The Big News: Johnny Gargano won the number one contender’s fatal four-way to get a shot at Andrade “Cien” Almas’ NXT Championship at TakeOver: Philadelphia.
The Medium News: The Undisputed Era cost Aleister Black the title shot, setting up yet another person to be mad at them.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Shayna Baszler debuted by choking out Kairi Sane, who was challenging Ember Moon to a title match.
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The Street Profits defeated Chris Star & Riley Apex
Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford kicked off the final NXT of 2017, putting their recent winning streak on the line against Star & Apex, who were teaming on NXT for the very first time. Nigel McGuinness kept calling Apex “JBL” due to a similar physique, but this wasn’t the night for him. Ford polished him off with the Frog Splash quickly.
After the match, Dawkins and Ford went into the crowd to cut a promo. They vowed to conquer in 2018, dissing SAnitY, The Authors of Pain, and Undisputed Era, They said they’re coming for the Tag Team titles.
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NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defeated Sonya Deville to retain her title
Asuka is the second NXT Women’s Champion forced to vacate the title when she got called up to the main roster. So, with that in mind, why would Deville be getting a title shot? If she wins she’ll be forced to vacate it. That’s one of those rules that we just constantly conveniently forget. Like how the tournament after Paige vacated the title featured four women on the main roster, which would have rendered the tournament moot if they won.
Deville locked on a kneebar in the first 30 seconds, but Moon fought free and the match was on. The fans weren’t really into Deville since no one really believed she was going to win. Shockingly, Moon retained with The Eclipse.
Kairi Sane came out after the match to imply that she wanted a title shot. Moon seemed to accept, but Shayna Baszler appeared from out of nowhere and put Kairi in a rear naked choke! Referees all ran out to finally pry the Queen of Spades off the Pirate Princess. Baszler has not forgotten the Mae Young Classic.
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Paul Ellering and The Authors of Pain were backstage. Ellering cut a promo about all the great things they have done before turning to The Undisputed Era. He said that AOP will write the next chapter. They are the law, the judge, the jury, and the executioner, finishing by saying that Undisputed Era are on borrowed time.
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Christy St. Cloud ran up to Moon to ask her opinion of what just happened. Moon didn’t really care about what Baszler did to Sane and instead said they need to make a statement in the ring if they wanted a title shot.
Not sure if this was supposed to be the start of a heel turn, but it sure came across that way.
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Next week is a two-hour NXT year-in-review episode.
In two weeks, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against SAnitY.
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Johnny Gargano defeated Aleister Black, Killian Dain, and Lars Sullivan in a number one contender’s fatal four-way match
Sullivan ran wild early and caught both Black and Gargano when they attempted suicide dives on him. He threw them into the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring. Surprisingly, Dain’s suicide dive was not caught and Dain stood tall early on.
Sullivan continued his dominance over Black and Gargano as he heaved both of them off the entrance ramp. The ramp is, maybe, four feet in the air and they managed to shoot it like Sullivan was this gigantic monster just tossing the denizens from the top of a building.
Gargano and Black teamed up to do what they couldn’t do by themselves, as they kicked and kneed Sullivan, laying him across the announce table. Dain then appeared from out of nowhere with a running splash from the stage through Sullivan on the table.
This left Gargano and Black. Black was cheered quite a bit, but Gargano was clearly the crowd favorite and these two had such an excellent few minutes together that it made you really want to see a full match with them. Dain appeared out of nowhere to break up a Gargano Escape and ran wild until they teamed up to drop Dain with a double-team powerbomb.
At this point, Sullivan dragged himself to his feet and back to the ring. Sullivan flung Black and Gargano from the ring and then squared off with Dain. This was a true monster match, with the two Goliath men raging at one another. Black got a fifth wind and booted both of them all over the place. He hit Sullivan with Black Mass and was about to win, but Undisputed Era ran down to break it up.
Black took out Fish and O’Reilly, but Adam Cole got the best of him. Black ended up giving the big knee to the ring apron and then being laid out with a brainbuster. Gargano hit a suicide dive to Cole, sending Undisputed Era running. Outside the ring, Gargano threw Dain and Sullivan into the ring steps before hitting a slingshot DDT into the ring on Black for the win!
Johnny Gargano, who has had a roller coaster of a year to say the least, has finally won a big match. He is now the number one contender for the NXT Championship and will go to TakeOver: Philadelphia and challenge Andrade “Cien” Almas for the title.
That does it for NXT this week, and that does it for 2017! Happy New Year and thank you for another great year! I will be back in two weeks for the first new episode of 2018. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Date: December 26, 2017 Location: Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL
The Big Takeaway —
Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles in a non-title match, likely setting him up as the next WWE title contender for the Royal Rumble. Shane McMahon marched down to toss Sami Zayn from ringside during the match, but the distraction allowed Owens to apply a schoolboy for the win.
Daniel Bryan started an 8-man tournament to determine a new US Champion. He seemed to suggest that Shane was on board for this, but we found out later that Shane was not a fan of this idea. Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal have both advanced. Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger are out.
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin won a hell of a triple threat tag match over the New Day and Rusev & Aiden English. Gable & Benjamin will face the Usos for the titles next week. Rusev was over like crazy.
Show Recap —
Daniel Bryan came out to a huge reaction to start the show. He’s wearing a red and green plaid shirt. Corey Graves announced AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens for tonight. Bryan wanted to address the most shocking thing that happened last week, which was Dolph Ziggler leaving.
Bryan has been calling and texting Ziggler all week, but he hasn’t responded and has therefore relinquished the US title. The crowd chanted for Rusev. Bryan wished Ziggler well and called him one of the all-time great performers, but they had to move on. He and Shane McMahon have agreed to have a tournament to decide the new champion, which starts tonight.
Bryan announced Baron Corbin vs. Bobby Roode as a first round match. Roode got a big reaction. Before Bryan could announce more, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin interrupted. Gable said he was happy for the US Title but wanted to know what was next for the tag titles. The crowd chanted “Rusev Day.”
Bryan referenced their loss in the tag title match a few weeks ago. Gable and Benjamin said they deserved a shot without any other teams involved, and again the crowd chanted for Rusev. Gable said they should be champions and the crowd booed.
Rusev and Aiden English interrupted and the crowd chanted some more. English sang a song to explain why they deserved a shot. He mentioned that they beat the Usos and didn’t actually lose at Clash of Champions. English said we know what day comes after Christmas and Gable said it was Boxing Day. Rusev said called him a fool and announced it was Rusev Day.
The New Day came out next, so Byron Saxton asked what comes after Rusev Day and Graves responded, “Rusev Day again!” Kofi Kingston flung pancakes into the crowd. Big E said Gable and “Old Jason Jordan” got pinned at Clash, and Rusev & English got pinned last week. (The crowd liked New Day but did not want to cheer them over Rusev.)
Xavier Wood said they should be tag champs and had Bryan swivel his hips with them (and he was totally out of sync). Rusev told them to shut up. Rusev wondered if Bryan was going to ask his “mommy” Shane for a decision. Bryan smiled and announced a triple threat match with the winners facing the Usos.
Triple Threat Tag Team Match: Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin defeated Big E & Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston) and Rusev & Aiden English (13:59)
There were some cool spots early. Woods hit a flip dive on the other teams, Big E powerbombed Woods onto English, and Gable gave a German suplex to Big E and English at the same time. The crowd chanted “We want Rusev.” A “CM Punk” chant broke out but others booed it.
Rusev made a hot tag and ran wild on Gable and Woods. His comeback included kicks to the head and running body blocks in the corner. He also gave Big E spinning heel kick and gave Benjamin a superkick. Rusev charged up like he would do a suicide dive, but Gable cut him off and hit a German. Woods followed with a diving dropkick on English for a nearfall.
Later, Rusev powerbombed both Gable and Benjamin off the ropes, then English followed with a frog splash for a nearfall (he also slapped his chest like Eddie Guerrero and pointed to the sky). Rusev stacked Woods and Gable on top of each other and gave them both an Accolade, but Benjamin broke it up.
Big E then ran as fast as possible and hit a dive through the ropes. The crowd popped big for that. Benjamin hit a running kick in the corner on Big E, then he and Gable hit their powerbomb/flying clothesline combo for the win. Gable & Benjamin vs. The Usos will take place next week.
Crazy good match. Way more happened then I could recap. Check it out if you skipped this show.
Shane caught up with Bryan backstage. Shane told Bryan that his comment about turning into Vince McMahon really upset him. Shane took exception to this and called Vince a crazy S.O.B. However, Shane also wanted to give Vince credit, saying he reinvited the business and he’s still Shane’s father.
Bryan wasn’t trying to take that away from Vince, he just noticed that Shane’s been throwing his weight around. Shane thought Bryan was doing the same with the US Title tournament, thinking Corbin and Roode shouldn’t have to go through a tournament. Bryan thought everyone deserves a shot.
Shane also didn’t like tonight’s main event and figured Sami Zayn was guaranteed to get involved. Bryan simply made the match because Owens and Styles was one of the best rivalries of 2017 and wanted to see it one more time. Shane said “ok” and that was it. (They left the camera on the two of them for too long and they awkwardly stared at each other.)
(It appears they are going commercial-free for the first hour in Canada after all.)
They aired a clip from Fashion Files where Ascension had a gift for Breezango–a rematch with the Bludgeon Brothers. Fandango was disappointed they didn’t get sexy astronaut costumes.
The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango via DQ (2:06)
Harper and Rowan had the match won with a sit-out powerbomb on Tyler Breeze, but Rowan picked him up at the two count so they could continue the beating. Ascension eventually ran down to save Breezango by attacking Harper and Rowan. They carried away Breezango.
Backstage, Konnor and Viktor told Dasha Fuentes that their best friends, Breeze and Fandango, weren’t in their right state of minds. Viktor said their best friends were challenging the Bludgeon Brothers to a rematch next week. The crowd thought this was funny.
Ruby Riott (w/Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan) defeated Naomi (0:54)
Riott did a pre-taped promo where she said “rumble” was basically another word for “riot” and gave her an advantage. She said she would win the Royal Riott and Naomi would be the first eliminated.
Naomi knocked Logan and Morgan off the apron, but the distraction allowed Riott to kick her leg out of her leg. She followed with a Riott Kick for the very quick win. The Riott Squad put the boots to Naomi afterwards until Charlotte made the save. She took out Riott with a spear but the numbers caught up to her and they took her out too.
Natalya’s music hit and she marched out with Carmella, Tamina and Lana. There was a face-off but the Riott Squad backed off. As they left, Natalya and company attacked them anyway but the Riott Squad quickly ran away.
Renee Young interviewed AJ Styles. The crowd loudly chanted for Styles as Renee asked her question and Styles let them go for a bit. Styles said he’s the favourite whenever he steps in the ring and his opponents are the underdogs. He said nobody would be handed opportunities as long as he was on Smackdown. Styles was fine with Zayn being at ringside tonight. He said Owens can’t beat him and this was the house that AJ Styles built.
I like that Styles called himself the favourite against everyone. I didn’t like when he called himself the underdog against Brock Lesnar. He’s the champion and we all know he’s among the best in the world, he shouldn’t consider himself the underdog.
US Championship Tournament First Round Match: Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin (8:51)
Roode came off the top and Corbin caught him in position for a chokeslam, but Roode countered into a roll-up for the win. This was fine. The crowd liked Roode.
They finally went to commercial after this match, which ended about 12 minutes after the top of the hour.
US Championship Tournament First Round Match: Jinder Mahal (w/Singh Brothers) defeated Tye Dillinger (5:58)
Dillinger did a pre-taped promo where he said it was an 8-man tournament but the only number that mattered was 10. Graves called him a sociopath. It appears this was Dillinger’s first TV appearance since Hell in a Cell back on October 8th, where Corbin won the US title in a threeway against him and Styles.
Mahal won with the Khallas. Of all the matches that have ever happened, this was definitely one of them.
Hideo Itami will face Jack Gallagher on 205 Live.
Backstage, Fuentes caught up with Owens and Zayn. Owens shook a bottle of champagne and Fuentes asked what he was doing. Owens told her not to worry, because he would pop the bottle after he beat Styles. They mentioned it was the same bottle that Bryan refused to accept last week.
Owens reminded us that the last time he fought Styles, a certain referee–a guy who likes to shuffle his feet and is also Vince McMahon’s son–cost him the match. Owens said he had a guardian angel on his side tonight. Owens told Fuentes that she was not invited to their celebration, nor was anyone in Chicago. Zayn said “Yep” to everything Owens said.
Elsewhere, Young interviewed Randy Orton. Orton said he’s been dealing with everyone’s issues except his own. He was only concerned with winning the Royal Rumble. Shinsuke Nakamura showed up and said, “That’s a good idea. Let’s Rumble.” Orton appeared nonplussed. This was fine, but why would they both declare themselves entrants in the Rumble knowing Styles doesn’t have a contender…
Non-title: Kevin Owens (w/Sami Zayn) defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles (16:28)
They traded punches but Styles got the better of it and hit a strike combo, followed by a sliding forearm and Pele kick. Owens countered a springboard forearm into a gutbuster, followed by a diving elbow drop for a nearfall. Styles followed with a torture rack into a spinning slam for a nearfall.
Owens rolled to the outside and Styles hit Zayn with a slingshot crossbody. After Styles tossed Owens back in the ring, Zayn distracted Styles and Owens nailed a superkick for a nearfall. Shane walked down and told the referee to toss Zayn from ringside, so he did.
Styles applied a small package but the referee was distracted by Shane and Zayn. As Styles grabbed the referee’s attention, Owens applied a schoolboy for the win.
Owens popped the bottle and doused himself with champagne. Styles was pissed. As he walked up the ramp, he stopped to stare down Shane, who apologized. Owens and Zayn celebrated as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts —
I thought this was a pretty good show. I was expecting a throwaway show, but it definitely wasn’t. Styles has a new contender and it continues the story with Shane and Bryan, a US title tournament is underway, and there was an excellent tag match.
New Tag Team Champions were crowned in the main event as Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan defeated Cesaro & Sheamus. That came after a storyline that questioned whether Rollins & Jordan would be able to work together or not after arguing backstage.
Roman Reigns is still Intercontinental Champion after getting disqualified against Samoa Joe, Asuka announced herself for the women’s Royal Rumble and laid out Alexa Bliss with a kick, and John Cena’s return was relatively uneventful as he took on Elias.
Show Recap —
– John Cena’s music hit to open the show. He found a child in the crowd and gave him his T-shirt and hat. The crowd chanted “Merry Christmas” at Cena, with him saying it’s the first time we’ve heard the chant. He called WWE his family and was going to say something until he was interrupted by Elias’ guitar strumming.
Elias asked Cena what WWE stands for, then said it’s “Walk With Elias.” He asked the crowd if they want to walk with him, which brought on a “Yes” chant after an initial mixed reaction. The audience chanted “CM Punk,” and Elias said Punk isn’t going to interrupt him. Cena replied that Chicagoans love their fellow Chicagoans and said the crowd should have their fun. They continued to chant for Punk and Cena welcomed Elias to Chicago.
The lights dimmed after some brief back and forth between Elias and Cena. Elias said he had a special Christmas song and told everyone not to interrupt him, but he just got more chants for Punk. Elias blamed Cena and began to sing. He was booed, then sang about Chicago being the worst place to spend his holiday.
Cena complimented Elias’ musical ability but criticized him for always calling people jerks. Cena said they’re not the jerks, Elias is being one. Elias thought about it and admitted that he may have been being a jerk. He sang again, saying he can’t think of a better place to spend his holidays and telling Cena to take it away. When Cena started singing, Elias left him laying with a cheap shot.
Elias claimed that both Christmas and Chicago are overrated and continued to attack Cena. He challenged Cena to a match and it was made official.
John Cena defeated Elias
Cena won with the Attitude Adjustment after hitting his shoulder blocks and the five-knuckle shuffle. Elias maintained control throughout much of the match, with him regaining the upper hand whenever Cena would get hope spots in.
– A video package aired recapping Samoa Joe’s issues with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose.
– Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins appeared in Kurt Angle’s office. They both wanted to face Samoa Joe, but Angle mentioned that they’ll have to go through Cesaro and Sheamus first. Jordan and Rollins bickered about teaming together, including Jordan calling it a step backwards from his singles career. Angle said he loved the intensity and announced Rollins & Jordan challenging Cesaro & Sheamus for the Raw Tag Team titles for later.
Reigns then appeared. Angle said Reigns will face Joe in an Intercontinental title match tonight.
– Charly Caruso interviewed Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher in the ring. Kendrick is facing Hideo Itami next, and Kendrick said he wanted to find out if Itami was all hype or not.
Hideo Itami defeated Brian Kendrick
Itami hit the GTS to win after a fairly short, non-squash match. There wasn’t much of a reaction for Itami using the GTS in Chicago. He was put over strong on commentary and it was noted that he created the move.
– After a video package on last week’s announcement of the first women’s Royal Rumble match, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel sang a Christmas carol to Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Mickie James backstage about missing The Miz. Banks, Bayley, and James just walked away after it was over.
Absolution (Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville) defeated Sasha Banks, Bayley & Mickie James
The heels isolated Banks for a long time, which came after she took a great bump on an impressive clothesline from Deville on the outside. Banks made the hot tag to Bayley, who came in and ran wild. She hit the Bayley-to-Belly on Paige, but Rose and Deville pulled their partner out of the ring. Paige hit the RamPaige for the win after cutting Bayley off when Bayley went to the top.
– After Dean Ambrose’s injury was recapped, Renee Young interviewed Samoa Joe about it in the back. Joe said he has no remorse about the injury. He said Ambrose can be at home with the people he loves during the holidays, which led to a (purposeful) awkward second of silence with Young. Joe promised to beat Reigns tonight and become Intercontinental Champion.
Before the interview, Cole established WWE’s storyline timetable for Ambrose’s absence by saying he could be out for nine months.
Kane defeated Heath Slater (w/ Rhyno)
Video of a promo aired while Slater and Rhyno were entering where Slater said it’s been a rough Christmas for his kids because Angle threatened he and Rhyno’s jobs last week. Rhyno said he didn’t — he said Slater needs to toughen up and Rhyno is going to make that happen.
Rhyno attempted to encourage Slater and kept him from walking away at one point. Slater was able to briefly fight back, but Kane laid him out with a strike and pinned him after a chokeslam. Rhyno checked on Slater and tried to fight Kane off after an attack, but Kane hit a chokeslam on him as well.
– Curt Hawkins was in the ring when he got back from commercial. He said the year isn’t over yet and he can feel a Christmas miracle in the air tonight. He issued an open challenged, saying his 146 match losing streak is going to come to an end. That brought out Finn Balor to face him.
Finn Balor defeated Curt Hawkins
Taking Hawkins to 147 straight losses, Balor won quickly with the Coup de Grace after Hawkins had tried to start the match of the offensive and tried a couple of pins.
– Axel and Dallas sang a Christmas carol to Goldust backstage where they were critical of his career, then gave him a copy of “Santa’s Little Helper.” (starring The Miz). Goldust gifted it to Titus O’Neil as O’Neil walked by with Apollo Crews and Dana Brooke.
– Bray Wyatt was shown on the video screen talking about how Sister Abigail always hated Christmas. He said Matt Hardy was the type or person who made her hate it. Wyatt said he was here and made his entrance.
Matt Hardy attacked Wyatt when he got into the ring and the lights came on. The crowd chanted “Delete” and Hardy led them by doing the motion. He got on the mic and said “Yeeeeesssss,” laughed, and made noises at Wyatt (who was on the ramp) until the segment ended.
– Cesaro and Sheamus complained about having to defend their titles on Christmas. Sheamus gave Cesaro a Dean Ambrose action figure with a missing arm for Christmas. Cesaro gave Sheamus a Rollins figure, with Sheamus saying he can’t wait to break it. Sheamus also got a Jason Jordan figure, and Cesaro said Rollins doesn’t want Jordan as a partner and Angle doesn’t want him as a son.
Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali & Akira Tozawa defeated Enzo Amore, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight
Amore was dressed as Santa Claus and Gulak and Daivari were his elves. Amore cut his promo before the match started, saying he was there to spread Christmas cheer to people who had a terrible day like Alexander. Amore said Alexander didn’t get the one thing he wanted — Amore’s Cruiserweight Championship.
It was announced that Alexander would get his shot at Amore’s title next week.
There were Christmas trees and presents around the ring. Tozawa and Ali did dives onto Gulak and Daivari as we went to break right when this started, then some of the weapons were in the ring when we came back. Ali hit an imploding 450 on Daivari and had it won until Gulak hit him with a cookie sheet. Alexander threatened Amore with a candy cane pole, hit Gulak with it, then pinned Daivari with the Lumbar Check.
– There was another backstage segment with Amore and Nia Jax. They noticed they were under mistletoe and went to kiss, but Alexa Bliss came running in and said she had to talk to Jax about the women’s Royal Rumble match. Jax left, with Amore angrily wishing Bliss a Merry Christmas.
– Renee Young interviewed Reigns backstage. He said he’s the champion, is going to leave Chicago with his title, and he doesn’t care what Joe has to say. Reigns noted that tonight is about Dean Ambrose and said if you hurt one of his brothers, he’ll hurt you.
Samoa Joe defeated Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns by DQ
Near the finish, Joe got a near fall with a uranage and brought Reigns to the ground with the Coquina Clutch but Reigns was able to reach for the ropes. Joe followed up with an elbow through the middle ropes to the outside. He tried to wear Reigns down, but Reigns fought back with strikes. The referee tried to keep Reigns from striking Joe in the corner, but Reigns wouldn’t stop and the referee called for the disqualification.
After Reigns was disqualified, he hit Joe with a Superman Punch in the ring and kept attacking him outside of it. Reigns tried to get retribution for Ambrose by focusing on Joe’s arm. Reigns threw him arm-first into the posts and hit him with the steel steps. The crowd chanted for Reigns to do it one more time, and Reigns hit him in the arm with the steps again.
Reigns grabbed a steel chair and attempted to hit Joe’s arm with it while the arm was against the post, but Joe was able to get away just in time.
– Rollins and Jordan talked backstage. Rollins was focused on Cesaro and Sheamus and said this can’t be one of the times where Jordan says he came close. Jordan said he’s not a bad replacement for Ambrose. Rollins replied that Jordan will never be as good as Ambrose, and Jordan said that he’ll be better.
Braun Strowman defeated Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas
Axel and Dallas were in the ring and talked about having a “Secret Santa” match where they didn’t know who their opponent was. They started to sing “Jingle Bells” before Strowman’s music interrupted them.
Strowman quickly destroyed both and pinned Dallas with a running powerslam. Strowman then gave Axel one after the audience urged him to. The crowd wanted more, and Strowman powerslammed Dallas and Axel each one more time.
– WWE hyped up the 25th anniversary of Raw by showing a clip of the 1-2-3 Kid’s upset of Razor Ramon from 1993.
= Alexa Bliss did a promo talking about the year she’s had, with her saying she punched through the glass ceiling while everyone else was pressed against it. She called last week’s women’s Royal Rumble announcement the moment of the year, then said everyone should be thanking her for making it possible.
As Bliss was saying that she’d be watching the match closely, she was interrupted by Asuka’s music hitting. Asuka made her entrances, got on the microphone, and announced that she’s entering the Rumble. She promised to win and said no one is ready for her.
Asuka smiled at Bliss and laid Bliss out with a kick to the head. On commentary, Cole predicted that 2018 would be the year of Asuka.
Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan defeated Cesaro & Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship
With the story of the match being the question of if they could work together or not, Rollins and Jordan won the titles when Jordan pinned Cesaro with his neckbreaker finisher.
Rollins and Jordan were in control early and appeared to be in sync before the commercial break. When the show came back, Cesaro and Sheamus were working on Rollins by tagging in and out and double-teaming him. Rollins tried to fight back and make the tag but was stopped by Sheamus. Cesaro got tagged in, with Jordan cheering on Rollins and calling for the tag.
Jordan came to Rollins’ aid on the outside, then Cesaro and Sheamus threw him into the boards. Rollins was looking to finally make the tag after gaining the upper hand in the ring, but Jordan wasn’t on the apron due to being laid out.
Rollins kept kicking out despite being outnumbered. Jordan finally recovered and took Sheamus out with a lariat. Rollins kicked Cesaro away and finally made the tag to Jordan. Jordan was in control against Sheamus until the champions started to double-team him. Cesaro and Sheamus had Jordan beat, but Rollins broke up the count. Rollins and Sheamus were taken out on the outside, and Jordan hit his neckbreaker on Cesaro to win the match and the titles.
Rollins and Jordan celebrated as the show went off the air.
The Big Takeaway: Prior to his injury on 205 Live on Tuesday, Kalisto beat Ariya Daivari on Main Event. Apollo Crews, who is now accompanied to the ring by Dana Brooke and Titus O’Neil, left Curt Hawkins 0-146 going into the holiday period.
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Kalisto defeated Ariya Daivari (6:04)
After the unfortunate events from Tuesday night’s 205 Live that ended in Kalisto needing stitches and an MRI when a fan threw a bottle of water at him, it was good to see Kalisto’s Monday night Main Event match result in a great performance and a win.
Daivari and Kalisto worked together well here and built a match that looked like it could go either way. When Daivari successfully hit a huge Persian Lion Splash for the second time, you could have been forgiven for assuming that the match was done at the five-minute mark. When Kalisto kicked out, it proved a nice wrinkle in the storyline of the match.
The finish saw Daivari trying to bully Kalisto, towering over him and trash-talking him until Kalisto leapt up and flew into the Salida del Sol to get the win. This loss leaves Daivari, a man with very few wins under his belt since joining WWE, without a win since August.
Apollo Crews (w/ Dana Brooke and Titus O’Neil) defeated Curt Hawkins (5:05)
Hawkins may just be becoming the new Gillberg after all, as his losing streak continued here against Apollo Crews — an opponent who he has lost to frequently over the last few months. Crews came out with the addition of Dana Brooke in his entourage. Brooke was sporting professional attire: business suit, glasses, and clipboard.
On the bell, Hawkins looked disgruntled at the presence of both Brooke and O’Neil and shouted that they should be sent “to the back!” Hawkins is making the most of his streak: after some back and forth, he actually laid down in the ring and urged Crews to get it over with. Of course, he was playing possum and Crews fell for it, allowing Hawkins to dominate the middle section here.
The match went through a commercial break and they really made it look as close as they could. Hawkins kicked out of a standing moonsault and Crews kicked out of a second rope powerbomb. Finally, Crews dug deep and nailed Hawkins with a running single leg high knee and his spin-out powerbomb for the win.
Until next time, wishing you a wonderful holiday period with your families and loved ones.
– Josh Mathews kicked off the show by looking back at the ownership change from earlier in the year when Anthem took over from Dixie Carter.
– Bruce Prichard made his debut on the first night of the Anthem Era. He talked about the old Impact and announced that the initials TNA were dead. Prichard introduced the face of Impact — and then-Impact World Champion — Bobby Lashley.
Prichard praised Lashley and said there was nobody who could challenge him for the title. This brought out Alberto El Patron making his Impact debut to confront Lashley.
Alberto El Patron defeated Impact World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley
This was the main event of the first Impact of the Anthem Era. El Patron ducked a clothesline and Lashley collided with referee Brian Hebner, which brought out referee Brian Stiffler. Lashley avoided a superkick and El Patron connected with Stiffler.
Lashley tried to use the championship belt, but El Patron got a hold of it and used it to win the match. However, later El Patron was forced to give up the championship because he used illegal tactics.
– A brief recap aired on the return of LAX.
Low Ki defeated Trevor Lee, Sonjay Dutt, Andrew Everett, Dezmond Xavier, and Suicide to win the X Division Championship
At one point, all six guys attempted a standing dropkick at the same time. Lee was able to isolate Everett and control the match, though Everett ended up hitting a springboard Shooting Star Press to the floor. Low Ki knocked Everett off the top and hit the Warrior’s Way on Lee to win the championship.
Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews argued on commentary throughout. After the match, JB knocked out Mathews.
Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX (w/ Konnan, Homicide, and Diamante) defeated Decay (w/ Rosemary) in a street fight to retain their titles
Abyss and Crazzy Steve brought a table and two barbwire boards into the match. LAX used a chair, trash can, and kendo stick to gain the advantage. Rosemary accidentally spit the mist into Abyss’ eyes and Ortiz speared him through one of the barbwire boards. They placed the second board on top of Abyss and used the Street Sweeper.
Steve placed Ortiz on the table and covered him in thumbtacks. LAX made a comeback and gave Steve the powerbomb/blockbuster combo through the table with tacks to retain the gold.
Sonjay Dutt defeated Low Ki to win the X Division Championship
This took place in Mumbai, India. Dutt was in control early until Low Ki took over and gained the upper hand. Dutt made a brief comeback and scored a close near fall. Low Ki countered a sunset flip into a double foot stomp for a two count.
Dutt used a tornado DDT and a splash to win the championship. Following the match, Mahabali Shera and the X Division guys came out to celebrate Dutt’s title win.
Next Week: Impact continues to look back at the best of 2017.
The Big News: Pete Dunne retained his WWE United Kingdom Championship by pinning Tyler Bate in the main event
The Medium News: Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly won the NXT Tag Team Championship by defeating SAnitY.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Lars Sullivan advanced to the fatal four-way number one contender’s next week over Roderick Strong.
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Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Eric Young & Killian Dain to win the NXT Tag Team Championship
What better way to kick off the show than with a battle for the Tag Team titles? Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe ended the 14-month undefeated streak of The Authors of Pain back at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn to take the titles. Due to the Freebird Rule, Killian Dain is filling in for an injured Wolfe for this title match.
The challengers had their hands full at the start of the match, with Dain running over both men. They continued to be Dain’s playthings until Young tagged in. The former reDRagon worked over EY’s shoulder during the heat. Young, at one point, got close to making a tag, but O’Reilly punched Dain, which led to Dain trying to get in the ring. That distracted the referee and kept EY from making it.
Dain finally got the hot tag, to the approval of the crowd, and he ran over his much smaller foes. Dain tagged back out, which really has been a bad idea the whole match and it turned out to be a bad idea here. Young went to the top rope, but Adam Cole appeared from out of nowhere to trip him up. Cole celebrated until Nikki Cross appeared and took him out to the biggest pop of the match.
Cross got dragged out by referees, chaos broke out with all five men at ringside, and in the confusion Fish and O’Reilly hit Young with the high-low for the pin. We have new champions! The former ROH Tag Team Champions and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions have hit the trifecta. The 13th and new NXT Tag Team Champions are The Undisputed Era.
The kings are dead, long live the new kings.
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Heavy Machinery were outside and saw Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli’s Maserati and tried to move it out of the way. Moss and Sabbatelli mocked them for not being able to afford a car like this. This led to a South Park-esque argument where they called each other buddy and pal. It appeared to set up a future match.
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Sonya Deville stated that she will defeat Ember Moon next week. She said Moon never beat her and they have unfinished business, which confused the guy interviewing her.
It was then announced that their match next week would be for the NXT Women’s Championship.
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Lars Sullivan defeated Roderick Strong to advance to the fatal four-way number one contender’s match
The winner of this will join Johnny Gargano, Killian Dain, and Aleister Black in a fatal four-way match to determine a new number one contender for Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
Strong came out fast at the bell, but Sullivan quickly knocked him down and smashed him, throwing Strong all over the ring. Strong had to fight out of a bear hug at one point. He managed to catch Sullivan in the ropes and hit running clotheslines to both sides of Sullivan, then Sullivan freed himself. Sullivan went up top, but he got caught and hit with a superplex. Strong went for the cover, but Sullivan kicked out hard at one.
Strong kept going but never came close as he got pinned with The Freak Accident.
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The Street Profits had another edition of Street Talk. Like last time, they bribed fans with free Solo cups to say how great they were.
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WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate to retain his title
This is the third time they are wrestling for the title this year, with the series split at one. Their second match in Chicago was an instant classic and is my personal pick for Match of the Year. They teased giving us a short match as this didn’t start until 8:46 p.m., but the show went almost 15 minutes after the top of the hour.
This was not as good as Chicago, but it was better than their first bout. It was a brutal back-and-forth match between two guys who know each other so well. For the third time, we saw a legitimate athletic competition between two stars. Not future stars, but stars.
A beautiful, fluid wrestling sequence started the match. Dunne, who was in control, decided to unleash his inner villain by fishhooking Bate even though he really didn’t need to. Bate used a punch to the face, which Dunne was angered by, so the champ punched him in the face inside and outside the ring. Dunne tried to stomp on Bate’s fingers on the steps, but Bate turned it around and stomped on Dunne’s fingers. Dunne shook it off and took back over with a suplex off the steps onto the pretty black mats on the floor.
Dunne continued to work on the hand and fingers of Bate, at one point bending his arm down onto the mat and stomping on the elbow, which drove his hand into the mat. Bate started his comeback, including hitting the rolling kick. He went for the Tyler Driver ’97, but Dunne turned it into a triangle, however Bate was able to powerbomb Dunne from that position. Unfortunately he was still in the Triangle, so he somehow lifted Dunne up, carried him to the ropes, and necked him.
Bate broke out the airplane spin, going in each direction and the third spin was the fastest of all of them. He used an exploder suplex from the top rope, then a battle of kicks broke out until before Dunne used The Bitter End for a near fall. Twenty minutes into the match they had more energy than the opening bell. From their knees they began punching each other right in the face, and they both stood up still swinging with their punches getting weaker as they kept going.
Bate used a rolling koppo kick on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring, but he got dropped with an Ex-Plex in the ring for a two count. A minute later, we got a Tyler Driver, but Dunne kicked out of that! Finally Bate went for a German suplex from the top rope, but Dunne over rotated, landed on his feet, and hit The Bitter End for the bitter end. Dunne retained in another amazing bout!
It took 25 minutes, but Pete Dunne is going to end the year as United Kingdom Champion! That does it for this week. Merry Christmas and I’ll talk to you again in seven days!
Date: December 19, 2017 Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
The Big Takeaway —
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon had a somewhat tense verbal debate where Bryan told Shane to fire him if his vision for SmackDown has suddenly changed. Shane did not fire Bryan, but the storyline continues. In the main event, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles and Randy Orton beat Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Jinder Mahal.
Naomi and Charlotte pretty easily handed the Riott Squad their first loss as a team after defeating the duo of Sarah Logan and Ruby Riott. Naomi is officially the first woman to declare herself an entrant in next month’s women’s Royal Rumble.
Dolph Ziggler seemingly walked out on the brand after leaving his US Title in the ring in a segment that received virtually no reaction from the crowd.
The Bludgeon Brothers, Breezango, Mojo Rawley, Zack Ryder, Natalya, Bobby Roode and Baron Corbin were among those not on tonight’s show.
Show Recap —
Daniel Bryan came out to a huge reaction to kick things off. Bryan announced the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match, which brought a Yes chant, and said it would be a turning point in WWE history. Bryan also announced tonight’s six-man tag match, and that brought out Shane McMahon.
Shane got a mixed reaction. Shane said the women’s Rumble would be amazing, but moved on to Clash of Champions. Shane recalled Randy Orton hitting the most beautiful RKO on Sami Zayn (the crowd booed) and he smiled as he counted the fall, but before he could count three, Bryan fell on top of him. Shane knew now that it was just an accident.
Shane said when Zayn had Orton pinned, he stopped counting after recalling everything that had happened the last few months. He then brought up how quickly Bryan counted the fall for Zayn and wanted to know what he was thinking. Bryan said he was protecting Shane from himself and the crowd chanted, “Thank you, Daniel.”
Shane said he didn’t need Bryan’s protection, but Bryan told him he did. Bryan called him a hot-head (again) and explained that he took this job because they had a shared vision for the land of opportunity for everyone–not just people that Shane liked.
Shane warned Bryan that Owens and Zayn would stab him in the back as soon as they didn’t need him. Shane reiterated the warning from a business standpoint. Bryan didn’t like hearing “business standpoint” and recalled fighting against what’s “best for business.” He said if Shane had a different vision and he wanted to fire someone, he should fire Bryan.
The crowd chanted “No.” Bryan said he didn’t want Shane to turn into Mr. McMahon. Shane looked Bryan in the eye as if he was about to fire him, but instead wished him luck on the show tonight. They shook hands before Shane left.
Non-title match: Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin defeated Tag Team Champions The Usos (7:42)
They went to commercial 90 seconds into the match, then got to the hot tags right after the break. An Uso tried a suicide dive but Benjamin had a great counter where he leaped onto the apron for leverage and nailed a kick to the face. Eventually, Gable did the O’Conner roll Germans to each Uso. This led to Gable and Benjamin hitting their powerbomb/flying clothesline combo finisher for the pinfall win.
Charlotte Flair came out to the ring and they aired a dramatic video package of Stephanie McMahon’s announcement of the women’s Royal Rumble. They also showed backstage reactions from Nia Jax, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss, as well as tweets from Triple H, Beth Phoenix, Lita, and the Bellas.
Charlotte said the video package gave her chills. She said the women can do anything, but gave the fans the credit for speaking out. She congratulated the fans and the women’s roster. Charlotte would await the winner of that Rumble for a match at WrestleMania.
Naomi came out to continue the men’s tradition of simply declaring herself an entrant in the Rumble match. The Riott Squad came out next. Naomi called them three stooges who wouldn’t be entering the Rumble. She explained they couldn’t jump people from behind at the Rumble and it would be every woman for herself.
She called them chicken heads and said they’ve been able to fend off all of their attacks so far. The crowd chanted “chicken heads.” Naomi challenged them to a tag match.
Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair & Naomi defeated Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan (w/Liv Morgan)
Naomi made a hot tag and hit a Disaster kick on Logan but Ruby broke up the cover. After Charlotte took out Ruby, Naomi dodged a charge from Logan, who knocked Morgan off the apron. Naomi then hit Logan with a Rear View for the win. The match was no more than five minutes.
Backstage, The New Day walked around in ridiculous Christmas costumes. Big E shoved a pancake in some guy’s mouth and Kofi Kingston showed off their new, “Who?” t-shirts. They were stopped by Rusev and Aiden English, dressed as Santa and a snowman, and Rusev proudly showed off his Rusev Day shirt. New Day wanted one, but Rusev said no, because he only has a naughty list and everyone is on it–except English, who sang a new song:
O Rusev Day, o Rusev Day
We challenge you to a contest
O Rusev Day, o Rusev Day
You will be our next conquest
New Day accepted the challenge. Rusev grabbed their pancakes and stomped on them. This pissed off Big E, who said Rusev flapped the wrong jacks. Rusev chuckled like Santa and left. This was stupid and very amusing.
Dolph Ziggler’s United States Championship Celebration
Dolph Ziggler came out and said he proved everyone wrong. He showed a clip of his US Title win over Kofi Kingston back in 2011, when he had Vickie Guerrero at his side. Ziggler then showed clips of him winning the Intercontinental title several times, followed by his MITB win and cash-in on Alberto Del Rio. The announcers emphasized how crazy the crowd went for that win.
Ziggler called himself one of the most decorated competitors in history but he’s still unappreciated. He said we don’t deserve him. He asked if the fans wanted something to remember him by, to which they didn’t react. He dropped the US Title belt and left the ring, as if he was quitting. The crowd very lightly sang the goodbye song for a few seconds. This was lame and the crowd didn’t care. It was also just an extended version of Natalya’s promo from Clash of Champions.
Backstage, Owens and Zayn gave Bryan a bottle of champagne as a thank you. Bryan said he didn’t do it for them, he did it for the fans. He gave back the bottle because he doesn’t drink.
Owens and Zayn also figured Bryan helped them because he hates Randy Orton, and they brought up everything Orton did as part of the Authority. They warned Bryan about Shane. Bryan called them delusional and told them to stop smiling or he’ll fire them himself. He told them to get ready for their match and they left.
They plugged “free agent” John Cena’s return on Raw this Monday.
The crowd chanted “Ru-sev Day” in the vein of “New Day rocks.” The match was all comedy. After tossing Rusev and English from the ring, New Day grabbed Santa’s bag and tossed merch into the crowd. There was also a pair of briefs with “Happy Rusev Day” written in marker, which had them perplexed. This all happened during the match. Rusev and English attacked them from behind and they went to commercial.
After the break, the crowd chanted “We want pancakes” and Big E got them to sing “Hey we want some pancakes.” Rusev and English cleared the announce table and placed a plate of pancakes on it. English covered it in whipped cream and Rusev topped it off with a single cherry. Of course, this ended up with New Day planting English into the pancakes with a flapjack. And then Woods won with a springboard elbow drop. As silly as this was, it was still pretty fun.
WWE Champion AJ Styles, Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Jinder Mahal (w/Singh Brothers) (15:21)
Samir Singh attacked Nakamura so the referee tossed both Singhs from ringside. Orton gave Mahal an RKO so the Singhs ran back down and Orton gave them both a draping DDT. Styles gave Owens a Phenomenal forearm and Nakamura finished off Zayn with a Kinshasa for the win. The good guys posed, including Styles doing one of Nakamura’s poses, as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts —
A perfectly enjoyable and easy-to-watch show. Happy Rusev Day.
The Big Takeaway: Stephanie McMahon announced there will be an all-women’s Royal Rumble for the first time ever next month. Kurt Angle announced the main event for Royal Rumble will be Brock Lesnar defending the Universal Championship against Kane and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat match. It was a tough crowd as they wasn’t much heat for any of the matches.
This is my final recap before Christmas since I will be absent next week, so I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday season. Thank you so much for reading each week.
Show Recap:
Kurt Angle came out and addressed the situation from last week with Strowman vs. Kane. He announced Lesar was here tonight and by the end of the night he will declare who Lesnar’s next opponent will be. Strowman walked out and said he was the only one left standing last week and that’s why Angle should pick him to be Lesnar’s opponent at the Royal Rumble. This brought out Kane, who told Strowman he’s been in the WWE for over 20 years and there was no way anyone was stepping in front of him. Kane said Lesnar’s list of victims is impressive, and while it does include his brother the Undertaker, it doesn’t include him. Kane said he will get his chance at the Royal Rumble unless Strowman was man enough to stop him.
Paul Heyman came out and said they weren’t going to have this discussion without his client, Lesnar, who came to the ring with his music. Angle announced the Triple Threat, as quickly as he could, that it would be a Triple Threat match at the Royal Rumble with Lesnar vs. Kane vs. Strowman for the Universal Championship. Angle rushed through his catchphrase and got the hell out of the ring before the three men could start fighting. Kane knocked Strowman out of the ring with a series of rights, but Lesnar (after a bit of a struggle) got Kane up for the F-5.
Lesnar walked back up the ramp with Heyman smiling, but then Kane sat up and looked at Lesnar, which wiped the smile off of Heyman’s face. Strowman glared at Kane outside the ring.
Seth Rollins was supposed to face Samoa Joe. Rollins made his ring entrance, but Jason Jordan came out. Jordan said he has asked Angle for a match with Joe for two weeks. Jordan said he was done asking, and if Rollins had a bone to pick with Joe, he’s going to have to pick the bones when he’s done with Joe. Rollins said he appreciated what Jordan was trying to do, then Joe came out to “Joe” chants. Joe said he felt like the girl at the Ball and all the boys wanted to dance with him. Joe suggested Jordan face Rollins with the winner facing him. Rollins said the most has already been made, Rollins vs. Joe, so he dared Joe to come to the ring while Jordan looked somewhere else for his daddy’s approval. Jordan pushed Rollins down, which was enough for Rollins to agree to a match with Jordan then and there. Joe walked down to ringside to watch.
Seth Rollins defeated Jason Jordan (19:41)
Jordan’s offense consisted mostly of lifting Rollins over his shoulder and ramming him into the corner. Rollins delivered a downward spiral into the turnbuckle, but Jordan got up and hit an exploder suplex. Rollins jumped off the top rope for a clothesline on Jordan. Then Rollins attempted the spinkout knee, but Jordan arm dragged him over. Rollins knocked Jordan out of the ring, then hit a tope where his head went right into the dasherboards. Both men barely got back in the ring before the ten count. Rollins went for a springboard, but Jordan caught him for an overhead belly-to-belly, following by a rolling Northern Lights suplex for a two count. Jordan put Rollins on the top rope for a superplex, but Rollins punched Jordan back to the mat for a frog splash for a long two count. Jordan got out of the ring, but Rollins jumped off the apron for a knee strike. Joe and Rollins started jawing outside the ring, and Rollins threw Jordan into Joe, who started to go after Rollins, but Rollins hit Joe with a superkick. Back in the ring, Rollins pulled off a sunset flip, but Jordan sat down on top of Rollins for a two count. Rollins got the pin with the spinout knee.
Postmatch, Joe and Rollins began brawling. Joe hit a uranage on Rollins, then put the fists to him on the mat to leave Rollins laying. A series of referees pulled Joe off, but Joe clotheslined Jordan over the railing into the crowd to a big pop on his way to the back.
Backstage, Ambrose wanted a match with Joe tonight. Ambrose came in and wanted to face Joe. Then Jordan walked in and demanded a match with Joe. Finally, this led to Angle ordering a six-man with Jordan, Ambrose and Rollins vs. Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus. Ambrose and Rollins didn’t want to team with Jordan, but Angle said it was that arrangement or nothing.
Bray Wyatt appeared on screen and wondered why so many people are drawn to Matt Hardy. Maybe it was the funny faces that Hardy makes. Wyatt said if he wanted to continue his little chess match, then he would oblige.
Finn Balor defeated Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas in a handicap match by DQ (5:33)
Finn Balor did a double stomp on Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel ran in for the save. Axel placed Balor on the top rppe, but Balor kicked him off. Balor attempted the Coup de Grace, but Dallas ran in to stop Balor. Dallas refused to leave the ring, leading to the DQ. Axel and Dallas put the boots to Balor, but Hideo Itami ran down for the save. Itami went after Axel and sent him packing. Balor roughed up Dallas with a spin kick. Good reaction to Itami, and this led to a regular tag match.
Hideo Itami and Finn Balor defeated Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas (4:37)
Itami pinned Axel with the GTS. Crowd didn’t react to very much. Balor and Itami shook hands afterwards.
Alexander did an interview with Renee Young. Alexander said he wanted to show what 205 Live is all about. He said he wasn’t overlooking Gulak and he would be left alone with his arm up in the air ready to face Amore for the cruiserweight championship.
Enzo Amore came out with Gulak. Since the entire world is in a Star Wars mindset, Gulak compared himself to Jar-Jar Binks. Once again, Enzo looked at Gulak like he had lost his mind.
Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak to become the #1 contender for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (12:50)
Amore was on commentary largely hogging as much air time as he could. They did a spot where Gulak tried to give Alexander a vertical suplex over the top rope. Alexander landed on his feet on the apron, and it ended up with Alexander and Gulak doing a sick spot where they fell to the floor with Gulak taking a vertical suplex right on the back of his head, and Alexander didn’t fare much better. During a commercial, Gulak tossed Alexander off the top rope and landed on his back to the floor. Alexander hit the Queen’s Crowning, which is a standing moonsault side slam, for a near fall. Alexander attempted a handspring kick, but Gulak caught Alexander’s leg and put Alexander in the STF, which Amore claimed he taught Gulak and called it the Gabba Gulak Grip. Alexander got the ropes. Enzo then got a message on his cell phone and left. Gulak got distracted and wondered where Enzo was going. Alexander gave Gulak a backhand on the apron, flew off the top rope with a clothesline and got the pin with the lumbar check.
Amore went backstage, where he found a smiling Nia Jax waiting for him and wondered about his friend Drew. Amore said he didn’t know why everyone thought Gulak was his friend and shited the subject to the DM she sent him. At this point, Gulak walked in with tissue up his nose from blood, totally ruining the romantic moment Enzo was trying to build. Gulak apologized and said he lost to Alexander, and then apologized, saying he let Enzo down and the ‘Zo Train down. Jax walked off and said they would talk later. Enzo looked furious. Gulak said maybe they can sit down together and look at the tapes to determine what they did wrong. Enzo screamed that Drew did a lot of things wrong and left in a huff.
Alicia Fox cut an inset promo saying she would end Asuka’s winning streak tonight or else she would freak out.
Asuka defeated Alicia Fox via tapout (3:39)
Fox landed a roundhouse kick and hit the Northern Lights suplex, each for two counts. Asuka jumped off the 2nd rope for a dropkick, hit a running hip attack in the corner, got the buzzsaw kick and sank in the rolling armbar for the tapout.
They showed a Snickers Flashback from the Past. Of all things, they aired the memorable debut of Chris Jericho in August 1999.
Cesaro. Sheamus and Samoa Joe defeated Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Jason Jordan (13:08)
Rollins got the first hot tag and did a cool spot where he was on the apron. Cesaro attempted to give him a shoulder to the midsection, but Rollins dodged it and gave him a Famouser, then followed with another tope. Sheamus kicked Rollins on the bridge of the nose while Cesaro distracted the referee. Rollins did a great job getting the heat. The buildup to Ambrose’s hot tag got the best reaction of anything all night. Cesaro threw Rollins out of the ring, leading to a brawl outside the ring where Joe threw Jordan into the time keeper and Ambrose gave Cesaro a backdrop. Ambrose rolled Rollins into the ring, Rollins was about to make the hot tag, but Cesaro ran in and kicked Ambrose off the apron. It built up to a dive spot where Rollins hit a tope on Sheamus, Cesaro and Ambrose, who looked injured. A ringside doctor attended to Ambrose. To make it look legitimate, they went right to the finish where Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick on Rollins and Cesaro pinned him. Ambrose looked shaken up holding his right arm to his body as they abruptly went to a video package from the opening segment.
A limo pulled up in the back and Stephanie McMahon came out.
This week’s Hardy “Woken” sketch was Hardy at a chessboard. Hardy was talking to a goldfish, then said the vast battlefield of the WWE is much like a chessboard, every move must be precise. Otherwise, one wrong move could lead to annihilation. His light will illuminate brighter than any shadow that Wyatt could cast. Now that the new battlefield has been set, he will stand side by side with all of his Woken warriors. Sister Abigail must be stopped, they must be deleted, and he started chanting “delete.”
Backstage, Rollins checked on Ambrose when Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus attacked them. The heels put the boots to Rollins and rammed him into the wall. Joe then slammed a giant road case and rammed it onto Ambrose’s right arm, who sold it huge. Michael Cole said Ambrose would be taken to the hospital for X-rays.
The Revival defeated Rhyno & Heath Slater (3:04)
Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews and Dana Brooke (now with her hair in a bun dressed like Stacey Kiebler during her Miss Hancock WCW days) watched from the back. Brooke was taking notes on a notepad. Rhyno knocked Dash Wilder into Heath Slater. Wilder dragged Rhyno off the apron, and Scott Dawson set up Slater for the Shatter Machine. Wilder got the pin. The Revivial didn’t get much of a reaction for their latest return from an injury.
Rhyno and Slater were backstage when Angle walked up to them. Angle said he appreciated the effort and told them they need to toughen up a little bit if they want more opportunities. Slater freaked out and wondered if they were going to get fired. Rhyno told Slater he needed to toughen up and he knew exactly how to do it. Slater asked if it was going to hurt.
Elias was out. He started to strum “Jingle Bells” and told the crowd to give it up for Tom Brady. He claimed that he and Brady had crossed paths several times, that Brady had told him his music had been the path to his success, and for doing things like deflating football, altering the rulebook and things like that. Elias talked about Angle is afraid about what he is becoming. Elias said he will enter the Royal Rumble, which will be the performance of the year. Elias said his song tonight was dedicated to Roger Goodell, who got booed. I was most interested to hear this song, but Sasha Banks interrupted him. Elias thanked Banks for joining him and started to sing but Mickie James came out. Elias said normally he doesn’t mind being interrupted but all the women want to walk with Elias. He started to sing again when Bayley came out. Elias walked out of the ring and declined Bayley’s offer for a hug.
John Cena is advertised for next week’s Christmas Raw.
Bayley, Sasha Banks and Mickie James defeated Absolution by DQ (3:09)
Absolution largely dominated Bayley, Banks and James until they triple-teamed Banks. Jax came out, threw Sonya DeVille and Mandy Rose into the corner. Paige backed away in a corner. Jax, verryyyy slowly, put Rose and DeVille on her back and gave he a Samoan Drop. Then Paige ran in and chop blocked Paige. The heels triple teamed Banks until Brooke, Alexa Bliss, Fox, Asuka, and Jax ran down for the save.
They brawled until Stephanie came out. Everyone stopped and looked like their mother had arrived home and got caught doing something naughty. Stephanie said three years ago, a revolution started. Because of all of them, the revolution became the evolution. Because of them they had the first women’s Hell in a Cell match and women competed in the Middle East. Stephanie said all of the girls had started passion within girls. But she wanted to make history once again. Stephanie announced there would be an all-women’s Royal Rumble match on January 28th. She said “if there was ever a time for a yes chant, it’s now.”
Date: December 17, 2017 Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA
Show Recap —
Mojo Rawley defeated Zack Ryder (Kickoff Match)
Rawley won with a running forearm in the corner. He taunted Ryder throughout the match, questioning his killer instinct. This led to Ryder’s comeback which included two Broski boots, but Rawley got his foot on the rope on the cover. Rawley followed with a chop block and his finish for the win.
David Otunga was included on the pre-show panel along with Renee Young and Sam Roberts, if you were wondering.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode to become U.S. Champion (12:03)
Roode’s entrance received a good reaction and Ziggler got pretty good heat for his entrance with no music or video. Corey Graves said Ziggler had a list of accomplishments longer than Byron Saxton’s letter to Santa.
Corbin had control on both guys for a bit before Roode made a comeback and hit a blockbuster for two. Ziggler attacked Roode and caught him with a Fameasser but Corbin broke it up. Corbin then ripped off his shirt for some reason.
Roode gave Ziggler a uranage, then Corbin gave Roode a Deep Six for a nearfall. They followed with a tower of doom spot where Corbin powerbombed both guys (Roode catching the worst of it). Ziggler dodged Corbin who ran into the post and tried a superkick on Roode, but Roode ducked and hit a spinebuster.
Ziggler countered a Glorious DDT and hit a jumping DDT of his own for a nearfall. Roode sent Corbin back out of the ring, countered a superkick and hit a Glorious DDT on Ziggler, but Corbin pulled Roode out of the ring.
Corbin pushed Roode back in the ring and went for End of Days, but Ziggler caught them from behind and gave Corbin a Zig Zag for the win (pining Corbin). Ziggler is the new champ. Pretty good match.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan told a production guy to find him a new referee’s shirt because his was too big, like it was made for Earthquake. Shane McMahon jumped in and said his fits just fine (it’s the jersey he always wears).
Shane wanted to know what was up with Bryan. Bryan said Shane can be a bit of a hothead and just wanted to protect the match. Shane wanted to know what his plan was, logistically, and Bryan said they would both be in the ring. Bryan said they could talk about it more in private.
Dasha Fuentes tried to interview Corbin and said he’s developing a reputation for squandering opportunities. Corbin tossed a trash can in anger and said Ziggler was going to pay because he stole the title. (But not as bad as the Patriots stealing a win from the Steelers.)
Fatal 4-Way: The Usos defeated Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, Rusev & Aiden English and Big E & Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) to retain the Tag Team Titles (12:53)
English introduced Rusev which lead to loud “Rusev Day” chants. English sang the entire Twelve Days of Rusev song… and here it is:
On the twelfth day of Rusev, my partner gave to me, Twelve months of Rusev, eleven Russian medals, ten Lanas leaping, nine-second winning, eight Aiden songs, seven boards a’ breaking, six Machka kicks, five Plovdiv kicks, four of the lads, three hindered Jinders, two Rusev shirts, and a tag team victory.
The Usos sang a song in response, which was lame enough it almost turned them back heel.
Four guys could be in the ring at once. Of course, because it’s WWE, after some high spots, this lead to a moment where English had an Uso in a rest hold and Gable head Kingston in a rest hold right next to him.
The Usos retained the titles. It didn’t get off to a great start but this was a fun match. Rusev & English were the most popular team and got a bunch of nearfalls.
Rusev had Big E in the Accolade for a while, but Gable grabbed him and nailed a German. Gable then gave both English and Big E the O’Connor roll German suplexes, which both looked incredible. The Usos then nailed Gable with a superkick and diving splash for the win.
Lumberjack Match: Charlotte Flair defeated Natalya to retain the Women’s Championship (10:32)
The lumberjacks were Naomi, Carmella, Tamina, Lana, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan. After a couple straight weeks of the women not getting entrances on Smackdown, everyone got an entrance here.
Less than a minute into the match, Charlotte sent Natalya to the outside and Naomi, a babyface, kicked her a couple times before tossing her back in the ring. Natalya then tossed Charlotte outside and she was attacked by Tamina, Lana and Charlotte. Later in the match, all six heel women attacked Charlotte outside the ring. This happened several times. Naomi remained on the other side of the ring (off-camera).
When Natalya was sent outside, Carmella simply shoved her back in the ring. This led to Charlotte’s comeback. She tried a Figure Eight but Natalya kicked her outside the ring and Charlotte managed to dive onto Ruby. This led to a brawl with everyone, which was ended when Naomi hit a springboard dive on everyone.
The heels got one more cheapshot on Charlotte and that led to Sharpshooter by Natalya. Charlotte managed a rope break but the heels yanked her out and this led to another brawl. Carmella grabbed her briefcase and it seemed like she would cash in, but she was attacked by Ruby. As everyone continued to brawl, Charlotte nailed a moonsault onto the pile.
Natalya attacked her and went for the Sharpshooter again, but Charlotte countered into a Figure Eight for the submission win. This sucked. The only positive here was Charlotte overcoming everything to still retain the title. Everyone else came out of this looking weaker.
Kayla Braxton asked Natalya what went wrong. Natalya said Charlotte used her family’s name to cut corners (how?). Natalya yelled at the crowd and said she’s given the fans some of the best women’s matches they’ve ever seen. She’s carried the division but the fans don’t respect her. She said everyone turned their backs on her and now she was turning her back and them. She left the ring and cried her way up the ramp.
Fuentes wanted to interview Jinder Mahal but got the Singh brothers instead. They said Mahal was too busy meditating. I’m sure. They laughed at the idea of Styles beating Mahal and claimed they humiliated him on Smackdown. The Singhs said Mahal doesn’t even need them tonight. Fuentes asked if this meant they wouldn’t be at ringside, but they didn’t answer.
Talking Smack is back tonight, hosted by Renee Young and Sam Roberts. Charlotte and the Usos will be the guests.
Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango (1:57)
Harper and Rowan won in a squash. Breezango did get a couple of shots in, but it wasn’t much. Harper and Rowan destroyed Breeze on the outside and gave Fandango an assisted sitting powerbomb and double crucifix bomb for the win.
Bludgeon Brothers post-match promo: “The future holds more bludgeoning. More pain. More fear. The end of the beginning. The beginning of the end. Harper. Rowan. Bludgeon Brothers.”
Brock Lesnar was advertised for Raw tomorrow.
Fuentes interviewed Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Owens and Zayn said they know why Bryan made himself the second referee, because he’s the only reasonable person on Smackdown. Owens reminded us that Shane cost him a shot at the U.S. title back in the summer. He said the Sami & Kevin Show isn’t getting cancelled anytime soon, and Zayn said the Yep Movement lives on. Fuentes asked what happens if they lose. They looked at her with disdain and left without answering.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura (Special Referees: Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan) (21:32)
Bryan got a huge reaction. He and Shane shook hands. The crowd loudly sang Nakamura’s theme and they cut his song for a moment so you could hear them. Shane clapped for Orton and Nakamura on their way out.
Orton tried an early pinfall but both Shane and Bryan tried to count and they weren’t in sync, which was part of the story. Zayn then comically sold an uppercut from Orton. Nakamura tagged in and the crowd did dueling chants for him and Zayn.
There were a couple of pinfall attempts where Bryan and Shane were again out of sync, so they agreed to each just take one side of the ring, splitting it down the middle, which was amusing. At some point in here, Shane appeared to lose his ear piece.
After a while, the match spilled to the outside and Owens and Zayn began clearing the announce table. Shane wanted them to stop but Bryan said to let it go. Not sure if it showed on camera, but the announcers said Shane accidentally hit Bryan in the eye as he waved for them to stop.
Owens hit a frog splash on Nakamura through an announce table. Orton followed by hitting Zayn with a draping DDT. Orton followed with an RKO but as Shane counted the fall, Owens tried to interfere but knocked Bryan into Shane, breaking up the fall. Shane yelled “that was three” repeatedly at Bryan.
Orton gave Owens an RKO and this led to Orton and Zayn trading small packages, as Shane and Bryan took turns counting. Finally, Zayn seemed to have the match won with a schoolboy, but Shane stopped his count at two. The crowd gasped. Bryan got in his face and they yelled at each other.
Zayn then gave Orton a schoolboy and Bryan did a fast three count for the win. Shane tried to stop him but wasn’t fast enough. If you didn’t see this, this wasn’t necessarily Bryan siding with Owens and Zayn, but rather, he was pissed off at Shane. Owens and Zayn led a “Yep” chant afterwards.
I’m glad I don’t give star ratings because I have no idea how you would judge this one. It was an interesting angle that happened to last 20 minutes.
(If you didn’t see it, Bryan does take a bump onto Shane McMahon, but it was a soft bump and his head comes nowhere close to the mat. Still, somewhat interesting that they let him do that.)
AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal (w/Singh Brothers) to retain the WWE Championship (22:57)
Mahal wore brown trunks with orange lining and bright green logo. During the heat, he tossed Styles into and over the barricade, and Styles took a bump onto a steel chair. Mahal also dropped Styles onto the announce table.
After many minutes of rest holds, Styles came back with a dropkick as Mahal came off the top. Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm but Mahal knocked him off the top and hit a poor gutbuster.
Styles came back with an electric chair drop, strikes, sliding forearm and a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two. Styles went for another low forearm but Mahal kicked him out of the air and hit a Samoan drop for two.
Styles countered a Khallas into a Pele kick but Mahal countered a tornado DDT and hit a big boot for two. With Mahal on the ropes, Styles hit another kick and yanked him down. Styles hit a springboard 450 but was in too much pain to make a cover. The Singhs tried to pull Mahal out of the ring, so Styles hit one of them with a forearm and gave the other a Styles Clash on the outside.
Mahal ducked a Phenomenal forearm, hit a running knee and Khallas but Styles kicked out. The crowd sighed. The crowd was mostly quiet until this point but began chanting for Styles. Mahal set up for the Styles Clash but Styles reversed into a Calf Crusher. Mahal fought towards the ropes but Styles pulled him back to the middle of the ring and Mahal tapped.
This was a nothing match but, thankfully, Styles won. After all these months, Mahal doesn’t feel even a little like a main eventer.
The Hammerstein Ballroom hosts the last Ring of Honor pay-per-view of the year tonight as Final Battle 2017 takes place in New York City.
We’re looking for your thoughts on this show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Dalton Castle will finally get his shot at Cody Rhodes and the ROH World Championship in the main event. The match has some implications for New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Tokyo Dome show as well. If Cody retains, the title will be on the line when he wrestles Kota Ibushi on January 4th. If Cody isn’t champion then, he’ll take on Ibushi in a non-title match.
The Young Bucks & Hangman Page are also set to defend their Six-Man Tag Team Championship against Flip Gordon, Dragon Lee & Titan tonight. Kenny King’s TV title will be up for grabs in a four corners elimination match against Silas Young, Shane Taylor, and Punishment Martinez, and Beretta & Chuck Taylor will challenge for Motor City Machine Guns’ Tag Team titles.
Bully Ray is set to team with Tommy Dreamer as they battle The Briscoes in a New York street fight, Marty Scurll faces Jay Lethal, Will Ospreay is in action against Matt Taven, and The Addiction take on War Machine.
Our live coverage begins at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
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WILL OSPREAY VS. MATT TAVEN
Taven won with the headlock DDT after blocking the Oscutter. This was a great opener. They are pushing Taven as a world title contender. Both did big dives in the first 30 seconds and it started so hot it was hard to sustain. Lots of interference by Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan. Ospreay did a springboard shooting star to the floor on Marseglia and O’Ryan which allowed Taven to do a sliding kick through the ropes to the back of Ospreay’s head.
WAR MACHINE VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
Another really good fast match match. The finish saw Hanson use a tope on Kazarian and then they did the double-team fallout on Daniels and Rowe pinned him. All action from start to finish. Both teams looked great.
JAY LETHAL VS. MARTY SCURLL
This was a great match. The story of the match is Scurll told Lethal he needed to go back to being a villain and Lethal said he wouldn’t do that. But for the finish.as Scurll got the ref turned around, it was Lethal who gave him a low blow and the Lethal injection. Earlier Scurll had used the umbrella and a piledriver but Lethal kicked out. Match told a great story and the crowd ended up more into this than the first two matches, and they were into the first two matches. This is turning into a great show already.
CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY VS. BARETTA & CHUCKIE T FOR TAG TITLES
Weird finish. Cnuckie piledrove Sabin and then Sabin pinned Baretta with a jackknife cradle. It reads weird because it was weird. Fast paced match with a lot of spots and reverrsals. Good but I don’t thinki the crowd was as into this as the other matches fo far on the show.
KENNY KING VS. SILAS YOUNG VS. PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ VS. SHANE TAYLOR FOR TV TITLE
Young ended up as champion in the elimination match. Young and Martinez were the last two. Martinez did a running dive over the top onto Beer City Bruiser but Martinez injured his ribs. So Young kept working on the ribs with repeated knees to the body and hit mizery for the pin. With the story of match the crowd ended up pretty into it by the end. The first part of the match didn’t have much heat. Martinez came across like a star and the smart move here is Martinez chasing Young. Martinez pinned Taylor first with a springboad senton. Young pinned King after hitting him in the head with a beer bottle. Long match and overall good by the end.
MARK & JAY BRISCOE VS. BULLY RAY & TOMMY DREAMER STREET FIGHT
Long match, pretty much what you’d expect. The crowd was very into this. The finish saw the Briscoes use 3D on Bully on a table, but Bully didn’t go up well adn the table didn’t break. So Mark came off he top rope with an elbow off the top on Bully and Jay pinned him. A ton of action using kendo sticks, Star Wars sabres, Dreamer did a Spicolli driver on on Mark off the apron with table on the floor. Bully bled like crazy and they.used a cheese grater on him. Lots of ECW chants as well. .
They brought out Brandi Rhodes, Deonna Purrazzo, Jenny Rose, Jessie Brooks, Kelly Klein, Mandy Leon, Stella Gray, Sumie Sakai and Stardom star Mayu Iwatani. They announced a tournament to crown the firrst Women of Honor champion. Tournament starts on 1/20 in Nashville. Said other women from Stardom would also be coming.
YOUNG BUCKS & HANGMAN PAGE VS. DRAGON LEE & TITAN & FLIP GORDON FOR THE TRIOS TITLES
This was what you’d expect. They did almost no schtick, past a ton of missed dropkicks in successon. The rest was all the flying moves on both sides. Gordon is phenomenal as far as what he can do but he still doesn’t connect well with the crowd. Dragon Lee was super as usual as Lee & Titan have no issues working with Americans because of their time in Japan. age is standig out more including a crazy moonsault off the top to the floor. Page & Matt did a shooting star Meltzer driver off the apron to the floor to take out Lee. The finish saw Page have both Lee & Gordon in the rites of passage and Matt & Nick came off the top rope with a double indy taker on them and Matt pinned Gordon. Daniels & Kazarian & Scorpio Sky (who they put over as a friend of Gordon’s but the turned on Gordon after the match) came out and beat up both teams so they look like the next challengers.
Cody is wearing a mink coat like Flair & Dusty wore in the 80s.
CODY VS. DALTON CASTLE FOR ROH TITLE
Castle won the title clean with the bangarang. Good match, I don’t think the fans expected the title change at all. Big confetti celebration at the end. Cody came out with bleached blonde hair. Brandi Rhodes did a plancha on The Boys and Todd Sinclair kicked them all out. Cody bled heavily from being pulled into the post. There was a ref bump and Castle got Cody in the Julie Newmar submission and Cody tapped out but no ref. Cody escaped from the bangarang the first time and hit crossroads but Castle kicked out. Then they went to the finish.
WWE’s 15th annual Tribute to the Troops event took place at Naval Base San Diego earlier this month and aired on the USA Network on Thursday night.
Ring announcer and songstress Lilian Garcia sang a rousing rendition of the national anthem to start the show off, with her seeming to put a little extra emotion into the song for the live, outdoor crowd of men and women in uniform.
The event began in 2003 and has been hosted in places such as Baghdad, Iraq and Bagram, Afghanistan. Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and JBL were at ringside for commentary. Cole called Tribute to the Troops the “most patriotic and heartwarming show on television.”
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) defeated Samoa Joe, Cesaro & Sheamus
JBL said The Shield are the best faction in wrestling history, “with all due respect to the nWo, the Four Horsemen, and the Freebirds.”
Joe was hugely over with the crowd, which shouted “Joe, Joe, Joe,” through his entrance and during the match. Rollins and Ambrose did most of the heavy lifting in the match, including double dropkicks on Joe. Once Reigns finally got the hot tag from Rollins, he beat up on Cesaro with right hands, kicks, and a Samoan drop. JBL called Reigns “a once-in-a-generation athlete.”
Rollins hit a Rainmaker on Sheamus, Ambrose a Dirty Deeds on Cesaro, and Reigns pinned Cesaro with a spear.
After the match, Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns each thanked the crowd for their sacrifice and everything they do to keep the country safe. Rollins said the military members were the most dominant forces in the world and Reigns grabbed the mic and said “you can believe that,” to a mild pop.
– John Cena wasn’t there, but they showed clips of him from previous appearances.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defeated Carmella and Ruby Riott in a triple threat match
Charlotte received her own TV entrance and was accompanied by Naomi. Charlotte was the star here. Riott and Carmella teamed up on her for most of the match. Carmella mocked Charlotte with exaggerated chops and Ric Flair-like struts. Little Naitch (Charles Robinson) was the referee and Natalya watched from the entrance aisle.
Riott worked a stiff match with Charlotte, hitting her with forearms and kicks. She tried a superplex from the top rope, but Carmella pulled her down from the top, and then caught Charlotte with her split-legged headscissors from the top rope. At one point, Charlotte delivered a suplex to both Riott and Carmella, popping the crowd big. Charlotte eventually got the win with a Figure Eight on Carmella.
After the win, Charlotte grabbed the mic and said she was inspired by the true independent women on the base and that they were the “true champions.”
– Machine Gun Kelly, Bebe Rexha, and Sam Harris from X Ambassadors and his band sang “Home,” a song from the movie Bright.
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos & The New Day defeated Shelton Benjamin, Chad Gable, Rusev & Aiden English
This had lots of action all around, with New Day doing their typical comedy spots. The Usos hit each one of their opponents with superkicks to make The Young Bucks jealous. Jimmy Uso hit a splash to the outside on Gable, English, and Rusev, then Jey connected on a 619 in honor of Rey Mysterio and the fact that they were in San Diego.
The New Day got the win when Big E and Xavier Woods hit the powerslam and The Big Ending.
Bayley, dressed in red and yellow, came out sans the giant puppets and streamers. Banks was more over than Bayley. James and Deville had a great exchange of forearms outside the ring. James carried the match for her team early and the crowd loved her.
The highlight of the match was when Banks and Paige both got tagged in at the same time and Banks hit Paige with a series of clotheslines. Paige looked great in her role and doesn’t appear to have missed much in her near-year-long layoff with a neck injury and suspension. James hit a Lou Thesz press off the top rope on Paige and then an awesome dive to the outside on the Absolution members, but that gave Paige time to recover.
Paige rammed James’ head into the bottom turnbuckle and then pinned her with her finisher, the Rampaige. Absolution were the first heel team to get a win on the evening.
– We got another Machine Gun Kelly song, “Let You Go.”
– The show also featured various vignettes from celebrities, such as Terry Bradshaw, Stephen Colbert, and Clint Eastwood.
WWE Champion AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Orton was over like Hulk Hogan in MSG in 1985. Nakamura was over like Stone Cold in the late-1990s. AJ Styles was over like AJ Styles in 2017. This was a hot crowd who loved all three of these guys.
Owens kicked off the match with a kick to the stomach and then a headlock on Orton. Owens was very verbal, taunting Orton until Orton hit him with a powerslam. He tried an early RKO, but Owens slipped out. Orton looks like he turned back the clock a bit with his new haircut, nixing the bald look.
The match slowed when Mahal got in, but Orton then tagged Styles to a massive pop. Styles hit a dropkick and then tagged Nakamura, who lit up Mahal with his knee drop and kick in the corner. Mahal tagged Zayn and Nakamura hit a roundhouse kick on him, before making the tag to Styles.
Styles lit up the ring with his flying forearm and arsenal of aerial moves. He applied the calf-crusher, but it was broken up by Mahal. The Singh Brothers were at ringside to cause momentary distractions until Orton grabbed them both and delivered a double DDT on top of the second rope.
Nakamura and Zayn exchanged forearms, and then Nakamura hit Zayn with a wicked kick to the chest. Owens broke up a pin attempt, but Styles delivered a Phenomenal Forearm off the top rope. Mahal jumped in to apply a Cobra Clutch, but Orton broke it up and hit the RKO. Mahal rolled out of the ring, allowing Nakamura to connect with his Kinshasa on Zayn for the victory.
The crowd ate it up and the WWE production crew played Nakamura’s music in victory before moving to Styles’ music as he held up the championship belt and gave the “Too Sweet” symbol to the crowd.
Previously: Dan Lambert & Bobby Lashley defeated James Storm & Moose when Lambert pinned Storm.
Tonight: Rosemary faces Laurel Van Ness for the vacant Knockouts Championship. Plus, Johnny Impact, Alberto El Patron & Petey Williams take on Eli Drake, Chris Adonis & a mystery partner.
Show Recap —
Allie defeated KC Spinelli, Sienna, and Madison Rayne in a fatal four-way number one contender’s match
Early in the match, the other three women ganged up on Allie. Allie made a brief comeback until Sienna took over. Sienna set up Rayne for the AK 47, but Allie snuck up from behind and rolled up Sienna for the victory. Allie will receive a future title match against the Knockouts Champion.
The faces were in control early until the heels took over and isolated Xavier, then Ishimori got the hot tag and ran wild. The heels put Xavier in the tree of woe and set up Ishimori for a double-team move. Xavier knocked Konley off the top turnbuckle and Ishimori rolled up Lee for the win.
– Gail Kim winning a gauntlet match to become the first Knockouts Champion at Bound for Glory 2007 was shown. The order of entry was: Jackie Moore, Ms. Brooks, Shelly Martinez, Awesome Kong, ODB, Angel Williams (Angelina Love), Christy Hemme, Kim, Talia Madison (Velvet Sky), and Roxxi Laveaux.
Kong completely dominated the match and destroyed the other competitors. ODB, Kim, and Williams then worked together to eliminate Kong. The final two were Kim and Laveaux. Kim used a version of the Celtic Cross to win the championship.
Johnny Impact, Alberto El Patron & Petey Williams defeated Eli Drake, Chris Adonis & Kongo Kong
Before the match, Jimmy Jacobs came out and teased being the mystery partner but instead introduced Kongo Kong.
Impact and El Patron teased dissension throughout the match. The heels isolated Williams on their side of the ring. Impact and El Patron worked together to take out the heels, but El Patron turned on Impact and gave him the backstabber.
Williams attempted a hurricanrana on Kong, but he caught him and powerbombed Williams into the crowd. Impact hit the Starship Pain on Drake before El Patron broke up the pin. El Patron used the frog splash on Drake for the win.
– Joseph Park met with his cousin Chandler Park in the back. Chandler wants to become a wrestler, though Joseph is skeptical.
– James Storm and Moose came down to the ring to call out Dan Lambert and Bobby Lashley. Lambert has given American Top Team the night off. Moose challenged Lashley, but Lashley said he’ll face Moose on his own terms. Storm challenged Lambert to a match, but Lambert only accepted when Storm agreed to put his career on the line.
Lambert spit in Storm’s face and Moose and Lashley fought to the back. Storm backed Lambert into the corner, but KM made the save. Storm knocked out KM with the Last Call superkick.
Laurel Van Ness defeated Rosemary to win the Knockouts Championship
Rosemary was in control until Van Ness sent her into the ring post. Rosemary made a comeback with the Upside Down and exploder suplex on the floor. Rosemary tried to spit the mist, but Van Ness blocked it with her hands. She rubbed her hands in Rosemary’s eyes and hit the Unprettier to win the Knockouts Championship.
– Konnan and Sami Callihan met for their one-on-one sit down. Callihan searched the streets for Konnan and found him on a bench. Konnan wants a shot at the tag team titles. Callahan said he accepts as long as Konnan and LAX leave if they lose and OVE takes over all of LAX’s territory.
Before Callihan left, he threw a fireball in Konnan’s face.
Next Time: In three weeks, Eli Drake defends the Impact Global Championship against Alberto El Patron on the first Impact of 2018. Plus, Dan Lambert faces James Storm in a career vs. career match. The next two weeks will feature the best of 2017.
The Big News: Aleister Black pinned Adam Cole in the main event, advancing to the upcoming fatal four-way number one contender’s match.
The Medium News: Both Andrade “Cien” Almas and Ember Moon won their first matches after winning their respective championships.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Moon’s match was exclusive to the WWE Network, so no Moon vs. Peyton Royce on the USA Network version of the episode.
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NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Fabian Aichner in a non-title match
The most unlikely NXT Champion ever kicked off the show this week as El Idolo went one-on-one with Fabian Aichner. Aichner was in the Cruiserweight Classic and has since packed on muscle and no longer qualifies for 205 Live.
In his first match since winning the title, Almas almost got upset. Aichner showed he still has some moves in him as he busted out a springboard plancha to the outside and a springboard DDT back in the ring for a near fall. Vega interfered to distract Aichner long enough for Almas to take over and eventually win with the hammerlock DDT.
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SAnitY were discussing scars and unfinished business. Eric Young said War Games was beautiful, but the outcome was not ideal. They have not left the battlefield, and next week they will finish what they started with Undisputed Era.
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The Authors of Pain defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
Once upon a time, Lorcan and Burch lost to everyone on the roster individually. Then they had a couple matches with one another and found out they hate beating the crap out of each other. So now they’ve formed a tag team that has won as many matches in NXT as I have. Meanwhile, AOP were undefeated for 14 months and have lost only one televised match.
Lorcan and Burch put up a good fight, and for one minute they looked competitive. Unfortunately, this match went longer than a minute. AOP hit the Super Collider and then pinned Lorcan with the Last Chapter.
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A video package aired for the Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate match next week. They showed highlights from their tremendous match in Chicago, which reminds me, you still need to go and watch it.
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NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon defeated Peyton Royce (w/ Billie Kay) in a non-title match
So, remember last week when I went on about NXT being on the USA Network and finished up by writing that you’re going to get to see Peyton Royce on the USA Network? Well, it turns out that when you’re right 52 percent of the time, you’re wrong 48 percent of the time and this match was exclusive to WWE Network.
Both wrestlers were fast from the start, but Moon got the best of it, culminating in a plancha to the floor on to both members of the Iconic Duo. Royce got the heat when Kay distracted Moon on the apron and Royce used a 619 to the back and ribs.
Royce looked good, but not in a way that led you to believe she would actually win. Moon picked up the win with The Eclipse.
After the match, Kay pouted but then went bat crap crazy, with her nearly booting Moon’s head off! The Iconic Duo double teamed Moon until Nikki Cross ran in for the save. Cross destroyed both Royce and Kay and sent them packing before gazing at the NXT Women’s Championship and running away.
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Last week on WWE.com, the Street Profits debuted a new segment called “Street Talk” where they talked to fans outside the arena. They bribed a kid with a free Solo cup to make him say the Street Profits would take over in 2018.
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Shayna Baszler is coming soon.
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Next week:
SAnitY vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate for the WWE United Kingdom Championship
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Aleister Black defeated Adam Cole to advance to the fatal four-way number one contender’s match
What happens when you take two people who have never lost and put them in a match where one of them has to win? You get the main event this week on NXT.
This was a well-fought match between two supremely talented wrestlers, who obviously need to learn how to work and thus are in developmental. Cole had a crossface locked on, then held it on for as long as he could to wear down his foe when Black got in the ropes. Cole should have kept his yap shut as he was running wild until he decided to trash talk, which led to Black gaining the advantage.
Cole tried to go up top for a big move, but he got kicked in mid-air. This led to an excellent series of near falls by both as they hit big move after big move and got two count after two count. Black won, almost surprisingly, with Black Mass after Cole screamed “What have you got?” at him.
Black now joins Johnny Gargano and Killian Dain as three of the four members in the fatal four-way match to determine a new number one contender.
That does it for this week, but before we go I decided to fast forward my DVR recording of NXT on the USA Network to see what was different. In addition to not airing the Moon vs. Royce match, they also didn’t air the Street Profits segment and the SAnitY interview was after the AOP match, for some reason.
Until next week, thank you for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Date: December 12, 2017 Location: U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH
The Big Takeaway —
Daniel Bryan added himself as a second referee to the Owens & Zayn vs. Nakamura & Orton match at Clash of Champions. Shane McMahon was not on tonight’s show, and it was made clear that Bryan made this decision without Shane’s knowledge. Bryan also counted the fall for Owens’ win over Nakamura tonight after the original referee was knocked out. Bryan was previously on commentary for the match, which was interesting in and of itself. See below for more.
Show Recap —
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn marched around backstage handing out flyers for the “Yep Movement,” asking people to occupy Smackdown. They wore the old Daniel Bryan t-shirts that read “Yes! Yes! Yes!” except they taped over it so it reads “Yep! Yep! Yep!” Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin were among those who received flyers. The movement specifically targets Shane McMahon and his removal from power.
AJ Styles came out to a big reaction. He said he can’t sleep or eat, because all he can think about is defending his WWE title this Sunday. He figured Jinder Mahal must’ve felt the same way, but there’s no sense being champion if you aren’t willing to defend it.
Styles recalled everything Mahal did to defend his title, like making a Punjabi Prison match and bringing Great Khali all the way from India to help. Styles understood his desire to remain champion, but before he could continue, the Singh brothers interrupted.
The Singhs said they normally introduce Mahal, but not tonight, and they replayed the beating Mahal gave them. Styles said he felt bad for them and invited them to the ring so they could hug it out. They hesitated, but then went to the ring as the crowd chanted “hug it out.” They each hugged him. Samir wanted to hug him a second time but Styles said “That’s enough.”
The Singhs wanted to be in Styles’ corner at Clash of Champions. They recalled some of the things Mahal made them go through and said Mahal thinks they’re twins. Mahal also made them kiss his feet, which smelled like cheese and butter chicken.
Styles played along for a bit, but then asked why they were still with Mahal over the weekend in India. Styles showed some pictures of them with Mahal (which he somehow had cued up for this exact situation) and some of the crowd chanted “you fucked up.”
Mahal interrupted. Styles old the Singhs they suck and said he liked the idea of facing Mahal one-on-one. He headbutted Sunil and punched Samir. Mahal jumped on the apron as the crowd chanted “Jinder sucks” but he eventually backed down. A fine opening segment. It was nice to see a babyface easily outsmart the heels.
Charlotte Flair defeated Ruby Riott (w/Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) via DQ (5:02)
Perhaps the previous segment went long, but there were no entrances here. (Charlotte received a partial entrance, but Ruby was already in the ring). The lone women’s match last week also didn’t have any entrances.
Also, they did the thing where they play a 3-minute video package after the women made their entrances, meaning they were just standing around that entire time. Also, they went to commercial less than a minute in the match.
After a break, the match was over quickly via DQ. Natalya was on commentary and only had nice things to say about the Riott Squad. Logan tried to get involved so Charlotte knocked her off the apron. Charlotte attacked everyone around ringside, including Natalya who had jumped off commentary. Eventually, Natalya decked her for the DQ. The Riott Squad beat up Charlotte afterwards as Natalya watched.
They set up the steel steps to crush Charlotte as they did to Naomi a few weeks ago, but Naomi made the save. She ran down the ramp and nailed a fantastic dropkick to both Morgan and Logan. She attacked Ruby in the ring and gave her a Rear View.
The Riott Squad ran away up the ramp. They were attacked by Carmella, Tamina and Lana but managed to escape.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan was on the phone with Shane McMahon. Owens and Zayn jumped in. They didn’t ask Bryan to get off the phone but instead showed off their “Yep!” t-shirts and dropped off a flyer for Bryan. After they left, Bryan took a close look at the flyer.
Non-title match: U.S. Champion Baron Corbin defeated Dolph Ziggler via DQ (1:33)
Both guys got an entrance. Corbin wrestled shirtless. Bobby Roode was on commentary and didn’t waste anytime interfering. He jumped in the ring and gave Ziggler a DDT for the DQ. Corbin tried to attack him so Roode gave him a DDT too. He posed. Two straight DQ finishes.
Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton said the Fashion Files is now a WWE.com exclusive show. They aired a clip from this week’s episode. Basically, Fandango told the Ascension that he and Tyler Breeze were going to fight the Bludgeon Brothers. Breeze seemed surprised. Breeze and Fandango lightly bumped fists and they looked terrified. (The match was announced for Clash of Champions.)
Bludgeon Brothers defeated Colin Delaney & Joe Monroe (1:21)
This was apparently the same Colin Delaney who was featured on WWE’s ECW years ago. Harper and Rowan won quickly with a double chokeslam on Delaney. The highlight of the match was Monroe loudly shrieking as he went up for a double chokeslam.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Occupy SmackDown
Owens and Zayn came out. They tried to pretend there was an energy in the building for Occupy Smackdown and Owens said “Yep” after every statement made by Zayn. Some of the crowd also chanted “Yep.”
Owens said Shane was the worst McMahon of them all and went over the unfair stips at Clash of Champions. Zayn said “Yep” after each statement and the crowd is doing it too. Owens fired up and implored people in the back to come on down and join the Yep movement.
Nobody came out initially, but Daniel Bryan eventually walked out. Zayn thought they would be joined by thousands, but really, Bryan is the only one who counts. He excitedly introduced the crowd to Bryan who asked, “What are you guys doing?”
Owens said they were just like him, but Bryan reminded them that the Yes Movement was not about him, it was about the fans. Zayn agreed and said this movement was more about what him and Owens want and deserve.
Bryan said he has Shane’s back but also knows that Owens and Zayn are talented. He doesn’t deny that Shane will be a fair referee, but Bryan promised to make sure they are given the opportunity to prove they belong. However, if they lost, there would be no excuses, and they would be fired. Bryan then announced himself as the second referee. The crowd chanted “Yes.” They played Bryan’s music and Zayn and Owens chanted “Yes” too.
Non-title match: Rusev & Aiden English defeated Tag Team Champions The Usos
Before the match, English sang the rest of the song he didn’t get to finish last week. It was pretty great. New Day, on commentary, were not impressed. The Usos came out and let English know all the gifts he would get from Santa, including singing lessons, a toupée, a new tag partner and a tan. Gable and Benjamin came out and did some purposely cheesy comedy. Someone from the New Day snickered when Gable called him and Benjamin the masters.
This was another short match. English distracted the referee allowing Rusev to hit an Uso with a superkick. English followed with a DDT for the win.
Renee Young interviewed AJ Styles backstage, but he was attacked by Mahal who let him know he would not beat the odds on Sunday. Anything can happen of course, but it sure doesn’t feel like Mahal is getting the title back.
The announcers ran down the Clash of Champions card, which now includes Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder. In the tag title fatal four way, you can only tag your own partner into the match.
Kevin Owens (w/Sami Zayn) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (w/Randy Orton) (14:31)
Renee Young interviewed Orton and Nakamura before the match. She asked Orton if they were concerned at all over Shane McMahon’s motivations getting in the way. Before he could answer, the crowd chanted for Nakamura and Orton gave them a moment to keep chanting.
Orton said Owens and Zayn were obnoxious and self-entitled. He said they would do everyone a favour by beating the two idiots on Sunday. Renee asked Nakamura if he agreed with that sentiment and he responded, “Yep.”
Daniel Bryan joined commentary. He wasn’t sure exactly how he and Shane could both be referees in the same match, but they would figure it out this week. The announcers egged on Bryan and asked if he even told Shane he was making himself referee. Byan downplayed it and just wanted to make sure the right team won. Bryan said he can relate to Owens and Zayn, but also mentioned rooming with Nakamura years ago and considered him a friend.
After a break, Bryan recalled a story of Owens trying to gouge his eye out in a match when he had a detached retina. Bryon for some reason (perhaps because someone was yelling in his ear) said this didn’t happen in WWE. Bryan didn’t care and said it still happened. Corey Graves said Saxton didn’t have much life experience outside of being at that commentary table.
(There was some more interesting stuff from Bryan, and if you’ve missed him on Talking Smack and missed this, maybe check this out.)
Nakamura made a comeback and Bryan put over his knee and leg strikes. Owens tried a forearm but Nakamura ducked and Owens knocked out the referee. Bryan jumped off commentary and put on the referee’s shirt. Nakamura hit a leg strike but Owens kicked out at Bryan’s two count.
Zayn and Orton got into it after Zayn tried to interfere. Zayn poked him in the eye and tossed him into the ring post. Nakamura knocked Zayn off the apron, but Owens used the distraction to hit a pop-up powerbomb for the win. Byron tried to claim this meant Bryan would screw over Nakamura and Orton at Clash of Champions.
Afterwards, Renee tried to interview Owens and Zayn. Owens grabbed the mic and called them the best in all of WWE. He kissed Zayn on the cheek and led a “Yep!” chant.
Final Thoughts —
This show was alright, but I’m definitely intrigued by the main storyline. Bryan counting the fall for Owens seemed like the finish they were saving for Sunday, but they did it here instead. It’s also amazing to see how well Styles comes across as champion. He toyed with the heels and easily outsmarted them.
The rest of the show was filler, with bad finishes and pacing. This was a two-hour show that probably could’ve been an hour. The women’s match and tag match were both cut in half by commercial breaks. There was well over 30 minutes left in the show when they announced the main event was coming up next, but less than 20 minutes left by the time it started.
The stage is set for January 4th and what promises to be a memorable Wrestle Kingdom 12.
Tetsuya Naito scored a tag team victory over his Wrestle Kingdom foe, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, but it was Okada who left Naito laying after the match at Monday’s World Tag League 2017 finals in Fukuoka.
Okada snapped after Naito taunted him with a promo, applying a Cobra Clutch — silencing the pro-Naito crowd and planting a seed of doubt as to whether or not the Tokyo Dome will be the site of Naito’s coronation as the top guy in New Japan for 2018.
Elsewhere on the show, Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance, laying out Kenny Omega and leaving his Wrestle Kingdom foe bloodied. Jericho played a total heel in the angle, displaying a mean streak that we haven’t seen from him since his Best in the World run nearly a decade ago. After a sneak attack, Jericho hit Omega with a Codebreaker and a belt shot, and flipped off the crowd for good measure, adding heat to their feud. Jericho also gave Don Callis a Codebreaker.
The World Tag League tournament final was the main event of this show, but it felt like something of an afterthought. The Los Ingobernables de Japon team of SANADA & EVIL defeated the Guerrillas of Destiny, who represented the Bullet Club, cementing their status as challengers for the IWGP Tag Team titles at Wrestle Kingdom. After issuing a challenge to the champs, Killer Elite Squad, another match was set for Wrestle Kingdom. The full card (or at least most of it) will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday.
This was a matchup of young guns (and Makabe) against veterans. They didn’t get a lot of time. The vets did some of their trademark spots, then it broke down, leaving Kawato and Kojima in the ring. Kawato ate a lariat for the finish.
War Machine, Jeff Cobb & Michael Elgin defeated Hangman Page, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Leo Tonga
The War Machine/Cobb/Elgin team did a ton of power stuff, while Owens and Page countered with a good bit of flying and lucha spots. Tonga worked the bulk of the match for his team, and he ate a Fallout for the loss.
Bad Luck Fale defeated BUSHI by DQ
Fale had BUSHI pinned but decided to pull him up for some more punishment. BUSHI responded by spraying Fale with the black mist, then kicking him low for the disqualification. Why? Why was this on my television?
Best Friends (Beretta & Chuck Taylor) defeated Death Juice (Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan)
This served both as a palette-cleanser and one last opportunity for Taylor and Callihan to make a lasting impression in Japan. My gut says that Callihan did well enough to be asked back, and his association with the very over Robinson helps. Taylor, through no fault of his own, is another good worker on a show full of them.
Robinson hit a double noggin knocker at one point. I didn’t think I’d see that spot in 2017 New Japan. Beretta kicked out of a package piledriver and a powerbomb, and the Best Friends hit Strong Zero for the victory.
Lance Archer worked over YOSHI-HASHI while the rest of the guys did the requisite Suzuki-gun brawling spots all over the arena. YOSHI-HASHI sold forever — until making a hot tag to Ishii. Davey Boy Smith Jr. cut off Ishii, getting a near fall. Yano untied a corner pad, and Archer ran into the exposed buckles. Goto and Suzuki tagged in, and there was a notable buzz in the crowd as they traded strikes, which bodes well for the Tokyo Dome.
The match broke down into an eight-way. YOSHI-HASHI saved Goto from eating a Gotch piledriver from Suzuki and left Desperado to eat a GTR from Goto for the finish.
Goto challenged Suzuki after the match, and Suzuki accepted — after Goto agreed to put up his hair. Both guys were great in doing their promos.
Cody & Marty Scurll defeated Kota Ibushi & KUSHIDA
Ibushi and Cody started off, and they did a nice sequence of spots, establishing each other as being on the same level. It looked to me, someone who has never taken a bump, like Ibushi was slowing down at certain points to allow Cody to keep up at some points. At other times, it appeared that Cody was more than holding up his end of the bargain.
Later, Cody went to work on Ibushi’s right leg, but Ibushi was able to hit a moonsault for a near fall. Cody responded with an Alabama slam, and KUSHIDA and Scurll tagged in. Cody did a nice springboard dive to the outside on Ibushi, while Scurll got a near fall on KUSHIDA with a brainbuster. Ibushi hit a ridiculous springboard moonsault to the outside on Cody, and they brawled up the ramp. Cody got the best of the exchange, hitting Cross Rhodes on the stage.
While the referee was distracted, Scurll threw powder into KUSHIDA’s eyes, then rolled him up for the pin.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks defeated Rocky Romero, Sho & Yoh
Nick Jackson hit a dive off the apron on to Yoh and Romero, and The Elite did some innovative triple-team spots. And, of course, a million superkicks. Sho got a tag and ran wild on the Bucks. They did an awesome six-way suplex spot in the ring, and the Roppongi team claimed the advantage.
Omega fired back with dragon suplexes on Sho and Yoh, then The Elite hit a triple superkick on Romero. Sho and Yoh hit stereo dives to the outside on the Bucks, leaving Romero and Omega to fight it out in the ring. Omega hit a One Winged Angel on Romero for the pin, setting the stage for the post-match angle with Jericho.
Naito and Okada started things off, and there were chants for Naito. They teased locking up forever — until Okada briefly got the best of their first exchange. Naito teased a dive to the outside but slid into his pose in the middle of the ring instead, which got a big pop.
Takahashi and Ospreay tagged in and went a million miles an hour before brawling to the outside, while Naito slammed Okada on the stage before attacking Gedo. Okada fired up and briefly laid out Naito in the ring, but Naito fired back with a neckbreaker on the apron. He followed up with a missile dropkick, but Okada countered with a dropkick of his own, then briefly applied a Cobra Clutch before teasing a tombstone. Naito recovered and planted Okada with a tornado DDT, which led to a double down and tags to Ospreay and Takahashi.
Takahashi scored a near fall, but Okada broke up the pin and hit a dropkick on Takahashi. Ospreay went for the OsCutter, but Takahashi countered it with a suplex. After an assist from Naito, Takahashi hit the Time Bomb for the pin.
SANADA & EVIL defeated Guerrillas of Destiny to win the 2017 World Tag League
The Guerrillas took the early advantage, taking the action outside. They worked over EVIL, though at a significantly slower pace than the matches that preceded this one. EVIL made his own comeback and hit a sidewalk slam on Loa, enabling a tag to SANADA. SANADA and EVIL worked over Tonga, but a ref bump enabled the Guerrillas to use a chair to regain the advantage. BUSHI ran in and misted Loa to even the odds, but Fale lumbered his way in to chase BUSHI to the back.
EVIL survived two near falls as the ref recovered, and SANADA went to work on the Guerrillas. EVIL hit a lariat for a near fall. EVIL and SANADA put Loa through a table that had been set up outside the ring earlier by the Guerillas, then scored a near fall on Tonga. Tonga kicked out of Darkness Falls and a Magic Killer, but EVIL put him down with an STO for the win.
