WWE’s 19th edition of Tribute to the Troops aired Sunday on Fox, taped in mid-October at Ontario, California’s Toyota Center on the same night as SmackDown.
WWE Champion Big E defeated Dolph Ziggler (w/ Bobby Roode) in a non-title match
This was the battle of who has the best hip movements — an exchange that Big E won. He hit an impressive splash on Ziggler while he was on the ring apron. Roode interfered in favor of Ziggler throughout the match. Ziggler hit the Famouser for a near fall and followed it up with a Zig Zag, but it wasn’t enough to put the champion down.
In the end, Big E caught a diving Ziggler and converted it into the Big Ending to with the match. After the match, Roode attacked Big E and received a Big Ending for his troubles.
Bianca Belair defeated Liv Morgan
This started with several counters. Morgan and Belair outsmarted each other at certain points and followed up the stalemate with their respective taunts. Belair hit a stacked spinebuster that helped her get a quick advantage, but Morgan countered with a small package and followed it up with an enziguri kick.
Belair won after catching Morgan on the top rope, countering her hurricanrana with the KOD. After the match, both hugged each other in a show of respect.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Rick Boogs) to retain
This started with some arm-based holds, followed by headlocks. It started to heat up with Reigns landing jumping clotheslines on Nakamura. Reigns hit a high uranage for a near fall and set up the Superman punch. Boogs started playing his guitar to distract Reigns which Nakamura used to gain an advantage. The Usos then came out and attacked Boogs.
Reigns eventually retook control, hitting a Superman punch at ringside with a spear back in the ring to get the pin and win.
Final Thoughts:
Besides the matches, the show had several video packages about the troops, several heroes and their courageous actions. The show also had images from previous editions of the show.
The wrestling itself was fine, but nothing too special. The best match of the show was Morgan vs. Belair.
