Connect with us

Opinion

WWE Week in Review (Ending 10/7/2018)

Published

on

Chairshot WWE Week In Review

We are in the homestretch for Super Show-Down! On RAW, the Shield and the Dogs of War both try to pick up some momentum before their epic six man. Ruby Riott gets a golden opportunity against Ronda Rousey. The Brothers of Destruction send DX a serious warning, and the team of Lashley and Rush hit a major obstacle.

On SmackDown, Becky Lynch takes a stand against WWE’s continued neglect. The war of words between Rusev and English takes a scandalous turn. Samoa Joe’s actions last week have serious consequences, and Miz and Daniel Bryan look to gain some momentum before their #1 Contender’s Match in Melbourne.

On 205, Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy prepare for their date with destiny. TJP’s campaign of disrespect continues, and the Party of Gulak does an unexpected purge.

On NXT, Candice LeRae looks to put Lacey Evans in her place, Johnny Gargano looks to get back on track against Tony Nese, and EC3 looks for revenge on Lars Sullivan.

So how did everything go? Let’s find out!

RAW

Shield vs Dogs of War: We kicked off the show with Ambrose cutting a promo. Ambrose said that while there was a lot of truth in what Ziggler and McIntyre said, and that he has thought about leaving the Shield. Ambrose, despite implying that he was sick of the Shield and cleaning up after his brothers, said the Shield isn’t a business, it’s a brotherhood and that he will stand by his brothers.

As he was leaving, Ambrose was confronted by Corbin, who gave Ambrose a choice: Fight Reigns for the Universal Title, fight Rollins for the IC title or face Strowman. Ambrose, never one to back down from a fight, chose Strowman. The match between Strowman and Ambrose was actually really good. Ambrose and Strowman tore each other apart. The match ended in a DQ finish for Ambrose after Reigns and Rollins interfered. As punishment, Corbin came out and announced that Rollins would face McIntyre and Reigns would face Ziggler after the break.

Backstage, Ambrose was NOT in a good mood between Corbin and his brothers’ interference. He shrugs off Rollins’ concern with an…offhand comment: He could’ve been Intercontinental Champion.

Reigns/Ziggler was a really great match despite not being a title match, for whatever reason, both men gave it everything they had, but Reigns would pull out the victory with a spear. Ambrose’s irritation with his brothers continued when Reigns tried to talk to him. Ambrose repeated the same offhand comment he’d said to Rollins: If he wasn’t such a nice guy and loyal brother, he’d be Universal Champion by now.

The Pack were celebratory over Ambrose’s comments, but it seems the Dogs are turning on each other, with Strowman implying that Ziggler was a weak link.

Rollins vs McIntyre was really good, if a little awkward in places. Just when it looked like Rollins had the match won, Ziggler interfered, which brought out Reigns, which brought out Strowman, which brought out Ambrose. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the Pack took out the Shield, standing tall over the Hounds of Justice.

Super Show-Down:  Despite a miscue, and some dicey moments, the Shield held strong in Australia. Sporting a new version of their face masks (which I still hate), the Hounds of Justice looked to finally stop the Pack. It truly looked like Dean Ambrose was going to join the Pack after Reigns accidentally Superman Punched Ambrose after McIntyre ducked. However, after Reigns saved Ambrose from being bulldozed by Strowman, that seemed to have settled the matter. Ambrose got the pin on Ziggler and the Hounds of Justice still rule the yard.

RAW Women’s Division: In a preview of Saturday’s Six-Woman tag match, Ronda Rousey took on Ruby Riott in a non-title match. Riott had Logan and Morgan, who has just been cleared to return to the ring after last week’s scare, in her corner, while Rousey had the Bellas in her corner. This match was so good. Riott is rough as they come, which made her a perfect match for Rousey. Rousey would pull out the victory, but Riott gave her a run for her money. The six-woman in Melbourne is going to be amazing.

Super Show-Down: Rousey and the Bellas are undefeated but it wasn’t without a fight. Brie Bella was definitely a target early on for the kick that gave Liv Morgan a concussion a few weeks ago. Morgan got some revenge on Brie, knocking the Hippie Twin out with a step up enzuguri. There was a hilarious spot of Brie grabbing Liv’s tongue when Liv stuck it out at her.

Ultimately, despite being frozen out by the Bellas a little bit, Rousey would finally get into the ring and pick up the victory by hitting a double arm bar on Logan and Morgan after Morgan attacked Rousey to save Logan. Rousey and the Bellas got the Riott Squad this time, but the look on Nikki’s face at the end says that Rousey should start looking over her shoulder.

Moment of Bliss was back. Bliss admitted that her hero growing up was Trish Stratus. Bliss then told an outrageous lie about Stratus mistreating her as a young fan and warned that Stratusfaction was not guaranteed.

In another Mixed Match Challenge teaser, Bayley, with Balor in her corner, took on Alicia Fox, who had Jinder Mahal and Sunil in her corner. Despite Fox and Mahal’s best efforts and a really great match, Bayley would put Fox away with the Bayley-to-Belly. Fox blamed Sunil for the loss, despite Sunil’s protests of innocence.

Bobby Roode and Chad Gable vs Ascension: Bobby Roode took on Konnor this week. Despite the Glorious One’s best efforts, he would fall to Konnor by pinfall.

The B-Team vs Revival: B-Team and Revival renewed their rivalry, now with no belts involved, thanks to Ziggler and McIntyre.  The match was great with B-Team pulling out the win after Dallas countered the Rocket Launcher with his knees and rolled Dawson up with an inside cradle. While B-Team were celebrating, they were attacked by Authors of Pain who hit the Super-Collider on the B-Team.

Backstage, Corbin praised AoP and their manager for their rampage and told them to keep up the good work, which is bad news for anyone in the tag team division.

Elias and Kevin Owens vs Bobby Lashley: The primary job for any heel is to get heat. Owens and Elias not only go heat tonight, they about started a forest fire after mocking Seattle over the departure of the Seattle Sonics basketball team.

As for Lashley and Rush, tonight didn’t go as well for them as the previous two weeks, Elias and Owens were ready for them and left both men laid out after Lashley and Owens had a grueling match that Owens one on a roll up after Elias attacked Rush.

Super Show-Down: He’s back! After being away from the WWE Universe for more than six months, John Cena returned to be Bobby Lashley’s partner against Elias and Owens in Melbourne. Sporting a new haircut, an even more muscular body, and an…interesting new finisher, Cena helped Lashley score a major win over the two thorns in his flesh, though it must be said that Lashely, Elias, and Owens did most of the wrestling.

Undertaker vs Triple H: After knowing each other for decades, you’d think Shawn Michaels would learn to never challenge the Undertaker or Kane, but that’s what he did. Sporting a shaved head under his cowboy hat, WWE’s rottweiler in terrier garb did just that on Monday. HBK claimed that he’d wanted to attend the Super Show-Down as fan and watch two of the greatest of all time go at it for the last time, but Undertaker had made it personal, which meant that HBK was going to make it personal. He vowed that he would not only be in Hunter’s corner in Melbourne, but he promised to take out Kane with some Sweet Chin Music if the Big Red Machine interferes.

Well, that did it. Kane’s music hit and HBK was so focused on the entrance ramp, he didn’t realize that Kane was behind him. By the time he figured it out, it was too late, and Kane laid him out. If things looked bleak before for the Heartbreak Kid, it turned pitch black when the lights went out and the gong sounded. The Deadman Cometh and HBK found himself surrounded by the Brothers of Destruction.

At this point, Triple H, still in his suit from being backstage, came running out to save his friend and paid for it. The Brothers took out the former DX members with stereo chokeslams and were about to leave when Taker noticed Triple H flopping around like a fish and decided to send his opponent a final statement, with a thunderous Tombstone Piledriver.

 Super Show-Down: Triple H’s decades long quest to put down the Undertaker came to fruition, finally beating the Undertaker in a big match environment, though it took him and HBK to do it.

The match started off with a surprise, after everyone was in the ring, we were told that this match was now No Disqualification. No one was really in any doubt about who made that call, and Triple H’s smirk and nod confirmed that he’d pulled rank and changed the match stipulation. There was going to be a winner tonight.

Triple H was full of confidence to the point of cockiness, which seems like a stupid thing to do given their histories, even trying to mock Taker’s signature Old School rope walk.

This match was really good, but everyone involved is really showing their age and the wear and tear wrestling has on the body. If that new hip was Taker’s new lease on life, the lease seems to be a short-term one.

It took a lot of doing but, eventually, Triple H was able to put Undertaker away after taking out the ref and some Sweet Chin Music.

After the match, Taker and Kane seemed to want to have a moment with Trips and HBK, and DX seemed to go with it, hugs and congrats went around, until Taker and Kane attacked, leaving both members of DX flat in the middle of the ring. Guess this ‘Last Time Ever’ isn’t going to be the last.

SmackDown

WWE Championship: Paige was not in the mood for BS on Tuesday after Samoa Joe’s antics last week. We were assured that AJ Styles’ family were safe and charges were pressed against Samoa Joe. Management wanted Joe fired for his actions, but Styles asked that Joe not be fired because firing him wouldn’t solve the problem.

We then were shown a video by Styles from earlier. He was at home with his family in Georgia. Stating that this issue between him and Joe is bigger than WWE and he vowed to bury Joe alive at Super Show-Down.

Super Show-Down: The Styles family nightmare is over! AJ Styles beat Samoa Joe in one of the most brutal bouts of the night and a pinfall wasn’t going to be enough for Styles, who has been tormented for months by his former friend.

This match was brutal, but still very good, even if really didn’t seem like a No DQ match for most of it. Styles would finally get the victory by forcing Joe to tap out to a Calf Crusher. With his Samoan boogeyman vanquished, Styles is going to turn his attention to the results of the Miz/Bryan match.

WWE United States Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura wasn’t in action this week.

SmackDown Women’s Division: Asuka was in action on Tuesday against Peyton Royce, each side was looking to get some momentum going into their match at Super Show-Down. Despite Royce’s best efforts, Asuka would get a submission victory, giving the Empresses of Glow a lot of momentum heading into Super Show-Down.

Super Show-Down: The IIconics scored a major victory in front of their families and countrymen in an emotional match.

The Divas From Down Under traded in their usual jibes about whatever town they were in, choosing to say together ‘We’re home!’ and were even generous to their opponents, saying they weren’t too shabby.

Compared to Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair, this wasn’t the best match in the world, but it didn’t need to be. Asuka and Naomi put up a great fight, but it was the IIconics’ night. They put the Empresses of Glow away with an IIconic Knee on Naomi. The crowd loved it and the IIconics celebrated with the fans.

In a post-match interview, Kay and Royce discussed how much it meant to them to perform in their home country and about the sacrifices they’d made to work in WWE: Never being home for Christmas, missing birthdays and special occasions. Then they were shown a video WWE had shot of their families watching them perform. Both women, and yours truly, cried and thanked WWE for letting them see that video.

For the last several weeks, Becky Lynch has been getting the best of her former best friend, Charlotte, and doing her best to destroy the Queen, but this week, Charlotte managed to get one over on the SmackDown Women’s Champion.

It started with Lynch being left off the Super Show-Down poster, so to rectify that oversight by WWE, she decided to make her own poster and it was a dandy: It was a picture taken from her impromptu photo shoot last week imposed next to a picture of the stadium Super Show-Down will be happening at, complete with a KO’d Charlotte Flair at her feet.

Apparently, this was too much for Charlotte, who attacked Becky and the fight was on, but this time, Charlotte would have the last laugh, Fall-Away Slamming her through her cool poster. Charlotte had the last laugh Tuesday, but I have a feeling Becky will make her pay and then some on Saturday.

Super Show-Down: If Becky Lynch has learned anything from being friends with Charlotte over the past five years, it’s how to fight dirty. Charlotte may have been tutored in underhanded tactics by her infamous dad, but Becky was taking her own notes in secret.

The rematch between the former friends over the SmackDown Women’s Championship was every bit as nasty and bitter as the first time, except that this time, Charlotte had no illusions of making up with Becky.

This match was brutal and it seemed that Becky would be the latest person to lose to Charlotte Flair, but Becky remembered the one lesson of Ric’s that Charlotte doesn’t: The challenger has to beat the Champion, not the other way around. Becky hit Charlotte with the Women’s belt after getting caught in the Figure Eight, causing a DQ. Since Charlotte didn’t beat Becky, she gets a win but not the belt.

An enraged Charlotte refused to accept this and attacked Becky as the latter left the ringside area. Becky made her pay for it by hitting her with a Bex-sploder outside the ring and then kneeing her head into the barrier.

After the match, it was announced that Charlotte would get another chance at the title on SmackDown and if Becky got disqualified, she’d be stripped of the title.

SmackDown Tag Team Division: New Day had promised to reveal the secret to their pancakes (apparently, it’s some poor schmuck named Mr. Bootysworth), but this cooking class was interrupted by the Bar. Neither man is impressed with New Day’s cooking. Cesaro knows pastries, being Swiss and is a really good cook. They break up the cooking class before laying out New Day and dumping the batter on Mr. Bootysworth (played by Dewey Foley).

Super Show-Down: Despite a valiant effort by the Bar, New Day are still the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Cesaro and Sheamus came extremely close but New Day were able to pull out the win and leave Australia still the tag team champions. It’ll be interesting to see who will challenge for the Tag Titles next.

Rusev vs Aiden English:  Aiden English delivered on his promise to show video proof of what happened in Milwaukee, but it only served to muddy the waters. It shows English trying to find the lyrics to his entrance when Lana comes to his hotel room, saying that there was something she need to tell him and the video ends with Lana saying ‘I want you’.

Obviously, the evidence of anything hinky happening between Lana and English isn’t there and English, who is trying to take credit for Rusev Day’s popularity, certainly has reasons to put Lana in a bad light, but does Rusev believe it? Lana vehemently denied any wrongdoing, but it’s unclear whether English’s ‘proof’ will have any affect.

R-Truth and Carmella vs Andrade and Zelina Vega: Zelina Vega and Carmella had been having a war of words on Twitter that ended with Carmella challenging Vega and Andrade to a match, which was accepted.

The match was really great. Carmella has come a long way from when she first came to SmackDown. She and Vega could have a great one-on-one rivalry without Truth and Almas being involved.  Carmella and Truth countered the Double Tranquilo with double splits and had a dance break during this match which wasn’t as stupid looking as it sounds.

It looked like Almas and Vega were going to steal one after Almas broke up a potentially successful pin attempt by Carmella. However, Almas and Vega’s tricks caught up to them after a pin attempt by Vega was countered by Carmella into a submission win via Code of Silence.

Tye Dillinger vs Randy Orton: Dillinger confronted Paige and demanded a match with Randy Orton, despite Paige’s concerns, winning her approval with his determination.

Dillinger showed a lot of fight, taking it to Orton, who seemed less than impressed with the Perfect 10. Taking his sadistic side to the extreme again, Orton decided to ruin Dillinger’s gimmick by breaking one of his fingers, thus leaving Dillinger unable to do his ‘Ten!’ chant.

Miz and Daniel Bryan: Shelton Benjamin hasn’t been seen much on WWE TV and went on Twitter to demand a match. Paige agreed by putting him in a match against Daniel Bryan. Miz, who is looking for some momentum going into his big match against Bryan in Australia, stirred the pot a little, telling Benjamin that he (Benjamin) was the best and claiming that he (Miz) had gotten Benjamin the match against Bryan.

Benjamin told Miz that he was looking to make a statement and that Bryan was casualty #1, which Miz liked.

The match was amazing. Benjamin and Bryan put on a classic performance. Miz was watching on commentary and helped Benjamin pick up the victory by distracting Bryan

Miz added insult to injury by attacking Bryan after the match before hitting a Skull-Crushing Finale on Bryan, telling him ‘Good luck’.

Super Show-Down: We all knew that, eventually, Miz was going to get his and that Brian was going to make the A-Lister pay for his years of insults and degradation and boy did he! Not only did Daniel Bryan beat Miz, he beat him after a very short match with a small package, even though Miz did get his shoulder up about the time three was counted. Unsurprisingly, Miz was furious, but Charles Robinson stood by his decision, it’s Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel.

205 Live

WWE Cruiserweight Championship:  Neither Alexander or Murphy were in action this week, but we were shown montages of them preparing for Saturday.

Super Show-Down: The Age of Alexander is OVER! After going undefeated for 277 days, Alexander lost in an epic match against Buddy Murphy. The Australian Juggernaut fed off the very pro-Murphy crowd, taking everything Alexander could dish out and then some, finally ending Alexander’s epic reign with Murphy’s Law for the three.

Akira Tozawa vs Jack Gallagher (with Drew Gulak and Brian Kendrick): Akira Tozawa was still looking for some revenge on Gulak and his goons after their unprovoked attack on him the Tuesday after SummerSlam and this week he took on Jack Gallagher, who was accompanied by Gulak and Kendrick.

The match was really great, Tozawa and Gallagher work really well together and there was a lot of back and forth between them. Tozawa would pick up the victory and narrowly escape becoming a victim of Gulak’s temper tantrum, but Gulak wasn’t satisfied. He cut a promo about how his team wasn’t living up to potential and did a PowerPoint presentation to show how he planned to fix that, he blamed Brian Kendrick.

Kendrick, who has never been accused of being a stupid man, figured out the plan and went on the attack, but the numbers game was too much for him. Gulak and Gallagher left the former Cruiserweight Champion in the ring.

Kalisto vs TJP: After weeks of disrespecting the Luchador tradition, TJP faced off with Kalisto in a one on one contest. This match was dominated by TJP, who missed no opportunity to disrespect the masked luchador tradition Kalisto was so proud of.  Kalisto would get the victory, but that didn’t stop TJP from further disrespecting masked luchadors, by unmasking Kalisto anyway.

Mustafa Ali and Hideo Itami: Drake Maverick said both men were off to recover from last week. Saying what Ali did was reckless, Maverick also said that he knew that this rivalry was far from over and the next time Ali and Itami face off, it’s going to be a match no one wants to miss.

Lio Rush: We were informed that Lio Rush will be issuing an open challenge next week.

NXT

NXT Championship: Tommaso Ciampa cut a promo about the perils of being on top, about how everyone is looking to take you down and belittle you. He says that Velveteen Dream’s name suits him since he’s living in a dreamland, but says that even though Dream seems to think Ciampa took out Aleister Black, they both know what actually happened. He then warns Dream to be careful because Ciampa destroys fairytales and mystique and he’ll turn the Dream into a nightmare.

NXT North American Championship: The three men involved in the upcoming Triple Threat match for the North American Championship cut promos, each vowing victory and talking trash about their opponents. Adam Cole dismissed both Ricochet and Dunne, claiming that the legacy of the North American Championship starts and ends with him. Dunne says that his legacy as UK Champion is real and Ricochet vows to walk out still North American Champion.

NXT Women’s Division: Nikki Cross was in the bowels of Full Sail University, looking to have some fun. She wants to play a game because games are fun. Who does she want to play with? Bianca Belair since they had so much fun the last time they’d been the ring together, though she hopes Bianca won’t be scared off because they’d caused some trouble last time. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, Nikki knows who attacked Aleister Black!

What does the EST think of Nikki’s request? Seeming to forget that while Nikki didn’t beat her in their match a few weeks ago, Belair herself didn’t get the win either, Bianca trashed Nikki as scraggly and vowed to not just beat NXT’s Twisted Sister, but to embarrass her, but can you embarrass someone as crazy as Nikki Cross? Question is: Why is Belair so determined to embarrass Cross? Could it be that the EST knows she may have met her match?

Candice LeRae took on Lacey Evans in a very personal battle since Evans felt the need to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. The match was really good, but unfortunately, Candice’s emotions got the best of her this round. Despite a valiant effort and a hell of a fight, Evans’ Women’s Right ended Ms LeRae’s fight, but if Evans thinks this is over, she’s got another thing coming.

The Queen of Spades cut a promo for her rematch at Evolution against Kairi Sane. Baszler talked about how things change. She and Sane have changed a lot since they first met one-on-one at the inaugural Mae Young Classic and Baszler feels she’s gotten too comfortable, so she’s going back to basics in fight camp, which none of the ‘girls’ of NXT would ever do. Evolution is a fact of life and Baszler is going evolve too.

NXT Tag Team Division: The Forgotten Sons took on Torry Kirsch, Cesar Rise, and Vinny Mixon in a six-man tag match. Cutler has a busted nose and is wearing a mask, but that doesn’t stop him from dishing out punishment. This match was super quick with the Sons picking up a win over their unfortunate opponents. Undisputed Era may be preparing for the War Machine, but they shouldn’t forget about the Forgotten Sons.

Aleister Black Mystery: Outside of Nikki Cross’ statement about knowing who attacked Black, we don’t have any new developments.

Lars Sullivan vs EC3: EC3’s been out for a couple of weeks after getting the snot beat out of him by the Leviathan after sort of, not really, accusing Sullivan of being the one who attacked Aleister Black. 3 made his return last week, keeping Sullivan from completely destroying his hapless opponent

This match was bowling show ugly, as JR would say. EC3 has a lot of skill and finesse, but Sullivan is rough as a cob. It took a Monster Headbutt but Sullivan would win this round, but both men were bloody messes at the end. So, who is going to stop the Leviathan?

Johnny Gargano vs Tony Nese: For months, Mr. Wrestling has been struggling to stay true to himself while dealing with his ongoing feud with Tommaso Ciampa and the rumors that he had something to do with what happened to Aleister Black. This week, however, Gargano had something to take his mind off his professional troubles, a one-on-one with 205’s premiere athlete, Tony Nese.

This match was incredible. Gargano was acting like himself and the crowd, who had been having dueling chants of ‘Johnny Wrestling’ and ‘Johnny Failure’ quickly got on Gargano’s side. It was a hell of a fight, but Gargano would make Tony Nese tap out to the GargNo Escape. It looks like Mr. Wrestling is back on track, but will he get another chance or will the suspicions about Black continue to haunt him?

Tiffany’s Takeaways

RAW: LOVE Ambrose being honest about his feelings about the Shield, even if it was only hypothetically. The fact that the crowd actually seemed to sympathize with Ambrose’s frustration is telling. The fact that you couldn’t tell if Dean was being honest or being sarcastic was an interesting twist. If I’m Reigns or Rollins, I’d be looking over my shoulder at Ambrose after tonight.

Corbin making the Reigns/Ziggler match non-title is a little baffling.

I’m thrilled to pieces that Ruby Riott had a match with Rousey. Riott got to show what she could really do and she looked like a legit threat to Rousey. Everybody won tonight.

In the old days, Elias and Owens would have to have police protection from the potential riot that would’ve started over their Sonics comments.

SmackDown: Not surprised, that Joe was threatened with termination for last week.

Carmella and Zelina Vega should have a one-on-one feud without Truth and Almas. They have natural chemistry and have worked very well together.

I’m over Miz/Bryan. What’s the point of having them feud if Bryan doesn’t put Miz in his place?

Charlotte definitely needed to do something to make it look like she could be a threat to Becky Lynch.

For someone who lost several years of their career due to concussions and neck injuries, Daniel Bryan doesn’t seem to learn his lesson. You had concussions so bad they were causing seizures, why would you do a diving headbutt, a move that played a big part in the condition of Chris Benoit’s deterioration?!

205: I’m a little confused as to the logic behind throwing Kendrick out of the Un-Gentlemen after Gallagher lost. I guess that’ll be revealed down the road.

I’m over this thing of having TJP unmask masked luchadors.

NXT: I love Nikki Cross.

Bianca Belair’s dismissal of Cross is odd because while she didn’t lose to Nikki, she didn’t beat Nikki either. For someone who takes such pride in being undefeated, why would you settle for a Double Countout instead of a victory.

Candice LeRae and Gargano need to turn tweener and just tear things up at NXT.

I enjoyed the build of the Triple Threat match for the North American Championship.

Gargano and Nese was amazing, hope there’s a rematch down the line.

Mae Young Classic: This week wasn’t one of Toni Storm’s best performances. Matsumoto really out-performed her at every step.

Kacy Catanzaro is going to be a big deal in WWE once she gets a little bit more training in.

I hope Taynara commenting on Lacey Lane’s dreads is a storyline/heel thing and not her actual opinion. That said, I enjoyed vicious, heelish Taynara.

WWE needs to sign Mercedes Martinez. Her match with Satomura was a classic.

Super Show-Down. Becky/Charlotte was easily the better of the three women’s matches on the card WWE put out.

Watching the IIconics cry after seeing video of their families watching them wrestle live makes it really hard to see them as heels.  

Cena’s new move? Bleh. You’re not Wonder Woman, dude. Also, if they were going to have Lashley, Elias, and Owens do most of the match, why not make it a handicap match rather than have Cena spend most of his time holding down one corner of the ring.

For a No DQ match, the Styles/Joe match had very little DQ worthy spots, which made it seem kind of lame. It was still good, but if you’re going to book a No DQ match, have more DQ worthy spots in it.

The placement of the matches is baffling to me. It seemed like the three big SmackDown matches were at the start of the card and, other than the Cruiserweight Match, everything else was RAW.

The Bella Twins freezing Rousey out a little during their match was interesting, as was Nikki’s face after the match. Brie grabbing Liv’s tongue was hilarious

Brie seems to have learned her lesson from the last time she was in action. She was visibly VERY careful when hitting her spots.

I’m honestly surprised that Murphy got a clean win over Alexander, I figured there would be some sort of craziness involved.

Even though the Shield stood strong, the reaction to the crowd to the prospect that Ambrose would turn on the Shield and Ambrose getting the win shows that WWE shouldn’t end this storyline just yet or pull a swerve.

I’m not a fan of Daniel Bryan but watching Miz lose and throw a tantrum in the ring was hilarious. Also, I hated the super short match, but I’ve been told that it’s because the show ran long and WWE didn’t want to cut the Triple H/Taker match down.

If this ‘Last Time Ever’ match was a pilot for WWE doing a Legends Division like what TNA did back in the mid-2000s, I’d advise them to scrap it. Nostalgia’s great but having fifty-year olds try to pretend that they’re thirty is going to get old very quickly. Let Ric Flair’s final years as a wrestler be an example of stopping while you’re ahead.

Super Show-Down was pretty good altogether, but that main event was kind of ‘eh’. It was good, but I wasn’t feeling it.

Tiff’s Tantrums

Please stop griping about the lack of build for Evolution. WWE is treating it like any other PPV and giving it a three week build. They’ve advertised Evolution almost as much as Super Show Down.

Ruby Riott losing to Ronda Rousey isn’t a bad thing. Riott looked amazing out there and Rousey proved that she can sell her ass off.

To the male fan that told Renee Young, who worked for a sports show before coming to WWE, played sports, and is a legit sport fan, that she couldn’t know anything about sports and was told what to say: Screw. You! Newsflash: Women are more than capable of knowing about sports and sports figures.

Final Thoughts: This was a really great week for WWE. Super Show-Down lived up to the hype overall and set things up for Evolution and Crown Jewel.


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s 2024 WWE Royal Rumble Reaction

It’s the Royal Rumble! A favorite of many fans, the Rumble kicks off the Road To WrestleMania. Greg DeMarco is here with his live reactions to the event!

Published

on

WWE Royal Rumble 2024 Results

It’s the Royal Rumble! A favorite of many fans, the Rumble kicks off the Road To WrestleMania. Greg DeMarco is here with his live reactions to the event!

The WWE Royal Rumble is upon us, and while the Men’s Royal Rumble Match isn’t for the World Heavyweight Championship like I suggested, it’s still the most anticipated event of the year.

Why? The Unknown.

That’s right–in this age of the internet (usually incorrectly) telling us everything it possibly can about what is going to happen in the world of wrestling, the Royal Rumble stands out because despite what we’re told (or, more importantly, what we choose to listen to), the event is always full of fun and surprises.


Check out Steven Mitchell’s 2024 WWE Royal Rumble Results & Review!


Women’s Royal Rumble Match

  • They really are driving home the “main event WrestleMania” point this year–strengthens my thought that women will main event Night 1. Triple H would catch a ton of heat if he keeps women out for the third straight year.
  • NAOMI! Good to see her back, and the emotional response she had.
  • Love Michael Cole calling out Naomi’s time in TNA, and recognizing her as a former Knockouts Champion.
  • Entering #3 doesn’t bode well for Bayley. I honestly don’t think she is gonna win.
  • JORDYNNE GRACE! I saw the reports earlier today. This is a much bigger deal than Mickie James, because Mickie was a returning legend.
  • “TNA HAS A WEAPON!” So glad to have Pat McAfee on the call.
  • Honestly, Jordynne Grace belongs in WWE.

  • Asuka comes in, and they sell the surprise of Bayley. STORYTELLING, people!
  • Something tells me when we get Kairi Sane in there, The Kabuki Warriors will eliminate Bayley.
  • Ivy Nile enters, and I immediately want to see her go toe-to-toe with Jordynne Grace.
  • What if they pulled some crazy sh*t and had Jordynne Grace win???
  • Just step through the ropes next time, Bianca.
  • When I first saw the C4 clock, I thought I would get tired of it But I am already used to it.
  • Here’s Kairi Sane, time to set the plan into motion!
  • This crowd does not appear to like Tegan Nox.
  • Welp, there goes my idea o Asuka and Kairi eliminating Bayley.
  • That was a hell of a way for Jordynne Grace to go out.

  • I think Michael Cole secretly loves to call a Meteora.
  • There’s a reason Maxxine Dupri doesn’t wrestle much.
  • That tandem Code Red was very Young Buckish. And that’s not a compliment.
  • Hair,…gear…this might be the messiest Royal Rumble yet.
  • Ah, here comes the winner, Becky Lynch (I am calling Becky eliminates Bayley to win her second Royal Rumble).
  • LOVE the scoreboard of time in the Rumble for selected wrestlers.

  • R-TRUTH?!?! (Funny story, it was Truth’s spot that Nia Jax took in 2019.)
  • If you push Mia Yim, she’ll take it further than you could imagine.
  • “How is everybody the most athletic person on Earth?” – Pat McAfee
  • Surprising that Roxanne Perez, at #27, is the first NXT entrant. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Tiffany Stratton of Blair Davenport since we only have 3 more to come.
  • Amazing reaction for Jade Cargill. Give her time, she’s definitely going to be a huge star.
  • JUST GIVE HER TIME.
  • Seriously, Nia Jax had to help Jade eliminate her–A LOT.

  • Greg Was Wrong: It is indeed Tiffy Time in the Royal Rumble.
  • Back to Jade–she is insanely over.
  • I know it won’t be, but this should be Tiffany Stratton’s official main roster call-up.
  • Liv Morgan returns at #30, and good for Liv. She nearly went wire-to-wire last year.
  • Liv Morgan: “Thank you!” Pat McAfee: “No problem.”
  • Tiffany Stratton eliminating Roxanne Perez is, to me, an invitation for a match with them on Raw this Monday.
  • Still love the scoreboard as Naomi passes an hour.
  • The camera is catching a lot of in-ring communications right now.
  • And Jade Cargill eliminates my pick to win. Bye Becky.
  • Jade Cargill in the final three of the Royal Rumble (with Liv Morgan and Bayley) is huge for her.
  • Hell of a debut for Jade Cargill.
  • And a huge win for Bayley.

Winner of the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Bayley (eliminating Liv Morgan to win)

Fatal 4-Way Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Randy Orton vs AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns (champion, with Paul Heyman)

  • Glad to see AJ Styles got his tights back. Pants AJ Styles (but still with the football gloves) was not working. Not just bring the beard back to your face Allen–the think beard also ain’t working.

  • Pat McAfee campaigning for Roman Reigns to be given at least a 26% chance is amazing.
  • Say what you want about LA Knight, he’s a damn star and totally belongs in this match.
  • Roman completely sandbagged Randy on the table drop. I don’t think it was on purpose, but he definitely didn’t jump.
  • Roman Reigns is very much like Gunther in that he does the simple things SO WELL, like a jumping clothesline. That’s how you do it.
  • Yes, I compared Roman Reigns to Gunther. Don’t @ me, I’m right.

  • RKO City, Bitch.
  • Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here’s Solo! (At some point, Solo will get tired of saving Roman’s ass.)
  • Solo ’bout to go through that barricade.
  • Solo indeed went through that barricade.

  • Yes, we had the Solo interference mid-match, but honestly in the end Roman won that clean.

Winner, #ANDSTILL your Undisputed WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns

WWE United States Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul (champion)

  • Kevin Owens wearing Zubaz shorts in the Performance Center fight makes me very happy.
  • Logan Paul talking about a full time run, and now he’s putting on size.
  • Logan’s headband didn’t list very long.
  • I honestly hate it when modern-day wrestlers bust out a crotch chop.
  • If you were watching the Royal Rumble and didn’t know who Logan Paul was, you’d just assume he was a pro wrestler. That says everything you need to know about how good he is at this.
  • ANOTHER crotch chop. Now we’re at 2 too many.

  • Cue the “Better Buckshot Than Hangman” tweets. But they might be right.
  • I love the idea of a Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and Grayson Waller stable.
  • C’mon, there’s NO WAY Ryan Tran could see the knucks on Kevin Owens’ hand given his placement. It’s the little things.
  • Finish here tells me we’ll see KO vs. Logan Paul again. I’d guess on TV, if not in Australia.

Winner by disqualification, #ANDSTILL WWE United States Champion: Logan Paul

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

  • Jey Uso coming at #1 was expected thanks to the internet reports. But I still think Jimmy should be #1 and Jey #2, for the reaction shots on Jimmy.
  • Grayson Waller talking himself to the ring is perfect.
  • “No Yeet!” Grayson is a brilliant performer. I’d make a Roddy Piper comparison here, but y’all would get at mad at me.
  • Good to have Andrade back in WWE. Great reaction for him when the mask came off.

  • SmackDown superstar Carmelo Hayes! I really really really hope Trick is also in this match, just for the chants.
  • Melo pointed to the sign, C’mon, man.
  • Do you send Andrade to Smackdown, or do you send him to Raw and let him do his own thing?
  • Oh goody, Karrion Kross is here. Yay.
  • (Yes, that’s sarcasm you read.)
  • Dominik Mysterio is so good. Give him time, he’s going to be a huge star.

  • The Royal Rumble was a great place for the Apple Spot.
  • Here comes Bob Lashley–please just eliminate Karrion Kross.
  • Lashley wearing the WrestleMania white gear more than 2 months early.
  • Austin Theory still gets his concussion effect entrance, despite it being the Rumble.
  • What if–hear me out now–Finn Balor wins the Royal Rumble to get the shot at Seth Rollins, and Priest uses his briefcase to make that match a triple threat at ‘Mania?
  • I know he didn’t, but it sure looked like Jimmy was swerving while he drives in that interaction with Gunther.
  • Kofi did tell us the Rumble Magic wasn’t happening anymore.
  • Give me Ivar vs Gunther!
  • Bron Breakker is a star. It’s inevitable.
  • Of course Omos would be in the Rumble. Good to see MVP on my TV as well.
  • “I didn’t know humans came that big!” – Pat McAfee
  • I half think Pat McAfee didn’t know he was entering the Rumble.
  • Nice moment for Bron Breakker eliminating Omos. WrestleMania match?
  • R-Truth trying to get Dominik (Tom or Nick?) Mysterio to tag him in is brilliant.
  • DOM MADE THE TAG!!!
  • “And now R-Truth is the legal man.” – thank you Michael Cole.
  • Michael Cole delivers multiple TNA references tonight, along with a Dolph Ziggler reference. God Bless Michael Cole.
  • Imagine for a second that this was CM Punk’s actual WWE return.
  • The reaction to Drew McIntyre’s entrance is a reminder that they don’t actually need him.
  • Sami Zayn enters at #30, also known as “Not The Rock.”

  • In the ring, Drew McIntyre is amazing. Just keep the microphone away from him. (And stop the damn counting!)
  • And there goes my choice for the Men’s Rumble!
  • Love having both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in the press boxes watching to see who wins.
  • Punk kinda looks like Chris Jericho in there. Seriously.
  • Between Punk and Cody, Cody is the right choice. I really don’t want to watch Punk right now–he needs to hit the cardio, and hard. Given Seth Rollins’ injury and Punk’s conditioning, WWE would be smart to make the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 40 a multi-man match.

Winner of the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble: Cody Rhodes


Overall thoughts on the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble

For at least the second straight year, the Men’s Royal Rumble Match was kinda disappointing. Not the result–that’s fine. But the match itself. It just wasn’t nearly as exciting as the Women’s. Of the four matches, I would place it 4th in terms of enjoyment.

Great moments for both Bayley and Cody Rhodes. Logan Paul continually shows that he deserves to be considered a pro wrestler, not a celebrity who is wrestling. Pat McAfee is a joy on commentary. Jordynne Grace is a WWE Superstar, regardless of what company she is signed to. Bron Breakker is a star.CM Punk is very out of shape. Cody Rhodes is about to become THE guy, and he deserves it.

Overall I give the event a thumbs up, but they have to do something about the Men’s Royal Rumble Match moving forward.


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Continue Reading

Opinion

WWE Raw Heads To Netflix: What Does It Mean?

Monumental news drops as WWE RAW is moving to Netflix. Is it truly a game changing move? Greg DeMarco analyzes this shift for the TV wrestling business.

Published

on

WWE Logo Metalic

Monumental news drops as WWE RAW is moving to Netflix. Is it truly a game changing move? Greg DeMarco analyzes this shift for the TV wrestling business.

Being a wee little kid in the 80s, I am “lucky enough” to remember having 3 TV channels, and my dad explaining what an 8-track is, how shocked I was when I say a laser disc for the first time, when I bought a 6 CD changer, installed my own car stereo, and all the way up to the fact that I have now been watching WWE pay-per-view/premium live events on the WWE Network and Peacock for 10 years. Hell, in the same month (February 2014) I signed up for the WWE Network, cut the cord to drop cable and got Sling TV. I have since moved onto YouTube TV which is highly recommended.

Over the last two years the NFL has put Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, simulcast to various streaming services, and less than 2 weeks ago put a playoff game exclusively on streaming when a Wildcard Weekend showdown between the Chiefs and Dolphins was only shown on Peacock.

And now it’s fully permeated into pro wrestling.

WWE and AEW are both in the midst of a very important time on the business side, with all of their TV rights up for grabs. The first domino fell when SmackDown On FOX became SmackDown on USA Network, and soon after we learned that WWE NXT was moving to broadcast television and joining The CW (which is also rebranding, but just to CW).

The AEW suite of programming that includes Collision, Rampage, and their most successful show Dynamite is up for renewal with Warner Bros/Discovery, and Tony Khan has been optimistic about the relationship and potentially an increase in rights fees.

That brings us to Tuesday morning, and the likely groundbreaking WWE announcement that Raw is moving to Netflix, starting in January 2025. Triple H tweeted that they’re changing the game, and TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro (who knows a thing or two about shifts in media consumption) used the word “transformative” in his statement, and I really think he couldn’t be more right.

But what does it all mean?

Wrestling Remains A Strong Media Product

I have been claiming this for over a year now. As many online will cite a decline in TV viewership for both WWE and AEW, the TV product has been a strong value to networks. Even in dropping SmackDown, FOX themselves said they didn’t pump enough resources into the show, and that the advertising return wasn’t what they wanted. That doesn’t mean the product (TV value, we’re not talking about creative here) isn’t strong. It’s so strong that USA Network picked up SmackDown for $280 million per year, giving WWE an increase over the FOX deal. CW is paying $20-$25 million annually for NXT, and now Netflix is paying $500 million for RAW.

Why? Because wrestling isn’t just a strong media product, it’s consistent. And that is key.

Look at this quote from Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria:

“Raw is the best of sports entertainment, blending great characters and storytelling with live action 52 weeks a year and we’re thrilled to be in this long-term partnership with WWE.”

Now cross reference that with a comment from CW President Dennis Miller from back when the CW/NXT deal was announced:

“We are thrilled to welcome the WWE brand into the CW Sports portfolio as they play an integral role in our mission to bring live sporting events to the network year-round.”

What do those statements have in common? The year-round, 52-week nature of wrestling programming. It’s an unbeatable value for networks. It’s cheaper than a deal with a major sports league, and it’s not finite. Wrestling joins news, talk, and sports talk as the only year-round programming available to networks. And WWE and AEW have shows that essentially always land in the Top 5 after you factor out live sports. You can’t beat it.

What Does This Mean for Netflix?

Don’t get it twisted, this is also a huge leap for Netflix. Prior to the WWE Raw deal, Netflix has only experimented with live events, streaming the live Chris Rock “Selective Outrage” special, and showing The Netflix Cup live (a golf event featuring athletes from their F1 series “Drive To Survive” and their golf series “Full Swing).

WWE is the perfect partner for Netflix as it gets into live programming. It’s sports entertainment: sports like programming (which Netflix has done) that focuses on storytelling (which Netflix has obviously done). And no one does it better than WWE. It’s essentially plug-and-play for Netflix, the perfect solution for their live programming aspirations.

The perfect solution that they were willing to pay $5 billion for.

What Does This Mean for AEW?

The biggest risk to an AEW renewal with Warner Bros Discovery was WBD picking up WWE Raw–and that risk has been eliminated by Netflix. Don’t discount that fact–Netflix did Tony Khan a huge favor by throwing $500 million per at WWE. The path is clear for AEW to remain on the Turner networks.

But at what price?

I know I usually write as if I have all the answers, but I have zero idea either way on this one. WBD no longer has any other options if it wants to keep wrestling (except for TNA, who recently expressed a desire to be on a bigger network), and AEW (at least, Dynamite) is a weekly Top 5 program for them on Wednesdays, on cable.

On the other hand, AEW doesn’t exactly have another network begging for their services. The reason WWE could get a yearly increase for Raw, SmackDown, and NXT is because it was truly a bidding war. Unless Tony Khan gets another network involved, any threat of walking away from a deal doesn’t really hold water.

So if I were a betting man (and who would ever bet on this) I would expect an announcement of a renewal for AEW and WBD relatively soon. We may not know the terms of the deal, I will take a shot in the dark and say that AEW gets a small increase (not the “nearly double” that had been reported last year).

Regardless of the increase (or not), given AEW’s recent attendance challenges, this likely renewal would have to be viewed as a win for the company.


Personally, this is simply an amazing time to be a fan. We’ve seen WWE go from one live TV show per week with Monday Night Raw, through the Monday Night Wars, the addition of SmackDown and later NXT, to being this global juggernaut that is commanding half-a-billion dollars per year for Raw. I also think this makes Raw the flagship once again. All of this comes after Vince McMahon is largely out of power, Triple H has taken over creative (and holds a pretty good success rate so far), and the company was sold to Endeavor, and merged with the UFC as a business entity under the TKO banner.

If you know me, you know I am a huge follower of the business side of the wrestling business. I often care less about WHAT wrestling companies do, but HOW they do it. I have always gravitated towards that, since middle school. And for the past near 24 months, I have been like a kid in a candy store.

The Peacock deal for the WWE Network runs out in 2026, right? The fun never stops!


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Continue Reading

Sports

Entertainment

Sports Entertainment

Buy A Chairshot T-Shirt!

Chairshot Radio Network

Trending

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com