After several attempts, the Revival are now the new Raw tag team champions.
Securing another title shot last week, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder pinned champions Bobby Roode and Chad Gable to win the titles for the first time. The finish had Gable going for a crossbody off the middle rope, but the Revival countered and hit the Shatter Machine, allowing them to pick up the win.
Roode and Gable had held the titles for 64 days, defeating AOP back on the December 10 edition of Raw.
After the match, Charly Caruso interviewed the new champions, where they reiterated that they were top guys.
The win comes after a number of previous attempts to win the titles in the last couple of months, which the Revival lost. They won a fatal four way last week, defeating the Lucha House Party, B Team and Heavy Machinery to win the number one contendership once again.
– Natalya, Bayley & Dana Brooke defeated Mickie James, Alicia Fox & Nikki Cross
Bayley pinned Fox after her elbow from the top. Natalya was the first to come out and got a good pop, but Bayley’s was a close second. The heels took most of the match.
After the match, Nia Jax and Tamina came to the ring and attacked the babyfaces, especially Bayley. Jax hit a Samoan drop and they left her laying in the middle of the ring.
– EC3 defeated Dean Ambrose
They had a 10-minute match, with EC3 winning with a small package. The crowd was behind Ambrose.
Ambrose took the mic after losing. He said he got screwed and insulted Canada. He sat on a chair and said he wasn’t going to move until EC3 comes back. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins came out and tried to talk some sense into him. Ambrose listened to what they had to say but attacked them and hit Dirty Deeds on Hawkins.
– The Ascension defeated Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
The Ascension won with the Fall of Man on Hawkins. Not much of a match.
– Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush defeated Finn Balor in a handicap match to retain the title
Rush took the mic and insulted the crowd. Balor cut him off to a good pop and asked for a title match, but Rush and Lashley didn’t want to hear it. Adam Pearce came to the ring as an authority figure and booked the match for the Intercontinental title. Balor then asked Pearce to make it a handicap match. Pearce agreed but added that if Rush loses, Balor would become champion.
Good match — the crowd was into it. Balor had Rush in the zone for a Coup de Grace, but Lashley pushed Balor off the top rope and then speared him for the win. After the match, Balor got his revenge with the Coup de Grace on Rush.
– Elias started the second half of the show and invited No Way Jose to the ring. But before he could get there, he was attacked by Drew McIntyre.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Elias
Good match, with McIntyre hitting the Claymore Kick to win. Elias was totally babyface here and the crowd reacted well to him.
– Raw Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated The Revival to retain their titles
Great match. Roode & Gable retained with their neckbreaker/moonsault combo. Gable got himself over big with his amateur wrestling moves and chain wrestling at the beginning.
Gable took the heat all match, made the hot tag to Roode, and there were a bunch of near falls — and I mean a lot of near falls. They got a “This is awesome” chant.
This was the best match on the card. They gave them time and it showed.
– Braun Strowman defeated Baron Corbin in an Ottawa street fight
Strowman won after putting Corbin through a table. The props got a pop, including Strowman hitting Corbin with a goalie hockey stick. The table got a huge pop as well. Strowman got a very good reaction from the crowd.
The match went 8-10 minutes and was what you’d expect from a street fight between them.
The team of Chad Gable and Bobby Roode defeated the Authors of Pain and Drake Maverick in a 3-on-2 handicap match tonight to win the titles for the first time. The Authors of Pain held the titles for 35 days.
The AOP had the match won, as Roode and Gable were laid out following the super collider. Gable tried to fight back, but was laid out once again. Drake Maverick wanted to score the win for his team, so the AOP tagged him out and celebrated on the outside. Maverick did Bobby Roode’s pose, but Roode caught him off guard with a crucifix and picked up the win and the titles.
The AOP defeated Seth Rollins for the titles in what essentially was a handicap match back on November 5. Since then, they have been feuding with Roode and Gable. Last week on Raw, They defeated Bobby Roode in an impromptu 3-on-1 handicap match after the AOP destroyed Chad Gable backstage, then were inserted into the match by acting General Manager Baron Corbin.
WWE.com’s updated preview for Monday’s show confirms that Raw Tag Team Champions AOP will defend their titles against Bobby Roode & Chad Gable on the episode. Elias vs. Bobby Lashley is also set.
Roode & Gable defeated AOP in a non-title match this Monday, with Gable jumping off the top rope and pinning Akam with a sunset flip after Akam shoved Roode to the outside. Elias has been feuding with Lashley and teamed with Braun Strowman & Finn Balor against Lashley, Baron Corbin & Drew McIntyre in an elimination tag match on Raw this week.
WWE will follow up on the Strowman injury angle (which was due to Strowman having a legitimate elbow injury) on Monday’s Raw. They’ll also continue building the Ronda Rousey-Nia Jax and Seth Rollins-Dean Ambrose programs ahead of their matches at TLC on December 16.
Monday’s episode is taking place at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Big Takeaway: With Main Event being filmed in Manchester, UK last week, there was a significant improvement in the feel and the quality of the show.
Tyler Breeze snatched a win over Mojo Rawley and The Revival beat Bobby Roode & Chad Gable in a fabulous main event.
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Tyler Breeze defeated Mojo Rawley
I was in attendance in Manchester to watch these two matches live. It was interesting to see how Breeze received the kind of reaction that he did. British wrestling fans don’t have short memories and they remember his work in NXT and know what he’s capable of.
Breeze essentially played babyface in peril for most of this relatively short match. The fans were on Rawley’s back throughout and Rawley certainly gave it back, shouting abuse back to the cat calls in the front row.
Breeze eventually got some separation and went up to the second rope to hit the crossbody and then put on the Boston crab. Rawley got to the ropes and — after some brief back and forth — Breeze came off the ropes again and managed to roll through to pin Rawley with an inside cradle.
On the bell, the crowd erupted and Breeze made out of there like a bandit. A nothing match made all the more interesting by the hot crowd.
The Revival defeated Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
This was probably the best match of the entire night. Raw was tepid at best and this match bested anything that Raw had to offer in terms of work rate. Go out of your way to find this if you have the time.
It was interesting here to see how Roode was received by the casual fans. A guy next to me wasn’t aware of Roode particularly, and asked who he was because he felt he looked like an absolute star.
They went 100 miles per hour here with Gable being the star of the match. The Revival are such a smooth tag team and the British fans were hugely into them, especially after their cult status on the NXT roster.
The finish was pure chaos, but fantastic to watch. After Roode had looked to be cleaning house, Gable came in with a top rope moonsault. Dash Wilder then nailed Roode to the outside and Gable chased him around the outside. When he got back in the ring he ran into Scott Dawson and they teamed up to nail Gable with the Shatter Machine for the win.
The Big Takeaway: With all the talk about the women’s revolution in WWE at the moment, a show that would be a perfect training ground for some once again featured no female performers.
After a win on Main Event last week, Mike Kanellis went back to his losing ways, with a loss against Zack Ryder. The team of Chad Gable & No Way Jose then dispensed with The Ascension in fairly swift fashion.
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Zack Ryder defeated Mike Kanellis (5:40)
Last week it looked as though they were at least aware of the terrible start that Kanellis had made on the main roster, when they played up his lack of a win and teamed him up with The Revival to get one. He took a step back here by losing to Ryder in what was actually a pretty decent match.
Ryder came out to the ring in his futuristic silver coat with a ‘Z’ fastening the front, and reminded me of the comment on his Twitter this week. Ryder noted how The Miz’s new merchandise essentially rips off Ryder’s old design. Actually, both Ryder and Kanellis could use some new ring gear.
They worked nicely together here, trading near falls at the end: Ryder dodged Kanellis’ charge so that he posted himself, and then Ryder hit the Broski Boot. Kanellis kicked out and managed to nail Ryder with a superkick. Ryder then reversed a suplex into a neckbreaker and followed it up with the Rough Ryder for the win.
Chad Gable & No Way Jose defeated The Ascension (4:15)
The unlikely pairing of Gable and Jose made short work of The Ascension here. Konnor and Viktor are perennial losers anyway, but this was brief and nothing to write home about.
The Ascension tried to cut the ring in half and stop Jose from getting the hot tag and, even in a short four-minute tag match, resorted to chinlocks and rest holds. The crowd was relatively into the finish when it came, but the conga line always makes Jose’s matches feel more loud than they probably really are.
The finish began when Jose hit a flapjack on Viktor, but Konnor broke up the pin. Gable then hit a rolling senton off the apron onto Konnor on the outside. This allowed Jose to hit the pop-up punch on Viktor. Viktor didn’t quite know how to sell it, so Jose maneuvered him into position for the pinfall.
The Big Takeaway: No Way Jose got the win against Curt Hawkins, taking Hawkins’ losing streak to 0-209. Mike Kanellis teamed up with The Revival against Chad Gable, Heath Slater & Rhyno in an attempt to get himself his first victory since moving to the Raw roster.
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No Way Jose defeated Curt Hawkins (5:27)
Hawkins not only lost again this week, but he was put through a table at the Buffalo Bills training facility. The vocal New York Jets fan did a training session alongside Titus O’Neil and Finn Balor. O’Neil joked on Twitter that Hawkins had started a “Jets” chant and it hadn’t gone down too well.
No Way Jose’s stuttering start to his main roster career continued here. The singing and dancing conga line gimmick would work fine if we hadn’t seen Adam Rose use it in virtually the same way in recent memory. But Jose and Hawkins worked fine together on this show.
Jose hit a crossbody on Hawkins and covered him for two. Hawkins then elbowed Jose in the face and hit a back suplex for a two count. Hawkins charged at Jose, looking for the spear, but Jose had it scouted and hit the pop-up punch for the win.
The Revival & Mike Kanellis defeated Chad Gable, Heath Slater & Rhyno (4:04)
The story of this one was told by Nigel McGuinness on commentary as they made their entrances. He noted that Kanellis had been winless since the Superstar Shakeup and was looking to use The Revival to get him a much-needed confidence boost. With this in mind, it became much more of a squash match than it ought to have been.
Gable got some early stuff in here but was otherwise largely anonymous. The babyfaces got some heat towards the end, with Rhyno hitting a belly-to-belly suplex on Dash Wilder and following it up with a spinebuster on Scott Dawson. Kanellis broke up the pin and then Slater hit a spin kick on Kanellis to send him outside.
The finish started when Wilder sent Slater out and Rhyno sent Wilder, but Wilder only landed on the apron. So Wilder blind-tagged in just as Rhyno was whipping Dawson to the ropes. Dawson then slid under Rhyno so that The Revival could hit the Shatter Machine for the win. Clever little finish to a nothing match.
The Big Takeaway: The Authors of Pain continued their undefeated streak, seeing off Titus Worldwide with relative ease. Chad Gable and Curt Hawkins had a good match, leaving Hawkins without a win since November 2016.
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The Authors of Pain defeated Titus Worldwide (w/ Dana Brooke) (4:34)
This was yet another dominant performance of power, strength, and agility from the Authors of Pain, and they remain undefeated since being called up to the main roster in April. The only thing stopping these two is going to be promos. With Paul Ellering gone, if they are to be main event players, they might need someone to talk for them.
Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews couldn’t get any degree of separation until O’Neil dodged a charge to the corner, leaving Rezar posted. This meant O’Neil and Crews could grab a minute or so of offense, before they were quickly cut off again.
The finish started when Rezar broke up a pin attempt by O’Neil. Crews came into the ring, but Rezar sent him packing and neutralized him outside by driving him into the apron. He then blind tagged in so that he and Akam could hit the Last Chapter on O’Neil for the win.
Chad Gable defeated Curt Hawkins (4:58)
Hawkins and Gable had a fine match here, ending with Hawkins’ streak extending to 0-208. He took to Twitter this week to show the extent of his injuries from the match — some pretty nasty bruising to his left forearm.
This was a pretty athletic contest from start to finish and went by in a flash. Why they aren’t doing more with either of these performers is a question worth asking. Hawkins is a good foil for Gable, who is able to flip around and show off all of his best stuff and distill it down to five minutes.
There were a few false finishes at the end. And then, after Hawkins got a near fall on Gable, Gable escaped a powerbomb attempt, sending Hawkins into the turnbuckles. Gable then sunset flipped Hawkins, following it up with a roll-through German suplex for the win.
The Big Takeaway: Titus Worldwide picked up a relatively easy victory against The Ascension. Mojo Rawley then made it two wins in as many weeks in a strong match against Chad Gable.
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Titus Worldwide defeated The Ascension (5:42)
There was a period back in 2016 when The Ascension were on Superstars every other week and writing about them got stale as they lost to anyone who was anyone. Unfortunately, not much has changed — bar their face paint.
But much of this is hardly their fault. Look at Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, for example. When they first arrived from Japan there was a hope that they would bring killer heat and use that Bullet Club dominance at every turn. It has hardly worked out that way. Konnor is huge; Viktor is a good worker. In another company, these two could probably do pretty well.
The match was as you would expect. The finish saw Konnor break up the cover of O’Neil on Viktor. Crews sent Konnor outside and then hit a beautiful standing moonsault off the apron, with Konnor just barely catching him. O’Neil then nailed Viktor with the Clash of the Titus for the win.
Mojo Rawley defeated Chad Gable (7:31)
This was easily Rawley’s best match on Main Event since he switched brands during the Superstar Shakeup in April. But then Gable has been the best opponent Rawley has had in recent months. They had a pretty even contest and put together a very strong closing segment to the match.
Gable came off the apron with a cannonball senton and rolled Rawley back in the ring, but he got caught coming off the top rope with a crossbody. Rawley went for the Hyper Drive before Gable fought his way out. Gable tried to pin Rawley with a German suplex into a bridge but didn’t have enough.
Rawley hit the Hyper Drive, but Gable kicked out at two, so he set up and hit Gable with a running forearm smash for the win. The combination of Rawley’s timing, the camera cut just as he hit the move, and Gable’s selling all made the move look fairly devastating. This was a good win for Rawley.
Three matches and Shane McMahon’s return to television have been announced for tonight’s go-home edition of SmackDown.
AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura will be teaming up just days before their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 34. They’re facing Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin, which comes after Nakamura defeated Benjamin in last week’s main event, saved Styles from Gable and Benjamin, and played mind games with Styles by faking that he was going to hit him with the Kinshasa.
After she missed last Tuesday’s show due to not recovering from minor dental surgery in time, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will be back on television tonight as she faces Natalya in a non-title match. Natalya got a win over Charlotte two weeks ago following a distraction from Carmella, and their rematch was supposed to happen last week before it was canceled when Charlotte was pulled from the show.
Rusev, who has been added to the United States title match for WrestleMania, will take on Jinder Mahal tonight. On Sunday, those two, Randy Orton, and Bobby Roode will face off in a fatal four-way.
Shane’s first appearance since the angle where he was attacked by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn last month is the most heavily promoted thing for tonight’s go-home show. Despite him dealing with acute diverticulitis and an umbilical hernia, WWE announced last Tuesday that Shane had been discharged from the hospital and confirmed Daniel Bryan & Shane vs. Owens & Zayn for WrestleMania. The stipulation is that Owens and Zayn will get their jobs back if they win. If they lose, they’ll remain fired in storyline.
A match to decide The Usos’ next challengers is scheduled for tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
It will be The New Day facing Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin to determine who will be facing The Usos at Fastlane. WWE had Daniel Bryan announce the match on Twitter last night: “I’ve heard enough insults and pancakes being thrown around. So I’m making it official. #TheNewDay will take on @wwegable and @sheltyb803 on #SDLive… and the winner will face @WWEUsos at #WWEFastlane!”
The New Day defeated Gable & Benjamin last week after the heels interrupted Big E while he was trying to break a pancake-eating record. WWE has also been indicating that The Usos vs. The Bludgeon Brothers may be the direction for the SmackDown Tag Team titles, so we’ll see if Harper & Rowan factor into the equation for Fastlane.
Charlotte Flair, Naomi & Becky Lynch vs. The Riott Squad is set for tonight as well, along with WWE following up on last week’s additions to the Fastlane main event. It will be AJ Styles defending his WWE Championship against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, and Baron Corbin in a fatal five-way match at the March 11th pay-per-view.
The SmackDown Tag Team titles will be on the line in a two-out-of-three falls match at the Royal Rumble.
The Usos are set to defend their titles against Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin, which stems from their championship match last week being restarted after Gable pinned Jimmy Uso when neither man was legal. The Usos quickly retained with superkicks and a splash after the match was restarted.
Gable & Benjamin took part in an in-ring segment where they demanded justice on SmackDown tonight. Gable was wearing a shirt that said “#FreeTheTagTitles” and they insulted the crowd in Alabama. Daniel Bryan came down and said the referee’s decision from last week was final, but he made the two-out-of-three falls match official after Gable asked if they had to beat The Usos twice in one night.
With the pay-per-view less than three weeks away, there are now seven matches announced for the Royal Rumble. The updated card is listed below:
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Braun Strowman and Kane in a triple threat match
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a handicap match
The finals of the United States Championship tournament
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan defending against Cesaro & Sheamus
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin in a two-out-of-three falls match
Another title match is set for the first week of 2018.
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin will be challenging for The Usos’ Tag Team Championship next Tuesday after defeating The New Day and Rusev & Aiden English in a triple threat number one contender’s match tonight. The three teams were involved in the opening segment of SmackDown and all stated their case for a title shot, with Daniel Bryan then making the number one contender’s match.
Big E was pinned by Gable after taking a double-team powerbomb/diving clothesline combo. Gable & Benjamin got a win against The Usos in a non-title match last week and won by countout the last time they faced them in a two-on-two title match, though Gable took the pin in the fatal four-way at Clash of Champions where The Usos retained.
Breezango reluctantly facing The Bludgeon Brothers again is also set for next week after an angle where The Ascension challenged Harper & Rowan on behalf of Fandango & Tyler Breeze.
On Monday’s episode of Raw, Enzo Amore will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Cedric Alexander. Brock Lesnar will be back on the show as well.
WWE made changes to two already announced title matches for Clash of Champions on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
After Rusev & Aiden English defeated The New Day earlier in the night, it was announced that Rusev & English had been added to the tag title match for the pay-per-view. It will be The Usos defending against New Day, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, and Rusev & English in a fatal four-way match. The rules for the fatal four-way are that a member from each team will be in the ring at the same time and they can only tag their partner in.
Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya for the SmackDown Women’s Championship is still scheduled, but it will now be a lumberjack match. That was set up in a backstage segment where Carmella, Lana, and Tamina were complaining about Charlotte vs. Natalya until they ended up arguing with The Riott Squad when Ruby Riott said she should be in the Women’s title picture.
Randy Orton will be facing Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a tag team match at the PPV, with the storyline being that Orton will be teaming with a partner of his choosing.
Baron Corbin defending his United States Championship against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match and Jinder Mahal challenging for AJ Styles’ WWE title are also set for Clash of Champions, which will take place in Boston on December 17th.
Three more title matches have been announced for SmackDown’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
After their previous rematch was interrupted by The Riott Squad, Natalya will be challenging for Charlotte Flair’s SmackDown Women’s Championship at the show. Charlotte won the title from Natalya on an episode of SmackDown last month, which featured Ric Flair making his first appearance on WWE television since his health scare and celebrating with Charlotte.
To further set up their rematch, Natalya bailed on Charlotte & Naomi when they were facing Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan last Tuesday.
The United States Championship will be on the line in a triple threat match at Clash of Champions as Baron Corbin defends against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler. There was an angle on Tuesday where Roode (who has been feuding with Ziggler for much of his main roster run) challenged Corbin to a title match after they had brawled the week before, but Corbin wouldn’t accept.
There will be three teams in the tag title match at the PPV as well, with The Usos taking on New Day and Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable.
Clash of Champions is WWE’s last PPV of the year and will take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on December 17th. AJ Styles defending his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal is also scheduled for the show.
