Extreme Rules
Extreme Rules Results
- Liv Morgan def Carmella w/ Zelina Vega (Pre Show Match) – **½
- New Day def Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, & Omos – ***¼
- The Usos © def The Street Profits (SmackDown Tag Team Championship) – ***½
- Charlotte Flair © def Alexa Bliss (Raw Women’s Championship) – **¾
- Damian Priest © def Sheamus & Jeff Hardy (WWE United States Championship) – ***¼
- Bianca Belair def Sasha Banks © via DQ (SmackDown Women’s Championship) – ***¾
- Roman Reigns © def Finn Balor (WWE Universal Championship – Extreme Rules Match) – ***¾
I had a feeling the Liv Morgan vs Carmella match might get moved to the pre-show and unfortunately I was right, but that’s ok because they put on a match that got the crowd hyped up and ready for the main show. I was expecting this to sneakily be a good match and I wasn’t wrong as both Liv and Carmella always deliver when they are given the opportunity. We got a promo before the match where Carmella talks about how good she looks and how she is hot and Liv is not which is laughable as anyone with eyes can see that Liv is a total babe, Liv ends up attacking Carmella before the bell rings. The finish of the match sees Liv propel Carmella face-first into the commentary table to further the story of Liv trying to damage Carmella’s face and then once back in the ring Liv hits the ObLivion to pick up the win. I thought these two had a good match and it’s a shame that it wasn’t featured on the main card like originally promoted as it would’ve been nice to have three women’s matches on the card.
The proper show opens with the match that got added at the last minute as New Day takes on the trio of Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, & Omos. I could only be mad at this match bumping Liv vs Carmella to the pre-show for so long as this match made me forget about that as these six men put on a ridiculously good match. It was nice to see New Day back together as a trio once again as they are so much fun to watch when they are all together and I am so glad that they have completely avoided any teases of a breakup where one of the members turns heel as I never want to see them fight each other. There is a spot where Big E almost loses Styles on the uranage out of the corner but is able to recover and hits Styles with a monstrous uranage in the middle of the ring. The finish sees Lashley looking for the Spear, but Styles tags himself into the match and goes for the Phenomenal Forearm but Lashley tags himself in while Styles is on the rope and then goes for a Spear on Big E but he moves out of the way and Lashley accidentally hits Styles and then Big E hits the Big Ending on Lashley to pick up the win. While on paper this match looked like it could’ve been saved for Raw, I did feel this match was a step above what we would expect from this match on any random episode of Raw. Given how the finish of the match went it looks like we could be getting a Lashley vs Styles feud in the future, but before that, we are getting a rematch for the WWE Championship as Lashley challenges Big E to a match for the next night on Raw and it will be kicking off the show, but you know that already by the time you read this.
We are two for two on great tag matches on this show as The Usos and The Street Profits put on a really good match. The match was worked around the injured ribs of Ford which he suffered in the post-match attack from Roman Reigns on SmackDown. There were a couple of big spots in the match including Dawkins catching Jimmy off a dive attempt and hitting him with an exploder on the floor as well as The Street Profits hitting a doomsday blockbuster. The finish saw The Usos isolate Ford and hit him with a plethora of superkicks and then they both hit him with stereo splashes to pick up the win to retain the titles. This was one of the best Street Profits matches I have seen as I am not always blown away by their work as a team but they went all out for tonight. I hope that we don’t see The Street Profits split up during the draft as it seemed like last Friday may have been a test to see how the crowd reacts to him on his own and it’s clear that he is over with the fans, if they do get split up we are looking at another Heavy Machinery situation where Ford continues to get used but Dawkins is relegated to Main Event and is eventually released. I guess now that this match is over The Usos can go on to feuding with Alpha Academy.
First off I have to say that both Alexa and Charlotte had some really nice looking gear for this match, especially Charlotte who had gear that was Venom-themed. While this match wasn’t quite on the level of the previous two it was still a solid match and given that these two haven’t had many one-on-one matches I think they did a good job. As good as the match was the thing that will be remembered from this night is the post-match where Charlotte completely rips apart Lilly which of course causes Alexa to have a nervous breakdown as she screams and cries at first and by the time she has made it up to the stage she drops to her knees and starts foaming at the mouth while holding the remaining stuffing that was Lilly. As goofy as this story has been and as much as people have knocked it there was no doubt that Alexa’s hometown (yes the curse of losing in the hometown continues) was eating this up as they were chanting for both Alexa and Lilly after the match. I look forward to seeing where this goes as now Charlotte has really pissed off Alexa as she has pretty much killed Alexa’s best friend and Alexa is definitely going to be out for revenge.
Up next we see Damian Priest retain his United States Championship against Jeff Hardy and Sheamus in an action-packed triple threat match. I thought that Jeff Hardy was put into this match so he could take the pin, but that wasn’t the case so I have no clue why he was inserted into the match as it wasn’t like he brought that much to the match. There was a funny spot in the match where Sheamus goes up to the top rope and mocks Hardy by doing his little dance. Given that this was the Extreme Rules PPV and this triple threat had no disqualifications I was hoping they would turn this up to the next level and bring out some weapons especially since Hardy was involved but they just had yet another normal match on this Extreme Rules PPV. There were a couple of botches during the match which brought the rating down just a bit but even with those happening this was still a must-see match.
Up next was probably the most anticipated match on the entire show as “The EST” Bianca Belair challenged “The Man” Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship and needless to say these two lived up to the hype. Bianca and Becky had the crowd in the palm of their hand as the crowd was most invested in this match as we got dueling EST and Becky chants throughout the match. I have to say that Becky may have missed a year of action but you could never tell it as she was just as good in this match as she was when she left and it didn’t hurt that she was across the ring from one of the best ever. It’s one thing for a match that is mediocre to end in disqualification but it is infuriating when a match that was as good as this one ended that way and it happened in the middle of a really cool spot where Bianca uses her freaky strength to power out of the Dis-Arm-Her and then transitions into position for K.O.D. I am glad to see Sasha Banks back just like everyone is (and she looked like straight fire in that gear she was wearing) but damn did they have to make it a DQ, I get they want to keep both women strong thus neither woman could get a clean win but I would’ve preferred they beat the crap out of each other on the outside and get counted out because at least then the finish would be of their own volition rather than having a third party end the match. It looks like we are getting a triple threat match which I would expect to happen on this week’s SmackDown since I don’t expect all three women to be on the same brand after the draft. Overall this was a really great match with a weak finish.
It’s finally time for the main event as “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns defends his Universal Championship against “The Demon” Finn Balor. This is going to be the most polarizing match coming out of the show as some people will shit on it just because of the finish which everyone agrees was terrible, but there are others like myself that are able to put the finish aside and will give the rest of the match it’s just due as it was a great match up until Balor starting convulsing on the floor. I actually think when it came to the finish it would’ve been taken better had the whole rope snapping part not happened as it would’ve been a lot more tolerable if Balor rose up and beat the crap out of The Usos and while that was happening Reigns was able to recover and get back in the ring and as soon as Balor got in he was hit with the Spear. The rope breaking made zero sense as we have seen Balor go up top thousands of times including earlier in this match and nothing ever happened so why did the ropes just happen to snap at that moment. One thing I will remember from this match is how Reigns made sure to put on a mask before going to brawl with Balor through the crowd and that should be an example to all of these anti-mask people that if Roman Reigns can wear one in the middle of a physical performance then everyone can wear one when going out to the grocery store. I really wish this had a better finish or at least not a complete shit finish because that is all this match and this show is going to be remembered for.
I really wish the last two matches had better finishes as this could’ve been on the best shows of the year as all of the matches delivered and were really good, but the finishes of the last two matches especially the Reigns vs Balor match ruined everything as now people are going to completely forget about the rest of the show and just concentrate on the giant pile of shit, but I will try not to let that finish get to me too much as there was so much positive that happened on the show that I would rather concentrate my time and energy into thinking about those things
Raw
Raw Results
- Big E © vs Bobby Lashley – No Contest (WWE Championship) – **¾
- Angel Garza w/ Humberto Carrillo def Erik w/ Ivar – **
- Reggie © vs Ricochet (WWE 24/7 Championship) – ¼*
- Keith “Bearcat” Lee def Akira Tozawa – ½*
- Damian Priest © def Sheamus (WWE United States Championship – No DQ Match) – ***¼
- Jinder Mahal, Veer, & Shanky def Jeff Hardy, Mansoor, & Mustafa Ali – **¼
- Karrion Kross def Jaxson Ryker – **
- AJ Styles w/ Omos def Riddle – ***½
- Charlotte Flair © def Doudrop (Raw Women’s Championship) – *½
- Big E © def Bobby Lashley (WWE Championship – Steel Cage Match) – ***
As promised at Extreme Rules we kick off the show with the WWE Championship match between Big E and Bobby Lashley where they beat the crap out of each other, but after Big E hits a suicide spear through the ropes we see that standing above him is Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander and they are back wearing Hurt Business shirts which doesn’t bode well for Big E. New Day ends up running out and we get a big brawl as the match is thrown out. Adam Pearce comes out and announces that this match will restart later tonight and it will be inside of a steel cage.
I am so happy to see Hurt Business reunited once again as it was a shame that two guys as talented as Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander were relegated to Main Event or catering. I do hope they give some kind of explanation as to why they are back together as when they broke up Benjamin and Alexander couldn’t stand each other.
We get a series of really quick matches as Angel Garza beats Erik, Reggie beats Ricochet by DQ when the 24/7 guys interfere, Karrion Kross beats Jaxson Ryker, and Keith “Bearcat” Lee beat Akira Tozawa. While it does seem like the Bearcat nickname is something stupid WWE came up with that is not the case this time as Keith Lee wanted to honor pro wrestling legend, Bearcat Wright who helped desegregate pro wrestling when he vowed to never participate in segregated wrestling ever again. Wright is currently a part of the Legacy Wing in the WWE Hall of Fame.
We get an interview with Riddle who tells us that Orton is not there tonight as he needs some time away so he doesn’t end up hitting Riddle with an RKO.
We get a New Day promo in the back where Big E does all the talking as he is fine with Benjamin and Alexander getting in his business because when that cage goes up, it’s going down. Big E says that so far he has delivered on everything he has promised so tonight he is promising another victory and he will remain the WWE Champion.
We get a rematch between Damian Priest and Sheamus and this time it is No DQ and this is also Sheamus’ last shot at winning back the United States Championship. We get another banger of a match between these two and unlike last night at Extreme Rules, we get weapons involved which is super confusing, why would you not have weapons involved on a show called Extreme Rules but you would have them the very next night on Raw the stupidity of this makes my brain hurt. In the end, Priest sends Sheamus through a table and hits him with The Reckoning to retain the US Championship.
We get a six-man tag match where Jeff Hardy teamed with Mansoor and Mustafa Ali to take on the trio of Jinder Mahal, Veer, & Shanky where Mansoor is excited to be teaming with Hardy but Ali isn’t as enthused. Jinder and his boys end up getting the surprise win after Veer levels Ali with a big clothesline.
We see Doudrop go into the office of Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville and she wants the shot at Charlotte tonight and after Sonya takes a moment to talk shit about Naomi and then grants her the match. I’m not sure why we needed this segment considering Charlotte was issuing an open challenge thus Doudrop could’ve just come out without going to management first.
Bobby Lashley cuts a promo about how it makes him sick to hear Big E call himself the WWE Champion as he claims he was hurt when Big E won the title, but tonight he is healthy and he will once again become the rightful WWE Champion.
We then get yet another AJ Styles vs Riddle which we have seen numerous times over the past couple of months, but they always have really good matches so it makes it a bit more tolerable than other matches we see numerous times. AJ Styles ends up winning on this occasion after he counters an attempted RKO into a burning hammer and then hits the Styles Clash.
Charlotte Flair takes on Doudrop for the Raw Women’s Championship but just as the match is starting to pick up Eva Marie comes out and distracts Doudrop and that allows Charlotte to attack from behind and then she hits the Natural Selection to pick up the win. After the match, Eva Marie gets in the ring and starts posing but she is taking the spotlight away from Charlotte and she ends up paying for it as Charlotte takes her down with a clothesline. I am ready for Doudrop to start getting some longer matches as it is clear she is over with the crowd despite the dumb name and the gimmick she has taken on recently of the big girl who dances, if she can get over doing that then I can’t wait to see how the crowd responds to her once she starts getting lengthy matches against the top women in the company.
We then go to an interview with Goldberg from his house where we see a picture hanging behind him where he is holding a baby Gage Goldberg on his arm. Goldberg says he wants to talk to Bobby Lashley man-to-man and father-to-father and he hopes Lashley is a better father than he is a liar because the whole thing about Lashley attacking his son being a misunderstanding is complete bullshit. Goldberg says that when Gage was born he swore to protect him from anything and anyone and since Lashley hurt his son he has to fulfill that promise he made to his wife and son. Goldberg says he is going to hurt Lashley very badly and if he is lucky he may even kill Lashley.
Outside of Goldberg threatening to kill Lashley which is a bit over the top I thought this was a good promo from Goldberg as his promos are a lot better when he is not live and when he is calm and calculated rather than a screaming maniac. I am so glad they got the title off Lashley before he went into this feud as there is enough animosity between these two to not need the title involved. I fully expect this match to happen at Crown Jewel and I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring back Goldberg to have a match with Big E at Royal Rumble like they did this year with Drew McIntyre, and while I don’t like the thought of Goldberg in the title picture I know that Big E’s dream match is to go against Goldberg so for that reason alone I am fine with it as Big E deserves to have all of his dreams come true.
We go back to the ring where Eva Marie has been standing around this entire time and she is tired of being disrespected and had she had the opportunity that Doudrop just had we would be seeing a new Raw Women’s Champion. Eva then issues an open challenge to any woman in the locker room and that brings out Shayna Baszler. Eva starts to backtrack on that open challenge and tries to leave the ring but Shayna grabs her and locks in the Kirifuda Clutch and once Eva passes out Shayna drags her to the outside and just like last week she stomps on the arm and Eva is screaming in pain as Shayna looks on. I know that the reason Shayna did that to Nia last week is that she is having to take time off for surgery, but I wonder if that is true for Eva as well or can we expect her to come out next week with her arm in a sling?
We get an interview with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley where they talk about how they are complete opposites but now the tag titles give them something in common. They are not worried about the draft because as tag champions they can go to either brand. Nikki then starts talking about how they need matching gear and asks Rhea how she likes blue and Rhea says blue looks good on Nikki. It would’ve been nice if instead of making this promo comedic with Nikki they mentioned what happened on SmackDown with Shotzi and Nox coming out wanting their title shot.
It’s main event time as the WWE Championship is on the line once again, and this time the match will be contested inside a steel cage. Lashley attacks Big E during his entrance and beats him down around ringside and even nails him in the head with the steel steps. Big E and Lashley are having a good match but when Big E goes climbing the cage we get Benjamin and Alexander running out to cut him off, this allows Lashley to start going through the door but he gets the door slammed on his head by Xavier Woods and then Kofi Kingston leaps onto to the cage to stop the Hurt Business and we get a brawl on the floor between New Day and Hurt Business. After some more big men slapping meat, we see Big E hit Lashley with a Big Ending off the top to score the win and retain his WWE Championship. After the match, as Big E is celebrating his win we see Drew McIntyre come out and he points his sword at Big E as a sign that he is coming for his WWE Championship.
I thought this main event was pretty good especially once the New Day and Hurt Business got involved and I like everyone else would love to see a Hurt Business vs New Day vs Bloodline match at Survivor Series or any other time they would like to put it on as that would be one hell of a match. While I’m not super enthused to see McIntyre back in the title picture I have no doubt that he and Big E will have great matches.
While all episodes of Raw have their faults because they are 3-hours long I have to say that I thought this was a good episode of Raw as the crap was kept short and the stuff that was given a lot of time was good as the Styles vs Riddle, Sheamus vs Priest and both Lashley vs Big E matches were good. I also like the continuance of them having Shayna Baszler return to being a badass with no remorse for her victims. The highlight of the show from a non-match perspective was definitely the reunion of The Hurt Business.
NXT 2.0
NXT 2.0 Results
- Elektra Lopez w/ Legado del Fantasma def B-Fab w/ Hit Row (No DQ Match) – **¼
- Xyon Quinn def Oney Lorcan – **
- Zoey Stark & Io Shirai © def Toxic Attraction w/ Mandy Rose (NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship) – ***¼
- Boa w/ Mei Ying def Andre Chase – **
- Roderick Strong © w/ The Diamond Mine def Grayson Waller (NXT Cruiserweight Championship) – **½
- Kyle O’Reilly def Ridge Holland w/ Pete Dunne – **¾
- Raquel Gonzalez © def Franky Monet w/ Jessi Kamea & Robert Stone (NXT Women’s Championship) – **¾
Hit Row is starting us off tonight as they cut a promo about it being ladies night on NXT 2.0 and then they run down the announced matches for the show and then B-Fab gets on the mic to talk about her No DQ match against Elektra Lopez as she says she is going to beat the breaks off Elektra. Elektra Lopez comes out along with Legado del Fantasma and they start brawling on the floor and once they get back in the ring the bell rings and we are off to the races with our first match of the night.
We get some forearms being landed by both women and then Elektra lands a couple of knees to the gut only to be caught with a scorpion kick and sent to the floor with a dropkick where we get some generic brawling. Elektra pulls out a trash can from under the ring but B-Fab slams her down only to be shoved into the steps moments later. Raul Mendoza runs over with the trashcan but it gets swatted out of his hands by Top Dolla and this leads to a brawl between the men which has to be broken up by the referees. After a commercial break, Elektra is in control as she chokes B-Fab in the corner and then she goes out to grab a table but B-Fab stomps down on the table causing her to drop it and then we get a tug of war with the table which Elektra wins as she drives the table into the gut of B-Fab. Elektra pulls up one of the table legs and looks to slam B-Fab on it but she escapes and sends Elektra into the edge of the ring and then B-Fab goes to work on the leg of Elektra as she slams it down onto the table leg.
Elektra is thrown back into the ring where she kicks the leg of B-Fab to take her down, Elektra then goes back outside to grab some chairs and kendo sticks. Elektra slams B-Fab onto the chairs and then sets up a chair with its legs sticking up and when she goes to grab B-Fab she is taken down with a drop toe hold onto the legs of the chair. B-Fab lets loose with kendo stick shots and then she sets the chair upright but as she turns around Elektra hits her with a crossbody sending them crashing through the chair. Elektra slams B-Fab throat-first onto the back of another chair and then hits the modified Blue Thunder Bomb for the win.
I’m sorry but after seeing B-Fab in the ring twice I have to say that she is way too green and needs more training before she has matches on a regular basis. I thought Elektra did a good job carrying B-Fab to a decent match but there was only so much she could do. While I do have my criticisms of B-Fab in the ring I still love Hit Row and I even think B-Fab is great when she is on the mic or a part of select spots but as of right now she just shouldn’t be featured in matches on a frequent basis.
We get our first video of the In-Dex honeymoon where they are enjoying their day at the beach and then we see Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae spying on them from high above on a hotel balcony. They think things are getting too steamy when they head to the water so Gargano decides to sport a fake shark fin to get them out of the water.
We get another Joe Gacy promo and despite the backlash they got we are still getting the fake “woke” character. Gacy talks about making an impact last week and not being canceled and say that he got over more than other top names in NXT 2.0 and he only needed to use his words. Gacy then says when he returned to the locker room last week there was nothing but a bunch of triggered faces and he is here to usher in a new normal. I know they think this guy is going to get heel heat and he will but it won’t be the kind they are looking for.
Our next match sees Xyon Quinn take on Oney Lorcan, Quinn has adopted doing the haka dance during his entrance from The Usos as he is from Samoa as well, but not from the Anoai’i family. Lorcan piefaces Quinn and ends up getting piefaced back but Quinn sends Lorcan to the outside with his pieface. Quinn chases Lorcan around the ring and as they get back in the ring Lorcan runs to the ropes but gets taken down with a spinning back elbow. Lorcan is able to come back with strikes and then he takes Quinn down to one knee and hits a running uppercut before mounting Quinn and landing a series of punches. Lorcan works Quinn over in the corner with strikes but Quinn lifts him up and tosses him across the ring, but as he goes over to Lorcan he is hit with a thumb to the throat and then a chop block. Quinn fights out of a chinlock and then fires up as he hits a spinning elbow and a Samoan drop followed by a running forearm and that is enough to get the win for Xyon Quinn. This was a fine match to showcase Quinn, but poor Oney Lorcan has gone from being a major player on the show as part of Pete Dunne’s crew a few weeks ago to now jobbing out in 3 minutes.
MSK comes out for a promo and they talk about how they aren’t content with just being the tag champions as they want to be fighting champions and it doesn’t matter if it’s the old guard or the new guys they can all step up and get knocked back down. Grizzled Young Veterans then come out and they do not agree with MSK being fighting champions as they have yet to get a title match and until they do defend the titles against them their title reign means nothing. We eventually get Carmelo Hayes & Trick Davis and Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen coming out as they want a title shot as well and a brawl breaks out between the four teams. We would later find out that an 8-man tag match has been scheduled for next week with MSK teaming with Briggs & Jensen to take on Hayes & Williams and the Grizzled Young Veterans.
Raquel Gonzalez is interviewed about her NXT Women’s Championship match tonight but she is interrupted by Toxic Attraction and Mandy Rose says the title looks good on Raquel, but it would look even better on her.
The next match sees Io Shirai and Zoey Stark defending their NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship against Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne of Toxic Attraction.
Io and Gigi start things out and after Io is sent into the ropes from a headlock she takes Gigi down with a shoulder block and then Gigi drops down but Io backflips across the ring. Io looks to catch Gigi coming off the ropes but Gigi takes her down with a headscissors only for Io to come back with a shotgun dropkick sending Gigi into the corner where Jacy tags in. Jacy lures Io into a test of strength and then kicks her in the gut only for Io to come back with a double leg takedown and she fires away with windmill punches. Io makes the tag to Zoey who flips under a clothesline and then we get a small package exchange where they roll back and forth with both women trying to keep the other down, but neither is successful. Jacy counters a hip toss into a rollup but Zoey easily kicks out. Zoey sends Jacy into the ropes but she holds onto the ropes and then Zoey goes out to the apron where she catches Jacy with a back hook kick and that is followed by a senton atomico for a 2 count. Jacy rolls out to the apron where she catches Zoey with a knee and then she rolls into the ring and charges at Zoey who lifts her up but as she does Jacy makes the blind tag to Gigi. Gigi comes in and hits a penalty kick immediately only for Zoey to come back with a jawbreaker and a short-arm clothesline. Zoey goes out to the apron and Io goes up top and they hit both members of Toxic Addiction with stereo missile dropkicks sending them to the floor where we get a series of dives by Zoey, Gigi, and Io, the champions stand tall as we get another commercial break.
Io fights out of a chinlock as we come back but Gigi hits her with a running hurricanrana and tags in Jacy who hits a running knee to the head of Io as she is draped over the middle rope. Jacy tries to stay in control but Io kicks her away and makes the tag to Zoey who comes in on fire as she hits Jacy with a series of kicks followed by a half-nelson suplex and then Zoey hits a sliding knee for a 2 count as Gigi breaks up the pin. Zoey clotheslines Gigi out of the ring but turns around into a rolling elbow from Jacy, but she is able to sidestep a bicycle kick from Jacy, and then she hits her with a rolling fireman’s carry which sets up an attempted Phoenix splash but Zoey rolls through and charges into a neckbreaker from Jacy.
We get a hot tag on both sides and Io takes Gigi down with several shoulder blocks and a flapjack, Gigi rolls over to the middle rope where she is hit with a tiger feint kick followed by a springboard dropkick for a 2 count. Io locks Gigi in a crossface and when she sees Jacy heading toward her she takes her down and applies the crossface on both women, but Mandy puts a foot on the ropes to break the hold. Io tags in Zoey who springboards into the ring but gets caught in a waistlock as Jacy takes Io down with a running boot and then Gigi hits Zoey with a bridging German suplex for a very close 2 count. Gigi tags in Jacy who hits Zoey with a kick but she doesn’t go down so Jacy tries for a second one only to get caught and hit with the spinning GTS. Zoey tags in Io who dropkicks Gigi off the apron and Zoey takes her down with a plancha. Io hits a big uppercut and then goes up top where she hits the Moonsault on Jacy (and as Zoey holds Mandy back) and Io makes the cover for the win.
Wow, this match was quite a surprise as I didn’t expect this match to be as good as it was, these four ladies put on one hell of a match and although they have only been around a few weeks I would’ve been completely fine if Toxic Addiction had won the titles here. I know there are some people who don’t like Zoey Stark and are ready for her and Io to lose the titles so that Io can go back to being on her own, but I am a fan of hers and have been since her debut as I find her a lot of fun to watch.
We get a video package for Bron Breakker and the more he talks the more he feels like the son of Scott Steiner rather than Rick Steiner.
Tommaso Ciampa is interviewed via satellite from a gym and he talks about how Bron Breakker has something special and he understands that Breakker wants a shot at the NXT Championship and isn’t a patient man, but it took him 908 days to get back Goldy so Breakker may want to pump his breaks. Ciampa says there is no doubt that Breakker will get a title shot sooner rather than later and when he does, he will drown in an ocean of inexperience.
Our next match is Boa vs Andre Chase. Boa takes Chase to the mat with a cravate only for Chase to raise up and take Boa to the mat and then he grabs a hammerlock which Boa reverses into a headlock and Chase reverses that into a top wristlock which he uses to bring Boa down to the mat into an armbar but Boa gets to the ropes to break the hold. Boa lands several knees to the gut and then stomps on the hand of Chase, but Chase ducks a spinning kick and hits a neckbreaker. Chase puts the boots to Boa but he won’t stay down so Chase lands some punches and that is followed by an elbow to the face of Boa. Chase grounds Boa until he starts to fight back and then Chase slams him right back down to the mat. Chase talks some trash and then goes for a kick but Boa catches the leg and delivers a couple of kicks to the chest followed by a push kick which sends Chase out to the floor. Chase gets mouthy as he calls Boa an S.O.B. and then turns around where he is sprayed in the face with mist by Mei Ying. Chase gets back in the ring and is hit with a palm strike and an inverted DDT by Boa which is enough to pick up the win.
It’s time for part two of the In-Dex honeymoon where we see Gargano return to the balcony proud of what he did, but Candice asks where they went and Gargano said to the room which leads to Candice reminding him of what could happen in the room as she looks down at her baby bump. Gargano runs to the room of the newlyweds and gets a maid to unlock the door saying he forgot his key and when he entered the room he looks in an open suitcase to find a bunch of condoms and then said why do they need that many and he hopes they stay hydrated. Indi and Lumis are walking back to their room and Indi is having the best day ever and to keep the running joke going from their first date she talks highly about the chicken fingers he got her for lunch.
In-Dex enter their room and Gargano is still in there so he runs to hide in the closet and as we see a pillow fight happening between In-Dex we hear Indi saying things that make Gargano think they are getting it on and he covers his ears trying to block it all out. Indi says she is exhausted and she falls asleep on Lumis’ chest and after a while, Gargano thinks they are both asleep and tries to sneak out but Lumis opens his eyes wide open and gives Gargano a thumbs up, and when Gargano returns the sign we see Lumis pull out the condoms that Gargano saw earlier out of his pocket. These skits will never get old as there is always something said or done in them that makes me laugh.
It’s time for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship match as Roderick Strong defends his newly won title against Grayson Waller.
Waller attacks Strong from behind and fires away with punches and a kick that sends Strong out to the floor where Waller takes him down with a tope suicida. We come back from a commercial to the match officially started as Waller is in control as he takes Stong down with an STO and then looks for a dive off the middle rope but Strong shoves him causing him to crash to the floor. Strong throws Waller back in the ring where he fires away with chops and punches. Strong gets Waller down in the corner where he knees him in the face and then stomps him a few times. Strong hits a backbreaker and then stretches Waller on the mat until he fights his way out and then he nails Strong with a couple of forearms before rolling him up and this leads to an exchange of pinning combinations but none of them prove successful. Waller tries to hit a jumping side kick but gets caught with a backbreaker for a 2 count.
Waller fights out of a camel clutch only to be met with a knee to the gut and a suplex for another 2 count. Strong locks in a crossface but Waller is able to get to the ropes. Strong lights up the chest of Waller with chops and then sits him up on the top rope where he is looking for a superplex, but Waller fights out and pushes Strong back down to the mat and then he nails Strong with a missile dropkick. Waller pulls himself up using the ropes and nails Strong with a series of strikes and then comes off the middle rope with a big elbow drop for a very close near fall. Strong elbows out of a fireman’s carry but Waller comes back with a couple of kicks that send Strong out to the floor where Waller hits him with a tope con hilo. Waller throws Strong back into the ring and then takes a running start so he can tumble into the ring where he catches Strong with a stunner, but Strong is still able to kick out. Waller gets behind Strong and wairs for him to get back up and then leapfrogs over him but is then hit with a big jumping knee strike and that is enough to finally put Waller away as Roderick Strong retains his NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
This was a solid little Cruiserweight Championship match as Strong continues to look strong in his first title defense while Waller got to showcase what he is capable of in the ring and I have to say he looked quite impressive and I am sure he is a future NXT Cruiserweight Champion in the making.
LA Knight is interviewed backstage and is asked if he has bit off more than he can chew seeing as he has challenged Odyssey Jones to a match next week, Knight says he is the uncrowned NXT Champion and he is not going to let some newbie talks a bunch of crap about him. Knight says he is giving Jones one week to learn a very important lesson but before he can say what that lesson is Jones comes up behind him and Jones tells him he may be new but Knight has never seen anyone like him. Andre Chase then walks up pissed off about losing to Boa and this distracts Jones long enough to allow Knight to attack him and he actually gets the best of Jones.
After a hype video for Dante Chen, we go to an interview with Trey Baxter and Cora Jade ahead of Cora’s in-ring debut next week and she is excited as she is the youngest person in NXT 2.0 and she wants this to become the “Generation of Jade”. Baxter knows she is going to do great but just doesn’t want her to do anything he did last week and this leads to her teasing him before they kiss and walk off. Watch out In-Dex because your title of the cutest couple in NXT 2.0 is starting to slip away.
We go to the announce table where Barrett is disgusted and he questions the validity of the Trey Baxter and Cora Jade relationship saying they saw what being a cute couple did for In-Dex and they have come up with this contrived romance in order to get more TV time and then calls them attention seekers. I get that this is just Barrett being his usual cranky self but that would be an interesting twist they could take that hasn’t been done before.
It’s time for the debut edition of Lashing Out with Lash Legend and unlike all other WWE talk shows that take place in the ring this one is from some different location and she actually has a stage and it looks more legit than all of the other WWE talk shows. Lash brings up the WWE draft and how she knows about drafts as she was drafted to the WNBA after having a record-breaking 27 rebounds in a single game. She then moves on to Trey Baxter and Cora Jade and says if Cora wants a real man she should be with someone who looks like Ikeman Jiro. Lash then awards Andre Chase with the Lash Out of the week for lashing out at his students but then says he wouldn’t try that with her and that is the end of the show.
I am guessing that someone just found out about the Wendy Williams show as that is exactly what this feels like, except Lash seems a lot more likable and way more charismatic. I will wait until we get more editions of Lashing Out before I reserve full judgment, but this first edition what just meh.
Up next we get Kyle O’Reilly vs Ridge Holland after O’Reilly attacked Holland last week. O’Reilly attacks Holland as he comes to the ring but it almost backfires on him as both Holland and Pete Dunne beat him down until the referees come out to separate them.
The match is joined in progress after a commercial break and Holland has KOR grounded in a reverse bear hug and we then see a replay of what happened during the break as Holland hits KOR with a capture suplex. KOR fights to his feet and breaks the grip of Holland only to be caught with a rib breaker and an exploder suplex which gets a 2 count. Holland lands a big punch to the gut and then sends KOR hard into the corner which causes KOR to writhe around in pain. Holland locks in a bear hug until KOR fights out and then he nails another shot to the gut, Holland shoves KOR into the ropes and he comes back with an attempted guillotine choke but Holland backdrops him. KOR dodges a knee drop and makes a comeback as he lights Holland up with kicks, knee strikes, and a leg sweep, and that is followed up with a running forearm in the corner. KOR hits an over-the-shoulder armbreaker, a dragon screw, and a running kick for a 2 count.
KOR looks to lock in an armbar but Holland blocks it and then turns his body which allows KOR to lock in a triangle but Holland powers him up and powerbombs him into the corner. Holland then catches KOR with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam for a 2 count. KOR slides under the legs of Holland and tries to pick the leg, but Holland uses his power once again to lift KOR for a release powerbomb but KOR is still able to kick out. Holland hits KOR with a headbutt but when he goes over to pick him up he is hit with a kick to the leg and then KOR lands a kick to the top of the head and a discus elbow which causes Holland to crumple to the mat. KOR goes up top but Dunne comes back out and gets on the apron to serve as a distraction, Holland looks to take advantage but KOR shoves him into Dunne and rolls him up in a schoolboy to pick up the win. After the match, KOR is double-teamed by Holland and Dunne until Von Wagner runs out to make the save, and the babyfaces clear the ring.
This was a really good match as the majority of Kyle O’Reilly matches are and I continue to be impressed by Ridge Holland as I think outside of Bron Breakker he is the one guy on the roster who is going to be a major player on the main roster. I guess we can expect a Dunne and Holland vs O’Reilly and Wagner match next week.
We get another Tony D’Angelo video and are shown that he will make his debut next week.
It’s time for the main event as Raquel Gonzalez defends her NXT Women’s Championship against “La Wera Loca” Franky Monet and as if there was any doubt as to who was going to win this match poor Franky doesn’t even get a full entrance. Franky is fired up during the in-ring introductions as she is ready to get her hands on Raquel.
We get a lockup and Raquel goes for the arm but Franky rolls out and grabs a waistlock and then she ripcords Raquel away from her and lands a kick to the gut and then she takes Raquel to the mat with a headlock takeover, but Raquel gets back to her feet where she powers out of the headlock and then slams Franky to the mat. Franky gets back to her feet and is laughing and when Raquel hits her with a forearm she fires back with a slap to the face. Franky dodges a charging Raquel and works her over with open-handed strikes in the corner only for Raquel to reverse a whip into the corner moments later and then Raquel hits a fallaway slam. Raquel starts to climb up the ropes but Robert Stone and Jessi Kamea pull Franky out of the ring to prevent further damage. As Stone and Kamea are checking on Franky we see Raquel walking toward them and she throws Franky back in the ring where she hits a spinning powerslam for a 2 count.
Franky rolls back out to the floor for a breather but Raquel goes out after her and brings her over to the steps where she starts to climb, but Franky sweeps her leg causing her to crash onto the floor. Robert and Jessi are ecstatic to see Franky in control as she drives Raquel into the apron before throwing her back into the ring. Franky puts Raquel in the corner and hits her with a clothesline and that is followed by a running knee to the face and a suplex for a 2 count. Franky puts Raquel in a deathlock-style surfboard and then stomps her face into the mat. Franky locks in a bodyscissors momentarily and after toying around with Raquel she lands a big knee strike followed by a kick to the back.
Franky talks some trash as she continues to take Raquel lightly and then she goes for a kick but Raquel catches her and fires back with punches and a clothesline and then she drops Franky near the corner where she hits her with the twisting senton for a very close 2 count. Raquel goes for the Chingona Bomb, but her back gives up and she can’t lift Franky so Franky slams Raquel to the mat and hits her with a double stomp for a 2 count. Franky hits a few kicks to the head and then runs to the ropes where she is caught in the Chingona Bomb and this is enough to put Franky down for the 3 count.
After the match, Toxic Attraction comes out and they attack Franky, Robert, and Jessi on the floor and then they head to the ring where they attack Raquel, and despite her best effort of trying to fight them off Raquel is outnumbered. Gigi and Jacy hold Raquel and Mandy hit her with the bicycle knee. Mandy grabs the NXT Women’s Championship and holds it high as she stands over the body of Raquel and that is how this week’s NXT 2.0 goes off the air.
This was the first real look we got of what Franky can do in a match that isn’t a total squash and I have to say that I was impressed with what I saw and I definitely want to see her featured more often on the show. This episode of NXT 2.0 may have been ladies’ night but to make it more specific it was Toxic Attraction’s night as they had a real coming-out party during this episode between their tag title match which exceeded expectations and then the statement they made at the end of the show. It’s pretty cool to see Mandy go from being a part of a faction in Absolution to being the leader of the faction in Toxic Addiction and she doesn’t look out of place in that role either. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mandy be the one who ends up beating Raquel for the title as she seems likely the most likely candidate now that Raquel has pretty much beat all of the other women on the roster.
I thought this was a pretty mediocre episode of NXT 2.0 as I liked the women’s tag match and the main event but the rest of the matches while good on a technical level didn’t really blow me out of the water as they were just generic good matches which we see every week on the show. I did think the highlight of the show was everything involving Toxic Attraction as they have me intrigued to what they are going to do next.
NXT UK
NXT UK Results
- Moustache Mountain def Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter – ***
- Dani Luna def Xia Brookside – **
- Charlie Dempsey def Josh Morrell – **½
- Joe Coffey w/ Gallus def Jordan Devlin – **½
We open the show with tag team action as Moustache Mountain takes on Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter.
Bate and Carter start out the match trying to work over the arm of this opponent but both found a way to escape and then Bate throws Carter across the ring with an arm drag followed by a dropkick and then he makes a tag to Seven, but before he leaves the ring Bate helps Seven hit a senton splash. Carter dodges a charging Seven and then runs up his chest in the corner before taunting him and then Carter takes him down with an arm drag before making the tag to Smith who tries to continue working on the arm but keeps getting chopped in the chest for his troubles. Carter is tagged back in and he lands a big kick to the back and then Smith tags himself back in where he catches Seven and hits him with a snake eyes onto the boots of Carter who has his legs raised in the air. Smith grabs a chinlock only to be sent into the ropes where he takes Seven down with a shoulder block and then he sends Seven into the ropes but he comes back with a crossbody on Smith and that is followed by a leg drop for a 2 count.
Bate is tagged in and he hits the senton atomico off Seven’s shoulders, but when he lands Smith thanks fast and rolls him up in a crucifix for a 2 count. Smith sends Bate into the corner and after tagging Carter he charges in only to catch the boot of Bate but Carter jumps over him and hits Bate with a spinning heel kick in the corner and then he catches Bate with a uranage for a 2 count. Bate sidesteps an ax kick and gets Carter up in an airplane spin and then tags Seven and this time Seven is the one hitting the senton atomico off Bate’s shoulders. Seven hits Carter with several chops and then tries for a fake-out DDT which Carter blocks, but Seven comes back with a backhand slap and then attempts the Seven Star Lariat only for it to be countered into an attempted exploder which Seven elbows out of and then he runs over to knock Smith off the apron. Seven counters a bicycle kick into a powerbomb and then follows up with an emerald flowsion for a 2 count.
Moustache Mountain set up for their dragon suplex and rebound lariat combo but Carter elbows out of the full nelson almost causing Bate to hit Seven, but is able to stop himself, and then Carter hits them with a flipping kick. Carter tries for a kick to the back of the head only for Bate to duck and attempt to hit him with a German suplex, but Carter lands on his feet and hits the middle rope moonsault which gets a 2 count. Carter tags in Smith and they try for a doomsday spinning heel kick but Bate prevents that from happening when he rolls Smith up in a victory roll for a very close 2 count. Bate keeps dodging an attack by Smith in the corner and then he catches him with Bop and Bang for a 2 count.
We then see Symbiosis come out which distracts Moustache Mountain momentarily and allows Smith to counter a Tyler Driver 97 with a backdrop to the floor. Seven runs over to protect Bate and that brings out Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff and we get a brawl on the outside which is broken up when Carter and Smith dive out onto the pile. Smith throws Bate back in the ring as the brawl heads backstage and the match resumes. Smith throws Bate into a superkick from Carter for a near fall. Smith and Carter try for a double-team move but Seven pulls Carter to the floor and hits him with a snap dragon suplex. Bate hits Smith with a big German suplex from the apron back into the ring and then tags in Bate, Moustache Mountain hit their dragon suplex and rebound clothesline fisher to pick up the win.
This was a really good match to kick off the show with the exception of the stuff involving the other teams as that could’ve been saved for after the match. It looks like we could be getting a 4-way match to determine Pretty Deadly’s next challengers and after this match, I think it needs to be Smith and Carter as they have really come into their own as a team and are deserving of a run with the titles.
Jinny and Joseph Conners are being interviewed by the media and are asked what their future looks like and they say much better than the interviewers and then walk off until they see Meiko Satomura and Emilia McKenzie training. Jinny walks over and says that it is pathetic to see Emilia playing second fiddle to Meiko, but Emilia doesn’t care what she thinks and Jinny says she is going to make sure she cares about her opinion. We are told this match will take place next week.
Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff are interviewed about what just happened with Symbiosis and as Mastiff is talking he is interrupted by Nina Samuels who is now a reporter but she ends up making the interview about her and the people she has issues with, so Starz and Mastiff just walking off.
Up next is Dani Luna vs Xia Brookside as Xia challenged Dani to a match last week.
Dani takes Xia down with a waistlock but Xia grabs a wristlock and despite Dani slamming her she is not releasing her grip, but Dani eventually sends her into the ropes and she runs into Dani as the shoulder block has no effect. Xia crawls through the legs of Dani and then runs off the ropes trying for a crossbody but ends up getting caught and then lands on her feet when Dani tries for a fallaway slam. Xia tries for a sunset flip but can’t get Dani to go down and then Dani picks Xia up by her head which allows Xia to go for another sunset flip but Dani rolls through and then Xia goes for a headscissors only for Dani to swat her down to the mat. Xia tries to fight back but Dani hits her with a delayed vertical suplex. Xia tries to fight out of an armbar but Dani delivers several knee strikes and then tries for another suplex, but Xia counters it into a small package for a 2 count. Xia fights out of a chinlock and armbar and then catches Dani with a hurricanrana out of the corner. Xia hits Dani with a couple of dropkicks and a set of knees in the back as Dani is bent over in the corner and that is followed by a running neckbreaker for a 2 count. Xia hits Dani with a flurry of short-arm forearms and then tries for a lungblower but Dani blocks and hits Xia with a front slam and a fallaway slam. Dani hits Xia with the sitout fireman’s carry slam which is enough to pick up the win. After the match Xia is upset and she slaps away the hand of Dani when she extends it for a handshake.
This was a fine match as I thought it did a really good job of building Dani up as a major threat as she pretty much blocked or reversed everything Xia hit her with and then won the match with ease. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dani challenging for the NXT UK Women’s Championship fairly soon. I am fine with them doing something different with Xia as this white meat babyface character clearly isn’t getting her anywhere.
After a Blair Davenport vignette, we see Stevie Turner storming into Sid Scala’s office and she wants Blair reinstated so they can have a match, but Scala says he needs to check with Johnny Saint before he makes a decision like that.
We get an interview with Sam Gradwell where he is tired of being overlooked for people like Mark Andrews as he is better than Andrews in every way including skateboarding and then Mark Andrews storms across the room holding a broken skateboard and we get a brawl between the two until it’s broken up. We will be getting this match on next week’s show.
Up next is the debut of Charlie Dempsey aka Bailey Matthews the son of William Regal and he will be facing Josh Morrell.
Dempsey goes from a waistlock to crawling under the legs of Morrell to grab his arm only for Morrell to kick him away and then Dempsey takes Morrell to the mat and grabs a headscissors while also having a wristlock locked in, but Morrell gets to his feet and then he takes Dempsey to the mat with a headscissors only for Demspey to bridge up and flip over to a headlock. Dempsey grabs a knuckle lock and lifts him into the air and then takes Morrell back to the match where he bends back the wrist, Dempsey lets Morrell up and he reveres into a headlock and that leads to a drop-down and leapfrog spot that ends with Dempsey hitting a big hip toss for a 2 count. Dempsey steps on the gut of Morrell and pulls back on the arm causing Morrell to fly across the ring as if he had been hit with a monkey flip. Dempsey sends Morrel into the ropes and he comes back with a sunset flip and that leads to both men exchanging pinfall attempts including a really cool backslide with a bridge, but none of the pins are successful.
Dempsey locks in a Fujiwara armbar which Morrell rolls out of so Dempsey transitions into a kneebar which Morrell escapes from and when he gets to his feet he lands a forearm and when he is sent into the corner he flips behind Demspey and nails him with an enziguri. Morrell pulls Dempsey to his feet, but Dempsey pulls him into the turnbuckle which he collides with face-first. Dempsey lands an uppercut and a headbutt to the midsection and then he sends Morrell into the ropes, but Morrell flips over the back of Dempsey and then grabs Demspey with a bodyscissors which he uses to flip Demspey to the mat and that leads to another exchange of different pinning combinations that ends when Dempsey hits a bridging German suplex for a 2 count. Dempsey grabs the arm and takes Morrell to the mat once again and then he locks in a horrific submission hold where he wraps one arm around the head and one arm around the ankle and then he pulls the leg back so that his hand that is around the ankle meets the hand around the head and this gets him the win by submission.
This was a very impressive debut for Charlie Dempsey and it’s nice to see a new generation of Regal in the ring as he is one of the greatest of all time and one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time. Charlie Dempsey could become their version of Zack Sabre Jr. We have seen Josh Morrell a few times in NXT UK and usually he is squashed but I like they gave him something in this match as he was very impressive as well and could be a featured player on the show too.
We get a sitdown face-fo-face between A-Kid and Ilja Dragunov ahead of their NXT UK Championship match in two weeks. We also get a video hyping up next week’s Heritage Cup Championship #1 Contender Tournament FInal between Wolfgang and Noam Dar.
We then go to the main event which is Joe Coffey vs Jordan Devlin, this match was made after Coffey threw Devlin out of his own dressing room like a bully.
We get a lockup and Devlin grabs a wristlock but Coffey escapes and grabs a hammerlock which Devlin snapmares out of and we get a stalemate. Coffey powers Devlin to the mat with a double knuckle lock until he gets back to his feet where Devlin releases the grip and tries for a lungblower, but Coffey blocks and then rolls through a sunset flip attempt and tries for a Boston crab but Devlin throws him off and we get another staredown. Coffey blocks a headlock takeover and tries to shoot Devlin into the ropes, but he hangs onto the headlock and grounds Coffey. Coffey eventually gets back to his feet and does send Devlin into the ropes and that leads to Devlin evading him multiple times and then he trips up Coffey and walks across his back. Devlin gets mouthy with Gallus at ringside and it costs him as Coffey hits a clothesline and then lands some punches to the body before hitting Devlin with a pounce as he comes off the ropes.
Coffey clothesline Devlin out to the floor and then throws him right back in where he sends Devlin into the corner and hits him with a backbreaker. Coffey goes to pick up Devlin and gets hit with a jawbreaker and then Devlin sends him into the corner but he rebounds and hits a spinning back elbow on Devlin. Coffey charges to the corner and after Devlin dodges him he nails Devlin with a back elbow and attempts the double jump crossbody only for Devlin to cut his legs out from under him and then he hits Coffey with a backstabber in the corner.
Coffey tries to come back with punches but Devlin hits some of his own which sends Coffey staggering into the corner where Devlin hits him with a chop and then Devlin takes Coffey down to the mat where he hits him with a leg drop for a 2 count. Devlin puts Coffey in the corner where he chokes him with his boot and then he brings Coffey into the middle of the ring and tries for a backslide, but Coffey blocks it. Devlin sends Coffey into the ropes and hits a big hip toss and then stretches Coffey on the mat with an abominable stretch until Coffey fights to his feet and hits Devlin with a hip toss of his own. Coffey tries for a clothesline but Devilin catches him with a big uranage and a standing moonsault. Devlin mocks Gallus but as he turns around Coffey is back on his feet and he hits Devlin with a forearm and a push kick that sends Devlin bouncing off the ropes and Coffey hits him with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex followed by a German suplex and both men are laid out.
Devlin charges at Coffey and gets hit with a backdrop and then Coffey hits the double jump crossbody off the top for a 2 count. Coffey and Devlin trade punches and then Coffey hits a pop-up uppercut and then he goes for All the Best for the Bella but Devlin catches him in a moonsault slam. Mark Coffey jumps up on the apron and he is wearing Devlin’s jacket and sunglasses and as Devlin walks over to Coffey he sees the opportunity to hit Devilinside, but Wolfgang is holding the other arm of Coffey and when Devlin pulls on the arm he falls back to the mat. Coffey hits the Glasgow Sendoff followed by All the Best for the Bells and that is enough to keep Devlin down for the 3 count.
This was just a fine match with nothing special to mention about it other than the fact that Gallus continue to act like teenage bullies toward Devlin as he gave them no reason to start messing with him and his personal property.
I thought this was a pretty good episode of NXT UK as I enjoyed the opening tag match as well as the debut of Charlie Dempsey as I have become a fan of his after one match, but that could just be my Regal bias showing. I thought the main event was mediocre at best but that is to be expected from a Joe Coffey match. I look forward to the finals of the Heritage Cup #1 Contender Tournament next week and the Dragunov vs A-Kid match coming up in 2 weeks.
SmackDown
SmackDown Results
- Happy Corbin w/ Madcap Moss def Kevin Owens – **
- The New Day & The Street Profits def The Dirty Dawgz & Alpha Academy – **1/4
- Sasha Banks def Bianca Belair – **¾
After an opening video hyping up the draft, we get the entrance of Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville who will be announcing the picks for this year’s draft. We are told the rules which are that half of the roster is eligible to be drafted tonight and the other half will be eligible on Raw and anyone undrafted will become a free agent that can go where they please. They also reiterate that the picks do not officially go into effect until October 22 which is the day after Crown Jewel, if that is the case then why did we need to do the draft tonight?
We get our first round of draft picks which sees SmackDown retain the WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and they pick up Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair while Raw will keep WWE Champion Big E and pickup Bianca Belair.
Roman Reigns comes to the ring and tells the Baltimore crowd to acknowledge him and then he turns the mic over to Paul Heyman who puts Reigns over as he calls him the Exorcist for beating “The Demon” Finn Balor and at Crown Jewel, he will become the SuplExorcist when he defeats Brock Lesnar, and as if it was on cue Brock Lesnar’s music hits and he comes to the ring. Reigns and Lesnar go face-to-face and then Reigns throws the first punch but Lesnar comes back with a couple of German suplexes and once The Usos come to the ring he lays both of them out with an F-5.
Later in the night, Lesnar would kindly interrupt a backstage interview, and he thanks Paul Heyman for making him a free agent as that will allow him to do whatever he wants and then he winks at the camera. We go to the locker room of The Bloodline where Reigns asks Heyman if they are good friends because if they are good friends Heyman would look out for Reigns and his family and he wants to know why The Usos weren’t drafted to SmackDown. Heyman starts babbling on about how it all has to do with strategy and how he has it under control because he is the wise man which pisses off Reigns as he is only the wise man when Reigns calls him the wise man. Reigns tells Heyman to go to Raw and make sure The Usos are drafted to SmackDown, Heyman understands and then walks out of the room. Reigns tells The Usos to go with Heyman and if they don’t get drafted to SmackDown leave Heyman for dead.
I am loving babyface Brock Lesnar as he can still be an ass-kicker like has always has been, but he can also be more talkative and show more of an over the top personality than what we are used to seeing from him which is what we saw with the backstage promo he cut as Lesnar being overly nice feels so out of the norm and that is what makes it intriguing for me personally. I also liked how mob boss Reigns wants Heyman to influence the draft in his favor and is pretty much giving Heyman this last chance to make things right as he is already pissed at Heyman for still being involved with Lesnar, so if he fails to get The Usos on SmackDown with him that is the last straw and not only will he abandon Heyman, but he will put out a hit for him. This is really good stuff and I look forward to seeing if Heyman will be successful in getting The Usos to SmackDown.
We get a commercial that confirms that starting next week we will see the return of The King of the Ring as well as an all-new tournament called the Queen’s Crown both of which will start on SmackDown and will continue on Raw and although it was not said in the commercial it has been rumored for a while that the finals for both will take place at Crown Jewel. I really hope this women’s tournament doesn’t go the predictable way of having Charlotte win because she doesn’t need another achievement on her resume as she has enough already, there are quite a few girls who need it a lot more than Charlotte does.
Our first match of the night sees Kevin Owens taking on Happy Corbin, we get an inset promo where Happy Corbin introduces us to the new gimmick for Riddick Moss named Madcap Moss who is an annoying guy who makes bad jokes just to make Happy Corbin laugh. There wasn’t much to this match as it was paint by numbers with Moss distracting KO on the floor allowing Corbin to hit End of Days on the floor and then one in the ring to give Corbin the win. I feel like this Corbin and Moss duo is going to get old very quickly and that short span of me actually being interested in Corbin is now gone.
It’s time for the second round of the draft as SmackDown picks up both Drew McIntyre and New Day while Raw keeps RK-Bro and picks up Edge. Drew McIntyre going to SmackDown is the best pick so far as he was overdue a fresh coat of paint as he has been on Raw exclusively since his return and has fought everyone on the roster and after being the top guy on Raw last year it was time he makes the move and sees if he can accomplish the same on SmackDown. I am a bit surprised that they didn’t keep New Day together, but it might be better that they don’t so that they aren’t tempted to have one of them turn against Big E.
Edge comes to the ring and he talks about being excited to go to Raw as it is a chance for new opponents and it’s a new challenge. Edge then moves on to Rollins as he is there like he promised so Rollins can come out and see if he can make force him to say the things he wants to say. Rollins then appears on the video screen and says he is surprised Edge showed up but he still isn’t saying the things Rollins wants him to say and he doesn’t believe anything Edge says. Rollins then shows that he is at Edge’s home which causes Edge to bolt from the ring and run to the back. Rollins knocks on the door but then realizes it’s unlocked and goes inside calling for Beth and once he realizes she isn’t home he casually walks through the house as he grabs a snack from the kitchen and sits at the table where he talks shit about the drawings Edge’s daughters had made. Rollins continues to stroll through the house where he finds a big picture of the family and he sarcastically talks about how sweet it is and then takes a seat on a plush chair and grabs the remote which turns on the fireplace and Rollins says he thinks he will just spend the night there. We cut to Edge backstage on the phone with Beth who was out shopping and he tells her not to go home and to go to her brother’s house and that he will call Dan and David (which are the shoot names of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood).
Outside of the stupidity of someone leaving their door unlocked in these days and times, I thought this was really well done as it gives Edge a reason to be pissed at Rollins once again as he stepped over the line going into his house. I liked how they didn’t even need Rollins to do anything heinous like destroying the house or have a confrontation with Beth as him just being in Edge’s house and invading the privacy of his home was motivation enough for Edge wanting to bash Rollins’ brains in one last time before being a member of the Raw roster.
We were supposed to get a rematch between Liv and Carmella but Liv shoves Carmella to the floor and she gets on the mic and says this is the last time she will try to mess up her face. Carmella turns away from the camera and we see a bunch of women fixing her up and put something on her face and when she turns around she is wearing a horrible-looking mask that matches the rest of her gear, but it’s not the nose protector kind of mask Sheamus has been wearing. Carmella hits Liv with a kick and an X-Factor and then poses, I guess the match never got started. I really hope if Liv stays on SmackDown with Charlotte they call back to their issues a few years ago but knowing WWE they probably forgot that ever happened.
It’s time for the third round of the draft and we see SmackDown keep Corbin and Moss and then they pick up Hit Row from NXT 2.0 while Raw keeps the women’s tag team champions Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. as well as Keith “Bearcat” Lee. Do they not realize that Nikki and Rhea don’t need to be drafted since they can go to both shows and once they lose the titles they would be free agents who could go to whichever show they choose. The rumors of Hit Row being brought up turned out to be true and I have no doubt they will be a great addition to the SmackDown roster, but I do worry for B-Fab because he lack of experience is really going to show even more if she has to mix it up with girls like Charlotte and Sasha. I guess we will have Swerve losing the North American Championship within the next few weeks most likely to Santos Escobar.
We get an 8-man tag where The New Day and The Street Profits beat the team of Alpha Academy and The Dirty Dawgz in a pretty typical TV tag match.
It’s time for our final round of the draft for tonight and in this round, SmackDown gets Jeff Hardy and Naomi (to the disapproval of Sonya) while Raw picks up The Mysterios and from NXT 2.0 Austin Theory. I really hope that it’s Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo (and perhaps also Zelina Vega if she is moved to Raw) that persuades Dominik to turn on Rey as that could lead to a series of really good matches. Austin Theory makes his return to Raw after subbing in for Andrade last year to team with Angel Garza.
There would be more picks announced on Talking Smack and they are as follows:
SmackDown gets Aliyah, Drew Gulak, MACE, Mansoor, Mustafa Ali, & Toni Storm
Raw gets Akira Tozawa, Alpha Academy, Apollo & Azeez, Doudrop, Drake Maverick, John Morrison, Nia Jax, Reggie, R-Truth, T-Bar, & Zelina Vega
It’s time for the main event as we get a rematch from WrestleMania as Sasha Banks takes on Bianca Belair and as a special added bonus “The Man” Becky Lynch is on commentary. We get another really good match between Sasha and Bianca which is no surprise as they are both great and while they are having a great match Becky is killing it on commentary as she takes Bayley’s place of arguing with Michael Cole and putting him in his place. Becky and Bianca get into it at ringside and that ends up being Bianca’s downfall as once she gets back in the ring Becky grabs her braid and this allows Sasha to roll up Bianca for the win. After the match, Charlotte hits the ring and lays out both Sasha and Bianca and then holds her title high while staring down Becky who is standing on the announce table with her title raised high as well.
Did we really need Charlotte Flair involved in this, like could they not find something for her to do for the next three weeks so she doesn’t have to be involved in this main women’s story? Charlotte hasn’t been involved in this story the entire time so there is no need to interject her into it at the last minute just so she can be involved in the main women’s story. Also, how shitty is it that this big triple threat match between Sasha, Bianca, and Becky to blowoff this feud is taking place in a country that treats women like filth but I guess when it comes to Vince as long as that blood money is coming in they can ignore hundreds of years of history. On a more positive note, I have to say that we are almost a month into Becky’s return and I am still amazed at just how ripped she has gotten since she left last year to have her baby.
I thought this was a fine episode of SmackDown as we got a good segment with Lesnar and Reigns as well as the one involving Edge and Rollins as I thought both segments did a good job of progressing their respective stories going into Crown Jewel. I was also okay with most of the draft picks that we saw as for the most part they all made sense and were needed to refresh the rosters as best they can.
In the News
Whatculture is reporting that there are plans for WWE to hold a major PPV in the UK in September 2022, the report says that plans are being put together to have the PPV in a major stadium with a target audience of 90,000. As of now, it is unclear what show this will be, but given that 2022 is the 30th anniversary of SummerSlam in Wembley Stadium there is a good chance the summer spectacular could be heading across the pond for a second time. It is now being reported that the likely venue to hold the show could be The Principality Stadium in Cardiff Wales.
WWE announced on Monday that the 2022 Royal Rumble will be emanating from The Dome at America’s Place in St Louis, MO and it will be taking place on Saturday, January 29, 2022. I hope that since this is another Saturday show WWE does another showing in theaters as I have to imagine a Royal Rumble watch in a theater with other fans would be even more fun than the one they had for SummerSlam.
Sean Ross Sapp tweeted that the two shows listed above are just two of eight big stadium shows that WWE is looking to put on in 2022. We already know that next year’s Money in the Bank will also be a stadium show as it will be taking place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wrestling Inc is reporting that Alexa Bliss is set to take a few months off and that the angle shot at Extreme Rules was done to write off the creepy character which was an offshoot of the character that she started when she was aligned with Bray Wyatt, it is highly expected that she will return back to her normal self. I personally am a little sad that the creepy character is over with as I thought she did a great job with it, but I have no doubt that whatever Alexa does next she will excel at it. PWI Insider would later report that another reason for her absence is due to the fact that she will be underground sinus surgery.
A source told Fightful Select that while Shane McMahon still has a talent contract with WWE he is rarely seen around anymore.
WrestlingNews.co reports that Vince McMahon is receptive to the idea of Dominik Mysterio turning heel and wearing a mask while claiming to be the superior Mysterio. I guess this change in the Dominik character would most likely be done as part of a feud with Rey as it seems like that is what we are leading to.
WWE announced on Friday that they have hired NHL Network host and reporter Jackie Redmond to be the new co-host of Raw Talk and Talking Smack along with Matt Camp. I have to say that Kayla Braxton officially has some new competition for the cutest announcer in WWE
Alex McCarthy of TalksSPORT reports that the BT Sports Studio are wanting their studio to become the permanent home for NXT UK going forward and there are currently talks going on between WWE and BT Sport about that happening, but in the meantime, they are hoping to welcome back live fans to the shows in the imminent future, however, with the next set of tapings due to occur the first part of October it is doubtful the logistics will be worked out to allow fans to attend those set of tapings.
Raj Giri reports that the Fox Network specifically wanted Charlotte Flair to be on SmackDown.
PW Insider reports that WWE kept a very tight lid on plans for the draft as people who were usually in the know were kept in the dark this time and those who switched brands were only notified shortly before the show began. Not sure why it needed to be so secretive as there weren’t any real big moves that would’ve got a massive pop from the crowd.
Fightful reports that the USA Network has grown tired of WWE resorting to shortcuts and scapegoats such as Raw Underground and Brand to Brand Initiatives in order to try and boost declining ratings and would rather they focus on making Raw a quality show on a consistent basis.
I sadly have to announce the passing of yet another former WWE star as Ryan Sakoda passed away earlier this month but is just now being reported, Sakoda died on September 2 at the age of 48. Sakota was best known for his short run on SmackDown in 2003 where he was a bodyguard for Tajiri along with Akio aka Jimmy Yang. Sakoda would be released from his contract in 2004 but would continue to wrestle on the California indie scene until 2007. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and fans of Ryan Sakoda.
A big congratulations go out to Ronda Rousey and her husband Travis Browne on the birth of their daughter La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō Browne. That poor child is going to have one hell of a time trying to learn how to spell her middle name.
A big congratulations also go out to Toni Storm who got engaged to Juice Robinson this week. First Ryan Cabrerra and now Juice Robinson, I guess some guys just have all the luck.
Coming up this Week
Raw:
- Night 2 of the Draft
NXT 2.0:
- LA Knight vs Odyssey Jones
- MSK, Josh Briggs, & Brooks Jensen vs Grizzled Young Veterans, Carmelo Hayes, & Trick Williams
- Cora Jade NXT 2.0 debut
- Tony D’Angelo NXT 2.0 debut
NXT UK
- Noam Dar vs Wolfgang (NXT Heritage Cup Championship #1 Contender Tournament Final Match)
- Jinny vs Emilia McKenzie
- Mark Andrews vs Sam Gradwell
SmackDown:
- Night 1 of the King of the Ring and Queen’s Crown Tournaments
