The Big Takeaway: R-Truth made his first appearance on Main Event in a year while beating Curt Hawkins in the opener, then Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson stole one against Heath Slater & Rhyno in a strong main event.
**********
R-Truth defeated Curt Hawkins (4:38)
R-Truth comes out rapping to this expectant crowd in Nashville. He is in incredible physical shape at 45, a fact that many casual WWE fans just won’t realize. He and Hawkins do a lot of comedy early here, with Truth now adding dabs to his dubious dance repertoire.
Truth legdrops Hawkins, who rolls under the ropes to take a breather. Hawkins spikes Truth on the top rope and then takes over with strikes and a big vertical suplex. Truth kicks out at one and Hawkins slows things down with a rear chinlock.
When Truth works his way out, Hawkins takes him down by sweeping out his legs from under him and goes back on offense. Truth kicks out of a side suplex as Hawkins postures to the crowd. Truth nails him with a leg lariat and then gets the heat with clotheslines and a sit-out reverse suplex slam.
Truth misses the axe kick but is able to hit him with a finisher that he used to use in TNA, the reverse STO. This was pretty much by the numbers and exactly what you would expect.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (6:09)
Rhyno and Anderson start off together, with Rhyno taking the early going. He runs through Anderson and tags in Slater for some tag team tandem offense. Slater works over the left arm until he goes to tag in Rhyno. Anderson decides he’s had enough and retreats to his corner. He tags in Gallows to square off against Rhyno.
Gallows looks to waste no time, but he gets caught by Rhyno, who then goes to the second rope and floors Gallows with a diving shoulder block. Gallows kicks out of the cover, then Rhyno tags in Slater.
As Slater mounts him in the corner for punches, Anderson distracts Slater and he turns around to eat a superkick from Gallows. Anderson and Gallows celebrate with the too sweet as we head to a break.
Gallows and Anderson have the ring cut in half as we return, with Slater playing babyface in peril. Slater works his way out of a rear chinlock and is nailed back to the mat, then Gallows goes over and nails Rhyno. He turns around and gets dropkicked by Slater as both men crawl to make tags.
Rhyno comes in and is all over Anderson with a running spear to the corner and a huge belly-to-belly suplex. Gallows has to come in to make the save and Slater takes him out and they both spill outside. Rhyno hits Anderson with a superplex, but he kicks out at two.
Rhyno then looks for the tag, but Gallows sneaks around and takes out Slater’s feet so that he smashes his head into the apron. With the referee’s back turned, Gallows enzuigiris Rhyno to the back of the head and they hit the Magic Killer for the win. This was a decent match but had a really good finish.
The Big Takeaway: Brian Kendrick and Cedric Alexander had a really strong match at the top of the show, then The Revival made their Main Event debut by beating Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson.
**********
Cedric Alexander defeated Brian Kendrick (5:38)
Cedric Alexander hasn’t been on this show since February, so it was a pleasure to see these two work together here. On the bell, Kendrick hits Alexander with a big boot that sets the tone and pace for the match. Alexander responds by sending Kendrick to the floor outside and hitting him with a springboard senton.
He rolls him back in and catches him in a head scissors and follows it up with a dropkick. Kendrick thumbs him to the eye and flips him over into the Captain’s Hook. Alexander makes the ropes, but only with his foot. Kendrick regains control and transitions it into a seated Cobra Clutch.
Alexander works his way out and fires up with chops — only to be cut off by Kendrick’s leg lariat. The speed that Kendrick got up and down for this was seriously impressive. He goes for a cover but can only get two.
Alexander manages to hit a spear to the corner and follows it up with an enzuigiri to the back of Kendrick’s head. He comes off the top with a clothesline, but Kendrick kicks out at two. There’s then an awkward spot where Kendrick is trying to get the Captain’s Hook back on and Alexander lands on his head.
The finish sees Kendrick look for the Sliced Bread #2, but the counter by Alexander lets him get Kendrick up for the Lumbar Check for the win.
The Revival defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (7:20)
Even though The Revival find themselves on Main Event — there are many positives here: their opponents are Gallows & Anderson, they have a really good first outing, and they debut on the show with a win.
Dash Wilder and Anderson start things off before Scott Dawson comes in to have some quick back and forth with Anderson. Anderson starts to get some dominance and tags Gallows in.
Gallows works over Dawson with clubs to the corner. Wilder tries to come in and help out his buddy, but Gallows fights them both off. Gallows and Anderson are total babyfaces here, sending The Revival packing as we head to a break.
After the ads, Wilder cuts off Anderson and tags Dawson in. They double team Anderson and take control, cutting the ring in half. They do every heel tag team gimmick in the book, swapping in and out when the ref’s back is turned and making the crowd desperate to see Gallows come in.
Finally, Anderson is able to give Gallows the hot tag. He hits a Stinger Splash and a superkick on Wilder and he tags in Anderson while motioning for the Magic Killer. They hoist Wilder up, but Dawson runs in and pushes Wilder off. He sends Gallows outside and The Revival hit the Shatter Machine on Anderson for their first win on Main Event.
The next challengers for The Hardys’ tag titles will be decided as Raw makes its way to London on Monday night.
Kurt Angle announced a number one contender’s tag team turmoil match for the show during a backstage segment with the Golden Truth last week, though no other participants were revealed at the time.
WWE.com has since posted that Cesaro & Sheamus, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and Heath Slater & Rhyno will join Goldust & R-Truth in vying for a shot at the Raw Tag Team Championship.
The program between The Hardys and Cesaro & Sheamus continued after their match at Payback, with the champions being laid out in an attack after the match. Cesaro & Sheamus also fled the ring as The Hardys looked to get revenge last week.
WWE hasn’t yet revealed when the winning team will get their shot at the titles, though Raw’s next pay-per-view is Extreme Rules on June 4th in Baltimore, Maryland.
Both Raw and SmackDown will be taped at the O2 Arena in London shortly before they air this week as WWE continues its European tour.
Though Dean Ambrose and The Miz have feuded since coming to Raw in the Superstar Shakeup, it doesn’t seem like there will be an Intercontinental Championship match at Payback.
Instead, there will be a Miz TV segment on the Payback pre-show with Finn Balor as the guest. There will also be a tag team match on the pre-show as Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson take on Enzo Amore & Big Cass. Both of those were announced on last night’s episode of Raw.
Payback takes place this Sunday and is WWE’s first pay-per-view after the Superstar Shakeup. Though it’s a Raw PPV, two of SmackDown’s champions will be on the show as the rosters are still in flux. Kevin Owens will defend the United States Championship against Chris Jericho, and Randy Orton will face Bray Wyatt in a “House of Horrors” match. WWE.com doesn’t indicate that Orton’s title is on the line in that match.
The updated card for Payback is:
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe
Raw Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Alexa Bliss
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt in a House of Horrors match
United States Champion Kevin Owens defending against Chris Jericho
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Austin Aries
Raw Tag Team Champions The Hardys defending against Cesaro & Sheamus
Miz TV with Finn Balor (kickoff show)
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass (kickoff show)
After the stipulation was set up last night, WWE officially announced today that Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Cesaro & Sheamus at WrestleMania 33 would now be a triple threat ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship.
Gallows & Anderson attacked Cesaro & Sheamus with a ladder in a segment on the go-home episode of Raw. A three-way ladder brawl later broke out as the storyline continued, with Sheamus requiring 15 stitches after a mishap left him with a gruesome cut over his eye.
This will be the third straight year with a ladder match on the WrestleMania card. The Intercontinental title was defended in ladder matches the last two years.
Last night’s Raw also saw more entrants announced for the 2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The current list of participants is:
Monday night brought the addition of two more title matches to Raw’s upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view card.
Following a storyline where it was teased that Bayley would relinquish the Raw Women’s Championship due to the outside interference in her win last week, Bayley refused to give up the title and it was announced that Charlotte Flair would get her rematch at Fastlane.
Enzo Amore & Big Cass also became the number one contenders for the brand’s tag titles on Raw with a win over Cesaro & Sheamus and will get their match with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson at the PPV.
Fastlane is WWE’s last PPV before WrestleMania and takes place at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 5th. The updated card for the show is:
WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens defending against Goldberg
Raw Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Charlotte Flair
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville defending against Jack Gallagher
Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defending against Enzo Amore & Big Cass
The Raw Tag Team Championship will be on the line this coming Sunday, but only on the Royal Rumble pre-show.
It was announced on tonight’s episode of Raw that Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson would challenge Cesaro & Sheamus for their titles at the Alamodome as WWE presents its first pay-per-view of the year.
Playing off of the controversial finish from last week’s Raw where Gallows & Anderson appeared to have the titles won before it was announced that the champions had actually been disqualified, their match on Sunday will have the added stipulation of two referees calling the match.
The storyline between the two teams continued tonight as Gallows defeated Cesaro in a singles match after the distracted referee missed Gallows tapping out to the sharpshooter.
With the addition of the tag title match, the updated card for the Royal Rumble is:
The Royal Rumble match
AJ Styles defending the WWE Championship against John Cena
Kevin Owens defending the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns with Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage
Charlotte Flair defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Bayley
Rich Swann defending the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Neville
Cesaro & Sheamus defending the Raw Tag Team Championship against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (kickoff show match)
This year started off with a bang as WWE signed four of the biggest talents from New Japan Pro Wrestling, all who had a banner year in 2015. Not only was it shocking, as WWE normally isn’t as aggressive in signing talent from there, but it was during their renegotiation period, where New Japan normally signs their guys to one-year contracts as had been tradition for decades.
I guess all traditions eventually come to an end, much like the runs of these four men in the promotion, as it caused NJPW to think differently when it comes to negotiations. But it was a year in which many traditions were broken, not just about New Japan’s contract situations, but also WWE’s mentality of who can be a star. Let’s take a look at the New Japan Four’s banner year, and where they are today.
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
Being one of the top tag teams in NJPW for years, people raised eyebrows when Anderson and Gallows jumped ship over to WWE. After a few months of questions regarding their debut, they finally arrived on the April 11th edition of Raw. They immediately looked to make a name for themselves in the tag division, all while being chummy with AJ Styles, their former Bullet Club leader.
That trio soon cemented their unit, giving themselves the clever and very original name of “The Club.” Once the brand split went down, they were split up with Anderson and Gallows joining Raw while Styles became exclusive to SmackDown.
Since the brand split, Anderson and Gallows have pretty much been at the center of the tag team division, never too far away from getting a title shot. With New Day having firm control of the belts for most of the last year, they’ve yet to become champions. But it seems likely somewhere down the line, they’ll eventually get a run with the titles, and they’ll be at the top of Raw’s tag team division, much like they were during their time in New Japan.
Shinsuke Nakamura
To say it was shocking when Shinsuke Nakamura announced his departure from NJPW in January 2016 would be an understatement. Not only was he the IWGP Intercontinental Champion, he was one of the cornerstones of the promotion, always at the top of the cards and a certified draw.
So when Nakamura announced he was going to WWE, 2016 was already off to a completely unpredictable start, as it was unheard of that someone like Shinsuke Nakamura would jump from New Japan, where he started and wrestled since 2002, to WWE, where his comfy position at the top wasn’t necessarily guaranteed.
But when transitioning to the WWE, Nakamura instantly “got” the mentality of how WWE, and American wrestling in general, worked. When he made his debut on April 1st at NXT TakeOver: Dallas against Sami Zayn, he didn’t have a crazy, blow out match like he did in big time New Japan matches. He had an amazing match against Zayn, but didn’t go crazy. He got over in that match not by killing himself with scary looking moves, but by just being Shinsuke Nakamura, one of the most charismatic figures in pro wrestling today.
Not only did it work for Nakamura, but everything about him — the music, the entrance, the charismatic swagger — instantly got over and propelled him quickly to the NXT title, defeating Samoa Joe on August 20th.
Although Nakamura is obviously ready for the main roster, apparently Triple H and those in charge over at NXT see differently. Much like how Finn Balor was the anchor for NXT in 2014-15, Nakamura is now poised to be the main attraction for the brand for months to come. His next feud will be against Bobby Roode, where they are destined to face off at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio over Royal Rumble weekend.
There is no timetable for Nakamura’s debut on the main roster, but at 36, it’s painfully clear the time to pull off a debut on Raw or SmackDown would be best suited for everyone sooner rather than later.
AJ Styles
Out of everyone on this list, it’s apparent that AJ Styles has flourished the most under the WWE banner. Like Nakamura, he had a reliable position at the top of NJPW cards as the leader of the Bullet Club. But when WWE came calling with a big money offer, Styles took it. While working in Japan is great, it’s probably better to make that kind of money wrestling at home rather than abroad.
But like most who develop a big name outside of WWE, Styles had a somewhat rocky start. After making his debut at the Royal Rumble, Styles soon found himself in a tag team with Chris Jericho. Y2AJ didn’t last all that long, as Jericho swerved him, leading to a match at WrestleMania.
Styles lost, even though it made total sense for him to win as the next night on Raw he became the number one contender to Roman Reigns’ WWE title. Although he went on to lose those matches, he instantly became a star to not only those in the crowd, but also backstage. His next program, with John Cena, was somewhat of a dream series as one of the biggest names in WWE (Cena) battled one of the top names outside of the WWE in the last decade (Styles).
Their SummerSlam match was one of the best matches of the year, leaving Cena beat as Styles proved to be “The Champ That Runs the Camp,” as he would soon be calling himself. Despite the dumb name, Styles went on to even bigger success, defeating Dean Ambrose at Backlash, doing what many thought was impossible only a few years prior by becoming WWE Champion.
Styles is one of the biggest stars, if not the biggest star, of the SmackDown brand. In the transition from New Japan to WWE, Styles hasn’t lost much — he continues to be one of the best overall workers in the business and almost never has a bad match as he’s just so consistently great in everything he does in and out of the ring. Barring injury, 2017 is set to be a banner year for Styles. He’ll continue to make a case for himself as one of the best in the industry, and he’s completely deserving of another look for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame.
Both the Women’s Championship and Tag Team Championship will be on the line on next week’s episode of Raw.
The show will see the brand’s Women’s title defended as Charlotte Flair again takes on Sasha Banks. Flair defeated Banks for the title at Hell in a Cell last month in the first ever women’s HIAC match and pay-per-view main event. Banks lost the title in her hometown of Boston, MA, and next week’s Raw will take place in Flair’s hometown of Charlotte, NC.
Flair attacked Bayley at Survivor Series after they were the sole survivors for the Raw women’s division team, and Bayley teamed with Banks against Flair and Nia Jax on tonight’s show. Banks won the match for her team by tapping out Flair.
A tag title match was also set up for next week’s Raw with The New Day taking on Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The New Day successfully defended their titles against Cesaro and Sheamus on tonight’s show. And Gallows and Anderson were victorious tonight in a match against The Golden Truth.
Following last week’s injury angle where The Club took out Big E on Raw, WWE confirmed on Monday that Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston will defend their tag titles against The Club’s Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows at SummerSlam.
Tonight’s episode of Raw should provide more information on Big E’s storyline condition, but WWE.com initially reported that he had suffered a groin injury after The Club’s attack. It was later updated that the injury was a contusion to the area, and WWE.com said it was unknown when he would return.
Big E was held out of action on this weekend’s live events as his New Day partners have defended against The Club, but Big E has distracted The Club leading to the finish in both weekend matches.
Though more will be added, the updated card for SummerSlam on August 21st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, is:
Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler in a championship match
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in a championship match
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Apollo Crews in a championship match
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) in a championship match
– Before the show, you could vote by Twitter on which Wrestlemania match you wanted to see on the video board: Reigns/HHH, Undertaker/Shane, or Lesnar/Ambrose. Undertaker/Shane won and they showed a clipped version of it. The lower bowl was only 2/3 full and the upper bowl was tarped off. Crowd was pretty hot all night. Mostly families, lots of kids. No matches were advertised for the show.
– Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
Good match, Ziggler fought from underneath and got the win with a superkick.
– Apollo Crews vs. Stardust
Kind of a dull match, Stardust’s offense isn’t very interesting. Crews got the win with the Moonsault.
– Big Cass vs. D-Von Dudley
Cass did a pre-match promo. Usual shtick, crowd knew all his catch phrases. Cass got the win with the East River Crossing. Nothing special, but the crowd was into Cass.
– Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
Owens ripped the crowd before the match, saying a boy with a terrible father had a vile sign. Couldn’t see what the sign was. Owens riled the crowd up by demanding silence during his match. Excellent match, Zayn got the win with the Helluva Kick.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya
No Ric, unfortunately. Charlotte got the win with the classic Flair Pin. Good work from these two.
– I-C Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) vs. Sheamus vs. Cesaro
Really good stuff here. Miz cut a long pre-match promo bashing the crowd, doing an homage to Rick Rude calling us “Fat, out of shape sweat hogs.” Cesaro tapped Miz out with the Sharpshooter, but Maryse had the referee distracted. Cesaro hit the Neutralizer, but Miz threw him out of the ring and pinned Sheamus.
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns & The Usos vs. Chris Jericho, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows
Jericho subbing in for AJ, Unfortunately. Jericho did a pre-match promo talking about what an honor it must be for Anderson and Gallows to team with him. The Usos got a huge pop. Kids and women love them. Reigns got mostly cheers, but the men were booing him. Solid match. The heels got heat on one of the Usos until he tagged in Reigns. Reigns kicked Jericho’s ass, but Jericho cut him off and hit a Code Breaker. Jericho yelled at Gallows and Anderson, who walked out on him. Reigns hit Jericho with the Spear and pinned him to end the show.
Lots of interesting topics today including Ric Flair’s party lifestyle, whose side are Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson really on, certain things Les refused to do in the ring during his wrestling days and more! Some great questions in the mailbag this week, so after a rambling start on the NFL Draft, getting to ballgames really late, having your Instagram hacked on the biggest day of your life, Rip Rogers and a little more wackiness to start, we’ll answer your questions! First, we’ll tackle guys who “live their gimmick” so much that it seems they can’t turn it off (17:44), the greenest wrestler ever called up to WWE from HWA when Les was in charge of that developmental territory (29:08), instances where Les refused to do a certain spot in a match because it didn’t work for him and why (including a situation that saw Les as a HEEL MANAGER) (34:34), could a tag team (past or present) be a main event act in 2016 WWE (43:40), nearfall sequences near the end of matches being too formulaic (59:16) and is it ever too late to get into bodybuilding (70:17)? Oh, thoughts on which side Gallows and Anderson are on are at the 77:53 mark. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
– Air Date: April 21, 2016 (Apr 20 in Canada) – Location: The O2 Arena in London, England
– The Big News:
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will face The Usos on Monday Night Raw.
– Show Recap:
They aired a Raw video package recapping the angle between Roman Reigns, AJ Styles and his two friends. They made sure to squeeze in Reigns’ catchphrase again.
Maryse and The Miz were in the ring for MizTV. Maryse introduced Miz as the biggest American movie star in the world. Miz wanted answers and introduced AJ Styles. Miz talked about Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson running roughshod in Japan in 2014.
Styles said yeah, they had five titles between the three of them. Styles also reminded Miz he knocked his teeth out the last time they were in the ring together. Miz flatout asked if he had Gallows and Anderson do his dirty work, but Styles reiterated that he had nothing to do with it.
Miz said Styles never *not* told them to attack Reigns, and his inaction spoke louder than words. Styles said he’s not in charge of them. He wished they hadn’t done it and doesn’t need anyone’s help to beat Reigns.
Miz said Styles can claim to be the better “‘rassler,” but Reigns was bigger and stronger. Miz called Reigns “the guy” (crowd booed) and Styles would need the help. Styles stood up but Miz kept talking and started doing movie lines again, this time Will Smith from Concussion saying “Tell the truth! Tell the truth!”
Maryse was turned on and they made out. Miz was about to start talking again but Styles attacked him and left him laying. After a break, they announced Miz vs. Styles. This wasn’t great, but it did set up what was to come later. Miz is pretty good in this role, but he was overwhelming Styles.
Non-title: Ryback beat US Champion Kalisto via pinfall
Ryback missed his cue during his entrance where he always says “more” in “feed me more” on the stage. The announcers explained that Ryback wanted a WrestleMania rematch to prove Kalisto’s win was a fluke. They also made sure to never mention whether or not this was a title match.
Ryback dominated from the beginning and they went to commercial less than 2 minutes into the match even though nothing else had happened since the last break. After the break, Ryback did a nice delayed vertical suplex off the middle rope. Kalisto came back with a leg drop, front dropkick and corkscrew elbow. He did the spike-rana, but it looked terrible and they didn’t bother editing it.
Ryback followed with a meat-hook clothesline, but Kalisto countered a Shellshock into a DDT for a near fall. Ryback then countered a Salida Del Sol into a Shellshock for the win. Ryback posed with the US Title afterwards. Basic match that went about 9 minutes. The finishing sequence was good.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
The match never happened. As Ziggler made his entrance, Corbin attacked him from behind and tossed him around ringside. Somebody yelled “You suck!” at him, but it was just a kid so Corbin did not yell back like he did on Raw. Corbin finished off Ziggler with End of Days. Rich Brennan appeared on the stage to ask Corbin why he did that and he responded, “Because I can.”
Non-title: AJ Styles beat IC Champion The Miz via pinfall
As Styles appeared to be gaining control, Miz ran away and used Maryse as a shield. Styles tried to go around but Miz punched him and launched him a couple of times into the barricade.
Miz had the heat for a while until Styles came back with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Miz caught Styles with an atomic drop and applied the Figure Four. Styles turned it over to escape and followed by applying the Calf Crusher, but Miz got to the rope.
Styles hit the Pele kick and got ready for the springboard forearm, but Miz left the ring. As Miz went up the aisle to escape, he stopped upon seeing Gallows and Anderson making their way down. Miz turned back toward the ring and Styles nailed him with a springboard flying forearm. He followed that immediately with the Phenomenal Forearm in the ring for the win.
Gallows and Anderson remained outside the ring as Styles looked on. Good match that went about 17 minutes. The finish fit perfectly with the story.
Rich Brennan interviewed Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn backstage about their upcoming tag match against Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. Ambrose said they would leave their opponents looking like “leftover spotted dick” and Zayn said it was time to put an end to this.
Zayn wanted a cool tag team name but Ambrose wouldn’t listen to him. Zayn suggested “Sambrose,” among others. They also mentioned “Beefeaters” but Zayn doesn’t like gin. Ambrose wanted “Roughriders” but Zayn thought that was too sexual and suggestive. After comedy time expired, Ambrose told Zayn to take off his hat so they could go beat up Jericho and Owens.
Later, Rich Brennan caught up to Gallows and Anderson. Gallows said Styles doesn’t need their help, they were just looking to make an impact. Anderson announced they would make an impact on Raw when they make their in-ring debut against the Usos. Gallows concluded, “We have arrived.”
Natalya & Paige beat Naomi & Tamina via submission
Unlike on Raw, Paige got to come out last here in England, and they didn’t play an ad through her entrance. Mauro Ranallo talked about Bret Hart and British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992. Jerry Lawler said he knows from experience that Bret Hart is a cheater, that he cheated to become WWE Champion and, “he even cheated when Bret screwed Bret.”
Paige made the hot tag and hit Ram-Paige on Naomi (and her Harley Quinn hair), but Tamina broke up the cover. Natalya put Tamina in the sharpshooter and Paige put Naomi in the PTO and they both tapped. One women’s match on a split-crew show and they got 5 minutes.
R-Truth beat Fandango via pinfall (special referee: Goldust)
Fandango didn’t get an entrance in the only place in the world that cares about his entrance. I don’t blame them. Goldust wore his full gear along with a gold and black referee shirt. This was all “comedy.” As Fandango and Truth were having a dance-off or whatever, Truth caught him with a flatliner for the win. Goldust and Truth danced briefly afterwards even though Goldust is always a dick to Truth.
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady came out to a huge reaction from an otherwise dead crowd. In fact, this might’ve been the biggest reaction on the show. Enzo did his usual promo, but they were interrupted by the Vaudevillains.
Aiden English said everyone was tired of Enzo and Cass, and said Enzo looks like a rodent with mange. Enzo didn’t know what he meant but said the Vaudevillains can keep reading books while he and Cass will be writing them, and the Vaudevillains couldn’t hit him if they were standing in the phone booth.
Simon Gotch said they were going to learn a harsh lesson. English called this a man’s world and they were real men. Gotch said when they win at Payback they’ll be the ones to ask, politely, “How are you doing?” Cass said they’d win at Payback and called the Vaudevillains soft. They really need to give Cass better material. Also, are the Vaudevillains time travellers?
As they were about to cut to commercial, Jericho and Owens walked backstage toward Gorilla. There were two random guys holding cups with popcorn. Jericho knocked the cup out of one guy’s hands. Owens grabbed the other guy’s cup and started eating. He offered some to Jericho, who declined.
Promo for Primo and Epico. They also plugged Raw in Hartford. Byron Saxton wondered aloud if Shane McMahon would be in charge again.
Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens beat Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose via pinfall
Owens and Zayn were in the ring to start, but Owens immediately tagged out. The crowd chanted “Ole” and Jericho told them to shut up. They went to commercial two minutes into the match. Ranallo referred to Owens as “truculent” and Lawler didn’t know what that meant.
As Zayn made a comeback on Jericho, Owens made a blind tag, pulled Zayn out of the ring, and tossed him into the barricade to regain control. Jericho slapped Zayn a couple times, so Zayn responded with a blue thunder bomb. Ambrose made the hot tag and ran wild on Owens, nailing a suicide dive.
Ambrose also clotheslined Jericho, but caught a superkick from Owens in the ring. Ambrose got Owens with Dirty Deeds but Jericho broke up the cover. Zayn booted Jericho out of the ring, but as Ambrose went to the top rope, Jericho crotched him and Owens covered him for a three count.
Terribly weak finish. Zayn had just kicked Jericho out of the ring, but then disappeared when Jericho quickly covered to interfere. The finish made Ambrose look like a complete loser, and it negated his win over Owens on Raw. I’m really not sure what the point of this was.
After the match, Owens jumped on Jericho for a hug (which somehow didn’t kill Jericho). Owens yelled toward the ring, “I beat you! Chris helped, but I beat you!” Jericho assured Owens that he did it on his own, so Owens bragged some more. These two belong together.
– Final Thoughts:
This wasn’t a terrible show, but it was the least noteworthy Smackdown show in a long while. They often do a good job of masking the fact that it’s a split-crew, but that wasn’t the case tonight. You can safely skip this show if you have literally anything else you’d rather be doing.
In Barnesville, GA, Saturday for the WrestleMerica promotion, AJ Styles and Doc Gallows began what will likely be their last run of indie dates in the U.S. Larry Goodman sent us in some notes:
Styles was set to face Jimmy Rave in the highly anticipated main event. Both men cut their teeth as pro wrestlers in Georgia with NWA Wildside roughly 15 years ago. It was a decade ago that Styles feuded with Rave in ROH after Rave stole his finishing move.
The match morphed into a tag match (Styles & Gallows vs. Rave & Sal Rinauro) after just a few minutes of action. The call was made to save wear and tear on Styles, who is headed to England next week for three huge matches vs. Rey Misterio, Morrison and Jay Lethal on consecutive nights. The 450 fans in Barnesvillle didn’t seem to mind the switch. They were into the match full force, as they were for pretty much everything that went down at this event.
– Doc Gallows defeated Sal Rinauro via DQ in 6:05: Rinauro turned a handshake into a punch in the face and ran out of the ring, where he cut a promo talking about how WrestleMerica was built on the backs of people like himself and Jimmy Rave (unlike Gallows who has missed a number of show due to his New Japan commitments). Rinauro stalled and jawed and stalled some more. When Gallows finally got his hands on him, Rinauro sold his ass off. Rave sneaked in and speared Gallows. That led to an instant “AJ” chant and the save by Styles. Rinauro and Rave bailed out untouched. Beautifully done.
– AJ Styles defeated Jimmy Rave by DQ in 3:58. Neither the Bullets Club theme nor his ROH music was used in favor of his less familiar New Japan music leading to a rather flat entrance for Styles. Rave didn’t use “House of the Rising Sun” either. Oh well. They grappled. Rave bailed out to avoid Styles’ signature dropkick, and Rinauro jumped Styles for the DQ. Gallows made the save and got on the mic to make the tag match. Gallows said there was a lot of history with Rinauro and Rave, but the whole wrestling world knew there was more history with Gallows and Styles.
– Styles & Gallows defeated Rave & Rinauro in 11:56. They brawled all over the building. When the action moved inside the ring, Rave interfered to get the heat started on Gallows. A Gallows double clothesline led to the hot tag. Styles had Rave set up for the Clash, but Rinauro intervened with a superkick. The closing minutes were terrific with signature moves and saves galore. Gallows dropped Rinauro on Rave to break up his crossface submission. It appeared that Styles got dinged when Rinauro inadvertently landed on his neck. For the finish, Gallows planted Rinauro with a chokebomb and Styles pinned Rave with a Clash off the ropes.
