for following in his footsteps.

Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. Angel Garza/Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio/Humberto Carrillo

The winners get the Street Profits, on commentary, for the Tag Team Titles at Clash Of Champions. There is no Zelina Vega here to shake things up a bit, meaning she isn’t here to see Garza TAKE OFF HIS PANTS at the bell. Murphy gets sent to the floor to start so Andrade and Garza take over on Carrillo. Andrade is sent outside as well and an enziguri drops Murphy to the floor again.

Mysterio and Carrillo hit big dives to the floor to take out Andrade and Garza before we settle down to Mysterio hitting a Code Red for two on Andrade. Mysterio gets in a pretty sloppy 619 to Garza before it’s off to Murphy for a jumping knee to Andrade’s face. Murphy goes over for the tag to Rollins, who walks away, saying he has a lot on his mind. That leaves Andrade to hit a heck of a spinning elbow to Murphy and the Wing Clipper to Murphy to send Andrade/Garza to Clash at 5:24.

Rating: C+. It was a high energy match while it lasted but it seemed to be a lot more about Rollins and Murphy splitting up than the title match being set. That’s all well and good for a change, as that’s a bigger story than almost anything involving the Tag Team Titles. It doesn’t help that it’s a title match we’ve seen for months now but at least it should be decent.

We recap Braun Strowman invading Raw Underground and getting in a staredown with Dabba-Kato.

Shane McMahon is ready to hype up the fight on the Kevin Owens Show and has the large guard keep Raw Underground on lockdown.

Retribution is ready to beat up the Hurt Business tonight.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show with Kevin talking about how he had to deal with Captain Hot Topic last time but we’ll move on from that. He can’t believe it, but his guest is Shane McMahon. After a recap of their history, Owens hands it off to Shane’s natural promotional skills to hype up Raw Underground.

Shane talks about how Owens got to meet Kato a few weeks ago so let’s bring him out right now. Owens looks a bit impressed and says he and Kato will do this at some point, but here’s a preview. That means a slap to Kato, who Shane has to hold back. Owens has a second guest tonight so here’s Braun Strowman. Shane has to try to keep them apart until Raw Underground but here’s Aleister Black to crotch Owens against the post a few times. Shane and the giants don’t seem to notice.

We look at Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee being interrupted by Retribution.

Drew McIntyre says yeah, he’s worried about wrestling again with a fractured jaw. As for his fight with Lee last week, it was just business. If you’re in WWE and don’t want to be the champ, why are you here? They’ll laugh over drinks later, but for now, they’re beating each other up.

Retribution has jumped Titus O’Neil and Humberto Carrillo with Dijakovic shouting that WWE stars are the sickness. They are the judge, jury and executioners.

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

Non-title and Lee has new gear again, with the low cut singlet top that Big Show wore for years over his shorts. McIntyre misses a Claymore attempt at the bell and they trade aggressive headlocks. A running crossbody sends McIntyre over the top in a heap and it’s time to forearm it out in front of the announcers’ table. Back from a break with McIntyre not being able to get him up in a fireman’s carry and being forearmed down instead. The Spirit Bomb is broken up though and McIntyre comes back with a spinebuster for two.

A neckbreaker gives McIntyre two more but the Future Shock is powered into the corner. Lee Hulks Up and hits something like a spinebuster of his own for his own near fall. Some shots to McIntyre’s face (after commentary brought up the bad jaw) and a clothesline give Lee two more. The Spirit Bomb is escaped again and McIntyre hits the Claymore but here’s Randy Orton with a chair to McIntyre for the DQ at 12:22.

Rating: C+. It was nice while it lasted but this was a matter of time until Orton came in. They don’t want to pin Lee and McIntyre shouldn’t be taking any kind of a pin right now so this was the only way to go. That doesn’t make it better, but it makes it logical. Lee is still impressive in the ring, but

Post match Orton drives the chair into McIntyre’s face and hits a Punt on Lee.

Post break Orton says shame on all of the fans for doubting him for even a second. Of course he is going to make it to Clash Of Champions. He’s been here for twenty years and he has been the only constant. Orton has never walked away from a World Title match and he won’t be doing it anytime soon.

The match on Sunday isn’t your usual World Title match though, is it? Orton walks over to an ambulance parked in the arena and opens the doors, saying he took a ride in this ambulance just a few weeks ago. That came after three Claymores and as he heard the sirens, he was fading in and out of consciousness.

Then he knew what it felt like to be taken out by the Legend Killer. He knew what Edge, Christian, Shawn Michaels, Big Show and Ric Flair all felt like. As he came to in the back of the ambulance, he started to smile. It wasn’t because of the pain, but it was because he remembered what he was capable of doing. He knows what it takes to become WWE Champion and that is where he will go again.

For some people this ambulance represents hope, pain or death. For Orton though, it means his 14^th World Title, so listen up Drew. At Clash Of Champions, Orton is giving Drew one more ride in the ambulance to make his title reign flat line. Orton slams the door to wrap up a good promo.

Asuka isn’t worried about facing Zelina Vega or Mickie James at Clash but here’s Billie Kay to interrupt. She laughs at the idea of Asuka being willing to face anyone, but here’s Peyton Royce to say she should get a title shot. Billie: “….Yeah. Either of us!” Asuka says no one is ready for her on Sunday, but tonight, she is ready for Billie.

Zelina Vega vs. Mickie James

The winner gets Asuka for the title on Sunday. Mickie promises to never give up on the Raw Women’s Title so Zelina better be ready. Zelina sends her into the corner to start but Mickie is back with a kick to the face for two. Back up and Zelina grabs a Black Widow before sending her into the corner.

A slow motion hurricanrana out of the corner gives Vega two and Mickie’s reversal into a sunset flip gets the same. Mickie is back with a spinning kick to the ribs and a running forearm. There’s the flapjack into a nipup, followed by the top rope Thesz Press for two on Vega. The MickieDT is countered though and Vega’s Backstabber is good for the clean pin at 4:13.

Rating: D+. The match was pretty rough, but what matters here is giving Vega a clean pin to set up the title match. I can’t imagine Vega actually wins the title on Sunday but they gave her a little momentum going into it and made her seem like someone who could be a bit more of a threat. Why it takes so long to do that is beyond me, but at least they did it here. Well done.

Retribution jumps the Hurt Business but they fight back and take out some of the Retribution goons.

Video on Bianca Belair out training various men at the Performance Center.

Earlier today, Akira Tozawa and a Ninja referee waited for R-Truth….in the ocean. R-Truth showed up with Little Jimmy and the 24/7 Title but Little Jimmy saw a shark’s fin in the water. Truth: “SHARKNADO!!!” Truth ran off and left the title in the water, before returning 20 minutes later with flippers and a snorkel. Little Jimmy is almost dragged off by the current but Truth makes the save.

Cedric Alexander vs. Apollo Crews

Lashley vs. Crews for the US Title is announced for Sunday. Before the match, MVP threatens violence against Retribution, with Cedric saying Crews is getting the same. He doesn’t care about Crews or Crews’ kids, so here are Crews and Ricochet to say this is about revenge. Crews starts fast and sends Alexander outside for a suicide dive as we take a break.

Back with Crews fighting out of a chinlock but getting kneed in the ribs. That means the chinlock can go back on with Alexander driving in elbows to the ribs this time. The Michinoku Driver gives Cedric two and he’s a little surprised at the kickout. Crews is back up with a crossbody and a toss Samoan drop gets two. Cedric is sent outside but avoids the moonsault, setting up Alexander’s suicide dive. Back in and Crews is fine enough to grab a rollup for the pin at 8:05.

Rating: C. Not bad here and I’m getting into this feud fairly well. There’s a personal issue between the guys and it’s becoming more and more interesting to watch. I’m not sure where it leads, but the Hurt Business has become a much better team over the last few months. It’s a nice story and the team has gotten more interesting, showing that WWE knows how to do this when they try.

Post match the Hurt Business comes out for a distraction and it’s a beatdown on Crews and Ricochet. Lashley gets the Hurt Lock on Crews to leave him laying.

It’s Raw Underground time with Dolph Ziggler vs. Arturo Ruas. Ziggler gets taken down but manages to block an armbar. A leglock is blocked again and it’s the sleeper to make Ruas tap.

Shane McMahon tries to talk to Braun Strowman but new Raw Underground interviewer Briana Brandy gets to do the interview. Braun doesn’t walk to talk and says Shane better have some better competition.

Here’s Seth Rollins for a chat. He thought it was over with Rey Mysterio, but then WWE.com put up a series of photos of the Mysterio Family. We see one of the photos, and Dominik towers over the rest of them. Rollins thinks something is amiss and has an envelope with results. He asks the Mysterios to come out here and find out the truth in person. The family comes out and Rey says they are tired of the mind games.

Seth says he has grown to respect them because they have overcome adversity together. That’s why they deserve the truth, which includes the result of a DNA test. Seth knows this has been done before and technology has advanced a lot since then. We need an answer to the question: is Rey really Dominik’s father? The results are clear: Rey is not the father. Rey goes on a rant about how we’re sick of this, but Seth realizes he made a mistake. This isn’t a test for Dominik, but rather Aliyah, who isn’t really Rey’s daughter. If that isn’t enough, Rollins has more proof.

We see a clip from last week where Aliyah checked on Murphy after Rollins jumped him. Rollins doesn’t think that was very Mysterio like, but Rey says keep his daughter’s name out of his mouth. Rey calls Aliyah naive for knowing nothing about their world, which sends Aliyah walking away. Angie goes with her as Rollins looks stunned.

Dominik and Rey go after the two of them, leaving Rollins to say he wasn’t trying to drive a wedge between the family. Rollins knows that other families have dealt with this before and apologizes. As he leaves. Rollins flashes an evil smile. Are they just trolling us with this story already? It wasn’t interesting in the first place and is coming up on five months. That’s Rusev/Lana/Lashley territory.

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax vs. Lana/Natalya

Non-title and the Riott Squad is on commentary. Nia takes Lana down with ease to start and it’s off to Shayna for a gutwrench faceplant. The Kirifuda Clutch makes Lana tap at 1:00.

Post match Jax and Baszler go after the Squad, who smile at the champs. Lana gets planted through the announcers’ table in a loud crash.

Drew McIntyre is ready for Orton but has something to do tonight.

Rey tells Aliyah that he doesn’t want her to get hurt but Aliyah says she is just here for Dominik. But she’s just a naive 19 year old right? Aliyah leaves and Angie won’t let Rey go after her.

Back at Raw Underground, Erik and Riddick Moss fight with Moss knocking him out.

Dabba-Kato wants to see what Strowman is all about.

Asuka vs. Peyton Royce

Non-title and Billie Kay is at ringside. Asuka rolls her up to start and hits a sliding kick. They miss kicks to the face and Peyton is back with something close to the Widow’s Peak minute grabbing Asuka’s face. The Asuka Lock is countered so Peyton settles for a spinning kick to the face for two instead. Peyton goes up but gets pulled down into the Asuka Lock, only to have Zelina Vega run in and jump Asuka for the DQ at 2:16.

Post match Asuka fights back, with the threat of the spinning backfist sending Vega running.

Murphy comes up to Aliyah to say he’s sorry for what she has to go through. Aliyah looks more confused.

It’s back to Raw Underground for Strowman vs. Kato. They lock up to start and trade some body shots until Strowman takes him down for a choke. They fight to the floor for a bit before heading back to the stage, where Strowman hits a right hand and pounds away for the knockout win.

Clash Of Champions rundown.

Retribution vs. Hurt Business

Retribution is introduced as Slapjack, T-Bar and Mace (all in their half masks). MVP is the odd man out here and we start after a break. Lashley pulls Mace (Dio Madden) in and hammers away in the corner but it’s off to T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic) to clothesline him to the floor. Cedric comes in to hammer away but gets taken into the corner for the tag off to Slapjack (possibly Shane Thorne).

Some shots to the back allow the tag to T-Bar, who sends Cedric flying. The Neuralizer staggers T-Bar so it’s off to Shelton to clean house. Mace gets in a distraction though and T-Bar scores with a kick to the face. It’s back to Mace for a double suplex but Shelton belly to back suplexes Mace for a breather. Slapjack gets backdropped as well and the hot tag brings in Lashley to clean house. The high angle spinebuster sets up the Hurt Lock but T-Bar hits Lashley in the eye from the apron for the DQ at 6:15.

Rating: D+. I’ll get to the issues with Retribution later but this was a pretty lame six man tag. The ending was horrible too as you have this chaotic and violent group and the best way to have them get disqualified is a poke to the eye from the apron? They couldn’t, I don’t know, triple team Lashley for a bit or do SOMETHING a little more violent? Granted that’s about the third biggest problem with the team so we’ll leave it for now.

Post match all of Retribution hits the ring for the beatdown. Cue Drew McIntyre with the rest of the locker room for the big brawl. Most of the ring is cleared and it’s Randy Orton with an RKO to McIntyre to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I actually liked most of the show as they kept things moving and, aside from the endless Mysterio vs. Rollins deal, they didn’t linger on anything too long. They added three title matches to Sunday’s card and even built on some of the matches they already had. Throw in some nice Raw Underground stuff and the show was pretty good, assuming you ignore one boneheaded move with Retribution after another.

Where do you even start? We’ll start back in 1996 with the NWO, who terrorized WCW for a LONG time. They ran in, they attacked people, they messed with the production truck and they generally caused chaos. It took until Uncensored 1997, about nine months after they debuted, for them to win authority to do a bunch of stuff.

Here, about a month and a half after Retribution debuted, WWE just hands them contracts for no apparent reason. Ignoring the fact that they were all trained at the Performance Center and therefore would seem to be under contract already, why would WWE do that? I know we won’t get an answer, but I’d think one might be a bit helpful.

The whole point of Retribution is they’re a bunch of outsiders who are mad at WWE. If they hate the place so much, why would they accept contracts to work for them? Why would WWE offer them those contracts? Why would you take away the main core of their whole persona in one night? It doesn’t make sense from a kayfabe perspective or a writing perspective. Did WWE think that Retribution would just play nice now that they worked here after they didn’t play nice when they already worked there? That’s the logic we’re working with here?

Then they actually got in the ring, where their names sound like rejected Final Fight villains from 1994. I don’t know what they are going to call Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez, but are we really supposed to not recognize some of these people? Thorne I can accept as he is average sized and wears a full face mask and MAYBE Madden as he never wrestled on TV, but Yim, Martinez and Dijakovic are kind of hard to hide, especially with half of their faces showing. Losing via DQ is fine enough, but they couldn’t wait ten seconds and have the rest of the team run in to end it?

If this is the best WWE can do with Retribution, the team is in more trouble than they seemed to be. This felt like someone completely new took over the story (which very well may be the case) and ignored everything that made it interesting or that made sense about it in the first place. I liked some of what I saw, but unless you turn the volume off and ignore some details, you might get a big headache in a hurry.

Results

Andrade/Angel Garza b. Humberto Carrillo/Dominik Mysterio b. Seth Rollins/Murphy – Wing Clipper to Murphy

Drew McIntyre b. Keith Lee via DQ when Randy Orton interfered

Zelina Vega b. Mickie James – Backstabber

Apollo Crews b. Cedric Alexander – Rollup

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax b. Lana/Natalya – Kirifuda Clutch to Natalya

Hurt Business b. Retribution via DQ when T-Bar poked Lashley in the eye

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

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

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Monday Night Raw – August 24, 2020: Triple Threat

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 24, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe

It’s a triple threat tonight, but mainly because of WWE’s weird scheduling. Tonight is the Raw debut of the Thunderdome, the fallout show from Summerslam and the go home show for Payback. Since we have less than six days to get ready for the pay per view, expect a lot of matches to be announced in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Here is Summerslam if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming on the show.

Commentary talks about Roman Reigns’ return. At Payback, it’s Reigns vs. Strowman vs. the Fiend in a No Holds Barred triple threat match for the title.

Here’s WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for a chat (including a bunch of pyro in the stands, seemingly lighting a lot of people on fire). After a long video on his successful title defense over Randy Orton last night, Drew asks for a thumbs up from all of the fans in the Thunderdome. McIntyre thinks that’s cool and says retaining the title was cool too. He knows what it’s like to have to climb up to the top of the mountain and become WWE Champion.

Orton has been one of the best for a long time now but last night, Drew was that much better. Drew remembers Orton winning a match called the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever but then Drew beat him, so what does that mean? Anyway, Drew can’t wait for his next challenger and if that’s Orton, so be it, because he’d love to take Orton to Claymore Country. Drew goes to leave but Orton jumps him from behind and they fight into the gorilla position. Orton rakes the eyes and send him into a wall, followed by the Punt. Referees and agents come in but Orton manages another Punt to leave McIntyre cold.

Post break McIntyre is being helped up but shoves everyone away, insisting that he is fine.

Video on Keith Lee.

Nia Jax doesn’t like a question about how she’s still here but it was easy to get around her suspension. All she had to do was get Pat Buck alone and….apologize of course. Get your mind out of the gutter. Shayna Baszler pops up to say it’s a matter of time before Nia gets suspended again. She makes a Haystacks Calhoun reference (Shayna: “Oh sorry. At least he was good looking.”) so Nia says Shayna looks like something out of the Addams Family. So we have a guy who passed away 31 years ago and a television series that has been off the air for about 55 years. And they wonder why they can’t get younger fans to watch.

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler

Sasha Banks is with Bayley and here’s Nia Jax to watch, with a break coming before the bell. Shayna knocks her into the corner to start and Bayley is taken to the mat for some arm cranking. Bayley fights up and is quickly forearmed down, setting up a running knee in the corner. A triangle choke goes on so Sasha teases coming in to get Bayley out of trouble. Bayley finally sends Baszler outside and Nia jumps Baszler for the DQ at 5:31.

Rating: C-. This didn’t get to go anywhere but hey, at least we’re getting more from Nia Jax, because it has been a good while since she got to do her….whatever it is that she does. Something about being the Rock’s cousin or something I’m sure, because that’s enough of an excuse to have her come out there and do the same thing over and over and over and over.

Post match the beating is on with Banks and Bayley’s encouragement….until Baszler and Jax stop to glare at them. So there’s Payback, because we’re so lucky that way.

Kevin Owens goes to see Aleister Black before the Kevin Owens Show later. Owens opens the dressing room door and talks to Black, who doesn’t actually say anything or appear, though his hand does pull the door closed after Owens leaves.

Here’s Owens for the Kevin Owens Show and he finds the fans wonderful. He wastes no time in bringing out Aleister Black, who has a wrap around his right eye thanks to Buddy Murphy attacking him last month. Black looks at the steps but hesitates and comes in underneath the middle of the ropes instead. Owens isn’t sure what to talk about so Black says let’s just show the clip of him getting his eye taken out.

Back with Owens talking about how Seth can get under your skin….and Black starts grabbing his eye and falling to a knee. Owens wants medics out here but Black pops up with Black Mass to take him down and leave. The heel turn is a fine idea as brooding Black with the deadly finisher could go a long way.

Bayley and Banks are ready to retain Banks’ title and then deal with Jax and Baszler.

24/7 Title: R-Truth vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Shelton Benjamin

Shelton is defending and Truth is the only one to get an entrance. Everyone goes for rollups to start until Alexander unloads on Benjamin. The anklescissors sends Benjamin into the corner but Alexander’s springboard is broken up with a knee to the face. Truth’s ax kick misses Shelton but he has to powerbomb Tozawa onto the Ninjas. Tozawa throws Truth outside as well though and rolls Truth up for the pin and the title at 1:37.

Post match Benjamin beats up the Ninjas while Tozawa runs away.

Randy Orton cares about what McIntyre said about him.

We look back at Orton attacking McIntyre.

Here’s Orton for a chat. Orton talks about doing whatever he wants to whomever he wants but that wasn’t the case last night. He promised everyone that he was going to RKO McIntyre and then kick him in the skull to take the title…but he didn’t. Orton is a lot of things and he has proven that he will always be the Legend Killer. He has killed a lot of legends recently and that’s what he was doing earlier when he kicked McIntyre twice in a row. Earlier tonight, Drew came out here and offered him a rematch out of pity. Does McIntyre know who he is?

He is Randy Orton….and here’s Keith Lee. Orton isn’t sure what to think of this so Lee says Orton looks perplexed. Lee: “Greetings and salutations Mr. Orton.” Lee thought Orton might want to take this chance to bask in his glory. Orton has been called a lot of things over the years, as has Lee, but the only thing that is true is that Lee is limitless. The challenge is issued for right now and Orton says….maybe later. I can go for more of Lee and I’ll take this over squashing some jobber.

Charly Caruso talks about what we just saw and Drew McIntyre but overhears Zelina Vega, Angel Garza and Demi (Did WWE ever bother to say why she’s here every week? I get that she’s part of the story now but why was she even here in the first place?). Charly asks if Vega is ready to admit that she poisoned Montez Ford but Vega yells about how the footage proves nothing. She leaves and Angel invites Demi to the ring with her for his match. Charly is invited too but seems disgusted.

Montez Ford vs. Angel Garza

Andrade, Demi and Dawkins are all here. Before the match, the Street Profits say they want the smoke. Dawkins tries to take his pants off ala Garza but Ford puts a stop to that. Red cups drop from the ceiling during the Profits’ entrance for a nice touch. Ford takes him into the corner to start and does the Ultimate Warrior rope shake.

Something off the top is dropkicked out of the air and Angel TAKES OFF HIS PANTS. Ford can’t hit a neckbreaker or an enziguri but here’s Ivar to offer Demi….a turkey leg. They leave together and Angel is so furious that Ford kicks him in the head. Angel catches him on top but gets knocked down, setting up the twisting frog splash for the pin at 4:09.

Rating: D+. This was more about Ivar, a woman from the Bachelor and a turkey leg, because that’s what the Tag Team Titles are now about. We’ve seen the same stuff for weeks now, but at the same time, I’m not sure what else they can actually do with the titles at the moment. Are there even four teams on the show?

It’s time for Nia Jax segment 3 as she comes up to Shayna and says they can win the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Shayna says if she helps with that, Nia gets off her back. Nia says Shayna can follow her lead and gives her a mock punch to the jaw. Shayna slaps her and walks away.

As they leave, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan come in with Bianca Belair come in to mock the IIconics.

Bianca Belair/Riott Squad vs. IIconics/Zelina Vega

Kay sends Liv into the corner to start but Liv escapes for the tag off to Ruby. Peyton grabs a waistlock on Ruby and feeds her into Shades of Kay for two. Vega comes in for a kick to the head in the corner and a dragon sleeper (with the behind her back grip ala Aleister Black) goes on. That’s released so Vega can laugh at Belair, allowing Riott to get over for the tag to Belair. That means the beatdown is on in a hurry with Belair hitting a release Glam Slam to Vega with the IIconics making the save. The Squad takes care of the IIconics and the KOD finishes Vega at 3:27.

Rating: D+. Just a quick six man here as we continue to wait on Belair to destroy Vega (again). In theory the feud should be over but a rematch for the Tag Team Titles at Payback wouldn’t surprise me. I do like the Riott Squad winning again, but it would be nice if these people had something to go after instead of being stuck in the second tier of the division.

Cedric Alexander beats Ricochet at arm wrestling with Mark Henry (here to officiate another arm wrestling contest) coming in to offer a shot at the winner. That’s not going to happen so Henry has the table moved to the ring. MVP comes in and asks why Cedric is wasting his time with someone like Ricochet. Cedric doesn’t seem impressed but MVP says he’s off to deal with some US Title work for the Hurt Business. He’ll see Cedric later.

Here’s Mark Henry to say we’re coming up on Payback, where these two will be facing off for the US Title. This brings out Bobby Lashley (on his own) and Apollo Crews for some arm wrestling. Lashley wants to get this over with so he can beat Apollo up tonight and then do it again on Sunday for the US Title. Crews doesn’t think so and is ready to go. Lashley takes his time starting…and loses in a very quick match as Crews steps on his foot. Post match Crews loads up the Toss Powerbomb but settles for a pump kick to put Lashley on the floor. The rest of the Hurt Business comes out so Crews dives on them and runs away.

We look at Seth Rollins beating Dominik Mysterio last night and still trying for the big emotional moment.

The Mysterios are ready for their tag match tonight and Rey is proud of Dominik no matter what. Dominik says his family gives him the strength, and Rey is looking forward to Rollins having his own family to see what he has done to them. Rey keeps talking about how proud he is to share the ring with his son and they’re ready for Rollins. If they’re going this way, they’re doing a great job of setting up a possible Dominik heel turn.

Here are Natalya and Liv Morgan to induct a special woman into the Hall of Fame. Natalya knows she is going to get her own induction one day because she is the hashtag boat tonight tonight they are here to honor Mickie James. We get a video package on James, as made by Natalya, showing…..nothing because she has no career highlights. Cue Mickie to shove Natalya down and kick Lana in the head.

Lashley, with the Hurt Business, wants to fight in Raw Underground tonight so Shane McMahon tells him to come right on in.

Off to Raw Underground where Lashley chokes someone out and throws him off the platform. Dolph Ziggler gets up to try his hand with Lashley and takes him down but Lashley kicks him in the back. Ziggler manages a kick to the head and the sleeper, with Lashley not being able to roll out. He can however flip Ziggler over and Pounce him off the stage and into a post. MVP and Shelton Benjamin throw in another nameless guy who is knocked out with a single kick to the arm.

Two things. First of all, they’ve done a good job of keeping these things quick. They aren’t taking five to ten minutes straight every week and that has helped a lot. I know they’re not for everyone, but they’re in and out in a hurry, which is the best move. Second: did the Hurt Business drive over to the Performance Center or has the whole thing moved to the Amway Center and just happens to look completely identical when there isn’t much of a set?

Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee

Lee shoves him away to start and gets in a leapfrog, followed by a big shove out to the floor. Back in and Orton’s right hand is caught, allowing Lee to hit a standing overhead belly to belly. Orton bails to the floor again and this time Lee follows for a…failed posting attempt as Orton sends him shoulder first in instead. Orton stomps away back inside and covers, with Lee firing him off with the kickout.

The chinlock into a sleeper goes on but Lee drives him into the corner for the quick break. Lee hits the running corner splash and a crossbody takes Orton down again. Orton gets knocked outside again but Lee throws him back inside this time, only to get kicked in the face to set up the hanging DDT. Orton loads up the RKO but here’s McIntyre for the DQ at 4:47.

Rating: C. I’m not sure on this one as Lee got in a good about of impressive stuff and wasn’t beaten when McIntyre interfered, but the match ended with Lee down and Orton loading up his finisher. Lee didn’t need to pin Orton here, but it could have had a little better ending. Like Orton walking out for a countout or something, as the McIntyre match is all but already set.

We look at the Fiend winning the Universal Title and Roman Reigns returning.

Drew McIntyre is mad at Randy Orton and promises vengeance. Cue Orton to jump him from behind and hit a THIRD Punt.

Post break, Drew might have a skull fracture. Just wrap a bandage around his head and he’ll be fine.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Asuka is defending in a lumberjack match. Banks is sent outside in a hurry and a hip attack knocks her off the apron again. Baszler stares Bayley down for daring to help Banks up and we take a break. Back with Banks kicking Asuka down but getting reversed into the ankle lock. Asuka is kicked out to the floor though and Banks dives at her, only to hit the Riott Squad by mistake.

That lets Asuka get up and hit a sliding shot off the apron to take Banks down again. Asuka goes after Bayley, who throws lumberjacks at her to avoid a bad case of death. Banks gets in a cheap shot from behind and nails the frog splash for two back inside. Bayley tries to throw in a chair but Baszler makes the save, leaving Banks to get Asuka Locked for the tap at 7:41.

Rating: C+. There was too much going on here and it was a far cry from what they did last night. The bigger problem though is having the same people face each other so often. They have a lot of talented people in the division but it is rare to see someone new getting into the title picture. Banks, Bayley and Asuka (and Becky Lynch and Charlotte) have been the divisions for a long time now and they need to do something different. Look around the ring and pick someone. Who isn’t Nia Jax.

McIntyre is taken away in the ambulance and Keith Lee pops up. While he would like to tell Drew to stay out of his match, he knows that McIntyre is tough enough to be fine. Lee can’t say the same thing about Randy Orton.

Back to Raw Underground where Lashley beats up Cedric Alexander. Has he just been destroying people for the last half hour or so? Kind of a cool thought actually. Ivar jumps Lashley, drawing in the rest of the Hurt Business and Erik for the big brawl. The Viking Raiders are destroyed and that seemed to be a regular match. Shane McMahon says we’ll see you next week.

Also for Payback: Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton.

Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins/Buddy Murphy

The Mysterios jump them on the floor before the bell and the fight is on in a hurry. Dominik and Murphy start things off with Dominik dropkicking him to the floor and knocking Rollins into the announcers’ table. A backdrop puts Murphy on the floor again and Rey hits a….something that the camera misses to send Rollins into the barricade. Rollins is left alone in the ring and it’s a dropkick into a failed 619 attempt from Rey. Dominik dives onto both of them and we take a break.

Back with Rollins mocking Rey for not being able to make the tag but Rey scores with the sitout bulldog. Murphy cuts off the tag to Dominik but Rey scores with an enziguri, allowing the hot tag. A springboard crossbody gets two on Murphy and Dominik sends him into the corner. The tornado DDT gives Dominik two but he has to slip out of the buckle bomb. Rey comes in off the hot tag and it’s a double 619 to Murphy. Dominik goes up….and it’s Retribution to destroy the Mysterios for the DQ at 10:00.

Rating: C. While I didn’t need to see any combination of these four again, above all else they kept it WAY shorter than last night and that’s a big improvement. Dominik has the skills to hang in there in short bursts but there is only so much that you can do in a match that goes on that long. Retribution showing up suggests that things may be finally moving on, but dang it took some time to get us here.

Post match the beatdown is on with Rollins and Murphy watching from the stage as Retribution (six of them this time) leave the Mysterios laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I liked this one more than I expected to as they weren’t wasting time (mostly) this week. They were zipping through the show and set up as much of Payback as they could in one night. Lee vs. Orton is interesting, but I’m not sure I like the potential result. The match was set up well though and hopefully it works in execution. What mattered here was Payback though and they got things ready fast, as they should have.

Results

Shayna Baszler b. Bayley via DQ when Nia Jax interfered

Akira Tozawa b. Shelton Benjamin, R-Truth and Cedric Alexander – Rollup to R-Truth

Montez Ford b. Angel Garza – Frog splash

Bianca Belair/Riott Squad b. Zelina Vega/IIconics – KOD to Vega

Randy Orton b. Keith Lee via DQ when Drew McIntyre interfered

Asuka b. Sasha Banks – Asuka Lock

Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio b. Seth Rollins/Buddy Murphy via DQ when Retribution interfered

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