The Big Takeaway: Jason Jordan returned to Main Event and took Curt Hawkins’ loss tally to 121, then Cedric Alexander beat Tony Nese in a short back-and-forth bout.
**********
Jason Jordan defeated Curt Hawkins (4:58)
You have to go back a year ago — almost to the week — to find a Jason Jordan appearance on Main Event. In November 2016, he defeated Viktor in an unmemorable singles match and there was just as little of note here in his bout against Curt Hawkins.
Hawkins’ losing record is now being referred to as the “longest in the modern era” on commentary. Jordan dispensed with him with relative ease, despite giving Hawkins more of the match than his status deserves, using his as-yet-unnamed finisher — a belly-to-back suplex lifted and dropped into an elevated neckbreaker.
The match was full of drop down/leapfrog combinations until Hawkins worked over Jordan’s storyline injured shoulder and took control with rest holds. The turning point was when Hawkins came off the top rope for an elbow drop and Jordan rolled out of the way. It led to a quick finish from Jordan, who had stopped selling his elbow and pinned Hawkins to continue his losing misery.
Cedric Alexander defeated Tony Nese (4:30)
So often on Main Event, the cruiserweights aren’t given nearly long enough and this was no different. It becomes a see-how-much-of-our-stuff-we-can-get-into-five-minutes contest and it does them a disservice when you look at the talent on display.
Despite its brevity, there were several good moments in the match. Alexander had a shine segment where he slid under Nese’s legs, sprung up and rolled underneath him, and came up with an overhead kick. He then did a kip up and drank in the roar of the crowd while mocking Nese by counting his abs. These two are very good together.
The finish really could have gone either way: after Nese had used his pumphandle slam, Alexander barely kicked out, but quickly recovered to nail Nese with a springboard handstand scissors takedown. Alexander used the Lumbar Check and leaped on top of Nese as hastily as he could to ensure that he got the win. This was a good, solid match.
NJPW’s biggest remaining stop on the road to the Tokyo Dome takes place tonight as the Edion Arena in Osaka hosts Power Struggle.
The show will be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi defending his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi, who beat him when they matched up in this summer’s G1 Climax. The winner will be virtually guaranteed to defend their title in one of the top matches at Wrestle Kingdom.
In the show’s other title matches, Trent Barreta will have his biggest test at heavyweight yet as he challenges for Kenny Omega’s IWGP United States title, there will be another match in the Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll rivalry as they face off with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title on the line, and Minoru Suzuki will defend his NEVER Openweight title against Toru Yano in a bullrope match.
The show’s undercard has the finals of this year’s Super Junior Tag Team Tournament (with Sho & Yoh taking on Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH), a Chaos vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon tag match, the reveal of the wrestler who has been billed as “Switchblade,” and more. Join us for live coverage starting at 2:40 a.m. Eastern time.
**********
David Finlay defeated Katsuya Kitamura
This was a pretty basic pre-show match. Finlay missed two shows on the road to Power Struggle tour due to a shoulder injury, and Kitamura focused on his shoulder when he was on offense.
Finlay tried to take Kitamura down with shoulder blocks but was knocked down before grabbing a headlock. Finlay hit headbutts into the corner, a corner splash, and got a two count.
Finlay went for a suplex but was blocked by Kitamura, who hit a suplex of his own as he took over with chops. Kitamura took Finlay down with a shoulder block until Finlay came back with a DDT. He went for a cutter, but Kitamura shoved him off and hit a spear for two.
Kitamura got the better of some strikes and focused back on the shoulder, but Finlay ended up hitting a backbreaker on his knee. He hit a cutter/stunner for the win. After the match, Finlay urged Kitamura to get up and they showed each other respect.
The Young Bucks defeated Dragon Lee & Titan
Good match that put the Bucks over pretty strongly. They won with a new submission, the Cease and Desist, which is a combination crossface/sharpshooter.
Dragon Lee and Titan motioned crotch chops to the Bucks prior to the match. Nick Jackson and Dragon Lee started off with fast-paced counters, with it ending when they went for simultaneous dropkicks and posed when they came back to their feet. The Bucks went for the Indytaker until it was foiled and Dragon Lee and Titan hit dives to the outside.
Dragon Lee and Titan used double-team offense until the Bucks took over. Matt Jackson locked in the Sharpshooter on Dragon Lee as Nick tried to keep Titan away. They used stereo Sharpshooters, but both got to the ropes. Matt went for a superkick, though he ended up hitting Nick. They recovered and hit a rope-assisted double-team senton, but it only got two.
The Bucks set up for the Indytaker again, with Dragon Lee giving Nick a hurricanrana off the apron to the floor. A big sequence ended with Titan hitting a springboard moonsault onto everyone on the outside. Matt caught Titan on a dive back in the ring. The Bucks hit The Indytaker and used a the Cease and Desist (combination sharpshooter/crossface), for the win.
KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson, Jushin Thuder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Hirai Kawato defeated Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Taka Michinoku & Taichi
Suzuki-gun jumped the faces at the the bell and Sabre went after Robinson on the barricade, going after his hair. El Desperado and Kanemaru focused on Liger and Tiger Mask’s masks on the inside.
Liger locked on the Romero special, though Kanemaru broke it up. He hit double DDTs on Kanemaru and Desperado, then tagged in Robinson. Robinson and Sabre went at it with strikes. Sabre locked on the Octopus hold, but Robinson was able to hit a gut buster and tag in KUSHIDA.
Michinoku gave KUSHIDA an eye poke, with Suzuki-gun going after the faces again after as it broke down into a brawl. KUSHIDA used the Hoverboard Lock on Michinoku until Sabre got one of his own on KUSHIDA. Kawato hit a big dropkick to break it up, the babyfaces got some shine spots (including a dive by Kawato), and KUSHIDA submitted Michinoku with the Hoverboard Lock.
Cody was wearing the ROH World Championship as the Bullet Club made their entrance. He offered Tenzan a handshake and wanted him to kiss his ring before they started, but Tenzan refused. Bullet Club attacked the faces at the start, but Tenzan and Kojima ended up using double-team offense on Owens. Tenzan had the upper hand on Owens until the Bullet Club used the numbers game to gain the advantage.
Bullet Club isolated Tenzan and made tags in and out. He was able to get a tag to Makabe, who ran wild with powerslams on all three Bullet Club members. He hit clotheslines to the corner and punches on Cody, getting a two count after a shoulder block. Cody made a comeback and hit the Disaster Kick. Tenzan gave Cody a lariat as both went down, with them making tags to Kojima and Owens.
Kojima hit his Machine Gun chops and was in control until the heels again got the upper hand. Makabe hit a double lariat on Cody and Yujiro, with Kojima getting the win for the faces with a lariat of his own.
Sho & Yoh (w/ Rocky Romero) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH to win the Super Junior Tag Team Tournament
This was a really good match and a fitting tournament final. The story of it was that ACH was trying to overcome a rib injury that Sho and Yoh kept focusing on. He was able to fight through the pain at times while selling his ribs, with Taguchi trying to play hero when he was left alone.
It was hyped up on commentary that Sho and Yoh were trying to become the first team to win the tournament while junior tag champs.
At the start, Taguchi kept hitting hip strikes on Sho and Yoh in opposite corners as ACH urged him to keep going, Sho and Yoh then gained control, hitting separate dives on the outside.
Back in the ring, they worked over ACH and focused on his injured ribs with strikes and holds. ACH briefly had the advantage with chops until Sho was tagged in and went back to work on his ribs. He used an abdominal stretch, with Yoh coming back in and hitting a dropkick to the ribs. ACH hit a double stomp and finally made the tag, with Taguchi coming in and using more hip attacks.
Taguchi ran wild with a plancha, another dive to the outside, a springboard hip attack, and an ankle lock. He went for the Three Amigos, but Sho countered. They exchanged strikes, Taguchi hit an enzuigiri, and Yoh was tagged in.
Taguchi hit a hip attack and made the tag to ACH, who wasselling his ribs heavily. He struggled to get to the top rope and missed a frog splash, further hurting his ribs. Yoh used strikes until ACH came back with some of his own. They traded some more strikes before Sho and Yoh hit stereo jumping knees. ACH countered and fought both off briefly. They focused back on ACH, but Taguchi came in for the save.
Taguchi and ACH used more hip attacks, Taguchi hit the Dodon, ACH connected with the Midnight Star, but the pin was broken up. Taguchi and ACH tried to finish it before Sho made the save. Sho and Yoh took back over on offense. ACH tried to make a comeback but was hit with a lungblower, a shotgun dropkick, and Roppongi 3K’s tag team finisher for the win.
– With no apparent challengers for the Tokyo Dome show, The Young Bucks came back out and challenged Sho and Yoh after they had received their trophies. Matt Jackson called them young boys while saying the Bucks are the best tag team in pro wrestling and want the junior heavyweight tag titles back. Romero got on the mic to accept the Bucks’ challenge.
They had a fairly standard tag match that further built to Okada and Naito’s Tokyo Dome main event. Naito hit Okada with bodyslams on the entranceway, they later went at it in the ring, and Okada hit a tombstone on Naito before pinning BUSHI.
Ishii and EVIL started off by trying to knock each other down. They kept charging into each other, exchanged strikes, then EVIL finally knocked Ishii off his feet. YOSHI-HASHI and Takahashi took their turn in the ring next before things broke down on the outside and Naito laid out Okada with the bodyslams on the entranceway.
Back in the ring, BUSHI worked over YOSHI-HASHI before tagging in SANADA. YOSHI-HASHI fought off SANADA and Naito before getting the tag to Goto. Goto went to work, hitting a Saito suplex on SANADA for a two count. He fought off the Paradise Lock went for the GTR as they battled back and forth, They made tags to Naito and Okada (who had recovered) as those two faced off in advance of their main event at Wrestle Kingdom.
Okada had the advantage until Naito started to focus on his neck. Okada came back with a neckbreaker and tried to get the tag to Gedo, but BUSHI cut him off after getting the tag from Naito. All of Los Ingobernables focused on Okada, hitting him with a triple-team dropkick.
Okada dodged the MX and Chaos regained control. Okada went for a tombstone, with BUSHI getting out of it before being hit with a dropkick and an elbow drop. Naito tried to attack Okada, but Okada took him out with a tombstone and pinned BUSHI with the Rainmaker while doing Naito’s eye pose.
– NJPW announced a return to Long Beach on March 25th, 2018 at Walter Pyramid.
NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki defeated Toru Yano in a bullrope match to retain his title
For better or worse, they had the match you’d expect. They brawled and used the bullrope a lot, Suzuki-gun interfered, and Suzuki retained with a delayed Gotch-style piledriver while the rope was around Yano’s neck.
Commentary explained the bullrope stipulation by saying it would keep Yano from doing his outside-the-ring-antics and would prevent Suzuki from using chairs and other foreign objects, but that didn’t end up happening. Yano attacked Suzuki before this started, choking him with the rope until Suzuki-gun came into the ring to stop him.
Suzuki immediately dragged Yano with the rope on the outside. He went for the Gotch piledriver on the entranceway until Yano fought it off. Suzuki choked him with the rope, shoved the referee, and threw Yano into the barricade as they fought on the outside.
Suzuki continued working on Yano in the ring. Kanemaru and Desperado attacked Yano on the outside while Suzuki distracted the ref, but Goto ran in for the save. Suzuki locked in an armbar and wrenched back while the rope was wrapped around Yano’s neck. Yano wouldn’t quit and got his foot on the ropes.
Takashi Iizuka made his way down the entranceway and drew the attention of the referee as Suzuki wrapped up Yano in the ropes. Suzuki tried to use a chair until the referee stopped him, with Yano knocking them down, using the chair, and hitting a powerbomb until the ref was pulled out of the ring. Iizuka and Taichi attacked Yano. Iizuka tried to use the iron claw, but Yano was able to counter and get a small package on Suzuki for a near fall.
For the finish, Suzuki choked Yano with the rope and hit a delayed Gotch-style piledriver while the rope was still around Yano’s neck.
Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
They had a really good match that was constantly back-and-forth with a lot of spots. They always deliver when they wrestle each other and this was the biggest stage they’ve faced each other on.
For the surprise finish, Scurll caught Ospreay with a pin as they were doing pinning combinations. Ospreay was arguing about the finish after the match until KUSHIDA came down. KUSHIDA was there to challenge Scurll, but Ospreay told him to back off.
Hiromu Takahashi made his way to the ring to challenge Scurll as well, putting on a helmet and gloves in case things turned physical. Scurll said he would face all three of them in a fatal four-way match, presumably at Wrestle Kingdom.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega defeated Trent Barreta to retain his title
Another strong match; probably the best on the show so far. In his biggest spot yet at heavyweight, Barreta was positioned as an underdog who was able to have a few moments where he seemed on the verge of upsetting Omega.
Omega was dominant for much of the start. He got out a table and suplexed Barreta on it (while it was upside down and not folded out). Omega then hit a foot stomp on the table with Barreta under it, then hit the Terminator dive to the outside.
Omega worked him over back in the ring until Barreta got his knees up on a moonsault. Omgea briefly regained control with a German suplex until Barreta hit a tornado DDT. Omega then backdropped Barreta on the apron.
They were teasing an emphatic win for Omega at this point, but Barreta came back and teased an upset. He hit a piledriver on Omega in the ring and another one on the apron. Omega was positioned on a table on the outside, Barreta went for a flip dive, but Omega moved and he went crashing through the table. Barreta barely made it back in, with Omega hitting him with dragon suplexes in the ring.
Barreta tried to fight back, but Omega hit a V-Trigger and a gutwrench powerbomb. Omega hit another V-Trigger and went for the One Winged Angel until Barreta countered and hit a lariat out of desperation. Omega hit another knee strike, but Barreta got a great near fall with a Dudebuster. Omega focused on the back with strikes. Barreta fired up, but Omega hit another knee strike and a reverse rana.
After Baretta got another great near fall on a crucifix pin, Omega hit the One Winged Angel for the victory.
– For as good as that was, it was entirely overshadowed by what happened after. Omega got on the mic, welcoming Barreta to the heavyweight division and calling out his next challenger. It was teased that there was no one left to challenge Omega. He bid everyone goodbye and goodnight, but a video aired with Chris Jericho saying he’s the best in the world and challenging Omega to a match at Wrestle Kingdom.
Omega accepted, and 2018 is already shaping up to be quite a year in pro wrestling.
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kota Ibushi to retain his title
Great main event. It topped Omega vs. Barreta for best match on the show. Tanahashi focused on Ibushi’s knee early, which played into the rest of the match.
Late in the match, Ibushi got a near fall off of an awkward looking rana off the top rope. He went for the Kamigoye, but Tanahashi fought him off until Ibushi hit a lawndart into the corner. Ibushi went for the deadlift German suplex after not being able to hit it earlier in the match, this time getting a near fall.
Ibushi went for a Phoenix Splash, but Tanahashi avoided it. Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow, with Ibushi avoiding that. Both were down before getting to their feet and exchanging slaps. Ibushi no-sold a slap from Tanahashi, firing back with palm strikes. They traded stiff slaps, with Ibushi sending Tanahashi to the corner. Ibushi got a close near fall with a Last Ride and went for another one, but Tanahashi got out of it as Ibushi’s knee gave out. Ibushi connected with a kick to the head and was going for the Kamigoye, with Tanahashi countering into a sling blade. He hit a dragon suplex for two and two High Fly Flows to retain.
Tanahashi and Ibushi embraced after and Tanahashi closed the show with his usual air guitar routine until he was interrupted by Switchblade, who was revealed to be Jay White. White came down and confronted Tanahashi. They exchanged forearms and White laid him out.
With that, it appears that the top three matches at Wrestle Kingdom will be Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White.
The show kicked off with the announcement, via Twitter, that Drew McIntyre will defend the NXT Championship against Andrade “Cien” Almas at TakeOver: Houston. They will sign the contract for that match tonight.
Nikki Cross defeated Taynara Conti
This was set up when Conti interfered in a four-way match a few weeks back, initially costing Cross a shot at joining the NXT Women’s title match at TakeOver before she won a battle royal to earn a spot last week. Conti was in the Mae Young Classic and is a judo black belt.
This broke down into a brawl quickly with them fighting on the outside almost immediately. Conti gained control once they got back in the ring with basic kicks and punches. Cross was smiling and begging to get hit more.
Cross took control and beat on Conti in the Tree of Woe. She then hit a draping DDT and a swinging fisherman’s neckbreaker to get the pin.
Mercedes Martinez was interviewed backstage following the battle royal last week. She was asked who would win the title at TakeOver. She wouldn’t give a winner, but she did say that Ember Moon would not win. Perhaps they’re setting those two up to feud following TakeOver.
Fabian Aichner defeated Johnny Gargano
These two were featured in 2016’s Cruiserweight Classic, though Aichner looks to have put on about 25 pounds of muscle since then. Gargano used technical mat wrestling to get the early advantage. Mauro Ranallo noted on commentary that Aichner is just the second Italian-born wrestler to be under WWE contract, after Bruno Sammartino.
Aichner took control after catching Gargano on a pescado and slamming him into an outside barricade. After a commercial break, they went back and forth in the ring with Gargano selling his ribs as the crowd chanted “Johnny Wrestling.”
Gargano got a near fall after hitting his cool-looking springboard spear. Aichner missed a double springboard moonsault and Gargano hit a springboard DDT for another two count. Aichner hit a backbreaker/powerbomb combo but only got two.
Aichner hit another backbreaker but missed a moonsault. He then countered a Gargano Escape into an abdominal stretch pin to get the win. This was a very good TV match. Gargano looked despondent In the ring following the loss.
McIntyre was backstage with William Regal signing the contract for the title match at TakeOver. A promo video also played for Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream in Houston.
Earlier today, The Street Profits were fawning over a Maserati in the parking lot at Full Sail. Turns out, it belonged to Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. They went back and forth verbally, likely setting up a future match between the teams.
McIntyre was out with his signed contract, but he was attacked by Almas before he could get to the ring. Almas signed the contract and then stuck it to the downed body of the NXT Champion with gum from Zelina Vega.
The Iconic Duo were interviewed backstage earlier today. Peyton Royce was upset that Billie Kay won’t be in the Women’s title match at TakeOver. They were making fun of Kairi Sane until she interrupted their interview in her pirate costume and walked away smiling. Sane and Billie Kay will meet on NXT TV next week.
NXT Tag Team Champions SAnitY and The Authors of Pain went to a no contest
Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe were the combination defending the belts this week, with there being loud chants for SAnitY prior to the match. Young started off for his team and Wolfe was holding the tag rope in his mouth, which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.
SAnitY took control early by cutting off the ring until AOP gained the upper hand after slamming Wolfe into their own corner. AOP trapped Wolfe there by mostly using clobbering offense to keep control.
Wolfe eventually got the hot tag after several minutes of that. Young ran wild on both members of AOP, then hit a Randy Savage elbow drop for a near fall. After another two count when SAnitY double-teamed AOP, it became a four-way brawl.
AOP hit the Super Collider and the Last Chapter on Young, but the pin was broken up by The Undisputed Era. Killian Dain came out to help his stablemates until he was quickly downed by the triple-teaming of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly.
Roderick Strong sauntered down to the ring and teased joining Undisputed Era, even putting on their armband, but he turned on them and quickly got triple-teamed. The Authors of Pain came to help him and Cole bailed, quickly followed by Fish and O’Reilly.
William Regal was out and announced the return of War Games for TakeOver. It will be The Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY vs. Strong & The Authors of Pain in a three-team War Games match.
Last night’s 205 Live was a special Halloween-themed episode that took place in Norfolk, Virginia.
The show opened with a recap of the Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa feud that started when Gulak began his transformation into a wrestling moralist, complete with a “No Chants” sign, while promising to save the division from “unnecessary top-rope dives.”
Gulak hammered on Tozawa two weeks ago, beating him with his sign, but last week Tozawa got him back, doing a run-in after his match with Gran Metalik.
This brought us to our first match of the night.
Akira Tozawa defeated Drew Gulak
Gulak grabbed the microphone and screamed “My name is Drew Gulak and where my guls at?” He then mocked Tozawa’s “Ah, Ah, Ah” chant, saying he would put an end to it once and for all. He then welcomed the crowd into his “Drewtopia,” and offered a plan for “a better Halloween,” via a PowerPoint presentation.
Slide number one: No Candy. “Instead, try a sweet potato, they are high in potassium,” Gulak said.
Slide number two: No Trick or Treating. “Your little ones get together and say ‘trick or treat.’ They might as well be chanting. And there is nothing worse than chanting!” Gulak said.
At slide number three, Tozawa ran out to start the match.
Tozawa, who has some great facials, quickly wrapped Gulak up in a leg scissors and took control of the match with kicks, punches, and stomps to the chest in the corner. Gulak played his heel role well, rolling out of the ring to buy time. Gulak crept back in and snuck in a boot to the stomach, followed by a reverse knife edge chop to take back control of the match briefly.
Tozawa countered with a stiff elbow, but Gulak regained the advantage after an Irish whip reversal. Gulak hammered him with elbows and a clothesline in the corner. Tozawa reversed the action with a standing hurricanrana and then a belly-to-back suplex.
Gulak rolled out of the ring and Tozawa hit an amazing headbutt after diving through the ropes.
Tozawa battered him inside the ring some more and then hit his back splash off the top rope to get the victory.
Next we got a promo package and an interview with Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander, where they seemed to be headed toward an Alexander turn. Next was footage from Raw, where Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore beat up on Kalisto, which led to Raw GM Kurt Angle booking a Survivor Series title match between Amore and Kalisto.
Rich Swann (w/ Cedric Alexander) defeated Brian Kendrick (w/ Jack Gallagher)
Alexander and Swann both came to the ring dressed as clowns, with Doink the Clown’s music playing.
Swann’s red clown nose fell off just as the match was about to start. The two tried to lock up in a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, but Swann was wearing giant clown gloves, turning the spot into comedy. Swann’s rainbow-colored wig fell off and he put it back on. The wig fell off again, as the match degenerated into one clown spot after another. When Kendrick tried to whip Swann into the ropes, Swann’s glove fell off and Kendrick was frustrated.
Kendrick became increasingly frustrated, which led to him making mistakes. Swann showed off his agility in the match, demonstrating a high leapfrog, then a big dropkick. Kendrick threw Swann outside of the ring. Gallagher looked like he was going to hit Swann with his umbrella, but Alexander walked over and backed him off.
Kendrick controlled the match when Swann entered the ring again, but Swann rallied, showcasing some impressive aerial moves, including a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.
He hit a flip over the top rope to the outside on Kendrick. Swann then hit a twisted splash off the middle rope for the win. Gallagher tried to interfere, but he was knocked off the apron by Alexander. A good match, despite the clown comedy at the beginning.
Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, and Gran Metalik in a Fright Night fatal four-way match
Daivari looks to have taken over Austin Aries’ attire. He cut a promo about joining forces with Amore and then started speaking in Persian before he was interrupted by Ali, who was throwing out candy to the audience members.
Ali spent the first part of the match giving his opponents candy. Nese refused, saying “I don’t eat candy.” He slapped the candy out of Ali’s hand as the match started. Pumpkins were set up on the ring apron.
Ali and Metalik put on an acrobatic clinic that, for a moment, resembled Ricochet and Will Ospreay, but then it was broken up by Nese and Daivari.
Daivari eventually found a bowl of candy on a table at ringside. Fishing through it, he discovered a Gran Metalik mask. Daivari put the mask on and then mocked Metalik by doing his cartwheel and rolling moves. Ali broke it up.
In a bizarre spot, Ali removed Daivari’s mask and then put it on a ringside skeleton. He threw the masked skeleton on Daivari, setting up Metalik to hit a dropkick on the skeleton and Daivari.
At ringside were candy corn kendo sticks. Daivari and Ali grabbed them and started to unload on Ali. Nese then started throwing pumpkins at Ali from a sit-up position.
The match ended with Daivari falling into a bucket of apples, Ali shoving a Twix bar into the mouth of Nese, and pumpkins flying everywhere. Nese found a black bag under the ring that during the 1990s hardcore era would have been filled with thumbtacks. On Halloween in 2017, it was filled with candy corn. Nese dumped the candy corn on the table and attempted a powerbomb, only to have it reversed into a back body drop by Metalik through the table.
Ali eventually won the match after he found a broom, put it through his legs, and dove onto Nese for the three count. Ali celebrated with the skeleton after the match.
SmackDown will continue to add to its Survivor Series men’s division team as tonight’s episode takes place in Norfolk, Virginia.
Randy Orton was confirmed for the team after he defeated Sami Zayn last Tuesday, and at least two more members will be added tonight as two qualifying matches are set. Bobby Roode will face Dolph Ziggler in a two-out-of-three falls match and Shinsuke Nakamura will take on Kevin Owens.
Plus, there will likely be more fallout from SmackDown’s invasion of Raw last week and Daniel Bryan being attacked by Kane last night.
AJ Styles vs. Samir Singh will also take place tonight after Styles made quick work of Sunil Singh in their matchup, WWE’s website is teasing that Sin Cara will once again face Baron Corbin, and a Stranger Things-inspired edition of Breezango’s Fashion Files will air.
With the episode falling on Halloween, it seems likely that will be incorporated into the show in some form after a Trick or Street Fight went down on Raw last night. Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.
**********
Shane McMahon came down to the ring to address the Survivor Series match up against Raw. He said that Raw has always looked at SmackDown as the inferior brand. Despite the odds SmackDown put together a good roster, made Daniel Bryan GM and went live. They attacked the Raw roster to show them that SmackDown isn’t inferior. The crowd chanted “Under Siege”.
Shane addresses Kane attacking Bryan last night. He pointed out that neither Kurt Angle nor his sister Stephanie McMahon seemed to care. Shane announced that he is going to be the team captain for the SmackDown team at the Survivor Series. He joins Randy Orton who qualified last week.
Bobby Roode defeated Dolph Ziggler in a 2 out of 3 falls match to qualify for the SmackDown Survivor Series team
Roode had the advantage as they brawled around ringside. He sent Ziggler into the ring and as Roode entered Ziggler caught him with a super kick to win the first fall. During the commercial break, Roode gave Ziggler a slingshot into the post and pinned him with a sunset flip to win the second fall.
Roode attempted the Glorious DDT but Ziggler countered into a Zig Zag for a very close near fall. They traded pin attempts until Roode hit the Glorious DDT for the win. Booby Roode joins the SmackDown team at the Survivor Series.
After the match, Renee interviewed Roode and he promised to help his team defeat Raw at the Survivor Series.
Backstage, The New Day were celebrating Halloween. Xavier dressed up as Jimmy Hart, Big E. dressed up as Akeem and Kofi dressed up as Brother Love. They ran into Rusev and Aiden English. Rusev thinks Halloween’s dumb and destroyed Big E.’s candy. Big E. and Rusev agree to compete later.
In the back, team captain Becky Lynch met with Naomi, Carmella, Charlotte and Tamina to discuss their Survivor Series match. James Ellsworth was dressed up as a dog and Lynch sprayed him with a bottle. Natalya approached the group and said she should be the captain. She told Charlotte not to choke at the Survivor Series.
Baron Corbin defeated Sin Cara by DQ
Corbin dominated the action and kept trying to pull off Sin Cara’s mask. Cara snapped and kept beating down Corbin until he was disqualified. Cara threw a chair at Corbin and he ran off through the crowd.
In the back, Renee interviewed The Usos about their Survivor Series match against Raw Tag Team champions The Shield. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin interrupted and informed the Usos that they have a title shot next week. Gable did a little rap and Benjamin reacted huge to it.
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal came down to the ring with The Singh Brothers. Mahal promised to beat, victimize and conquer Brock Lesnar at the Survivor Series. He started doing the promo in Punjabi when AJ Styles interrupted.
Styles dominated the match and won easily with the Styles Clash. Mahal jumped Styles after the match and beat him down. He sent Styles into the ring post and hit the Khallas twice.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens met in the back. Zayn was irate that Shane is the team captain. They believe that Shane and his friends get all the opportunities. Owens promises to qualify for the team and will lead SmackDown to victory. Soon they’ll have all the power and rename the show the “Sami & Kevin Show”.
Another creepy video of The Bludgeon Brothers aired.
Rusev (w/ Aiden English) defeated Big E. (w/ Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
Rusev took over after throwing Big E. into the ring post. Big E. made a comeback and took down Rusev. English started singing and attacked Woods. Big E took out English with the Big Ending but Rusev nailed Big E with a kick for the win.
Backstage, Renee interviewed Sin Cara about the importance of his mask. He said what Corbin did was very disrespectful. He went through hell to get the mask and will go through hell to keep the mask.
Shane McMahon met with Aiden English and Rusev in the back. Rusev wants to be on the SmackDown Survivor Series team. Rusev will have a qualifying match next week against AJ Styles.
The Fashion Files (Strangerer Things)
This was Stranger Things Parody, which included The Ascension and Tye Dillinger. The lights went out and Christmas lights highlighted a picture of The Bludgeon Brothers. They were all attacked in the dark. Next week will be a Saw parody.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Kevin Owens to qualify for the SmackDown Survivor Series team
Owens used a super kick to gain the upper hand in the match. Nakamura made a comeback and used an enziguri. Sami Zayn came down to ringside and distracted Nakamura, which allowed Owens to score a near fall.
Owens told Zayn to clear out the announce table. Randy Orton’s music played and he came out through the crowd. He gave Zayn a back suplex on the table. Owens was distracted and Nakamura used the Kinshasa to win the match. Shinsuke Nakamura joins the SmackDown team at the Survivor Series.
Next Week: AJ Styles faces off against Rusev in the final SmackDown Survivor Series qualifying match. Plus, SmackDown Tag Team champions The Usos defend against Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable.
Date: October 30, 2017 Location: Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD
The Big Takeaway —
This was a night of returns, most notably Braun Strowman who reappeared from a garbage truck to ambush The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas in spectacular fashion. Along with Strowman and Bo Dallas, tonight saw the returns of Nia Jax, Samoa Joe, and JoJo. Jax defeated Bayley and was added to the Raw women’s team by Alicia Fox. Joe beat Apollo Crews and choked out Titus O’Neil.
Stephanie McMahon returned too and made up for lost time. She berated Kurt Angle, made him the captain of Team Raw, and demanded retribution on Shane McMahon. Daniel Bryan showed up to reason with Angle later in the show, but was laid out by Kane (off-camera) and stretchered out of the arena. Kane also beat Seth Rollins, and laid out Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Finn Balor (with help from Sheamus and Cesaro).
Also, Alexa Bliss retained her women’s title over Mickie James in the main event, and Asuka killed a jobber.
Show Recap —
They aired a recap of SmackDown’s invasion last week and Michael Cole let us know they’ve ramped up security tonight. The Raw roster was on the stage and Kurt Angle was in the ring.
Angle said Shane McMahon took the friendly competition too far and he apologized to the Raw roster as the crowd dumbly chanted “What.” He said he put the wrestlers in harm’s way but promised never to do it again.
Stephanie McMahon interrupted. Stephanie didn’t want the show to start off on such a depressing note and enthusiastically welcomed everyone to Raw. She also announced the 25th anniversary show in January.
Stephanie said she supported Vince McMahon’s decision to make Angle the GM and thinks he’s done a good job, despite the situation with Jason Jordan, the virus going around the roster, and what happened to Braun Strowman. She applauded his effort at TLC joining The Shield and the crowd chanted “You still got it.”
She said it takes years to gain a reputation but only seconds to lose it. Angle was about to respond but Stephanie cut him off. Stephanie wasn’t surprised by Shane’s actions and figured this was an attack on her personally. She said Shane embarrassed Angle and everyone on the show and put the blame directly on Angle.
Stephanie said Angle would have to prove himself and made him the Raw team captain at Survivor Series. Stephanie wanted SmackDown annihilated or she’d find a new GM.
Seth Rollins vs. Kane, Finn Balor vs. Cesaro, and Bayley vs. Alicia Fox were announced for tonight.
After a break, Angle was helping Stephanie with her car door and apologized for everything. He should take her dog for a walk while he’s at it. She reiterated what she said earlier and left.
As her limo pulled away, another one pulled up. It was The Miz with Curtis Axel and a returning Bo Dallas. Sounded like the crowd popped when Dallas appeared. Angle berated Miz for being late and for being absent when they were attacked last week. He said Miz would have to defend his IC title tonight but wouldn’t announce his opponent.
Nia Jax defeated Bayley (7:22)
Alicia was supposed to be Bayley’s opponent but she came out (wearing a sailor captains hat) and said she needed to take her duties as captain seriously, so she had a different opponent in mind for Bayley, which brought out Nia Jax.
Bayley made a brief comeback but Jax countered a guillotine by tossing her in the air and hit a running leg drop for the win. Afterwards, Fox announced that Jax would be on her Survivor Series team. I guess Kurt Angle has given Fox complete control over Raw’s women’s division.
As Jax walked up the ramp, Samoa Joe’s music hit and he entered to a big pop and “Joe” chants. Cole mentioned this was his first appearance since SummerSlam.
Joe asked if the crowd missed him and they popped big again. Joe found that amusing because he didn’t miss them. He claimed the fans didn’t reach out to him while was gone and said they didn’t care about him. Joe said the next time he’s beating down an opponent, he’ll be thinking of the fans.
Samoa Joe defeated Apollo Crews (w/Titus O’Neil) (3:40)
Cole said Crews demanded this match. He knew Joe was returning? Crews got more offense than you might expect, but Joe still won quickly via submission after an STO and Coquina Clutch.
O’Neil and Joe had a staredown after the match, but after it appeared Joe would leave, O’Neil checked on Crews. Joe then applied the Coquina Clutch on O’Neil. They pushed Joe pretty hard here.
The announcers plugged the 25th anniversary show on January 22nd and mentioned that SmackDown wrestlers would be there in addition to Undertaker, Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels. They probably should’ve waited before announcing that SmackDown wrestlers would be on Raw.
Just noticed JoJo has also returned.
The Miz (w/Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) defeated Matt Hardy to retain Intercontinental Championship (13:01)
Matt made a comeback and got a two count after consecutive elbow drops. Matt then countered a clothesline into a Side Effect for a nearfall. Matt followed that with a moonsault off the top for another nearfall. “This is awesome” chants.
Miz drove Matt into the turnbuckle and followed with It Kicks. Matt ducked the last kick and hit a Twist of Fate but Miz rolled under the bottom rope. Matt went after him, so Miz snapped his neck over the top rope and nailed Skull Crushing Finale for the win. This ended up better than expected.
Alexa Bliss approached Kurt Angle backstage. She congratulated him on being named team captain and said his speech was inspiring. He asked her what she wanted. Bliss thought they should improve the women’s division by cutting dead-weight and getting rid of Mickie James.
Bliss figured they can replace her with someone from the Mae Young Classic, or just dig up Mae herself. Angle said James fought back against SmackDown last week while Bliss did nothing. Angle made a women’s title match for the main event tonight.
Asuka defeated Stacie Cullen (1:39)
Asuka completely destroyed her opponent and won with the Asuka Lock. This was perfect.
The crowd wasn’t that hot for Asuka but that’ll change if they keep doing this. Cole mentioned before the match that Asuka was off to a good start, but didn’t mention that she beat Emma twice. Not sure why they can’t say her name.
Angle was shown backstage when he suddenly freaked out and alerted security over radio that it was happening again. The camera panned back and Daniel Bryan was just standing there. The crowd exploded and chanted “Yes.” Angle asked what he was doing here and they cut to commercial.
After the break, Angle accused Bryan of showing up to finish the job. Bryan said he had nothing to do with last week. He was taking a risk being in a building filled with Raw guys ready to take him out and didn’t even tell Shane he was doing this. Angle didn’t think he should trust Bryan and said “I got my ass chewed out by Stephanie McMahon.”
Bryan apologized for what happened and didn’t agree with Shane’s actions. Angle decided to spare him a beating from Raw because he wanted Bryan to tell Shane that he was going to take out Shane and SmackDown at Survivor Series. Bryan wasn’t pleased.
They recapped the Paul Heyman promo from last week for the Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal match. They cut back to Bryan who was on the phone, still in Angle’s office (Angle was not there). The lights cut out and they went to commercial.
After the break, Bryan was ranting on the phone. The lights were still out, but the phone screen is lighting up his face. He admitted this wasn’t going as he wanted. Bryan thought he could reason with Angle, but now the lights are off and the door is locked.
Suddenly, Kane showed up and put his hand around Bryan’s neck. Bryan dropped his phone, which made the screen pitch black, and there was a loud noise, presumably Kane taking out Bryan. The announcers were concerned for Bryan, except for Booker T who said he got what he deserved.
Finn Balor defeated Cesaro (w/Sheamus) (11:24)
Balor was distracted by Sheamus, allowing Cesaro to take control. Later, Balor was distracted by Sheamus again, allowing Cesaro to hit a big uppercut. Cesaro then hit a crazy superplex, lifting Balor from the apron. Cesaro applied the Sharpshooter before switching to a crossface, but Balor slipped out and hit a foot stomp, sling blade and running dropkick.
Sheamus tried to get involved again, so Balor kicked him off the apron and sent Cesaro outside. Balor then nailed a flip dive to both men, tossed Cesaro back in the ring and hit him with a foot stomp to the head/neck (with Cesaro hunched over) for the pinfall win. Good match.
As the announcers talked about Balor as a potential member of team Raw, Kane came out. Balor went after him but Kane fought him off easily and gave him a tombstone on the stage.
Kane defeated Seth Rollins (w/Dean Ambrose) (5:42)
Sheamus and Cesaro remained at ringside for this match. It was four minutes into the match before Cole noticed they were still there, even though they were shown on camera several times.
The match was a clunky mess. Kane was in control until Rollins managed to hit a suicide dive. Rollins hit a second dive and Kane went down, but I’m not sure he was supposed to as he popped right back up. Booker tried to claim that Kane hit Rollins on impact. Rollins hit a couple of flying clotheslines back in the ring, but Kane no-sold them both.
Cesaro and Sheamus attacked Ambrose outside the ring, so Rollins hit them with a dive. Kane then hit Rollins with a chokeslam for the win. Ambrose jumped in the ring after the match and gave Kane a Dirty Deeds. Kane sat up and Ambrose was attacked again by Cesaro and Sheamus. Kane gave tombstones to both Ambrose and Rollins.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan was taken out on a stretcher. D-Von Dudley and Jamie Noble were there with him.
The Miz was ready to celebrate his win with Axel and Bo. When they entered his locker room, Miz noticed a funky smell. There was a full garbage bag in there and Miz thought it meant Strowman was back.
Axel said Strowman was never coming back. Bo assured Miz he had nothing to worry about, because even though he and Axel weren’t at TLC, they were with him now. Miz responded, “Ok, now I am a little worried.” That was funny.
After a break, Miz found Kane backstage and asked him if he thought there was a chance Strowman was back. Kane said Strowman knew where to find him. Miz felt better knowing Kane was on his side, but Kane laughed and told Miz he was on his own.
Trick or Street Fight: Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (4:51)
Slater was dressed as Santa Claus, Rhyno was dressed a Mrs. Claus (with makeup and lipstick), and Gallows & Anderson were dressed as their characters from Southpaw Regional Wrestling. Gallows and Anderson were in this same gimmick match last year on Halloween.
They lost last year and they lost here, too. Anderson put a pumpkin on his own head and tried a dive off the top, but Rhyno caught him and hit a spinebuster through a table for the win. Suffice it to say, Gallows and Anderson looked like clowns here.
There’s a new Table for 3 tonight featuring Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns.
Miz freaked out to Sheamus and Cesaro backstage. They assured him Strowman wasn’t coming back and told him to relax. Miz cheered up and was happy to be on their team. They laughed and told him he was on his own. Miz called Axel and told him they were leaving now.
Elias sang a song as they showed replays of him hitting Jason Jordan with a guitar. This was the longest he’s been able to perform in a while but he was still interrupted by Jordan, who ran down and suplexed him out of the ring. Jordan was about to smash the guitar but Elias pleaded with him not to (even though Elias willingly destroyed his own guitar last week). Jordan destroyed it anyway.
Miz, Axel and Bo were about to leave but Angle stopped them and demanded they stay until the end of the show.
Enzo Amore, whose voice has recovered, came out to a big pop and the crowd sang along with his promo. Drew Gulak was already in the ring and mentioned Stephanie McMahon calling Angle incompetent. Amore agreed and didn’t think Kalisto deserved another title match. Gulak attempted to do Cass’ usual bit but spelled out “S-O-F-T” instead. That part was funny, and Amore’s reaction to this was great.
Kalisto defeated Drew Gulak (w/Enzo Amore) (0:57)
Kalisto won quickly with Salida Del Sol. Immediately after the match, Amore attacked Kalisto with Eat Defeat.
Miz told Axel to tell the limo driver to get the car ready so they could leave as soon as the show was over.
Alexa Bliss defeated Mickie James to retain the Women’s Championship (11:13)
Perhaps they are running low on time, but they didn’t do the in-ring name announcements like they usually do for title matches, which they did earlier for the IC title match.
James made a comeback hitting kicks, flying forearm and neckbreaker for a two count. The crowd chanted “CM Punk” and my feed cut out for a moment. Bliss yanked James from the top but James followed by kicking her out of the ring.
Bliss tried to run away but James pulled her back in the ring and hit a few rollup variations, each for a two count. Bliss suddenly hit a punch to the face for the pinfall win.
They immediately cut backstage to Miz and his crew leaving. They cut back to Bliss who posed with the title. They showed replays of the finish and cut backstage again. Even though they were in a hurry, Miz still made the driver open the door for him. There’s a cameraman in the car so we can see them.
The car braked suddenly because there was a garbage truck in the way. The truck backed up and Miz somehow didn’t immediately suspect Strowman. He eventually figured it out and panicked.
They used several camera cuts to reveal Strowman appearing from the back of the truck in the most cartoonish manner possible. (This was very clearly a different truck than the one at TLC.) Strowman shouted and the Miztourage ran away. They cut back to Bliss in the ring and the Miztourage made their way to the stage.
Strowman followed them out and tossed them all over the place. Miz managed to escape so Strowman gave Axel a powerslam. The crowd chanted “one more time” so Strowman did it again. They chanted some more so Strowman gave him a third and fourth powerslam.
Miz and Bo ran to the back, so Strowman picked up Axel, walked up the ramp and gave him a powerslam through the announce table. He posed and the crowd cheered.
The Big Takeaway: Matt Hardy won his Main Event debut, taking Curt Hawkins’ loss tally to 120. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson also dispensed with Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil in less than three minutes.
**********
Matt Hardy defeated Curt Hawkins (5:07)
Before he left WWE in 2010, Matt Hardy had become somewhat of a regular on WWE Superstars. To see him become such a success outside of WWE, re-sign with the company in 2017, and then wind up on Main Event (albeit Superstars under a different name) is vexing to say the least despite the circumstances with Jeff Hardy being out with an injury.
On commentary they made an effort to note that he was a successful singles performer, but in a way that sounded like the tag team division was where he was supposed to be. Hardy was still clearly a star given the reaction he got when he hit the Twist of Fate at the end of the match.
They are slowly pushing Hawkins’ losing streak on commentary, which after this was up to 120 matches without a win. He probably came closest this week to breaking the curse than any in recent memory, though, as the last minute of the match was a trading of near falls.
After a Michinoku Driver from Hawkins, Hardy kicked out at two. Hawkins made it look like he was going to finish things and got Hardy up into a fireman’s carry, where Hardy was able to elbow his way out. Hardy then reversed Hawkins’ grip into a Twist of Fate for the win.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil (2:49)
Crews & O’Neil were just two challengers to a more established tag team in Anderson & Gallows here. Crews wasn’t given nearly enough in the match, either, with virtually no chance to shine in what was a really short bout.
Once they had gone through their early exchanges, Crews & O’Neil got the upper hand and managed to dump Anderson to the outside and then double team Gallows to send both men packing.
They looked like they might have a chance as Nigel McGuinness was putting over Crews as the difference maker, calling him the “X-factor of this match.” But after the break, we returned to Anderson taking out Crews on the outside so that Gallows could nail O’Neil in the middle of the ring.
Gallows tagged in Anderson and they hit the Magic Killer on O’Neil for the win. This was way too short to have much of an impact.
Previously: Bobby Lashley, Dan Lambert, and American Top Team beat down Moose, Stephan Bonnar, and members of the Impact roster.
Tonight: It’s an International Impact featuring Bobby Lashley taking on Moose in the main event.
Show Recap —
Ethan Carter III & James Storm defeated El Hijo Del Fantasma & Texano in a match from AAA in Irapuato, Mexico
The Impact team had the early advantage until AAA made a comeback. Fantasma set up for a dive before Texano tripped him up, with there being dissension within their team. Fantasma had EC3 pinned, but Texano broke it up and they fought over the pin. Storm then caught Fantasma with the Last Call superkick for the win.
– Backstage, Dutch Mantell was upset with Eli Drake for missing media appearances and not taking marketing’s calls. Drake was on the phone and told the person he was talking to that it was time for that person to return.
Mantell, Jim Cornette, and Scott D’Amore met in Cornette’s office and were trying to figure out how to deal with Drake.
Impact World Tag Team Champions OVE defeated Phil Atlas & Brent Banks in a match from BCW in Windsor, Canada
OVE were in control early, but the heels took over and gained the brief advantage. OVE then made a comeback and won the match with a version of the Meltzer Driver.
– In the back, Drake was approached to do an interview but told them to leave.
GHC Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards defeated Naomichi Marufuji in a match from Pro Wrestling NOAH in Tokyo, Japan
They traded stiff shots in the middle of the ring and gave each other German suplexes — but both got right back up. Edwards crotched Marufuji on the guardrail and nailed him with a suicide dive.
Marufuji was able to hit Edwards with a painful looking piledriver on the apron, but Edwards made a comeback and won the match with the Die Hard Flowsion.
– OVE is bringing backup to Bound for Glory to even the odds with LAX in their 5150 street fight.
– McKenzie Mitchell finally interviewed Eli Drake in the back, but he was annoyed and only let her ask one question.
Petey Williams defeated Idris Abraham, Tarik, and Kaito Kiyomiya in a match from BCW in Windsor, Canada
This was a wild four-way that ended when Williams nailed Tarik with the Canadian Destroyer to get the win.
Johnny Impact & Garza Jr. defeated Eli Drake & Chris Adonis in a match from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida
The heels cut Impact off from his corner and kept him on their side of the ring at the start. Impact fought back, with Garza and Impact both hitting standing moonsaults on Drake. The heels isolated Garza in their corner and worked him over until Impact got the hot tag and ran wild. Adonis accidentally hit Drake and Impact rolled up Adonis for the win.
X Division Champion Trevor Lee defeated Ultimo Ninja in a match from The Crash in Tijuana, Mexico
Ninja attempted a moonsault from the top turnbuckle, though Lee got his feet up. Lee followed up with the double knees for the win.
– Global Forged episode seven saw Hakim Zane and Mark Wheeler advance in the competition.
Moose (w/ Stephan Bonnar) defeated Bobby Lashley (w/ Dan Lambert) by DQ in a match from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida
Moose was in control after dropkicking Lashley to the floor from the turnbuckle, but Lambert interfered and gave the advantage to Lashley. Moose later made a comeback and ran wild. He connected with a hesitation dropkick, but Lambert ran in and nailed Moose with a trophy for the disqualification
After the match, Bonnar jumped in and took down Lashley. He went after Lambert, but American Top Team ran in and attacked Bonnar. Moose made the save with a chair and powerbombed one of the ATT guys onto the rest. The tag match between Lashley & King Mo against Moose & Bonnar at Bound for Glory will now be a Six Sides of Steel cage match.
Next Week: It’s the final Impact before Bound for Glory.
The Big News: Andrade “Cien” Almas moved one step closer to a showdown with Drew McIntyre at TakeOver: War Games by beating Roderick Strong in the main event.
The Medium News: Roderick Strong was invited to join The Undisputed Era.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Nikki Cross is the last participant in the fatal four-way match for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver.
**********
Mr. Regal began the show by announcing that due to the shenanigans that happened in her qualifying match, Nikki Cross has been entered into the battle royal for the final spot in the TakeOver Women’s title match. If you recall, The Undisputed Era sent Taynara Conti to the ring to attack Cross and take her out of that match.
Also next week is SAnitY vs. The Authors of Pain for the Tag Team titles, and whichever member of SAnitY isn’t in the match is barred from ringside.
Burch and Lorcan individually have two of the worst televised win-loss records in NXT history. Perhaps forming a tag team will lead to the success they couldn’t get on their own? Anyway, Sabbatelli & Moss brought their largeness and their matching gear to this match.
Moss caught Lorcan with a good shot early on, so Lorcan propelled himself off the ropes with a dropkick to the face. Everyone calmed down as Burch tagged in and the heels got the heat. Sabbatelli hit Burch with a dropkick and he stared at Lorcan — almost telling him how to not kick someone right in the face during said move.
Anyway, Lorcan got the hot tag and chopped down his larger foes. However, he got cut off and shockingly pinned with a combination Gory Special/bulldog. Somehow it’s shocking when a team is formed of two guys that never win and then they lose.
**********
Nikki Cross won a battle royal to earn the final spot in the NXT Women’s Championship match at TakeOver: War Games
Vanessa Borne, Bianca Belair, Sage Beckett, Mercedes Martinez, Candice LeRae, Billie Kay, and Cross were the only women to get televised entrances. Actually, only the last three got their own theme music, as everyone else came out to the NXT theme song.
Cross went right after Conti at the bell and eliminated her first. After being eliminated, Conti pulled Cross under the bottom rope and threw her into the barricade. Peyton Royce, who was at ringside, got in on the fun and pushed Cross into the ring steps.
Rhea Ripley was eliminated when Belair picked Zeda up for a body slam and threw her legs into Ripley, who was on the apron.
Most of this match was everyone trying to eliminate everyone else. The problem with doing much of anything else was that there was a lot of bad attempted offense. Cross finally got back in and dove onto about 10 people and she then eliminated Borne, Beckett, Santana Garrett, and Abbey Laith in quick succession.
I don’t want to imply that pro wrestling may not be on the up and up, but Lacey Evans sure looked like she dove over the top rope when it was time for her elimination. Belair showed her strength by heaving the tiniest person in the match (Candice LeRae) over the top rope onto the others who were milling about.
Belair then tried to eliminate Kay, but Kay grabbed her by her long ponytail and held on, avoiding being eliminated.
Martinez looked good and seemed at times to be the most competent grappler in the ring. The finish saw Martinez and Belair go over the top and fight on the apron (which is the hardest part of the ring) and Cross ran up and knocked them off, then Kay ran up to try to toss Cross over and began celebrating like she just won the WrestleMania main event. However, Cross did not drop, got back in the ring, and gave Kay the heave-ho for the win.
Nikki Cross is going to TakeOver. After the match, William Regal got in the ring to congratulate Cross, but Peyton Royce began screaming at her. Ember Moon came down to get involved in the argument, so Kairi Sane strolled to the ring to remind everyone that she was also in that match.
**********
Earlier this week, Drew McIntyre was trying to leave the Performance Center when he got harassed by people with microphones and cameras. Thankfully, someone was there to film it because Zelina Vega decided now was the best time to come and demand a title shot for Andrade “Cien” Almas.
McIntyre told her the same thing he said last week — and that was for Almas to come ask him himself.
**********
TakeOver: War Games may not officially have a main event yet (the worst kept secret ever), but it does already have an official theme song. “Play” by Marmozets is the answer to the question no one asked.
**********
As Aleister Black was coming to the ring to beat up some unsuspecting jobber, he was suddenly attacked by Velveteen Dream! Dream threw Black into the unforgiving steel steps. Dream threw Black into the ring and tied him in the ropes. Dream slapped Black and screamed at him to say his name.
Black kicked him out of the way and went for Black Mass, but Dream was able to run the other way. Dream became the first person to ever avoid Black Mass.
**********
We only have one official TakeOver match, but we have two official theme songs. “Executioner’s Tax” by Power Trip was announced as the other theme on the other side of the commercial break.
**********
Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Roderick Strong
Before the match, Zelina Vega said she is a very patient woman. She has waited an entire week for a contract for a title match against McIntyre and is now still waiting. Vega vowed that McIntyre will fail as NXT Champion the same way he failed the last time he was in WWE.
This was a very good back-and-forth match with strong storytelling by both men. Almas was trying to prove he’s worthy of his first NXT title match, while Strong was trying to get some momentum to get back in the title picture.
Strong used a backbreaker on the apron, which, again, is the hardest part of the ring, but Almas got back into it and hit a tornado DDT for a near fall. They exchanged hard strikes that each blocked with their face. Strong pieced together five or six big moves in a row and they ended up outside the ring.
Almas rolled back in and distracted the referee as Vega came off the apron with a hurricanrana to Strong! Strong crashed into the ring steps, which is the third time tonight that same set of steps got abused. Back in the ring, Almas picked up the big win with a hammerlock DDT.
After the match, Vega and Almas went to the announce table, stole Mauro Ranallo’s headset, and challenged McIntyre to meet them face-to-face next week.
Strong pulled himself to his feet when suddenly we were joined by The Undisputed Era. Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly hit the ring. Cole told Strong he is not a loser and that he needs to join Undisputed Era. Cole handed Strong his armband, which Strong took, but didn’t put on as the show ended with Undisputed Era walking away.
So, that does it for this week. But before signing off, I wanted to say that I will be going to Australia on vacation and thus won’t be around for the next two episodes of NXT. But we do have a replacement who will be filling in for the next two weeks. Until then, thank you for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The show started off with a recap of Enzo Amore beating Kalisto for the Cruiserweight Championship at TLC by using a thumb to the eye and then hitting Eat Defeat.
Rich Swann came down for a tag team match with Cedric Alexander, but their win from TLC was showcased before their opponents entered. Alexander and Swann were in matching black and green gear, which was a great touch. Noam Dar and Tony Nese provided the competition for them tonight.
Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander defeated Tony Nese & Noam Dar
Nese posed, but Alexander grabbed him and flipped around to get an edge. A big dropkick sent Nese down so Alexander could pose to mock him. Alexander tagged Swann in, leading to a suplex/rolling thunder double team getting two for the babyface duo. Dar ate a dropkick, but Nese was still legal and bowled Swann over.
Dar came in legally and snapmared Swann into the ropes before attacking the knee, then Nese came in to attack with a tree of woe. Nese did the ab crunch kicks before Dar tagged in and did them poorly, so Nese told him how to do them properly and came back in.
Swann hit the knockout kick, but Dar pulled Swann off the cover and tagged himself in. Alexander got a hot tag and ran wild with a big elbow and the handspring enzuigiri kick hit for a near fall.
Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher came down and briefly distracted Alexander, giving Dar the chance to get a front choke. Swann superkicked him to make a save and dove to take out Nese on the floor. The Lumbar Check hit on Dar and ended it — so Swann and Alexander have now won two straight matches.
Kendrick and Gallagher said they aren’t here to hurt them — they are impressed by Alexander and his cruelty. He has a lot of potential — but can’t live up to it if he’s carrying Rich Swann on his back. Gallagher said that he was fighting for approval too, but the people don’t matter and neither does Swann. Wolves shouldn’t concern themselves with the sheep, because as cruel men, they can rise above them.
Gallagher said that he’ll give Alexander a week, because if he doesn’t make the right choice, Swann is next and will be victimized next week.
Drew Gulak walked backstage before coming out for a match
Gulak was out and said he believes in a better 205 Live and he is upset over his PowerPoint presentation being taken away at TLC. Gulak noted that due to the fans chanting Akira Tozawa’s “Ha!” at home tonight, he is canceling all of the matches. So to fill time, he will show all of the slides of his PowerPoint presentation!
Gulak only got through slide one before Gran Metalik interrupted. How very rude of him! Gulak told him to stay on the ground, but I bet Metalik will violate that rule too.
Drew Gulak defeated Gran Metalik
Metalik grounded him with a headscissors before Gulak escaped and got locked in an arm wringer. Gulak applied a headlock alongside an “Austin Aries” chant. Metalik hit a rana and, as a form of a flip, Gulak was angered greatly. A springboard missile dropkick then hit for Metalik, and Gulak went outside and ate a ropewalk moonsault.
Gulak grounded him with a kneeling chinbar before turning it into a hammerlock. Metalik superkicked Gulak and hit an inverted slingblade to send him down. Metalik hit the ropewalk splash. They went back and forth on cradles for two before a super rana hit and got a near fall for Metalik.
Gulak avoided the Metalik Driver and locked on the body-trapping dragon sleeper to win it. Gulak went to take the knee out from Metalik, but Tozawa returned and sent Gulak packing.
Kalisto cut a promo and said he’ll win tonight. Ariya Daivari entered and did Amore’s promo since he still can’t talk. Amore opted to do wacky dances, which he’s good at, before wrestling — which he isn’t quite as good at. Daivari did the best promo work of his career playing the role of Amore.
Nigel McGuinness talked about Kalisto’s young life and how his parents came to America as immigrants and lived in the attic of a friend’s house in a neighborhood full of violence. Wow, he actually made it very easy to care about a babyface and it only took 30 seconds.
Kalisto defeated WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore by DQ
Kalisto started things off quickly and sent Amore outside. Amore tried to escape after being thrown in, but Kalisto stomped on his fingers. Kalisto went for corner mount punches, but Amore sent him outside. This got a pair of high-numbered counts, but Kalisto made it back in both times before Amore kicked him down.
Amore teased a superplex off the top to the floor but opted to send him down ribs-first on the top turnbuckle. Amore went for Eat Defeat on the apron, but Kalisto turned it into the windmill driver on the apron! Well, that was pretty crazy. This got a nine count on the floor and resulted in a “lucha” chant.
Amore went for the DDG until Kalisto hit a high kick. Amore ate a tornado DDT, but he then kicked the referee into the ropes to crotch Kalisto for a DQ. Kalisto charged after him and beat him down, but Amore got the mic and said he’s still Cruiserweight Champion — how you doin’?
Shane McMahon came out and said that he’s undergone serious rehab the last two weeks. McMahon mentioned the upcoming Survivor Series and was insulted that Kurt Angle didn’t think the SmackDown roster matched up to Raw. He brought up striking the Raw roster first and the crowd chanted “Under Siege”. He said that SmackDown wouldn’t be caught off guard like Raw was last night.
Sami Zayn interrupted and came down to the ring. Zayn said no hard feelings for Hell in a Cell and tried to shake McMahon’s hand. Shane said there are hard feelings. Zayn informed McMahon that he and Kevin Owens talked it over and they agree to represent SmackDown at Survivor Series. He said SmackDown needs them.
Shane turned down the offer and said he doesn’t need them. If Zayn wants to be on the team all he has to do is win his match later and he’ll be the first person on the team. McMahon informs him that his opponent will be Randy Orton.
Backstage, New Day was on their way to the ring when they saw a bunch of old fruit on a table with a sign that read “raw fruit”. They disposed of the fruit in the garbage.
Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin defeated New Day (w/ Big E)
The Usos joined in on commentary for the match and mentioned facing Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at Survivor Series.
Gable and Benjamin took over after Kingston took a nasty fall to the floor. Big E tired to revive him using Booty-O’s. Finish came when Gable shoved Woods and Benjamin nailed him with a kick to the back behind the referees back. Gable made the cover to score the win.
In the back, Charlotte, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Lana and Tamina Snuka were all gathered in Daniel Bryan’s office. Carmella showed up and couldn’t find James Ellsworth but nobody cared.
Bryan arrived and said that all of them will be on the Survivor Series team. Lana pointed out that there are 6 of them. Bryan told her she’s not on the team.
Tonight the women will compete in match later with the winner being named the team captain.
Fashion Files “Fashion Dogs”
Breezango was arguing over which one of them is Mr. Pink from the movie Reservoir Dogs. James Ellsworth was tied up to a chair when Ascension showed up with gasoline. Carmella arrived with her briefcase. Fandango took the briefcase and pulled out Ellsworth’s dirty underwear.
Breezango celebrated solving the case but Ascension pointed out they didn’t solve anything. They said it must be The Bludgeon Brothers that are behind the attacks. Next week will be a Stranger Things parody.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon met. Bryan was upset with McMahon for not informing him of the attack last night. He also said he didn’t approve of the attack. McMahon said he’s the commissioner and sometimes needs to make those decisions.
Sin Cara defeated U.S. Champion Baron Corbin by DQ
Sin Cara had the brief advantage but Corbin snapped and wouldn’t stop beating on Cara, which resulted in a disqualification. After the match, Corbin gave Cara the End of Days on the floor.
The Singh Brothers came out and did their intro for Jinder Mahal. They mocked Paul Heyman’s intro for Brock Lesnar and called themselves “advocates”.
Mahal called Heyman a liar and showed Heyman’s promo from last night. Mahal said he’s the most dominant world champion but the WWE universe doesn’t give him the same respect he gets from the people of India. Mahal proclaimed that the Maharaja era has just begun. AJ Styles interrupted Mahal’s promo.
AJ Styles defeated Sunil Singh (w/ Samir Singh)
Before the match, the referee sent Mahal to the back. Styles dominated the match and won easily with the Calf Crusher.
Backstage, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn met. Owens has a Survivor Series qualifying match against Shinsuke Nakamura next week. Zayn has no doubt they’ll both win their matches.
Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers charged into Bryan’s office. Mahal demanded and was granted a match for Samir Singh against AJ Styles next week.
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth) and Tamina Snuka (w/ Lana) for the right to captain SmackDown’s women’s division Survivor Series team
Before the match, SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya was introduced.
The match spilled to the floor and they brawled around ringside. Snuka tossed Charlotte into the crowd. Carmella scored a close near fall on Lynch. Lynch made a comeback and used the Dis-arm-her to win the match. Lynch will be the team captain at the Survivor Series for the women.
Another creepy promo for The Bludgeon Brothers aired.
Renee Young interviewed Dolph Ziggler in the back. He mentioned beating Bobby Roode last week. Roode showed up and challenged Ziggler to a 2 out of 3 falls match next week.
Randy Orton defeated Sami Zayn to earn a spot on SmackDown’s men’s division Survivor Series team
Orton had the early advantage but Zayn took over after hitting a moonsault off the barricade on the floor. Orton made a comeback and dropped Zayn on the announce table.
Orton set up for the RKO when Kevin Owens ran out. Orton was distracted and Zayn scored a near fall. The referee was trying to send Owens to the back and missed Orton using a low blow on Zayn. He followed up with the RKO to win the match. Orton will be the team captain for the men at the Survivor Series.
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon met once again in the back. Bryan pointed out that there was no Raw retaliation tonight but that doesn’t mean they won’t strike back eventually. When they do Shane will have to deal with the consequences.
Next Week: Kevin Owens takes on Shinsuke Nakamura in a Survivor Series qualifying match. In another qualifying match, Bobby Roode faces Dolph Ziggler in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Plus, AJ Styles battles Samir Singh.
The Survivor Series build got off to a strong start which the closest thing the WWE can do to an invasion angle in this day and age. In the main event segment, Angle came out to announce the Raw team. Instead, Shane McMahon brought an entire crew of SmackDown Live wrestlers (sans Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and a few others) out of the crowd and they laid waste to most of the Raw roster. The SmackDown crew went to the locker room and beat up several wrestlers, including Finn Balor, who has had better nights. Brock Lesnar accepted the challenge of Jinder Mahal at Survivor Series. Earlier, Angle announced Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins vs. The Usos, and the Miz would face Baron Corbin.
Show Recap —
Angle came out smiling though selling the beating from last night. He said it has been a whirlwind of a past week. Crowd chanted “You still got it.” Angle said every story has a beginning, a middle and an end, and last night he wrote a new chapter. When he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, he didn’t think it could get any better. Then he competed last night and said it was incredible. Next up, it’s Survivor Series. Angle said it would be Raw vs. SmackDown. Alexa Bliss would face Natalya. The Miz will take on Baron Corbin. The Raw Tag Team Champions Rollins and Dean Ambrose will go against The Usos. And he announced Lesnar vs. Mahal (who Angle called MAY-HALL). Angle said this year’s Survivor Series would have two elimination matches: a men’s match and a women’s match.
The Miz came out with Curtis Axel and the Bar. Miz said he was sick of hearing Angle’s voice and said this was his show. Miz was mad about Angle stepping in for Roman Reigns and said Angle just wanted to have one last run in the spotlight. Miz said Angle doesn’t deserve to be in the ring as a Superstar or a General Manager and said Angle should resign immediately. Angle said that wasn’t happening and he wanted to go to his office. Miz told Angle he wasn’t going anywhere. The heels surrounded the ring just like the Shield, which naturally brought out Ambrose and Rollins from the crowd. No Reigns. That forced the Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro and Axel to back off.
Miz said Ambrose and Rollins were sucking up to management and sold off. Miz said the odds weren’t in their favor. Angle arranged Miz, Cesaro and Sheamus to face Rollins, Ambrose and a star who decided to stay an extra night that competed last night. A.J. Styles came out.
A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins defeated The Bar and the Miz (19:45)
Styles pinned Cesaro with the Phenomenal Forearm. Just before the finish, Cesaro tried to clothesline Ambrose and Rollins, who ducked under two attempts and then hit topes onto Sheamus and Miz. Very good match. Crowd was really hot for Styles. The first segment ended with Styles, Rollins and Ambrose doing a triple pescado onto the heels. Ambrose made a hot tag to Rollins, who gave the Miz a Falcon Arrow, leading to Cesaro making the save. Sheamus kicked Rollins from behind and Miz hit Yujiro Takahashi’s Pimp Juice (or Shiek Abdul Bashir’s WMD, for those who enjoy obscure TNA references) for a two count. Styles got the final hot tag and got the Ushigoroshi on Miz. Ambrose brawled into the crowd with Sheamus.
Postmatch, Kane came out and took out Rollins, Styles and Ambrose by himself. Kane choke slammed Rollins as Miz, Cesaro and Sheamus got back in the ring to go after Ambrose and Styles.
After a commercial, Kane was in the ring. They showed still photos of Kane’s attack on Braun Strowman, including his disposal of Strowman into the trash compactor. Kane said through hellfire and brimstone, he heard the stories about how Strowman wanted competition. How Strowman tossed Big Show through a steel cage and how he broke Reigns time and time again. Kane said he liked the stories about Strowman, but he had to see it for himself. What he saw was a pile of trash, 375 pounds of nasty refuge. So last night, Kane put Strowman where he belongs, in the back of a garbage truck. Kane said when he put Strowman in the truck, he saw fear in Strowman’s eyes, which no man was able to do before. When Strowman looked at him, he saw the truth. Kane said he will always be Raw’s only monster. Kane said Braun is gone, and now he wants competition, or else. Balor came out.
Kane defeated Finn Balor (7:06)
Kane pinned Balor after three choke slams. Balor hit the Woo dropkick and was going to the Coupe de Grace, but Kane grabbed him by the throat off the top rope, leading the 50-year-old to the victory. Balor got too little offense as they’re building Kane to a program with Strowman.
Shane McMahon showed up to talk with Angle. They traded nice jabs about each other returning to the ring. Shane sold nothing from jumping off the cage at Hell in a Cell. They traded friendly barbs about how their brand would beat the other at Survivor Series. Shane finally said he would make sure Raw would go down. Angle didn’t seem offended and wished Shane luck.
Asuka defeated Emma via tapout (5:13)
Asuka got the win with the Asuka lock. Emma controlled the majority of the way. Asuka got a good response, but it wasn’t a blow away reaction that matched the quality of the vignettes. Asuka used a flying hip attack and her five-strike combination before the finish.
Bliss came down after her victory over Mickie James, who she called a future Hall of Famer and leader of the old folks home. Now, she’s ready to put James in the past and she’s focused on Natalya at Survivor Series. She said she’s going to remind Natalya that there’s only one goddess. Bliss said she felt underappreciated after her performance at TLC, but Styles and Balor can stare at each other for ten minutes and the crowd would chant “This is awesome.” She wanted to know where was her chant? Was it because she doesn’t have a 3-year-old son at home like James? Bliss said everyone is jealous of her. Bliss said since they’re in the midwest, she’s going to have to spell everything out for them. Bliss said she was going to say a chant and the crowd would yell it back like the sheep they are. Bliss said the chant was “You deserve it.” Crowd booed. Bliss wondered if she was going slow enough. She demanded the fans chant it because she’s the goddess.
James walked out, punched Bliss and gave her a Mick-DT on the Raw Women’s Championship belt and told Bliss she does deserve it.
Bayley and Sasha Banks met with Angle backstage. Angle said the Raw women’s team at Survivor Series needs a captain and said those two were the best bet. Alicia Fox jumped in and screamed she would be the best choice. Angle ordered a triple-threat match with Banks vs. Bayley vs. Fox and the winner is the team captain. Angle reminded Fox that she saw her match with Banks last night and told her that pinfalls and submissions only count inside of the ring. Fox said Angle was so silly.
Elias was out and made a crack about how Green Bay’s will was weaker than Aaron Rodgers collarbone. That got heat. Elias tried to sing a song that derided Green Bay, but someone kept messing with his wireless microphone. Jason Jordan came out.
Jason Jordan defeated Elias by DQ (3:19)
Jordan got more of a positive reception in this match than in previous cities. He was carrying Elias around and ramming him into the barricade until Elias hit him with his guitar for the DQ. Jordan has a bruise on his left tricep.
Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out to respond to Mahal. Heyman said it was funny when the fans react to the manner in which he introduces Lesnar. There is someone who has a problem who disputes Lesnar is Universal Champion, someone who has barely escaped the challenges of Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and wishes to barely avoid the challenge of Styles. Meanwhile, Lesnar remains the undisputed Universal Champion despite facing the most stacked heavyweight class of challengers in WWE history. Heyman said it’s also undisputed that we live in the age of trash talk and everyone wants to brand their opponents losers instead of box office attractions. Heyman said the king of the trash talkers is the man with the microphone in his hands right now, but he doesn’t trash talk Lesnar’s opponents because any man who steps in the ring to fight Lesnar must be a real man. He didn’t trash talk Goldberg, Samoa Joe, Strowman, and rightfully so. But Mahal? Heyman called Mahal the make believe Modern Day Maharaja with the Singh-along brothers, who copies his shtick of introducing Mahal? Heyman said Mahal wasn’t Lesnar’s equal, he wasn’t his contemporary, he wasn’t even a worthy pretender of the throne of being WWE champion.
When he thinks of WWE Champions, we think of Bruno Sammartino, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, HHH, John Cena and Lesnar. We don’t think of Mahal, a consolation prize champion offered to SmackDown Live when Shane and Daniel Bryan realized they got the shaft in the Superstar Shakeup. Heyman said Lesnar wasn’t carrying the flag for Raw in the battle for brand supremacy because there is no battle for brand supremacy. The brand that bags Brock Lesnar is the flagship brand, and that is undisputed. And because Mahal disputes that, he’s going to Suplex City. But Heyman has even worse news for Mahal because the last time a SmackDown superstar stepped into the ring against Lesnar, they had to stop the match, everyone was in shock, even the Raw locker room. Because that night, Lesnar violated every single rule and boundary in the PG era. Heyman said Mahal’s challenge was accepted. His challenge was accepted number one champion in the WWE, by the reigning, defending, undisputed champion, Brock Lesnar.
Kalisto did an interview with Charly Caruso and said he would invoke his rematch for the cruiserweight championship against Enzo Amore on 205 Live. Tonight, he said it was all about family. Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann and Gran Metalik walked in. They’re teaming with Kailsto in a 10-man tag tonight.
Alicia Fox pinned Bayley to win a three-way match that also included Sasha Banks to become the captain of the Raw Women’s Team at Survivor Series (11:16)
Fox pinned Bayley after Banks had Fox in the Bank Statement, but Bayley broke it up. Then Fox threw Bayley into Banks, who hit the floor. The commentary highlight of the night came when Banks had Fox in the Bank Statement. Banks said Fox can’t break the hold by getting the ropes because there’s no-DQ in a Triple Threat match. The very next sentence was from Booker T, who said “Fox has to get to the ropes to break the hold.” Fox is back doing her crazy routine spots from 2014, where she grabbed the ring bell from the timekeeper and started ringing it, saying she was tired of playing this game. Banks and Bayley took turns dropkicking Fox out of the ring in the early minutes.
Enzo, Drew Gulak, Ariya Daivari, Noam Dar and Tony Nese came out. Gulak did the microphone work and said that Enzo suffered a vocal cord injury and he couldn’t talk, so Gulak read Enzo’s introduction in the uncoolest way possible.
Kalisto, Rich Swann, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari, Enzo Amore, Tony Nese, Noam Dar and Tony Nese (9:03)
Kalisto pinned Enzo with Salina del Sol. Enzo didn’t want to tag in, but Daivari was kicked into the corner by Kalisto, which was a tag. Swann and Alexander teamed for a stereo tope on Dar and Nese. Swann overshot his target. Then Gran Metalik did an moonsault off the top rope to the floor on Daivari.
Angle came out to announce the Raw team for the Survivor Series. Before he could, Shane McMahon came out through the crowd and he was joined by practically the entire SmackDown Live roster. The New Day, Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Nakamura, Becky Lynch, Chad Gable, Natalya, Charlotte, Bobby Roode, Zack Ryder, Tye Dillinger, Styles, Tamina, Rusev, Mojo Rawley, and Carmella surrounded the ring. Shane got in the ring and told Angle “Under siege.” Angle left the ring and looked in shock going to the back. Shane told all of the SmackDown wrestlers to go after them.
The SmackDown roster went backstage and found Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil. Xavier Woods approached them like they were old friends, then Styles jumped them and the entire crew went crazy beating them down. Rusev finished the assault with a flying kick on O’Neil. Corbin found a stagehand and assaulted him. Roode and Woods threw down an HDTV monitor. Lynch, Tamina, and Carmella chased away the make-up crew. Then Goldust, Axel and Curt Hawkins tried to stop them, but they were quickly disposed of. They continued the march into the locker room, where Styles, Big E. and Kofi Kingston jumped Jordan. Matt Hardy and Balor tried to stop them coming out of the bathroom, but Ziggler, Nakamura, Rusev and the rest left them laying.
The SmackDown crew continued its charge into another locker room where Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were jumped. Nakamura speared Gallows, Elias was also left laying. They left that room where Fox, Bayley, James and Banks stood in their way. They led to a brawl with Carmella, Tamina, Lynch and Natalya, who quickly left the Raw team laying. Shane watched this unfold in the ring. As the SmackDown crew looked to continue their assault elsewhere, Rollins jumped off a stack of cases, and Ambrose joined in but they were outnumbered. Just hours after teaming with Ambrose, Styles threw him into a wall. Then Corbin and Rusev brought out Angle from hiding and showed him an unconscious Rollins.
Rusev and Corbin led Angle back in front of the main crowd. Shane motioned for them to bring Angle to the ring. Angle looked furious at Shane. Shane said “At Survivor Series, I want you to bring your gold medal, what’s left of your Raw roster, and we’re going to finish what we started. Oh it’s true, it’s damn true.” For what passes as an invasion angle nowadays, this was really good.
With a card that had to be revised due to a major shakeup in the days leading up to the show, WWE returns to pay-per-view as TLC takes place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota tonight.
Both Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt had to be pulled from the PPV due to medical issues. In Reigns’ place, Kurt Angle will wrestle in a WWE ring for the first time in over a decade as he teams with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose against The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, Braun Strowman & Kane in a tables, ladders, and chairs match.
Wyatt will be replaced by AJ Styles on the show, with Styles facing Finn Balor at the otherwise Raw-exclusive PPV. This will be the first time that Styles and Balor, both former leaders of the Bullet Club, have wrestled each other.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s 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]
Also scheduled for tonight, Asuka will make her main roster debut against Emma, Alexa Bliss will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Mickie James, Enzo Amore challenges Kalisto for the Cruiserweight title, and Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander team up to take on Jack Gallagher & Brian Kendrick.
On the pre-show, Sasha Banks faces Alicia Fox and Drew Gulak’s PowerPoint presentation continues. Our coverage begins with that before the main card starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
Drew Gulak was told he was cut for time. He was just doing a promo for the TV crowd. He wants no more chanting, flying, flipping, coming off the top rope, chanting and then they went to a commercial while he complained that Elias has been given time on the PPV. They teased the idea of an Elias vs. Jason Jordan angle.
SASHA BANKS VS. ALICIA FOX
Banks won a standard match using the bank statement after Fox missed an ax kick. A few cool things, including Fox doing two great bridging Northern lights suplexes and a spinning backbreaker on the floor.
ASUKA VS. EMMA
A little longer than I expected for Asuka’s debut but of course she won with a high kick and the Asuka lock. The crowd seemed into her. It was definitely slower moving than her NXT matches. Emma got some good offesne with the biggest thing pulling her by the air off the apron and throwing Asuka to the floor.
Miz, Cesaro and Sheamus were backstage doing an interview. Sheamus said he wanted to Brogue kicked a gold medalist. Miz said Kurt Angle would never have stepped in for Sheamus and Cesaro. He said Kurt Angle only cares out himself and waited for the perfect moment to put himself in a main event against me. Miz was taunting Angle, said Angle thinks he’s a super hero but he’ll be meeting a monster among men. Strowman said told them to stay out of his way as he’s snuffing out Angle, Rollins and Ambrose. Kane showed up and confronted Strowman. Miz after tonight with Angle done and Ambrose & Rollins broken down they will rule raw. Kane said he’s turning the match into hell on Earth. The story here is Miz & Cesaro & Sheamus are together and the other two are for themselves.
Elias is out. Jason Jordan was throwing vegetabels adn bannana peels at him. So that’s a new program. And then the segment ended.
BRIAN KENDRICK & JACK GALLAGHER VS. CEDRIC ALEXANDER & RICH SWANN
Good match, best so far. Short but all action with some cool moves. Kendrick had the captain’s hook on Alexander, but Swann broke it up with a Phoenix splash. Swann gave Kendrick a spin kick and then Alexander pinned Kendrick after the Captain’s hook. The highlight was Alexander doing a running flip dive onto both Gallagher & Kendrick, and actually pretty much missed both and landed on his feet.
The whole show is being pushed around Kurt Angle’s return.
Alexa Bliss did an interview. She doesn’t know what biscuit butt means and she said she likes her butt and it’s cute. Mickie is just a mom, when I was young I idolized Mickie James, she’s gone toe to toe with Trish Stratus, Lita and Beth Phoenix. Bliss said James talks about her good old days but now it’s just old.
ALEXA BLISS VS. MICKIE JAMES FOR WOMEN’S TITLE
Bliss pulled James’ shoulder into the turnbuckles and hit the DDT for the pin. So far favorites are up 4-0 although these were pretty easy bouts to call. Bliss worked over the left shoulder during the match. Match told a story, there was a hot slapfest after kind of a slow open. The crowd disrespected them with a “We want tables” chant for no reason.
Charly Caruso interviewed. James. She said she’s proud of her perforrmance and said she gave her heart and soul and hoped she proved she was worthy of the title shot and it won’t be her last time getting a title shot and she’ll win the title again.
Rollins, Ambrose and Angle were backstage. Angle said he doesn’t know what he has left, but says he’ll give 100 percent. Rollins gave Kurt a Shield jacket. So he’ll be wearing the outfit and basically said Kurt was in The Shield. The crowd popped for this.
Elias is out again. Crowd booed him pretty heavy. Jordan threw lettuce at him again. He was pelting Elias with food. Weird that the heel commentator was backing Jordan (Graves) and Michael Cole was backing Elias.
Enzo’s voice is almost gone. He joked that he lost his voice. He said his voice is the only thing I’m losing. There are three types of people, people who make things happen like me, those who watch things happen like you fans who are losers, and the third type of person is the one who sits around and wonders what happened. He did the SAWFT deal with the fans.
KALISTO VS. ENZO AMORE FOR CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
Amore regained the title with a thumb to the eye when Enzo pulled the apron drape into the ring and the ref tried to pull it out of the ring. Enzo used tthe Jordanzo for the pin. The fans cheered the title change. Nothing much to the match. Kalisto kept working for a Salida del Sol but never got it. Enzo did a cool flying DDT for a near fall. There was a very light “We Want Neville” chant.
Enzo said he wanted to thank himself and told the fans he’s giving them a no thank you.
DEMON FINN BALOR VS. A.J. STYLES
Really good match. Not close to a match of the year or anything but two great wrestlers both working hard. Balor won witht he Wooo dropkick and a killer coup de gras for the clean pin. They did the “too sweet” sign together after. Balor did a running flip dive. Styles tackled him over the German table. They did most of their regular stuff. Styles did a springboard Frankensteiner for a near fall. It was very professional in the sense everything was good, everything made sense. The crowd was very into it with “This is awesome chants” before the match even started..
JASON JORDAN VS. ELIAS
Elias was singing and said that he was having a match with Jordan.
The finish Jrodan reversed a suplex into an inside cradle. Samson kicked out before the three but his shoulder was actually down even though he kicked out. But they will play it up like Elias had his shoudler up for controversy to set up a rematch and probably a longer program. Jordan looked impressive here. They were put in the death spot on the show but the work was solid and people were okay with it.
The Survivor Series commercial is built around Raw vs. Smackdown matches.
The Miz said he had a surprise at the end and said they were going to treat the other team like garbage and send them to the dump.
KURT ANGLE & DEAN AMBROSE & SETH ROLLINS VS. BRAUN STROWMAN & KANE & THE MIZ & CESARO & SHEAMUS IN A TLC MATCH
Long crazy match which ended when Angle & Rollins & Ambrose gave Miz a triple power bomb and pinned him. The match told a ton of different stories. At first the faces had the edge with tons oof chair shots. Then Cesaro & Sheamus came back with chair shots. Rollins & Ambrose both came off high on ladders to splash Strowman & Kane both through two different announcers tables. Angle did a shine spot with Gemran suplexes on everyone until Strowman broke up an ankle lock and powerslammed Angle through a table. Angle was carried to the back to make it 5 on 2. Then Strowman and Kane argued and Strowman shove down Kane. Ambrose, who took a ton of punishment, was given a double crucifix bomb and bounced off the table that didn’t break. They set the table up in the corner and Strowman threw Ambrose through the table. Kane turne on Strowman and choke slammed himi through a gimmicked part of the stage. Kane pulled down chairs hanging from the ceiling and the chairs all fell on Strowman. This looks to be the Strowman face turn to feud with Kane. Kane choke slammed Ambrose & Rollins through a table. Ambrose landed badly again. Stormwn recovered and threw Miz iuto the wall. Strowman was beating on the heels until Kane put Strowman down. All the heels beat him down and threw him into the back of a garbage truck. In theory, Strowman was crushed into a million pieces in the garbage truck but he’ll be fine. The truck drove off and that was it for Strowman. Angle then came back out and destoryed Sheamus & Cesaro. Kane went to give Angle a tombsone piledriver but Rollins hit Kane with a chair to the back. Rollins & Amborse gave Kane a double tackle through the barricade. Miz hit the skull crushing finale on Angle, who kicked out. Angle got the ankle lock on Miz, but Miz kicked Angle out of the ring. Rollins gave Miz the knee, Ambrose gave him Dirty Deeds, Angle gave Miz the Angle slam and then they used the Shield triple power bomb on Miz for the pin.
Previously: Moose and Stephan Bonnar invaded the American Top Team facility and destroyed it with metal pipes.
Tonight: Bobby Lashley and ATT address Impact Wrestling. Plus, Taya Valkyrie faces off with Rosemary.
Show Recap —
Johnny Impact defeated Chris Adonis
Impact had a flurry of offense early on, but Adonis took over with a bear hug and a spinebuster. Adonis locked on the Adonis Lock before Impact leaped over the top rope while still in the hold to break it. Impact made a comeback and hit the Countdown to Impact for the win.
Eli Drake ran out and tried to attack Impact, but Impact got the better of him. He ripped off Drake’s clothes and stripped him down to his boxers. Adonis then jumped Impact from behind and they beat him down until Garza Jr. ran out for the save with a chair and the heels ran off.
Texano defeated El Hijo Del Fantasma, Eddie Edwards, Ethan Carter III, and James Storm at the Hard Rock in Cancun
This was supposed to be every man for himself, but the Impact guys worked together against AAA at the start. The Impact wrestlers isolated Fantasma before he made a comeback and scored a close near fall.
Storm had the match won until EC3 pulled him off and they ended up fighting. Texano tried to convince Storm to attack Fantasma’s father (who was on commentary). Fantasma went after Storm and Texano snuck in and scored the pin on EC3.
– OVE returned to Tijuana and The Crash in search of LAX. Konnan will only talk to them if they defend the tag titles tonight.
– James Storm and EC3 blamed each other for the loss earlier. Edwards was angry that they couldn’t work together. Edwards is going to Japan, but he ordered Storm and EC3 to work together next week.
– In the back, Jim Cornette and Dan Lambert had a heated argument.
Dezmond Xavier defeated Andrew Everett (w/ Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley)
Lee interfered early to give the advantage to Everett. Xavier was able to make a comeback and hit a dive to the floor. Lee distracted Xavier and Everett hit him from behind. Xavier then made another comeback, hitting a backflip into a kick for the win.
– During the last match, Josh Mathews announced that Taryn Terrell is out of the Knockouts Championship match at Bound for Glory. He noted that doctors wouldn’t clear her after the slap from Gail Kim last week. It will now be a triple threat between Sienna, Kim, and Allie.
– Grado came down to the ring and called out Joseph Park, accusing Park of cheating him out of money. Park reminded Grado that he owns his visa. He challenged Grado to a match at Bound for Glory. If Grado wins, he stays. If he loses, he’s gone forever.
Grado signed the contract and went to leave but Park stopped him. Park revealed the match will be a Monster’s Ball and it will be against his “brother” Abyss. Grado jumped in his car and tried to leave but the car wouldn’t start. Abyss’ music played and Father James Mitchell appeared in the back seat. Grado ran off terrified.
Impact Tag Team Champions OVE defeated Black Diamond and Black Danger at The Crash in Tijuana to retain their titles
Black Diamond caught OVE with a dive to start the match. Jake Crist charged Danger, but he caught Jake and threw him up. Diamond then came of the top rope with a spear on Jake. OVE made a comeback and used a variation of the Meltzer Driver for the win.
– Jeremy Borash was in the ring when Dan Lambert and American Top Team came through the crowd. Lambert has watched Lashley waste his MMA career for pro wrestling. Lambert said he’s the biggest pro wrestling fan and knows more about wrestling than anyone. He then showed off some of his wrestling memorabilia, including Bruno Sammartino’s original championship belt from the 1960s.
Lambert was upset that Moose and Stephan Bonnar invaded the ATT gym. He challenged Moose & Bonnar to fight Bobby Lashley & King Mo at Bound for Glory.
Moose and Bonnar came out with the belts and trophies they stole last week. As they made their way to the ring, Lashley jumped them from behind. ATT beat them down with Lashley giving both a spear. Mahabali Shera, Caleb Konley, and Andrew Everett tried to help but they got beat down as well.
– In Tijuana, OVE confronted Konnan and demanded their pay. A bunch of Crash guys surrounded the ring and attacked OVE.
– On Global Forged episode six, the search for new talent continued as the competition heats up.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Rosemary
Rosemary had the early advantage until Valkyrie took over by ramming her into the ring post. Valkyrie caught Rosemary with a crossbody press to the floor. She missed a knee in the corner and Rosemary countered into a German suplex. Rosemary set up for the Red Wedding, but Valkyrie countered into a Northern Lights suplex and hit a double stomp for the win.
Valkyrie tried to give Rosemary the Road to Valhalla after the match, but Rosemary spit the red mist in Valkyrie’s eyes. Rosemary challenged Valkyrie to a match at Bound for Glory and said it’ll involve blood. She then shouted “Bloody Mary.”
Next Week: X Division Champion Trevor Lee defends at The Crash in Tijuana.
Date: October 17, 2017 Location: KeyArena in Seattle, WA
The Big Takeaway —
Jinder Mahal did, in fact, challenge Brock Lesnar to a match at Survivor Series. Lesnar will be on Raw to respond. Mahal’s segment was interrupted by AJ Styles who challenged Mahal to a title match. Mahal declined and Styles attacked him. Styles will face Sunil Singh next week.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn beat Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura in a tag match. Zayn picked up the pinfall over Orton after a low-blow and Helluva Kick. Their celebration was halted momentarily by Daniel Bryan who informed them that Shane McMahon would return next week. Zayn played a great heel and received good heat from the crowd for being a prick to Bryan in his hometown.
Show Recap —
Michael Cole was on commentary with Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. Cole said Tom Phillips is out for a couple of weeks “on assignment.”
Daniel Bryan came out to huge Yes chants here in Seattle. The crowd loudly chanted for Bryan and, as usual, he seemed amused. He said it was great to be back and the crowd chanted “welcome home.”
Bryan announced a 6-woman tag match between Natalya, Tamina and Lana against Naomi, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. The crowd loudly booed the heels and cheered the faces. Bryan said Jinder Mahal would have an announcement and Dolph Ziggler would face Bobby Roode.
Bryan called out Sami Zayn, who disappointed him at Hell in a Cell. Bryan said he wanted Zayn on SmackDown from the beginning, but before he could continue his story, Zayn interrupted and gleefully waltzed to the ring.
Bryan asked how Zayn could smile and dance and wondered if this was the same guy he’s known for 13 years. Zayn said he was still the same guy and still a great guy. He took ownership back of his career and asked if that made him a bad guy, so the crowd chanted “Yes.”
Zayn said they were both gifted performers, then corrected himself to say that he “still” was. He acknowledged that the company didn’t really believe in either of them, but Bryan had the fans’ support. The fans put Bryan in the main event of WrestleMania, but they didn’t uphold their end of the agreement for Zayn.
No matter how hard Zayn worked, they didn’t cheer for him like they did for Bryan. Zayn said he doesn’t care anymore and informed the crowd he didn’t care what they think. Zayn told Bryan if he worked smarter instead of working harder, he could still be wrestling. The crowd chanted “Sami sucks.”
Zayn called Bryan a once-in-a-lifetime performer, the best of their generation, and he spent his whole career trying to catch up. Now, Bryan was the last person he wanted to be like because after all that, Bryan ended up a housewife.
Bryan was pissed and balled up his fist (which was subtle) but Kevin Owens interrupted. Owens agreed with Zayn that Bryan was a pathetic martyr and a housewife, calling him Mr. Bella, and also a hypocrite.
Bryan said Owens only cares about himself, and never cared about Zayn. Bryan always did what was best for the fans, which wasn’t always best for Owens. Owens said Bryan is doing what’s “best for business” and called him “the authority.”
Zayn realized Owens was right and called Bryan a sellout. Zayn thanked Owens and they hugged. Bryan shook his head and left the ring. Owens mocked him again, so Bryan told them he was finding two guys to punch them in the face. This was good. Zayn was awesome.
6-Woman Tag Match: Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Naomi defeated Women’s champion Natalya, Tamina & Lana (8:42)
Naomi made a hot tag to Charlotte who hit “chops,” a knee drop and big boot to Lana. She went for the Figure Eight but Natalya tossed her into the turnbuckle. Lynch gave Natalya an Exploder, Tamina superkicked Lynch, and Naomi hit Tamina with a crossbody. With the ring clear, Charlotte put Lana in the Figure Eight for the submission victory.
After the match, Natalya yanked Charlotte out of the ring and was about to attack her with a steel chair, but Charlotte booted her down and chased her with the chair until Natalya ran away through the crowd.
Backstage, Bryan told Owens and Zayn that literally everyone in the locker room wants to punch them in the face, but their opponents would be Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura. Bryan did one of Nakamura’s poses and Owens was not amused.
Pulp Fashion featuring Fandango, Tyler Breeze and The Ascension
The Ascension were sitting at a table, presumably being interrogated, but Viktor noted how awkward it was given that Fandango hasn’t said anything in a couple of hours. Fandango told them to be cool like the Fonz. Konnor mentioned that they jumped the shark, which made himself and Viktor cackle.
Breeze came in and took a bite of a cheeseburger, or as they call it in Paris, a Royale-Rumble with cheese. The Ascension wondered how they couldn’t have figured the 2B case out by now and were about to say it’s obviously the Bludgeon Brothers, but before they could quite get it out, Breeze collapsed to the floor.
Fandango said Breeze was allergic to pickles, so the Ascension gave Fandango a giant syringe to pump adrenaline into Breeze like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Fandango was about to do it but Breeze popped up and said he wasn’t allergic to anything, the bun was terrible. Viktor told him it was gluten-free. Breeze realized their briefcase was stolen. The Ascension were happy because this meant this could continue but Breezango just walked away.
Non-title match: Sin Cara defeated U.S. Champion Baron Corbin via count-out (1:20)
Sin Cara hit a big dive off the top of the ring post to Corbin outside the ring. Corbin couldn’t make it back in the ring so Sin Cara won by count-out. This was a really dumb follow-up to Corbin beating AJ Styles clean last week.
Backstage, The Uso told Renee Young that they feel like it’s their birthday, like it’s Christmas morning. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin jumped in to inform the Usos’ they’d be tag champions real soon. They acted like they wanted to fight right now, but they were just toying with the Usos and offered a handshake.
Usos laughed it off and were about to shake their hands, but Gable and Benjamin pulled their hands back and left. The Usos had every reason to beat these two up right here, but they didn’t.
Luke Harper and Erick Rowan did another promo, this time from the woods. They said some stuff and smashed the ground with their toy Thor hammers. They made it clear the team name really is the Bludgeon Brothers.
Jinder Mahal’s announcement
They showed some clips of Mahal doing a promotional tour in Mumbai and New Delhi. Mahal said he was the first Indian world champion and was greeted like a hero when he returned home. Mahal told a story from India about a boy who said he didn’t receive the same admiration in America as he did in India, despite beating all worthy contenders multiple times.
The crowd chanted “you can’t wrestle,” so Mahal paused his promo, held up his title and reminded them who the champion was. Mahal said he must beat the man who the fans see as unbeatable and challenged Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. Cold asked, “Are you kidding me?” Indeed. Mahal said everyone will have to kiss his feet and called himself the greatest WWE Champion of all time.
AJ Styles interrupted. Styles appeared nonplussed and wondered if he heard Mahal correctly. The crowd loudly chanted for Styles. Mahal repeated that he was challenging Lesnar but Styles didn’t care about that. Styles told Mahal he hasn’t beaten everyone on SmackDown because he hasn’t beaten him. Mahal said he’s beaten every worthy contender and called Styles a loser.
Styles said Mahal must not have a problem defending his title against him. Mahal told Styles he belonged at the back of the line and called him delusional. Mahal undid a button on his shirt and got in Styles’ face, so Styles attacked him and chased away the Singhs. Mahal bailed.
After a break, Mahal and the Singhs approached Bryan in his office and demanded to know what he was going to do about Styles. Bryan asked Mahal what he was going to do about Styles. Mahal said Styles would have to face Sunil Singh next week. Sunil was briefly caught off guard but agreed to the match. Bryan thought this sounded phenomenal.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Bobby Roode (3:54)
Ziggler won with a schoolboy holding the tights.
During the match, Ziggler took a slingshot bump into the ring post and Cole recalled what happened to Cesaro “on Monday Night Raw a couple of months ago.” Except, it was less than a month ago, and it was at No Mercy.
Brock Lesnar was announced for Raw on Monday in Green Bay and he will respond to Mahal’s challenge.
Aiden English sang as he walked around backstage but stopped when he noticed two guys on their phone who paid him no attention. English asked if they would be on their phones for opening night of Don Giovanni. He asked what their music taste was when New Day busted in. Xavier Woods was playing the trombone and they all danced, minus English.
New Day called English the Gershwin of grumpy, the Mendelssohn of moody and the Cardi B of cantankerous. (I sure hope I got that right.) Rusev interrupted and said there was no more New Day, only Rusev Day. Kofi Kingston wondered why it was Rusev Day again, but they celebrated anyway by playing the trombone as they backed away. English was about to sing “Rusev Day” but Rusev stopped him. This was really great.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura (13:03)
Nakamura was about to hit a running knee to Owens but Zayn pulled him out of the way, allowing Owens to take control. Orton eventually made the hot tag and hit Zayn with clotheslines and an Exploder. Orton also gave Owens a backdrop on the barricade. Zayn went for a dive but Orton cut him off with a forearm and gave him a backdrop on the announce table, which broke. The table probably wasn’t supposed to break and Orton couldn’t help but smile.
Orton went for a cover in the ring but Owens broke it up and gave him a superkick. Nakamura took out Owens and Orton hit Zayn with a powerslam for a nearfall. Owens tossed Nakamura into the steps and jumped on the apron. This distracted the referee allowing Zayn to give Orton a low-blow. Zayn followed with a Helluva kick for the pinfall win over Orton.
Good match and the ending was perfect.
Afterwards, they cut backstage to Gorilla where Owens and Zayn rubbed their win in Bryan’s face. They asked Bryan what he had for them next. Bryan let them know that would be up to Shane McMahon who is returning next week. Owens and Zayn were concerned.
After some replays, they cut back to Nakamura and Orton who watched as Owens and Zayn ran back out on the stage and celebrated their win. Zayn did the Yes chants as Owens yelled, “Kevin and Sami are the best!” Owens ended the show by announcing that Sami was his best friend.
