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WWE Week in Review – December 10-16, 2018

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Chairshot WWE Week In Review

An extremely busy week in WWE as everyone gears up for the end of the year. Tiffany covers what happened!




TLC is here!!! As everyone prepares for the last PPV of the year, the jockeying for position going into the Royal Rumble begins.

On RAW, Seth Rollins takes a stand against Baron Corbin’s tyranny. Drake Maverick’s battle for respect has unexpected consequences. Ruby Riott takes her disrespect for Nattie to new levels. Bayley gets some expected help in her battle against Alicia Fox. Heath Slater finds himself  between a rock and a hard place, and the war of words between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax gets physical.

On SmackDown, Daniel Bryan faces an opponent with a lot of heart, Miz’s behavior gets out of control, Randy Orton gets a taste of his own medicine, and Charlotte and Asuka meet for a WrestleMania rematch.

On NXT UK, Rhea Ripley’s next challenger has a lot of magic, the war between Moustache Mountain and Gallus continues, the announcement of the tag team championship ignites a battle for supremacy, and a battle of the undefeated streaks gets underway.

On 205 Live, in the final show before TLC, Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander both look to gain some momentum, and Kendrick and Tozawa look for a way to end their feud with Gulak and Gallagher.

On NXT, the tournament for a spot in the #1 Contender’s match begins with two Mae Young vets, the battle lines are drawn between Team Shirai and the Horsewomen, and Ricochet’s request for competition brings in a blast from NXT’s past.

How’d WWE do? Let’s find out!




RAW

Baron Corbin vs Seth Rollins: For weeks, Baron’s Corbin has been running roughshod over the RAW roster. While Finn Balor, Elias, and Strowman have made a stand, they haven’t had much luck.

On Monday, Seth Rollins, who had been part of the initial resistance to Corbin’s corrupt regime, turned his attention from Dean Ambrose, to the RAW situation. Calling Corbin to the ring, Rollins wasted no time in ROASTING the Acting GM, blaming him for the lackluster RAWs of the last few weeks.

Corbin tried to defend himself, but Rollins wouldn’t have it, listing all of Corbin’s sins, including helping Brock Lesnar the Universal Championship.

Stung, Corbin lashed out at Rollins, vowing to make his life a living hell after TLC, but Rollins isn’t intimidated, or impressed, and challenges Corbin to a TLC match that night. Corbin refuses, but after repeated mocking by Rollins, agrees, and makes it for the Intercontinental Championship. Smart move, Seth.

Backstage, Rollins admitted that maybe it hadn’t been the greatest idea to provoke Corbin, but he wants to be a leader in the RAW locker room and that means stepping up.

The match was surprisingly good. The deck was definitely stacked against Rollins considering that Corbin had the ref in his pocket, but Rollins battled through, retrieving his championship and holding it high, but he isn’t in the clear just yet.

RAW Women’s Division: The feud between Nattie and the Riott Squad has been going on for months and has been extremely ugly, with Riott taking every opportunity to mock Nattie’s wrestling heritage, implying that Nattie is in WWE because of her family’s influence.

On Monday, Nattie cut a promo, declaring her pride in her heritage and her family and vowing to teach Riott a lesson in respect at TLC. She then dedicated her match to her dad.

The Riott Squad came out with a covered table. Ruby got on the mic and mocked the neverending Nattie pity party. As far as Riott was concerned, Nattie disgraced the Hart name. To rub a little more salt into the wound, it was revealed that the table they’d brought out had Jim Neidhart’s picture on it, with Riott vowing to put Nattie through THAT table, much to her distress.

This year’s Mixed-Match Challenge has had a serious bite from the injury bug. Of all the teams on RAW, only Mahal/Alicia Fox and Bayley/Balor had survived, until Balor was injured by Drew McIntyre last week. But never fear, Bayley had a great replacement in Apollo Crews, who wasted no time helping Sasha fend off Jinder Mahal and the Singhs, allowing Bayley to get the win over Fox.

The war of words between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey has gotten increasingly heated, but both women seemed to want to save the fisticuffs for their match at TLC.

A press conference was advertised but was scrapped for some reason. Nia cut a really good promo, vowing to do to Rousey what she did to Becky Lynch. Rousey, for her part was in the mood to fight, but instead, Ember Moon and Tamina had a match. The match was okay, Ember would pull out a victory with some help from Rousey, but the big story was the brawl that broke out between Rousey and Jax six days before their match at TLC. Rousey got the upper hand, but will she still be standing with that title on Sunday night?

RAW Tag Team Championship: Over the past couple of weeks, Drake Maverick has been using the AoP to get revenge on Bobby Roode and Chad Gable for mocking his bladder malfunction at Survivor Series, and for the past two weeks, AoP have come out on top. After last week’s farce of a match, Rood and Gable were given another chance to capture the tag team championships in a 3-2 Handicap Match.

The match was okay. AoP are pretty rough, but Roode and Gable were able to hang with them and Maverick played his part to perfection. It honestly looked like AoP was going to pull out another victory, but Maverick’s ego got the better of him. He got himself tagged in and made the mistake of wasting time to mock Roode’s ‘Glorious’ gimmick, giving Roode the opening for a rollup pin. Roode and Gable are the NEW RAW Tag Team Champions! Maverick and AoP are stunned, as is the crowd. Roode and Gable got one over on AoP, but will they survive the rematch?

Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntyre: Last week, Dolph Ziggler pulled off a surprising win over former friend, Drew McIntyre, with some help from Finn Balor. Ziggler was surprisingly ungrateful for Balor saving his bacon last week, saying that he didn’t need help because he was Dolph Ziggler and would prove it again in his second round with McIntyre, the man he claimed he’d plucked from ‘obscurity’ instead of the injured list of NXT.

Ziggler should’ve been grateful for Balor’s help, because his one-on-one with McIntyre was a nasty ass-kicking. Ziggler did his best, and nearly had McIntyre on a couple of occasions, but the Scottish Psychopath would prove to be more than Ziggler could handle. To add insult to injury, McIntyre not only kept attacking Ziggler, he hit a Claymore Kick to Ziggler outside the ring, injuring him, while smiling.

Dean Ambrose: We’re going to have to come up with a new nickname for Dean Ambrose, because the former Lunatic Fringe does NOT want to be called that anymore, as he made very clear to Charly Caruso.

When asked about his thoughts on Seth doing a TLC match for the IC title six days before their match at TLC, Ambrose said that it was typical of Seth. Seth always wanted the spotlight for himself, also that Seth doing something so reckless showed that the Architect was losing his grip, which would lead to victory for Ambrose.

When Caruso brought up the subject of what Roman Reigns thought of this situation, Ambrose CLAIMED that he didn’t care what Reigns thought, though his face said differently. That wasn’t good enough for Caruso, who showed a montage of the feud and repeated her question. Ambrose simply walked away, without a word.

After Rollins successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship, Ambrose came out to the ramp, reminding Seth that while he may have survived Baron Corbin, he’s hasn’t beaten Ambrose yet.

Elias vs Lio Rush (with Bobby Lashley): The feud between Elias and Bobby Lashley has really become Elias vs Lio Rush with Rush constantly sticking his nose in. Last week, Elias got some revenge when he El Kabong’d Rush.

This week’s encounter was decidedly in Rush’s favor: Balor was out with injury/illness, Lashley was firmly in Rush’s corner, and so, unwillingly was the ref, as demonstrated by the fact that Lashley was allowed to blatantly interfere in the match without being a DQ, which ensured Rush a victory over the Drifter, but you can bet that this isn’t over.

So, what was up with this ref? Well…

Heath Slater: Last week, Heath Slater ended his best friend’s career to save his own and then found himself demoted from in-ring competitor to referee. Even worse was the fact that he now found himself being pressured by Baron Corbin to do things Corbin’s way with the threat that Corbin would fire him if he didn’t.

So Slater, clearly against his own judgement helped Rush beat Elias and TRIED to help Corbin beat Rollins, but Rollins was able to prevail. It’s not clear if Slater will be punished for his failure on Monday, but it’s clear that Corbin is playing a dangerous game.




SmackDown

WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan kicked off SmackDown on Tuesday, claiming that he wanted to apologize for calling fans ‘sheep’, but it wasn’t the fans he wanted to apologize to, he wanted to apologize to sheep for comparing them to wrestling fans, who he claims are parasites. Bryan claims that the fans are too stupid to accept that the old Daniel Bryan is dead and insults Las Vegas.

Fortunately, Mustafa Ali, Bryan’s opponent comes out. Ali tried to introduce himself, but Bryan rebuffed him, saying that he knew who Ali was, unlike the fans. But the fans DO know who Ali is and love him.

Bryan seems to be trying to chicken out of the match, claiming that the fans won’t care and are too fickle and xenophobic to appreciate what they’re about to see. Ali seems puzzled. He doesn’t get what happened to Bryan, the man he credits for inspiring him and a lot of the 205 roster to pursue wrestling. What happened to the old Bryan that was always up for a fight? Bryan’s answer is to ask Ali what kind of car he drives, which Ali points out has nothing to do with this, but he drives an SUV.

This enrages Bryan because Ali is a small guy, but Ali points out that he’s got a family, not to mention that he lives in Chicago, which can get REALLY nasty in winter time. Bryan doesn’t care, he calls Ali ignorant and sucker punches him a few time before Ali fights back.

Once it got started, this match was really good. Ali’s easily to most over star of the 205 roster and the fans were firmly behind him. Unfortunately, Bryan’s nasty streak would give him a submission victory over Ali. However, Bryan wasn’t done and attacked Ali as he tried to make his way up the ramp.

WWE United States Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe took on Jeff Hardy and Rusev in tag team action. The match was really good, Rusev and Hardy were a good team, but the match didn’t really move either story forward, despite Rusev getting the pinfall on Shinsuke Nakamura.

SmackDown Women’s Division: Charlotte and Asuka will be facing Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship on Sunday, but it was clear last week that the two women had lingering issues with each other stemming from their WrestleMania match.

The match was great and a worthy rematch for WrestleMania. Charlotte and Asuka held nothing back, which kept Becky Lynch interested the whole time. Asuka would get the DQ victory after Charlotte’s frustration got the better of her and she pulled out the kendo stick.

But Charlotte wasn’t done. She attacked Lynch as Lynch was leaving, even though  Lynch had not involved herself in the match. Enraged, Lynch fired back, giving Charlotte a taste of her own medicine before being taken out by Asuka, who was standing tall as SmackDown went off the air.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bar, the Usos, and the New Day will be facing off for the tag team championship on Sunday, but on Tuesday, they decided to have a little fun in the form of a rap battle between the Usos and the Bar, with New Day as the refs.

How did it go? Well, we discovered that the only thing more cringe-inducing than middle-aged white guys trying to be rappers is middle-aged, white, European men trying to rap, though ‘Ice Ice Sheamy’ was definitely hilarious.

This farce finally ended in fight that ended with the Doctors of Thuganomics for Dummies standing tall, but will they still be standing tall with the titles on Sunday?

Miz and Shane McMahon: Ever since Crown Jewel, Miz has been trying to hitch his wagon to Shane McMahon’s coattails and Shane McMahon has been trying to shake him off as nicely as he can.

This week, things came to a head when Miz’s antics got out of control. He not only created a situation where Shane was facing two jobbers on his own, essentially, but it was revealed that he’d promised the jobbers $5000 for their services and lead the referee to believe that everything was above board, much to the outrage of Paige, who sent the jobbers packing without their $5000.

When confronted about this whole thing by a furious Shane, Miz was unrepentant. Shane owes him one, in his mind, and Miz has never, for all his accomplishments, been considered the Best in the World, until Shane won the World Cup. In his mind, they could do so much more. He offers Shane a handshake, but an angry Shane rebuffs him.

Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio: It was announced that Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio will try to settle their differences in a chairs match on Sunday. This match stipulation seems to be a surprise to Orton, who finds himself puzzled by Mysterio’s willingness to do a chairs match considering the beating his throat has taken due to Orton and chairs. Clearly, Mysterio is looking for revenge, but in Orton’s mind, victims don’t get revenge.

Orton should’ve given this more thought because his ‘victim’ snuck up behind him and swung a steel chair like Joe DiMaggio used to swing  a bat and Orton was treated to some of his own medicine with the chair before finally escaping. Mysterio was standing tall on Tuesday, but will he still be standing on Sunday?




NXT UK

Episode 15

We start off with a recap of the road so far and are then told that the NXT UK Tag Team Championships ARE coming, so the next few weeks will be full of teams jockeying for position to be put in the field for the new belts.

Flash Morgan Webster vs Fabian Aichner: Last week, Fabian Aichner pulled off a shocking win over Mark Andrews, showing a surprising mean streak in the process.

This match was great! Aichner’s build like a brick wall, but he can move those muscles around! Flash kept up with him, but was at a distinct disadvantage when it came to strength and power.

It looked like Aichner was going to pull off another win, but a timely distraction from Mark Andrews bought Webster enough time to get a pin. Aichner was LIVID but there’s nothing anyone can do about it, at least for now.

Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams vs Grizzled Young Veterans: Amir Jordan and Kenny King have been trying to get on the same page, but have continually run into problems, especially against Zach Gibson and James Drake. Amir is excited because he and Williams seem to finally be getting on the same page, but Williams doesn’t think this is a time for dancing, they need to focus on beating the GYV.

Well, Jordan and Williams were certainly more focused and the teamwork had improved, but they were not as solid a team as the Grizzled Young Veterans, who pulled off a pinfall on Williams, much to the anger of the crowd.

Gallus vs Moustache Mountain: The ongoing feud between the Coffey Brothers, Wolfgang, and Moustache Mountain has been going since NXT UK started. The feud continued this week with a match between Joe Coffey and Trent Seven.

The match was fantastic! Coffey is another big man who can really move around and is a great brawler. Seven has a size disadvantage, but he’s INCREDIBLY strong, which made for an interesting match.

Ultimately, though Mark Coffey and Wolfgang were at ringside and did insert themselves in the match, Joe would get a CLEAN pin on Seven, capitalizing on Seven’s bad leg not being able to hold him up for a torture rack. Gallus stands tall, at least for now.

Isla Dawn vs Killer Kelly: Since Toni Storm has been out of action after injuring herself during the Women’s Tournament finals, Isla Dawn has really stepped up and impressed everyone with her impressive ring skills. Well, almost everyone. Rhea Ripley has not been impressed and tried to scare Dawn off by beating Candy Floss last week, only to find herself nearly getting beaten by Ms. Floss.

This week, Dawn took on Killer Kelly in a wonderful match, that showed how well Dawn could deal with a hard-hitter like Killer Kelly. Kelly was very impressive in her own right, but Dawn had momentum, and perhaps, the Goddess, on her side, putting Kelly away with a suplex for the pin.

After her victory, Dawn gave an in-ring interview where she stated that her eyes were focused on the winning the Women’s Championship. She called Ripley out and challenged her to a match, promising that she (Dawn) would walk out Women’s Champion. We’ll see where this goes and if the Goddess is enough to put away the Aussie Riptide.

Dave Mastiff and Eddie Dennis: This is actually an odd, but oddly compelling storyline. Dave Mastiff and Eddie Dennis have both been undefeated in NXT UK, so it seems inevitable that they’ll meet. How we got there was Dennis getting miffed that all the attention was being given to Mastiff and Mastiff’s streak, and not his own, and challenging Mastiff to a match, which Mastiff accepted.

Episode 16

Ashton Smith and El Ligero vs Gallus: I think this ranks as one of the oddest, but cool, pairings in NXT UK and they were taking on Mark Coffey and Wolfgang.

The match was good, Smith and Ligero worked well together, but they were definitely at a size and strength disadvantage with Wolfgang and Coffey and that would prove the deciding factor when Coffey knocked poor Smith into next week an enziguri.

Backstage, Gallus was ecstatic with their win, declaring themselves, probably rightly, as the team to beat, not Grizzled Young Veterans or Mustache Mountain. And that goes double for Pete Dunne and Travis Banks.

NXT UK Women’s Division: It’s official! Rhea Ripley and Isla Dawn will face off for the NXT UK Women’s Championship next week, per GM Johnny Saint. The fight is on!

Xia Brookside has been making quite a splash since the Mae Young Classic. When asked about her upcoming match against Jinny, Brookside admitted that she wasn’t the most experience but feels good and sees this match as an opportunity. Jinny, for her part, didn’t seem all that impressed with Brookside.

The match between these two ladies was very good. Xia certainly is developing into a good competitor, but Jinny had more experience, and that turned out to be the deciding factor. Jinny picked up the win with her Touch of Couture. Whatever happens with Ripley/Dawn, the winner will have Jinny nipping at their heels.

Joseph Conners vs Jack Starz: This match was quick and nasty. Starz has a lot of pluck, but Conners is mean as hell and not afraid to take anyone out and that’s what happened to Starz, who learned to not look down at the hands of Conners.

Eddie Dennis vs Dave Mastiff: The battle of the undefeated streaks was every bit as brutal as you can expect. Neither Dennis or Mastiff are known for being refined wrestlers, but this was still a great match. Dennis is used to overwhelming his opponents, but that didn’t work on Mastiff. Still, it was a close thing, but Mastiff pulled out the win with his nasty cannonball and there is only ONE undefeated man in NXT UK. Oh, Bruiserweight!




205 Live

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy was scheduled to meet Cedric Alexander at TLC for a Cruiserweight rematch, but on Tuesday, he took on Gran Metalik, who has been pretty impressive in LHP’s feud with Maria’s Minions.

The match was REALLY good. LHP has a bad habit of not being taken seriously as a team, but all three members are great competitors, and it was nice to see Metalik show off a little. However, Murphy isn’t called ‘The Juggernaut’ for nothing and finally put Metalik away with Murphy’s Law. He survived Gran Metalik, but will he survive Alexander?

Party of Gulak vs Akira Tozawa and Brian Kendrick: Last week, Brian Kendrick and Drew Gulak met in a singles battle to end their issues, but Kendrick had to settle for a DQ win after interference from Jack Gallagher. This week, Tozawa and Kendrick had a meeting with Drake Maverick and we find out that Maverick AGREE’s to a Tag Team Street Fight. Maverick professes some confusion about this, but Kendrick says that things have changed since his return because he wants to keep his dream alive. Now, he sees thing differently.

Tozawa is in full support of this change of heart and proposes a makeover to show the change, but not before taking a little dig at Maverick over the RAW Tag Team Championship.

Gulak and Gallagher, for their parts, were less than impressed, but vowed to beat Tozawa and Kendrick and end Kendrick’s career because the beating last week didn’t go far enough because Kendrick’s still here.

Cedric Alexander vs Tony Nese: Cedric Alexander will FINALLY get his rematch on Sunday, but on Tuesday, he took on Murphy’s running buddy, Tony Nese. These guys are always fun to watch, and this week was no exception. It honestly looked like Nese was going to walk out of Vegas with another victory over Alexander, but Alexander battled back and was kind enough to check Nese’s back for the pinfall. However, an angry Murphy walked out and a fight broke out with Murphy running for his life. Alexander stood tall, but will it be enough to beat Murphy on Sunday?




NXT

NXT Women’s Division: NXT caught up with Dakota Kai and Io Shirai and asked them about their ongoing feud with the Three Horsewomen, especially after last week’s brutal encounter between Kai and Baszler. Shirai won’t stand for one of her friends being bulled, but this will be settled in a match NEXT WEEK.

The Horsewomen were NOT impressed. Nor was Baszler worried about the upcoming Fatal 4 Way. They laughed off the challenge of Sane, Kai, and Shirai, but considering the beating all three women took last week, they might end up eating their arrogance.

The first Qualifier for the Women’s #1 Contender match started this week with Mia Yim taking on Mae Young veteran, Reina Gonzalez. We also learned that Belair and Lacey Evans both got byes to the final match, but what Evans did to deserve it is a mystery to me.

Yim and Gonzalez put on a great match and showed that they knew each other’s moves extremely well. Gonzalez nearly had the win a few times, but let her frustration get the better of her, leaving her vulnerable to some Sole Food and a Yim victory, Yim moves on the Fatal 4 Way, but who will be contestant #4?

NXT North American Championship: Last week, Ricochet asked for some competition for his North American Championship and Regal responded admirably with a blast from the early days of NXT: Tyler Breeze! Prince Pretty has been on the main roster, but with his partner, Fandango being out with injury, he doesn’t have much to do, so here we go.

This match was so good, it’s not fair to try and describe it. Breeze is a fantastic competitor and his work with Ricochet was so great to watch. Ricochet would ultimately retain, but it really didn’t matter, both men won as far as the fans were concerned with such a great match.

NXT Tag Division: A few weeks ago, Lorcan and Burch got a win over the Mighty, but the victory was hollow considering that the Mighty avenged the loss by attacking Lorcan and Burch and were the ones left standing.

The return match was every bit as brutal as the first one. The Mighty are not pushovers by any stretch of the imagination, and Lorcan and Burch CERTAINLY aren’t.  Burch and Lorcan would pull of another win, and this time, the Mighty STAYED down. Even if Undisputed Era wasn’t worried about Heavy Machinery, they NEED to be worried about Lorcan and Burch.

EC3 vs Bobby Fish: EC3 was looking for a fight when he came back to NXT after being injured at the hands of the Undisputed Era and boy, did he get one. The match was quick but very physical with 3 getting the win via an inside cradle, much to Fish’s embarrassment.

Enraged, the Undisputed Era attacked 3, but 3 has some unexpected backup: Heavy Machinery! Knight and Dozer destroyed Undisputed Era, but saved a special beating for Kyle O’Reilly, subjecting him to a One Percenter and Dozer’s devastating elbow. Looks like Undisputed Era’s really kicked the hornet’s nest now.

Johnny Gargano: Johnny Gargano sent us another video promo this week. In his mind, he’d done nothing wrong to Aleister Black. Taking Black out before TakeOver: Brooklyn was about the greater good and Black had no reason to be mad about Gargano costing him his rematch.

Gargano expressed no fear about being put in a steel cage with Black, saying that he’d beat the devil himself to make sure the story got the right ending.

Aleister Black: Black cut his own promo on Gargano, commenting that humans tend to make everything about their feelings. Black isn’t worried about being locked in a cage with Gargano. He welcomes it because it’s clear that Gargano is past the point of redemption, his sins call for total annihilation, which will happen in the cage.




TLC

WWE Championship Match – Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles: Three weeks ago, Daniel Bryan turned on the fans when he robbed AJ Styles of his championship right before Survivor Series. To make things worse, he declared the death of the Yes! Movement and chided the fans for everything from being ‘fickle’ to eating processed foods.

The match was amazing, as expected and it looked like Styles was going to get his title back, but Bryan got a surprise pinfall win, even though Styles claimed he got his shoulder up in time. This isn’t over, however.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match – Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose: Two months ago, Dean Ambrose shocked the world when he turned on Seth Rollins, mere hours after Roman Reigns announced that he was taking time off to have cancer treatments. Since then, the feud has only gotten nastier, and weirder. Now, it’s time to settle this.

Rollins vs Ambrose is a feud that never disappoints, and this was no different. Ambrose has included some new moves in his repertoire and these two just tore each other apart. Ultimately, Rollins took his eyes off the ball and, just like he promised, Dean Ambrose is the NEW Intercontinental Champion. Congrats, Dean!

TLC Match – Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin – If Strowman wins, he gets Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble, if Corbin wins, he’s permanent manager of Monday Night RAW: After Baron Corbin cost Braun Strowman the title at Crown Jewel, the Monster among men moved heaven and earth to be allowed to get his hands on the tyrannical GM, only to be sidelined by Corbin and his cronies.

It looked like Corbin was going to win by default, but the Monster among men DID show up, in a sling and announced that while he couldn’t technically compete, there was still going to be a match. Taking a page out of Corbin’s book, Strowman had as his backup all the people Corbin had screwed over during his reign, including Heath Slater, who took off his ref’s shirt to get in on the action.

Corbin tried to bail out but was stopped by Kurt Angle, who’d also been screwed over by Corbin. After that, it was no contest as Corbin was fed to the sharks and put away with everyone’s finisher, leaving him ready for his defeat by Strowman. Corbin is OUT as RAW GM! Merry Christmas and God bless us, everyone!

TLC Match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship – Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka: The feud between Becky and Charlotte has been white hot, especially since Survivor Series and though I’m not a fan of Asuka being included, Becky and Charlotte are the perfect pair to make history for women again in the first Women’s TLC match.

The match was INCREDIBLE! There were some snide comments about botches, but all three women more than proved their toughness and resilience. In the end, Ronda Rousey would cost Charlotte and Becky the match by pushing them off the ladder, leaving the door open for Asuka to climb the ladder and become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. Rousey got the last laugh this time, but now she’s got two VERY angry, dangerous women gunning for her.

RAW Women’s Championship Match – Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax: After months of anticipation and promos, Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax had their rematch from Money in the Bank.

The match was okay, Rousey sold her ass off for Jax and broke out some new moves, including a flying crossbody that was really good. Ultimately, despite some help from Tamina, Rousey would pull off a submission win over Jax and retain her title. Who will be the next to step up?

After the match, Jax wasn’t in the mood to talk…Until she ran into Becky Lynch, who paid Jax back for costing her her Survivor Series match with a  HARD shot to the face.

Tables Match – Natalya vs Ruby Riott: The EXTREMELY personal feud between Nattie and Ruby Riott was hopefully put to an end on Sunday when the two women met in a Tables match on Sunday. Riott had her custom Jim Neidhart table in tow, with the vow to put Nattie through still in the air.

The match was incredibly physical, Liv Morgan, who was NOT a competitor took a NASTY spear from the apron through a table, which infuriated Riott. Nattie also showed quite a mean streak when she pulled out a picture with Ruby on it. Ultimately, Nattie would get her revenge, and the victory, but it remains to be seen if Riott will let it go.

Triple Threat Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship – The Bar vs The Usos vs New Day: The teams that could easily be the PG Era’s E&C, the Hardy Boyz, and the Dudleys, faced off, again, in a Triple Threat Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

The match was excellent, as always, but the fact that only these three teams keep meeting for the tag titles made it feel a little stale. Ultimately, the Bar would retain the tag team championship, and hopefully move on to other teams.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship – Buddy Murphy vs Cedric Alexander: After months of working and fighting to prove himself worthy of his contractually obligated rematch, Cedric Alexander FINALLY met Buddy Murphy to hopefully regain his Cruiserweight Championship.

The rematch was every bit as great as the one at Super Show Down. Alexander’s trials to get back to the title picture had taught him a lot about caution, but unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Murphy lived up to his Juggernaut moniker and was able to outlast the Soul of 205 Live and retain his Cruiserweight Championship. So, who will be the next man to step up and challenge the Juggernaut?

Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre: Finn Balor had already helped cut off the head of the Corbin Commission snake, but he still had to deal with the Scottish Psychopath, who had already shown no respect for anyone, including former friend Dolph Ziggler.

McIntyre dominated the match from the start, but Balor refused to stay down, battling back the Psychopath every time, including kicking out of a White Noise from the top turnbuckle. Ultimately, with an unexpected assist from Dolph Ziggler and a steel chair, Balor pulled out the win. An enraged McIntyre tried to go after Balor, but his ribs were pretty injured in the match, however, this is probably far from over.

Balor wasn’t happy about Ziggler’s interference and Ziggler didn’t appreciate what he saw as Balor’s lack of gratitude, despite not being exactly grateful for Balor’s help last week. It looks like we’ve got a Balor/Ziggler feud in the works.

Chairs Match – Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio: The bizarre and disturbing feud between Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton, or Orton’s feud against anyone more loved than he was, culminated in a chairs match.

Orton’s confusion over Mysterio’s decision to do this match didn’t last long. Mysterio has gained quite an aggressive streak in his time away from WWE. Ultimately, Rey would get the pin, though it looked like Orton got his shoulders up. Orton couldn’t believe it, but the victim got one over on the victimizer.

Guitar on a Pole match – Elias vs Bobby Lashley: The war of words, fists, between Elias and Lashley came to a head on Sunday and the prize was getting to El Kabong your opponent with one of Elias’ guitars.

Lashley had the advantage of Lio Rush in his corner, but Elias had developed eyes in the back of his head. Lashley, for his part, still doesn’t seem to have gotten over his dislike of being on ladders because he didn’t seem all that thrilled about climbing one. Rush tried his best to help, but no one was going to El Kabong anyone but Elias, who retrieved his guitar for the win. However, the victory turned out to be hollow when Lashley and Rush double-teamed Elias and took him out with his own guitar..

Mixed Match Challenge Finals – Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox vs R-Truth and Carmella: It’s come down to this. With brand pride and coveted spots in the Royal Rumbles at stake, Mahalicia and Fabulous Truth, the most unlikely teams to win this thing faced off in the Mixed Match Challenge.

The match was…interesting, thought the dance break with Fabulous Truth and the Singhs was a highlight. However, despite the best efforts of Mahal, Alicia, and the Singhs, the Fabulous Truth would reign as Carmella would make Fox tap to the Code of Silence, earning them the #30 spots in their respective Royal Rumbles.




Tiff’s Takes

RAW: Loved Corbin being kayfabed blamed for RAW’s woes, which always happen this time of year.

The TLC match was great, really enjoyed that one.

The tag title change was perfect, protected AoP, let Roode get some revenge on Maverick.

The Nattie/Riott feud needs to end.

We need a new nickname for Dean Ambrose since he doesn’t want to be the Lunatic Fringe anymore.

SmackDown: New Daniel Bryan is an amalgamation of everything people hate about environmentalists and vegans.

The Miz/Shane thing is interesting, not great, but interesting.

Mustafa Ali proved his star quality with Bryan.

I really don’t get the hype for Asuka.

Why anyone believed that a big company like WWE would pay jobber $5000 each, which is top tier guy money, is a little beyond me.

NXT UK: I’m SO ready for NXT UK to either go back to being one episode a week or on a different night.

Isla Dawn continues to impress, but I don’t think she’s going to be taking Toni Storm’s spot as top babyface for the Women’s Division.

I think we’re all ready for the NXT UK tag team championships so all these teams are going to be working towards something.

Mastiff/Dennis was fantastic.

Fabian Aichner is really impressive.

205 Live: This week was really about getting ready for TLC and that’s fine with me.

NXT: Loved the emphasis on the ladies this week.

Not sure why Lacey Evans got a bye.

Can’t wait for Gargano/Black.

Ricochet/Breeze was AMAZING! Definitely match of the week contender.

 


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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!

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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.


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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.

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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!


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