Raw
Raw Results
- AJ Styles, Omos, & The Dirty Dawgz def RK-Bro & The Street Profits – **¾
- Bobby Lashley w/ MVP def Dominik Mysterio w/ Rey Mysterio – **¼
- Big E def Chad Gable w/ Otis – **½
- 24/7 Championship Segment – *½
- Liv Morgan def Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Carmella, & Queen Zelina Vega – **3/4
- Seth Rollins def Kevin Owens via Count Out – ***½
After a video recapping the events of last week’s main event we go backstage where Kevin Owens is sitting beside Big E still trying to apologize and explain what happened last week, but Big E is more concerned with rubbing cocoa butter on his body and doesn’t care about what KO’s intentions were. KO says that Big E is one of the guys in the locker room whose opinions he does care about. Big E once again tells KO he doesn’t care and then walks off as KO says he cares.
We go out to the arena where Seth Rollins makes his way to the ring and he brags about how he is going to lead Team Raw to victory once again. Rollins then moves on to talking about what happened last week with Big E and KO as he asks what kind of man is KO? Rollins brings up how he has known KO for years and the one thing that has always remained true is that KO will stab you in the back whenever he gets the chance and if you don’t believe him just ask Sami Zayn or the New Day and then he calls KO gutless and a liar. Rollins says that when he beats KO tonight not only will he be the biggest liar but he will be the biggest loser. KO charges to the ring and starts brawling with Rollins on the floor, at one point KO sets up for an apron powerbomb but Rollins is able to escape and run away.
Throughout the night KO goes up to The Mysterios as well as R-Truth looking for their approval after what happened last week, but neither gives him the confident answer that he is looking for. Elsewhere Seth Rollins finds Big E and tries to convince him to trust him over KO as it’s better to trust the devil you know over the one you don’t, but Big E doesn’t trust either of them and then says he will be at ringside watching the main event.
Prior to the main event match, Seth Rollins gets on the mic and tries to come up with some bull shit about how he and KO were working together last week and that is why KO did what he did.KO isn’t having any of this as he storms down to the ring and we get another brawl before the actual match starts, after a commercial break we see that both men are in the ring and are ready for the match to officially start. Rollins and KO have a great match against each other but at one point the action goes out to the floor and as they fight behind the announce table KO gets tripped up and accidentally runs into Big E while Rollins runs back into the ring to get the win by count-out. After the match, KO finally snaps and attacks Big E sending him into the steps and then hitting him with an apron powerbomb before going back to punches and stomps as the referees and agents run down to break things up.
I thought the story between Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Big E was very well told throughout the night and while it started to become obvious that KO was going to end up turning this one of those cases where being predictable isn’t a bad thing as KO is much better as a heel than he is a babyface. I like how Big E is currently involved in three or four separate feuds as he has this one with Rollins and KO, he has the Survivor Series match coming up against Reigns which is being built up through The Bloodline’s attacks on King Woods and Sir Kingston, and in addition to those major feuds, he has something going on in the mid-card with Alpha Academy as it seems like he and Otis are set to eventually collide at some point as they have had a couple of staredowns including after Big E’s match against Chad Gable on this episode of Raw.
We get an 8-man tag where RK-Bro teams with The Street Profits to take on the team of The Dirty Dawgz, Omos, and the returning AJ Styles but before the match started Orton told Riddle that he doesn’t want him helping out The Street Profits if they have issues with Omos because they already have a big enough target on their backs being tag champions, so they don’t need to be picking fights with a giant. Orton turns around to see The Street Profits standing behind him but that doesn’t make him change his mind as he meant every word he said.
The heel team ends up picking up the win after Riddle tries to fight Omos once again and ends up getting hit with a chokebomb, after some arguing and fighting between members of the heel team Ziggler ends up sliding into the ring to pick up the pin as he took advantage of Omos laying out Riddle. After the match, Orton hits an RKO on Ziggler and then chastizes Riddle for not listening to him but decides to help him to the back anyways.
Not much to say about this segment as it’s pretty much the same as we’ve seen over the past few weeks.
The Mysterios come to the ring and they are joined by Adam Pearce who tells him that over the weekend when the Survivor Series teams were announced he made a huge mistake as every other member of the Raw team is a former WWE Champion (they also just came from the brand they are fixing to fight against) except for Dominik and that is an issue as he wants this year’s Raw team to be just as dominant as last year’s team who had a clean sweep over Team SmackDown. Pearce tells Dominik that he has a lot of potential and as of now he is still on Team Raw, however, that could change if he loses his match right now against Bobby Lashley. Lashley ends up winning the match as you would expect and is the final member of Team Raw and the only member who didn’t just come from SmackDown a couple of weeks ago.
Later in the night, Mysterio is in the trainer’s room with Dominik and he is not happy with Adam Pearce for putting Dominik in the match against Lashley as he would’ve rather Pearce just told them he wanted to switch out Dominik with Lashley instead of putting him in a match that resulted in Dominik getting hurt. While Rey is distracted by Dominik we see Austin Theory come from behind him and take a selfie.
It’s great to see Lashley as well as MVP back on Raw and what looks to be a feud between him and The Mysterios could be a lot of fun. I don’t know why Adam Pearce would care so much who either Survivor Series team is made of considering he is on both shows and has no brand loyalty like past Authority Figures during the brand split.
We get a fun 24/7 segment where we see several different title changes including wins by both Corey Graves and Byron Saxton before Reggie eventually wins it back.
We go into the women’s locker room where they put over the women who they chose to be on Team Raw while those who weren’t chosen stand to the side. Pearce and Deville let the women that are a part of the Survivor Series team know that tonight they will be in a fatal-five-way match where the winner will face Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at a future date. We then get the women who weren’t picked (Doudrop, Dana Brooke, & Nikki A.S.H.) speaking up as they are rightfully pissed off that they are not getting a chance to challenge Becky, most notably Doudrop is unhappy with Bianca possibly getting another shot after she just lost to Becky last week. We get Bianca and Doudrop going back and forth with each other and then everyone gets in on the screaming match to end the segment.
We go to our fatal-five-way match between the members of the Raw women’s Survivor Series team as it is Rhea Ripley vs Carmella vs Bianca Belair vs Liv Morgan vs Queen Zelina and as an added bonus we have “The Man” Becky Lynch on commentary. This match was shaky at first but after they got warmed up it got really good and much to my surprise this match got tons of time as it went over 16 minutes. I will say they did a good job of making it feel like anyone could win this match as there were quite a few very close pinfalls and given this title match most likely won’t happen at a PPV it made the winner all that more unpredictable. Towards the end of the match, Doudrop ran down to take out Bianca and Carmella tried to pick up the win only for Liv to run in and catch Carmella in a crucifix pin for the win.
I’m happy to see that last week’s face-off between Liv and Becky wasn’t just a tease and we are actually going to see Liv in a women’s championship match for the first time ever. I don’t expect Liv to come out with the win in her first title match, but I do hope they allow her to keep her momentum rolling and not make this just a one-off and I think still think it would be a great idea to have her be the one to win the Rumble as their time to pull the trigger with her is between now and WrestleMania as the casual fans are just now starting to see in Liv what we have loved about her for the last few years, so by the time Rumble comes along if she is booked right the entire fanbase should be behind her and would be fully behind her to win the title at WrestleMania and that will be a WrestleMania moment that I will enjoy quite a lot.
I thought that this was once another solid episode of Raw and I liked that they didn’t just cram a bunch of meaningless matches on the show just to fill the three hours as every match or segment on the show meant something or is leading to something down the road and I also liked how everything was given the time it needed. I think things are starting to look better for Raw as pretty much all the divisions feel somewhat fresh after the draft as Big E vs Rollins vs KO, Liv vs Becky, Bianca vs Doudrop, and Mysterios vs Lashley are all fresh feuds and each one has my interest to see where they go next.
NXT 2.0
NXT 2.0 Results
- Toxic Attraction def Io Shirai, Kacy Catanzaro, & Kayden Carter – **¾
- Kay Lee Ray def Sarray – **½
- Boa def Joe Gacy – *½
- The Creed Brothers w/ The Diamond Mine def Jacket Time – **½
- Cameron Grimes def Ru Feng – ¼*
- Solo Sikoa def LA Knight & Grayson Waller – **¼
- Elektra Lopez def Erica Yan – ¼*
- Pete Dunne def Carmelo Hayes w/ Trick Williams – ***¼
We open the show by going straight into the first match which sees Toxic Attraction taking on the trio of Io Shirai, Kacy Catanzaro, & Kayden Carter. It looks like Kacy and Kayden now have the gimmick of partiers or perhaps more specifically ravers as there are flashing lights during their entrance and they come out through the crowd handing out bracelets and they also have ribbons or some king of blue hair accessory to match the dreads of Kayden.
Mandy and Kayden start the match and Kayden takes Mandy down with a single leg and then steps over her body to gyrate her hips for some reason which disgusts Mandy. Kayden goes for a waistlock but is met with a back elbow and then she brings Kayden over to the corner where Gigi tags in and lands a knee to the gut. Gigi takes Kayden to the mat where she delivers a kick to the spine and then she hits a running hurricanrana sending Kayden into the middle rope and then she tags in Jacy who nails Kayden with a knee to the head. Jacy tries to slingshot herself through the ropes but her feet clipped the ropes (just like when she botched the dive) and she landed on her butt only to recover and hit a running neckbreaker for a 2 count. Jacy hits a running enziguri which knocks Kayden back to the ropes allowing Io to be tagged into the match. Io comes in and slams Jacy to set up for the headstand knee drop and then she looks to hit the double underhook backbreaker only for Jacy to escape and nail Io with a forearm, but that doesn’t phase her as she catches a kick and hits a dragon screw on Jacy. Io sends Jacy into the corner and hits a running back elbow and then Kacy becomes legal as she and Kayden hit Jacy with a leg trip, running kick, and a senton atomico combination for a 2 count.
Jacy quickly recovers as she picks up Kacy and drives her into the corner so that Mandy can tag herself back into the match. Mandy goes for a slam but Kacy slides out the back and hits Mandy with a running tilt-a-whirl headscissors and as Mandy rolls out to the floor she is hit with a tornillo by Kacy. Jacy and Gigi run over to help Mandy but are taken down by a crossbody off the top by Kayden and then Io looks to dive to the outside as well, but Mandy catches her and plants her with a spinebuster, and then she poses as the show goes to a picture-in-picture commercial break. Kacy and Kayden take Gigi and Jacy down with stereo dropkicks and Mandy bails to the floor for her own well-being as the babyfaces stand tall in the ring.
The match finally gets back under control with Kacy and Mandy in the ring and after Mandy hits a forearm to the back she grabs a hold of Kacy’s wrist but decides to break it when Kacy reaches out to make a tag to Io as Mandy tags in Gigi for her team. Io catches Gigi coming in as she spins her around into a crossface and as Gigi inches, towards the ropes, Io places her foot on the rope and uses it to roll back into the center of the ring and then I think Io may have been choking Gigi too hard as Gigi taps her on the hand and then Io releases the hold. Io backs Gigi into the corner with forearm strikes and takes her down into a seated position where she hits the delayed double knee attack and then Kacy tags herself back into the match where she grounds Gigi with a kneeling armbar. Gigi gets back to her feet and after an exchange of waist locks, Kacy looks for an O’Connor roll only for Gigi to hold onto the ropes sending Kacy rolling back into the center of the ring. Kacy grabs a headlock and after a momentary reversal by Gigi, we see Kacy take her down with a double leg and then go for a jackknife pin for a near fall. Gigi connects with an ax handle to the back sending Kacy face-first into the middle turnbuckle and then Gigi chokes her across the bottom rope. Mandy is tagged in and she locks Kacy in a bodyscissors with a chinlock applied as the commercial comes to an end.
Kacy escapes the body scissors and tries to make a tag but Mandy grabs her by the foot and hits a gutwrench facebuster before going back to the body scissors only for Kacy to elbow out it and then lands on her feet off another gutwrench facebuster attempt and finally make the hot tag to Io while a fresh Gigi comes in for Toxic Attraction. Io knocks Gigi down a few times and then stomps her in the corner, Io goes to pull Gigi out of the corner and gets hit with a stunner out of nowhere, and that allows her to make the tag back to Mandy only for Io to hit Mandy with a flapjack and then she hits the running double knee attack for a 2 count. Io connects with the moonsault on Mandy but Toxic Attraction breaks up the pin. Kacy and Kayden come in to throw Gigi and Jacy out of the ring, but Mandy ends up dragging Io to her corner and makes the tag to Gigi who misses an elbow drop, and then Io makes the tag to Kayden. Kayden comes in with clotheslines and a dropkick for Gigi and then she whips Jacy into Gigi in the corner and hits them with a running forearm followed by her running dropkick and splash combo. Gigi reverses a whip into the ropes only for Kayden to come back with a victory roll takedown and a kick to the head, Kayden hits a twisting flatliner and then goes up top only for a distraction by Jacy to lead to Gigi pulling her off the top and then Gigi hits the Cobra Twist driver to pick up the win for her team.
This was a really fun action-packed match to start out the show and it’s so good to see Kacy and Kayden back in action and it doesn’t look like they have lost a step since the last time we saw them in the ring. It looks like Io vs Mandy is our next feud for the NXT Women’s Championship and I look forward to seeing Io help Mandy improve in the ring even more during this feud.
We get an interview with Pete Dunne who is asked about what Tony D’Angelo said about him last week and Dunne says that if D’Angelo wants to make a name for himself he knows where to find him and he can chat with him face-to-face. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams walk up talking smack about Dunne, but he isn’t dealing with their crap tonight as he tells them to kiss his ass and then says he will be glad to break Hayes’ fingers tonight, and with that, the main event of the night is made.
We get a video from MSK still looking for the man who came up with the name but when they got to their location they see that the person has moved to a new location, so they head towards the new location still on their journey.
We go back into the arena to see Toxic Attraction by the entrance as Kay Lee Ray makes her entrance as she will be taking on Sarray in her first match back in NXT.
Sarray extends her hand for a handshake only for KLR to pull her in for a short-arm clothesline and then she brutalizes Sarray with a forearm and a clothesline in the corner. Sarray blocks a whip into the ropes and then she takes KLR down with a springboard arm drag followed by a victory roll takedown into a double stomp. KLR fires up with and nails Sarray with some rapid-fire forearms and then she goes for a pin, but Sarray bridges out from under her only to be slammed back down to the mat. Sarray reverses a whip into the corner and connects with a running elbow and then she tries for the same in the opposite corner only for KLR to dodge and then she hits Sarray with a cool monkey flip DDT out of the corner for a 2 count. KLR picks up Sarray and backs her into the ropes where she delivers a forearm and then she sends Sarray into the ropes, but Sarray ducks a couple of clotheslines and catches KLR with a schoolgirl for a 2 count.
Sarray locks in a bridging half crab torquing on the leg of KLR until she is able to reach the ropes. Sarray hits KLR with several big stomps and then hits a bridging fisherman’s suplex for a 2 count. Sarray looks for a uranage but KLR elbows out of it and catches Sarray with a superkick only for Sarray to come back with a roundhouse kick knocking KLR into the ropes. Sarray looks for the running dropkick to a seated KLR but she is able to get out of the way and hit Sarray with a knee drop sending her falling out to the floor. KLR hits Sarray with the Gory Bomb onto the announce table and then throws her back into the ring where she hits a second Gory Bomb for the win.
This was a pretty good match for the time it got and it’s nice to see KLR back in the ring. I remember when it seemed like Sarray was going to be the next big Joshi star from Japan, but unlike her predecessors, she has not risen to the top of the brand, and many times I forget she is even on the roster which is not a good sign for her future as they clearly don’t see her on the same level as others like Asuka, Io, and Kairi.
Joey Gacy is interviewed backstage where he talks about how everyone hides their true feelings behind a mask just like Boa has started doing and he hopes through their match tonight Boa learns that nobody should have to hide. Gacy then moves on to talking about Harland saying he shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable in his own skin and he hopes Harland will reach out and touch his hand wherever he is.
We get a video highlighting Bron Breakker on the recent European tour and he says he plans on coming back to the states where he is going to kick Ciampa’s ass. We would later see another video highlighting the tour from Ciampa’s perspective where he puts over Bron Breakker and how he is improving every night and then says that there is nothing Breakker or anyone else can do to make up for his seventeen years of experience.
We then go to our next match which is Boa vs Joe Gacy.
Boa kicks away a handshake attempt and then Gacy ducks a second kick and grabs a headlock which is broken when Boa backs him into the ropes, Gacy gets in a shot and then pulls down the rope sending Boa out to the apron, but Boa comes back with a forearm and a sunset flip back into the ring for a 2 count. Boa catches Gacy with a dropkick which leads to Gacy pleading for Boa to stop, but when Boa walks closer Gacy drops him throat-first across the ropes and that is followed by a backbreaker for a 1 count. Gacy hits a suplex and then he locks Boa in a neck crank until Boa gets to his feet and backs Gacy into the corner to break the hold and then he catches the leg of Gacy and drops him with a kick to the midsection. Bos hits Gacy and sends Gacy into the ropes where he follows him in with a knee to the gut and then he hits a butterfly suplex. Gacy reverses a whip into the corner only to run into a boot and then we get some mysterious flashing lights which fires Boa up and then he locks in a death grip but won’t let go when Gacy gets into the ropes leaving the referee no choice but to call for the bell giving Gacy the win by DQ.
I didn’t care for this match as I am not a fan of Gacy nor am I a fan of Boa adopting the mystical gimmick that Mei Ying had as he doesn’t pull it off as she did. Not sure why we needed the match to end in a DQ, do we really need to see Gacy kept strong to the point where he can’t lose cleanly?
We get footage from last week where Jacket Time (Kushida & Ikeman Jiro) talk about how they are going to beat The Creed Brothers and then the video fans out as we see that Diamond Mine was watching the footage from a screen at their gym and then we get Malcolm Bivens cutting a promo where he puts over Roderick Strong beating Odyssey Jones last week and says The Creed Brothers will do the same to Jacket Time tonight.
Solo Sikoa is going to be interviewed when Grayson Waller walks up and lets Sikoa know that LA Knight has been talking crap about him, this brings in LA Knight who tells Waller if he had something to say to Sikoa or to Waller he would say it to their face. Knight and Waller start to argue but Sikoa cuts them off saying he wants to settle this in the ring like men in a triple threat match.
It’s time, it’s time, it’s…Jacket Time as they are set to face The Creed Brothers in our next match.
Julius starts the match with Jiro as she slides across the ring and lifts Jiro up for an overhead slam and then he tries for the basement clothesline right away but Jiro blocks it with his knees. Julius grabs Jiro and brings him over to the corner where he tags in Brutus and then Julius whips Jiro towards Brutus who hits Jiro with another big slam to the mat. Brutus grabs a waistlock looking for a suplex, but Jiro is able to escape. Brutus goes for the waistlock once again and this time Jiro grabs a headlock where he is sent off into the ropes and runs into a brick wall which is Brutus. Jiro is able to grab the arm of Brutus and pull him over to the corner where he tags in Kushida who comes off the top with a shot to the arm of Brutus. Kushida hits an armbreaker but is then pulled into a fireman’s carry which throws him back into the heel corner where Brutus makes the tag to Julius who immediately drops Kushida with a powerslam. Julius immediately tags Brutus back in and they send Kushida into the ropes only for him to come back with a handspring elbow taking down both Creed Brothers and then Kushida rolls over to make the tag to Jiro who nails both brothers with jacket punches and then Jacket Time knock both brothers off the apron with handspring kicks and that leads to a commercial break.
We come back from the commercial to see Kushida diving off the top onto Julius and then he connects with a few kicks followed by a running crossbody and then he takes Brutus down with an overhead kick. Kushida hits Julius with a wind-up punch and a kick to the arm followed by a baseball slide to Brutus on the floor. Brutus pushes Kushida into the ropes allowing Jiro to tag himself in and this leads to Jacket Time hitting Julius with a double hip toss followed by stereo cartwheel dropkicks. Jiro goes up top and connects with a Swanton bomb which gets a 2 count when Brutus breaks up the pin at the last second. Kushida throws Brutus out to the floor and then Jiro goes for a running kick only for Julius to duck it and then Julius commits the biggest crime ever as he pulls the jacket off Jiro. Jiro comes back with a palm strike and then looks to run to the ropes but Strong pulls down the ropes sending Jiro out to the floor, but he rolls through and runs right back into the ring where he is caught with a Doctor Bomb by Julius for the win.
After the match, Odyssey Jones runs out and pounces Roderick Strong into the apron before throwing him into the ring, and as Odyssey follows we see The Creed Brothers try to attack but Jones fights them off as the babyfaces clear the ring leaving Diamond Mind to retreat up the ramp as we get yelling back and forth between the two groups which must mean we are getting a six-man tag match next week.
I thought this was a really fun match and I was surprised to see Jacket Time get in so much offense as I was expecting an extended squash with The Creed Brothers dominating them. I continue to love watching The Creed Brothers wrestle and can’t wait to see them become NXT Tag Team Champions. It looks like WWE firing all of the 205 Live guys have left Roderick Strong with no challengers which is why he is now feuding with Odyssey Jones who is obviously not a cruiserweight.
We follow Toxic Attraction out to the parking lot where they tell us they are going to be champions for a very long time and they are going to have to pry the titles off their cold dead bodies. Mandy says Toxic Attraction is The Attraction and continues on to say that Kay Lee Ray’s staredown didn’t phase her and if she thinks she is the next in line to challenge her she can take a number. Gigi starts to say that nobody on the roster is worthy of challenging them but she is interrupted by the arrival of the “Latina Badass” Raquel Gonzalez as she drives up on her motorcycle and she tells Mandy she will deal with her later and to keep her title warm before driving into the arena.
Raquel comes to the ring and wastes no time calling out Dakota Kai and Dakota wastes no time in making her entrance. Dakota said it felt so good to hit Raquel with the shovel at Halloween Havoc (and while she says this she is still doing the head ticks). Dakota is about to continue her promo when she is attacked from behind by Cora Jade until the referees break them apart. Raquel walks up behind Cora and turns her around so she can let her know that she understands Cora wants a piece of Dakota as well, but she gets a piece first. Cora is fine with this as she offers Raquel a fist bump, but Raquel slaps her hand away as they are at each other to end the segment.
I thought this was a really great segment as it didn’t consist of a long-winded promo by anyone like we are used to, instead, Raquel got straight to the point and then we quickly got to the angle with Cora attacking Dakota. This did everything it needed to do and only took around 3-4 minutes. I will go ahead and mention that later in the show NXT would announce that NXT Takeover: WarGames V will be happening on December 5, and after tonight it looks like the women’s WarGames match is starting to take shape as it looks like it could be Toxic Attraction & Dakota Kai vs Io Shirai, Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter, & either Raquel Gonzalez or Cora Jade and given how NXT has been over the past few months this women’s match has a good chance of being better than the men’s WarGames match this year.
Class is back in session as we head back to Chase University with professor Andre Chase and this week he is teaching mental toughness which is what you have to have in order to succeed in class, the ring, or in life. Mr. Chase then asks for a show of hands on who is a winner in his classroom and demands all of their hands go up because you have to visualize your success. Mr. Chase says anything can throw you off focus and once that happens you are doomed. A student asks a question about last week when Mr. Chase’s mic took him out of focus and that is why he failed against Bron Breakker, but before Mr. Chase can respond another student speaks up and he speaks in favor of Mr. Chase and says that he was just trying to get across a message last week but was never able to. Mr. Chase starts yelling at the first student named Gabriel as he calls him a dumbass and tells him to get out of his classroom before throwing his backpack across the room. Mr. Chase thanks the other student for his attention to detail.
We see a video of The Grizzled Young Veterans where Gibson teaches Drake a lesson about how to distract a referee and he does so by coming up with a plan to distract a random person and then using their phone and their cash app to order food. This was completely random and to be honest, the Grizzled Young Veterans are not people I need to see doing these kinds of corny vignettes as their appeal is between the ropes as they are supposed to be straight of wrestlers, not comedy acts.
Our next match sees Cameron Grimes take on Ru Feng.
Grimes ducks a kick and then snapmares Feng to the mat where he shakes his butt in his face which allows Feng to get back to his feet and then Grimes sends Feng into the ropes, but ducks his head allowing Feng to land a kick to the face and that is followed by a spin kick which Feng which was so impressive that Feng decided to pose after doing it. Feng sends Grimes into the corner sternum first and then locks in an abdominal stretch which looks terrible and at that point, Duke Hudson comes out which seems to distract Feng and allows Grimes to escape the hold. Grimes dodges a charging Feng and then hits him with a couple of running forearms and then hits him with a running kick in the corner and then comes off the top with a crossbody. Grimes hits the Cave In to pick up the win.
After the match, Duke Hudson gets in the ring to confront Cameron Grimes as he is still upset that Grimes beat him in his poker room last week and he wants to know whether it was dumb luck or did Grimes dupe him. Grimes laughs and talks about how much fun it was to beat Hudson last week, but Hudson begs to differ as he lost a lot of money to Grimes. Hudson promises that will never happen again as he will never lose again to someone who looks like Grimes. Grimes says that he has been called a hick before but he says that no matter whether it is at the poker table, in the ring, or on Wall Street he always holds it down, Grimes says he may play dumb sometimes but last week he played Hudson. Hudson says he won’t let this go because nobody outhustles Duke Hudson and he tells Grimes that he has no idea what losing to someone like Grimes means to someone like him. Hudson says next week it will be Hudson vs Grimes in a poker showdown and Grimes accepts the challenge.
This was a quick match but it wasn’t good as this Ru Feng guy was god awful and made a match that lasted less than two minutes really really bad. I thought the promo between Grimes and Hudson was decent and I am still curious as to whether a Poker Showdown is a match with poker-influenced weapons or if they are going to play another game of poker live in the ring.
It’s time for the triple threat match between Solo Sikoa, LA Knight, and Grayson Waller.
Knight and Waller argue to start the match and that leads to Sikoa popping both of them in the mouth and then he looks to work Knight over in the corner until Waller hits him from behind and goes on the attack. Knight and Waller attempt to work together to hit Sikoa with a double clothesline but he ducks and takes them both down with a clothesline of his own and then hits Waller with mounted punches followed by a running headbutt to a grounded Waller. Sikoa picks up Waller who nails him with a punch and then we get a drop-down and leapfrog spot that ends with Knight pulling down the ropes sending Waller out to the floor and then Knight drops Waller with a right hand.
Sikoa reaches over the top rope and grabs Knight throwing him back into the ring with a biel and then he nails Knight with knees before sending him into the ropes where Waller pulls down the top rope sending Knight crashing out to the floor. Sikoa looks to bring Waller back into the ring but gets dropped throat-first across the top rope, Waller looks for a suplex on Sikoa but he blocks and tries one of his own but Knight comes back in and punches Sikoa in the gut to prevent that from happening. Waller and Knight once again look to team up against Sikoa and this time they are successful as they hit a double suplex. Knight and Waller continue to double team Sikoa for a bit until they eventually start arguing and as they look to hit a double superplex Sikoa slips off the top and takes them both down with a double powerbomb out of the corner. Sikoa hits a Samoan drop on Waller while catching Knight with a boot to the face and that is followed by a running hip attack on Waller, but when he goes for one on Knight he is able to move out of the way and then he drops Sikoa with a neckbreaker. Waller comes back with knees to the face of Knight while he has him in the cravate, Waller then looks to take care of Sikoa but is thrown out of the ring only to come rolling through the ropes hitting a stunner on Knight moments later. Sikoa throws Waller out to the floor once again with a belly-to-belly suplex and then he goes up top to hit the Splash on Knight and that gives Sikoa the win.
This was a fun little match to further put over Sikoa as someone to watch as he looked impressive putting away both Knight and Waller. I feel like this Knight and Waller back and forth is leading to them eventually becoming rivals turned tag partners.
Indi Hartwell-Lumis and Persia Pirotta are interviewed about what is next for them after losing the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship match at Halloween Havoc and Persia talks about how she was so close to getting the titles as she even had her hand on them, Indi seconds that and says she had her hands on those titles just like she has them on her sexy Dexy and Persia stops her right there as she has gone too far. Tony D’Angelo comes up and talks about how Indi is going to be back on the market after what he does to Dexter Lumis next week and then hands her a dead fish with a tag that says Dexter and he also hands Persia some money which she sticks in her top.
Our next match sees Elektra Lopez take on Erica Yan who has a mouth tattooed on her hand.
Erica hits an arm drag but Elektra blocks a second one and then hits Erica with a clothesline. Elektra uses her leg to choke Erica across the middle rope and then after a suplex, Elektra hits the modified Blue Thunder Powerbomb for the very quick win.
After the match, Elektra gets on the mic and says that what she wants is what she gets and right now she wants Xyon Quinn, Quinn comes to the ring and Elektra tells him that he turned a lot of heads last week including hers, and then she offers him a spot in Legado del Fantasma. Quinn says that Elektra is amazing but he just can’t get down with the rest of Legado which upsets Wilde and Mendoza as they look to attack Quinn but he lays them out with a clothesline and then throws both of them out of the ring. Quinn blocks a couple of attempted slaps by Elektra and then spins her around and holds his arms around her as they look at each other and then he spins her back. Wilde and Mendoza get back in the ring pissed off but Elektra holds them back as Quinn walks to the back.
While the match was nothing to talk about the post-match stuff was pretty good and much like Quinn I too have taken a liking to Elektra Lopez as you can never go wrong with a beautiful Latina.
Kyle O’Reilly is interviewed backstage about the referee not seeing Von Wagner’s foot on the rope in their match last week against Legado del Fantasma and he says that it sucks the referee made a mistake but he has made mistakes throughout his career. O’Reilly then questions the future of his career and although he and Wagner still have some things to work on he is committed to the team and they are focused on the tag titles. Imperium walks up and then Wagner also walks up to be by the side of his partner and Imperium just tells them they wouldn’t give them a title shot on their best day.
It’s time for the main event as Pete Dunne is set to take on the NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes.
Dunne goes right at Hayes with a running forearm and then he stomps a mudhole into him in the corner, Hayes gets to his feet and is knocked right back down with a clothesline as it is clear that Dunne did not come to play. Dunne grounds Hayes with a hammerlock and after repeatedly stomping on his head he bends back the wrist before stomping on it. Dunne pulls Hayes back to his feet and sends him into the ropes, but Hayes rolls over the back of Dunne and after a couple of kicks he takes Dunne down with a springboard clothesline.
Hayes hits some mounted punches and then kicks the arm of Dunne which fires him up as he gets back to his feet and takes Hayes back down so he can deliver a kick to Hayes’ arm. Dune looks to go for an armbreaker but Hayes blocks and pushes Dunne into the corner where he backdrops a charging Hayes out to the apron and then snaps his fingers over the top rope. The action goes to the floor as Dunne hits Hayes with an X-Plex on the apron and then they both get back in the ring, but right before we go to a picture-in-picture commercial break we see Trick Williams getting scared by suddenly turning around to see Dexter Lumis standing by the commentary table and then it looks like we are getting Lumis on commentary as he puts on the headset.
Hayes rolls out to the floor looking for a moment to recover but Dunne follows him out to continue the attack before rolling him back in the ring where he locks up the legs of Hayes and then stomps on them. Dunne then thinks about locking in a bow and arrow but Hayes gets to the ropes before he can get it applied and that results in Dunne kicking the hand of Hayes. Dunne pulls back on the arms of Hayes to continue the punishment and then he just hits a jumping stomp to the head. Dunne picks up Hayes who tries to fight back only for Dunne to drop him with one forearm as the show returns from commercial.
Dunne continues his punishment on Hayes as he ties him in knots and slams his limbs into the mat. Hayes hits some kicks to the leg which Dunne shrugs off and then he picks up Hayes and drops him with a running knee strike, but when he goes for a second knee strike Hayes dodges and hits Dunne with a brutal lungblower which has both men down until Hayes crawls over to make the cover for a 2 count. Dunne gets back to his feet and catches an incoming Hayes with a boot only for Hayes to counter a clothesline into a fireman’s carry facebreaker and a clothesline of his own. Hayes looks to whip Dunne into the corner but he counters and goes for a kick but Hayes dodges and then he hits Dunne with a wrist clutch slam for a 2 count.
Dunne crawls over to the corner and Hayes charges in but Dunne moves out of the way and hits a running kick, a knee drop on the arm, a falling forearm, and finally a sitout powerbomb for a very close 2 count. Dunne catches Hayes with an enziguri only for him to come back with a bicycle kick and then Hayes goes for a springboard, but Dunne knocks him out of the air with a forearm. Dunne looks to hit another X-Plex, but Hayes reverses into a cutter for yet another 2 count. Hayes nails Dunne with a couple of forearms only for Dunne to fire back with a slap, but Hayes comes back with a tilt-a-whirl into an arm-trapped crossface until Dunne gets his arm loose and then smashes the fingers of Hayes into the mat.
Dunne hits Hayes with repeated kicks to the head followed by a German suplex and then Dunne stomps on the hands of Trick Williams as he tries to slide into the ring and then he stomps on the hands of Hayes. Dunne looks like he could’ve been going for a half nelson suplex, but Hayes reverses and shoves Dunne throat-first into the middle rope. Hayes tries to follow up but the referee backs him up as he wants to check on Dunne, Williams was going to take this as an opportunity to get involved but before he can Lumis drops Williams with an uppercut. As the referee is checking on Dunne we see Gargano come up from under the apron on the other side of the ring and he grabs the boot of Hayes to spook him and then Dunne comes back and hits the Bitter End for the win.
After the match, Dunne poses while Gargano and Lumis give each other a thumbs up from opposite sides of the ring and once Dunne realizes what happened he just shrugs it off and that is how the show comes to an end.
I thought the match was really good but wasn’t high on the finish as Dunne of all people doesn’t need goofy shenanigans to help him win matches as he is the baddest man in NXT after all. This whole feud between Hayes/Williams vs Gargano/Lumis made sense around Halloween but now that we are two weeks past the whole scaring Hayes and Williams schtick doesn’t work for me.
Just like last week the opening match and the main events were the best things on the show, but everything that happened in the middle wasn’t a complete waste as I enjoyed the Kay Lee Ray match, the segment with Raquel, Dakota, and Cora, as well as the Creed Brothers vs Jacket time matches. I am glad to see that they are doing WarGames this year after all, as I thought the new rebranding of NXT would mean the removal of WarGames, so regardless of how I feel about NXT week after week I am going to be excited for WarGames.
NXT UK
NXT UK Results
- Mark Andrews def Nathan Frazer – ***½
- Dani Luna def Stevie Turner – **
- Moustache Mountain def Symbiosis, Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz, & Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter – ***¾
After our intro video, we go right into the BT Sports Studio where we get right to the action with our first match of the night which will see a battle of two high flyers as Nathan Frazer takes on Mark Andrews.
Andrews is in control first as he grounds Frazer with a wrist lock until Frazer starts flipping around to escape and then Andrews counters an arm wringer by hitting a cartwheel. They take turns trying to throw the other into the ropes before Andrews takes Frazer back to the mat with a headlock until Frazer gets to his feet and shoves Andrews into the corner who jumps up and over Frazer only for Frazer to hop up to the top and backflip over Andrews and then Andrews connects with a springboard crossbody out of the corner. We see some lightning-fast arm drags and headscissor escapes and then Andrews catches the leg of Frazer and flips him backward with Frazer landing on his feet and then we get both men trying to land a kick with neither coming up successful as we have a stalemate in the center of the ring.
Andrews shoots Frazer into the ropes only for Frazer to come back with a dropkick and he follows that with a couple of chops and a snap suplex. Andrews reverses a whip into the corner only for Frazer to jump up and over and then he flips to the opposite corner with Andrews following him as he connects with a running dropkick in the corner followed by a back suplex for a 2 count. Andrews tries to ground Frazer with a surfboard but Frazer gets back to his feet and flips out of it kicking Andrews away, but Andrews comes right back with a northern lights suplex for a 2 count. Andrews sends Frazer into the ropes but he comes back with a hurricanrana which Andrews cartwheels out of and then he hits Frazer with a basement dropkick for a 2 count. Andrews goes back to the surfboard, but this time when Frazer gets back to his feet Andrews transitions into an octopus hold but he loses his grip as Frazer starts moving so he goes for another northern lights suplex, but Frazer counters into a sunset flip for a 2 count and then Frazer hits Andrews with a twisting suplex.
Frazer hits Andrews with chops and forearms and then he catches Andrews with a couple of boots to the face as Andrews charges at him in the corner. Frazer ducks a clothesline and takes Andrews down with a sling blade but Andrews comes back with an attempted back suplex only for Frazer to land on his feet and hit Andrews with an Eye of the Hurricane and that is followed by a running shooting star press for a 2 count. Frazer picks up Andrews only to be shoved into the corner where he catches an incoming Andrews with a back elbow and then he hops up to the middle rope, but before he can hit anything Andrews spins through the ropes with a tiger feint kick connecting to the legs of Frazer causing the back of his head to whiplash on the top turnbuckle and then he falls to the mat.
Andrews goes up top but before anything can happen Frazer is back on his feet and Andrews jumps over him, rolls through, and then slides under a clothesline before connecting with a kick to the head of Frazer. Frazer blocks an uranage attempt with an elbow and then he goes for a kick but Andrews catches the leg and flips Frazer backward causing him to land face-first on the mat. Andrews runs to the ropes looking for a tilt-a-whirl DDT but Frazer blocks and lawn darts Andrews into the corner Andrews blocks Frazer from sending him into the opposite corner and then backdrops him out to the apron, Frazer looks for a springboard but Andrews slides out of the ring and as Frazer lands back on the apron Andrews pulls him to the floor where Frazer reverses a whip into the steps, but Andrews leaps to the top step and takes Frazer down with a moonsault. Andrews rolls Frazer back in the ring and looks to hit him with a springboard, but Frazer catches him with a Spanish fly off the top rope for a 2 count.
Frazer slowly gets to his feet and then looks for a Phoenix splash but ends up landing on his feet when Andrews moves out of the way and then Andrews catches him in a rollup for a 2 count and then Frazer lands a superkick for another 2 count on Andrews. Andrews counters a suplex with a Stundog Millionaire and then goes for a shooting star press but Frazer moves out of the way, Frazer looks for a la magistral cradle but Andrews shifts his weight putting Frazer’s shoulders to the mat and is able to get the 3 count.
This match was just as fast-paced and action-packed as I expected it to be to the point where it was hard to cover all the moves, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. I found that the finish came out of nowhere and was a bit anticlimactic especially given the moves that came before it was so spectacular. I was surprised to see Andrews pick up the win given that he is mainly a tag guy and Frazer could have benefited more from winning the match, but hopefully they have more matches against each other and Frazer can get his win back.
We see footage from earlier in the week where Sam Gradwell and A-Kid have a confrontation as A-Kid didn’t appreciate Gradwell talking about him and his country and then tells him if he wants to talk then do it in his language, fighting. We can probably expect that match next week.
We see footage of Pretty Deadly learning the choreography of a Magic Mike stage show and the choreographer applauds them on learning so quickly.
We see Kenny Williams writing on the wall of the NXT UK PC when he is distracted by Saxon Huxley screaming and after telling him off he throws his shirt at Huxley and runs off, Huxley chases after Williams while calling him “Kenny Cockroach”.
It’s time for more action as Dani Luna takes on Stevie Turner after their confrontation last week.
We get a lockup and Dani powers, Stevie, into the corner which is enough for Stevie to go out to the apron to create distance. We get another lockup with Dani once again powering Stevie into the corner, but this time Stevie turns the tables and as she takes a moment to gloat Dani shoves her on her ass. Stevie wants a test of strength which gets a laugh out of Dani but she goes ahead with it and as they lockup, Stevie stomps on the foot of Dani and for a moment she wins the test of strength, but Dani comes back and takes Stevie to the mat with a back leg trip. Dani tries to keep Stevie’s shoulders on the mat but Stevie kicks the arm of Dani and gets to her feet only to be taken down with a hip toss and a running back elbow followed by a slam for a 2 count. Dani goes for a couple of rolling suplexes but Stevie rakes the eyes to escape the second suplex and then she hits Dani with a Thesz press as she comes off the ropes, Dani looks to power Stevie up for a powerbomb but Stevie escapes only to be taken down with a clothesline. Dani tries for a German suplex but Stevie grabs the top rope with all of her life and then throws Dani into the ropes with a bodyscissors. Stevie hits Dani with three rolling neck breakers for a 2 count.
Stevie drives her elbow into the side of Dani’s head and then looks for a submission, but Dani takes her over with a fireman’s carry, and then she catches her coming off the ropes with a front slam followed by a fallaway slam. Dani hits Stevie with a running shoulder attack in the corner followed by an exploder for a 2 count. Dani looks for a deadlift suplex but Stevie floats over and hits Dani with a sitout side effect for a 2 count. Dani pushes Stevie away to create distance and then she nails her with a bicycle kick followed by the inverted sitout fireman’s carry slam for the win. This was a fine match but nothing too special.
It’s time for the Nina Samuels show, Nina tries to get a word with Isla Dawn but she just laughs and walks past her and this leads to Nina talking about bad professionalism and Aleah James, but little does she know that Aleah was behind her the entire time. Aleah confronts Nina wanting to know what her problem is but Nina says she has no problem and then Aleah says she wants a match against her and Nina agrees. Only in pro wrestling can you have someone that acts like Isla Dawn walking around in your place of work and nobody finds it strange.
We get a vignette of Gallus driving in a car and they are worried about Teoman and Rohan Raja.
We go backstage where Subculture is celebrating their wins tonight when Blair Davenport walks up and tells Dani Luna she needs to stay at the bottom because the higher she goes the quicker Blair is going to knock her right back down and I’m sure that will be a match we will see in the next couple of weeks.
We are told that next week we will see Teoman and Rohan Raja take on Gallus’ Mark Coffey and Wolfgang as well as A-Kid taking on Sam Gradwell.
It’s time for the main event as we will find out the next challengers for the NXT UK Tag Team Championships in the form of a four-way involving Moustache Mountain, Symbiosis, Ashton Smith & Oliver Card, and Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz.
Trent Seven starts the match out with Jack Starz and right out of the gate Seven takes Starz down and tries to get a pin with a couple of pinning combinations, but that obviously didn’t work out in Seven’s favor. Seven tries to gain control of the arm but Starz immediately escapes and then we get a knuckle lock which Starz uses to transition into a leg pick which takes Seven off his feet, Starz works over the leg until Seven is able to escape. Starz immediately grabs the arm and drags Seven over to the corner where he makes a tag to Mastiff. Mastiff takes Seven down with a shoulder block and then sends him into the ropes where Seven comes back with a crossbody and then he tries to slam Mastiff only for Mastiff to fall on top of Seven for a 2 count.
Oliver Carter tags himself in and hits Seven with a back suplex and then tags in Ashton Smith who takes Seven down with an arm wringer and then tags Carter back in who slingshots Carter into the ring as he takes Seven down with a shoulder block. Carter looks to continue his attack on the arm but Seven reverses until Carter catches Seven with a kick to escape his grasp and as Seven backs up we see Primate tag himself into the match. Carter catches Primate coming in with a big hip toss and then he tags in Smith who leapfrogs over Carter and lands on the arm of Primate only for Primate to drive him into the corner where Starz tags himself back into the match. Starz takes Primate down and then immediately makes the tag to Mastiff who slams Primate and then as Mastiff runs to the ropes for the senton splash we see Starz make a blind tag as he hits Primate with a slingshot splash for a 2 count.
Primate eventually makes a comeback as he nails Starz with a forearm and then grounds him with a kneeling armbar only for Starz to escape and place himself behind Primate where he kicks him out to the apron and then Starz has a dropkick party as he takes Primate and Smith to the floor with one and then he hits Seven and Eddie Dennis with dropkicks as well. Primate comes back in the ring and Starz nails him with an uppercut sending him stumbling back into the corner where Tyler Bate tags himself in as Starz hits Primate with a backdrop. We get some face-paced action between Starz and Bate that ends with a standoff and a handshake, Bate sends Starz into the ropes where Eddie Dennis trips him up right in front of the referee and this causes him to be ejected from ringside and both the crowd and the other teams are happy to see him go as Dennis is throwing a fit.
T-Bone comes in and takes down Starz and Bate with a clothesline and then he knocks Carter, Smith, and Seven off the apron. Mastiff comes in and T-Bone ducks a clothesline and then he hits Mastiff with a fucking fallaway slam. T-Bone sends Bate into the corner and then gets back on the apron so he can legally tag himself into the match and then Symbiosis works over Starz in the corner which ends up getting Primate a 2 count when he goes for a pin. T-Bone is tagged back in and he hits an incoming Bate with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex and while this is happening Starz makes a tag to Carter who comes in on fire but he can’t take T-Bone down so he tags Smith in and they send T-Bone into the ropes, but they duck their heads leaving T-Bone to kick Smith and then he catches the leg of Carter and spins it into Smith who also catches the leg and he pulls it down causing Carter to hit T-Bone with a rolling kick and that is followed by a superkick by Smith, but T-Bone refuses to go down.
Seven tags himself into the match and goes for a clothesline on Carter, but Carter ducks and then he backflips off of Smith and lands behind Seven, Seven with a double knee attack sending Seven into the corner, and then Smith drops Seven with a clothesline. Carter gets a boost from Smith and hits Seven with a moonsault which gets a 2 count when Mastiff shoves Carter onto the pin to break it up. Mastiff throws Carter out of the ring and then Seven makes the tag to Bate and we get an exchange of uppercuts from Bate and Smith until Bate backs Smith into the corner where Primate tags himself in, but before Primate can enter the ring Smith knocks him off the apron. Bate and Smith go back to exchanging uppercuts until Bate starts firing away with punches to the body only for Smith to push him away and hit a bicycle kick which causes Bate to roll out to the floor.
Seven goes up top looking to dive onto a pile at ringside but he is cut off by Smith and then T-Bone joins them up top where he shoves Seven off the top onto the pile and then he hits Smith with a superplex into the ring. Primate is back up on the apron and he hits a springboard crossbody onto the pile at ringside and then he throws Moustache Mountain into the ring where he hits them both with clotheslines in the corner and then he hits Bate with a springboard crossbody, but Bate rolls through and goes for an airplane spin, Starz comes in and Bate catches his kick and trips him up and then he simultaneously spins both Primate and Starz and then he slams Primate on top of Starz.
Bate hits Primate with a bridging German suplex but Mastiff breaks up the pin with a senton splash on Bate and then Mastiff brings Primate over to the corner so he can tag himself into the match and he has his eyes set on Bate, but Seven tries to cut him off only for Starz to come in and hit Seven with a powerbomb. Primate drags Starz out to the floor and sends him into the steps and then Carter tags himself into the match as now he and Mastiff are the legal men. Carter goes up top but Mastiff cuts him off and joins him only for Smith to come under Mastiff and lift him onto his shoulders and this leads to Carter hitting a springboard cutter for a 2 count when Primate breaks up the pin with a headbutt off the top.
Bate and T-Bone each tag themselves into the match and T-Bone hits Bate with a powerslam and then tags in Primate who goes for another top rope headbutt, but Bate is able to get out of the way and then he hits Primate with a rebound clothesline. Bate tags in Seven and then takes out T-Bone and Mastiff on the outside with a tope suicida while Seven hits Primate with the Seven Stars Lariat for a very close 2 count. Bate gets back in the corner and Seven makes the tag and then Moustache Mountain hits Primate with a Burning Hammer and top rope knee drop combo which is finally enough to pick up the win. The show closes with Moustache Mountain staring down the NXT UK Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly.
I thought this was a really fun match and although the win by Moustache Mountain was pretty predictable given their recent interactions with Pretty Deadly. While Moustache Mountain came out the winners of the match I thought they did a good job of putting the focus on some of the guys in the match who we haven’t seen as much of as I thought Jack Starz as well as Symbiosis had a great showing in this match and felt like the main focal points for a lot of the match. I still can’t believe the strength shown by both T-Bone and Ashton Smith as they made it look effortless when they lifted up Mastiff.
I think this was a really good episode as the main event and opening matches really delivered and were a lot of fun.
SmackDown
SmackDown Results
- Sasha Banks, Naomi, & Aliyah def Natalya, Shotzi, & Shayna Baszler – **½
- Los Lotharios def Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs – **¼
- Jeff Hardy def Sami Zayn – **¾
- Xavier Woods def Roman Reigns w/ Paul Heyman via DQ – **½
The show opens with a new intro video and then we go to the ring where Sonya Deville introduces the SmackDown women’s Survivor Series team and then introduces the captain Sasha Banks who gets her own entrance. As soon as Sasha enters the ring Shotzi tries to attack her and the other members try to hold them apart but it doesn’t work out and while this is happening Naomi runs out and joins the brawl.
We get a six-woman tag match made with Naomi, Aliyah, & Sasha Banks teaming up against Shayna Baszler, Natalya, & Shotzi. It looks like we are back on track when it comes to the women getting time as this match went almost 13 minutes. The finish sees Natalya apply the Sharpshooter on Aliyah, but with assistance from Naomi it gets reversed by Aliyah into a pin and that gives her team the win.
Later in the night, we see Sonya approach Aliyah who is still overcome with excitement from winning her debut match. Sonya approaches her and wants to know how long Aliyah has known Naomi which throws of Aliyah as she was not expecting Sonya to ask her that, Sonya congratulates Aliyah for her win only to then drop the bomb on her that she is no longer a member of Team SmackDown. Sonya doesn’t name a replacement for Aliyah.
Aliyah later runs into Mustafa Ali who tries to take her under his wing as he is blaming people for what happened to her, but Ricochet appears and gives Aliyah props for winning the match and then warns her about Ali and then they walk off together as Ali looks pissed at Ricochet spoiling his attempt at brainwashing Aliyah.
I do believe I have written Aliyah’s name more in this one review than I have my entire time reviewing NXT as she was all over this show tonight, but I will say it’s nice to see someone new getting this much time on the show over someone who has been around forever like Natalya or Charlotte. I hope that Toni Storm is the replacement for Aliyah but I have a sick feeling that Sonya will be the replacement and could end up becoming the sole survivor of the match without even participating in the match, much like Lana did last year.
We see Sami Zayn practicing his rally speech for Team SmackDown in the mirror as he wants to make sure he gets it right, but he suddenly notices that Jeff Hardy has been standing there watching him the entire time and he says the speech sucked. Later we would see Zayn going into the office of Adam Pearce complaining about how Jeff Hardy needs to be removed from the team and Pearce tells him he was just thinking about how Team SmackDown may need a change and then he makes a match between Hardy and Zayn where the loser would be removed from Team SmackDown. We get a really good match between Zayn and Hardy that sees Zayn try to score the win with his feet on the ropes, but the referee catches him and as Zayn argues with the referee we see Hardy get back to his feet and he hits Zayn with the Twist of Fate for the win and with that Sami Zayn is off Team Smackdown at Survivor Series.
While it was not announced it looks like Zayn’s replacement will be NXT 2.0’s newest call-up, Von Wagner, as he was standing beside Pearce when Zayn came in complaining. It looks like Vince must be really high on Wagner given that he is already showing up on SmackDown with only a few months in NXT, but I personally didn’t see anything he did that was that impressive and think Bron Breakker should’ve been the first pick of someone to bring up that early as he has been way more impressive than Wagner has. I guess Wagner’s focus shifted away from the NXT Tag Team Championship really quick as it looks like he has left Kyle O’Reilly high and dry.
We get a tag match between Los Lotharios and the team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs in a pretty short but decent match that sees Los Lotharios pick up the win when they hit Nakamura with a version of total elimination. I look forward to when we get The Usos vs Los Lotharios as I feel they could really put on some great matches against each other.
Charlotte Flair comes to the ring and talks shit about Becky saying that Becky has had so many nicknames but after Survivor Series Becky will be known as “Becky uh-oh” and this leads to her going on a tangent where every sentence is about Becky and it ends with uh-oh and to Charlotte’s credit she actually gets the crowd into it. Charlotte then says she can beat any woman who steps through the ropes as she gave Shotzi an opportunity a couple of weeks ago and now she is cemented as a star, so they might as well and start calling her “The Star Maker”. Charlotte eventually gets cut off as we finally get the entrance of Toni Storm who comes to the ring and she says that Charlotte may act like she is giving people opportunities but that is not true at all and then she puts over Becky. Toni tells Charlotte to put her money where her mouth is and defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship tonight, but Flair declines her offer and leaves the ring.
Thank the Lord, finally, they remembered Toni was on the roster and decided to pull her out of catering, and thankfully they used her in a big way by having her confront Charlotte which is ironic as I thought Charlotte would be the reason we didn’t see Toni on TV for another six months. I really hope that a Charlotte vs Toni is the direction they go after Survivor Series as I don’t need them going right back to a Charlotte vs Sasha feud. I am so excited that they finally chose to use her in any capacity on the show but to have her face Charlotte is such a big deal and hopefully, she comes out of this feud with the casual fans realizing how big of a star she is to the point where perhaps she has a major match at WrestleMania, hell she would be right up there with Liv as a suitable Royal Rumble winner.
We get a rap from Hit Row backstage where they rap about their time on SmackDown so far. This is followed by something I was not expecting as we got a rapping Shanky and Jinder Mahal, so it looks like Hit Row vs Jinder and Shanky is going to be a feud.
We got an interview with Ridge Holland who continues his praise for Sheamus as he says that he realized from watching Sheamus that there is good money in hurting people. Cesaro walks up and talks about his history with Sheamus but he says Sheamus’ attitude as of late has changed and he just wants to give Holland a heads-up. Holland says he knows about The Bar, but he wants Cesaro to know that he is taking his place and the team of Holland and Sheamus will be a far more effective team than The Bar ever was, and then he lets us know that Sheamus will be at SmackDown next week.
We get an interview with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman and Reigns tells Heyman to wise up Kayla. Heyman announces that in the main event match between Roman Reigns and King Xavier Woods, if Reigns loses he will bend the knee to King Xavier Woods, and if for some reason Reigns refuses to bend the knee then he is willing to be stripped of the Universal Championship and barred from SmackDown.
The match between Roman Reigns and King Xavier Woods ends up being a really good match and I have to say that I am glad to see Woods finally getting to shine on his own without Big E or Kofi Kingston around as he has been looked at the least important member of New Day for a long time, but he is finally getting his time to shine in the spotlight. It was obvious that either Reigns was winning or King Woods would win by DQ as there was no way Reigns was going to actually get beat by King Woods, but I like that they allowed King Woods to get in a lot of offense on the champ to the point where it appeared like Woods could’ve won had it not been for The Usos causing the DQ. I also thought the post match beat down was very well done with The Usos sending King Xavier Woods over the announce table by hitting him with the steps and then placing King Woods’ crown atop the head of Roman Reigns. Given that The Bloodline has now taken out both King Xavier Woods and Sir Kofi Kingston I fully expect Big E to show up next week to get some payback on Reigns on the go-home episode before Survivor Series.
I thought this was a pretty solid episode of SmackDown with the highlight for me being Toni Storm finally being used in a big way by stepping up to Charlotte Flair as it is past time everyone knows that greatness that is Toni Storm. I’m also glad to see that just like on Raw they are splitting up the women who have gotten the most time and recognition (Becky & Bianca on Raw and Charlotte & Sasha on SmackDown) and are having four fresh feuds with new women as it makes the division feel fresh once again and on top of that the women are finally getting time in their matches after that shitty Queen of the Ring Tournament. As far as the men go I thought the stuff with Reigns and King Woods was really well done and I also liked the match between Hardy an Zayn. Although Survivor Series has been built and booked terribly I am looking forward to the matches themselves as Reigns vs Big E, Becky vs Charlotte, Usos vs RK-Bro, & Priest vs Nakamura should all be good matches and the elimination tag matches are always a fun watch regardless of how good or bad they are booked.
In the news
Andrew Zarian reports that while 4 talents were released last week solely because of their unvaccinated status there were a couple of others who were on the border of being fired and their unvaccinated status pushed them over that line. He says other talents such as Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado were released because they already wanted out of their contracts.
Dave Meltzer reports that while WWE hasn’t mandated their talent get vaccinated nor have they told them their jobs are on the line if they don’t get vaccinated a source tells him that WWE sees those that are unvaccinated as less valuable seeing as they will be unable to travel and perform overseas.
Wrestling Observer reports that WWE is looking to start implementing 60-day trial contracts for new signees as WWE doesn’t want talent down in NXT for years as their plan is to evaluate the talent every six months and if you’re not performing or improving to their standards they will be released from the company.
The Observer reports that every wrestler (with the exception of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns) is underpaid as only 8% of the total revenue goes to the wrestlers, however as you would expect Vince thinks the wrestlers are being overpaid.
The Observer reports that last week when the releases happened that all veteran talent was under consideration to be cut. WWE is very aware and concerned about the age of their roster, they are also not interested in hiring any woman over the age of 25. I know that age is an issue but 25 years old seems too low of a cut-off and I would think 30 would be a more preferable age for the cut-off.
Andrew Zarian reports that WWE will no longer be using the word Takeover in the title of NXT’s PPVs, however, a source told Zarian that if NXT goes back to doing shows the night before WWE PPVs in big arenas the Takeover name will return.
To show just how much those within WWE cared about B-Fab she was still listed as an NXT talent in the emails sent out by Johnny Ace, and to make her release even more ridiculous she had just signed a new deal last week.
Brandon Thurston reports that he heard from several sources that the reason WWE CFO Kristina Salen was fired was that she was not liked and was contributing to many employees within the finance department wanting to quit.
The Wrestling Observer reports that Stephanie McMahon’s branding team was hit hard during the cuts last week as it is expected the branding department will merge with the marketing department very soon.
The Wrestling Observer reports that Harry Smith was set to become a huge name on NXT UK, but then the plan was changed as he was set to debut on the main roster, however, his tryout match didn’t go over well and that was the reason he was cut. I haven’t watched any of Harry’s work in a while but has his work changed that much from when he was first in the company as they obviously liked what he had to offer then so not sure why they wouldn’t like it now.
Tommaso Ciampa was interviewed by talkSport and during the interview, he mentioned that Rick Steiner was actually supposed to show up at Halloween Havoc, but pulled out at the last minute. Ciampa suggested that perhaps Steiner canceled when he found out Breakker wasn’t winning the title, but won’t say that was the reason for sure. I sure hope that once Breakker does win the title we get an appearance by the “Dog Faced Gremlin”.
Zoey Stark confirmed that she was legitimately injured and would require surgery as she tore her ACL and Meniscus, Stark says that the surgery went well and she is already in rehab and she will be coming back better and stronger than before.
The Wrestling Observer releases that with NXT focused on the youth movement we could see them start to release longtime veterans of the brand and supposedly there were at least 10 more names on the list last week that was supposed to get released but weren’t.
Fightful Select reports that the content creators for Xavier Woods’ Up Up Down Down show have stopped producing anything because they want Xavier to get a bigger cut financially and until that issue is settled the show is on hiatus.
Andrew Zarian reports that the long-teased breakup and feud between The Mysterios is set to be happening soon according to Zarian’s sources within WWE.
PWInsider says there was a LONG production meeting on Monday before Raw and while Vince attended that meeting he left before the show and with Bruce Prichard being absent as well that left Johnny Ace in charge backstage.
Former independent wrestler Chloe Christmas has become a referee in WWE developmental and her WWE name was changed to Paige which as you could imagine drew the ire of Paige and her fans and thus her name was quickly changed to Blair Baldwin which is probably WWE’s fucked up way of trying to stay relevant with all of the unfortunate recent Alec Baldwin news.
Coming up this Week
Raw:
- N/A
NXT 2.0:
- Odyssey Jones & Jacket Time vs Diamond Mine
- Tony D’Angelo vs Dexter Lumis
- Duke Hudson vs Cameron Grimes (Poker Showdown)
NXT UK
- Teoman & Rohan Raja vs Gallus
- A-Kid vs Sam Gradwell
SmackDown:
- Sasha Banks vs Shotzi
