Coverage
Mitchell’s WWE SmackDown Results & Report! (9/2/22)
Acknowledge TWO YEARS of the Tribal Chief!
SmackDown is on the eve of Clash at the Castle!
Before WWE travels in Cardiff, SmackDown will ACKNOWLEDGE the two YEARS of Roman Reigns as WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion!
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Viking Rules Match: The Viking Raiders VS The New Day; The Viking Raiders win.
- Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett Bordeaux VS Drew Gulak; Kross wins.
- Hit Row VS Maximum Male Models w/ Max & Maxxine Dupri; Hit Row wins.
- Open Challenge: Happy Corbin VS Shinsuke Nakamura; Nakamura wins.
- “Butch” Pete Dunne w/ The Brawling Brutes VS Ludwig Kaiser w/ GUNTHER; Dunne wins.
PLAY BY PLAY
Viking Rules Match: The Viking Raiders VS The New Day!
Erik & Ivar have done their best to conquer and bury Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods, but the Power of Positivity never dies! Now, the warship has made land, and anything goes to settle this! Will the raid finally finish off the New Day? Or will Kofi & Woods turn back the invaders and stand tall once again?
Or rather, Kofi & Woods might be fighting this one for Asgard! Kofi is the God of Thunder, Woods is the God of Mischief, but will these brothers strike Erik & Ivar down? The bell rings, the New Day dodge the shield bashes to double mule kick! Kofi brawls with Ivar while Woods is after Erik! Fans fire up as the New Day has the edge! Woods and Kofi both climb up to rain down fists! Fans count all the way to 10, then Kofi & Woods hop down to whip. The Vikings reverses but the New Day do-si-do! Woods ROCKS Erik but Kofi bounces off of Ivar! Ivar rushes in but the New Day dodge to DOUBLE DROPKICK!
Ivar & Erik are in the same corner, and the fans fire up! The New Day turn it up! DOUBLE STAMPEDE STOMPS! They let off to then have Woods whip Kofi, DOUBLE BASEMENT DROPKICK! Fans cheer for “NEW! DAY ROCKS!” while the Vikings bail out. Kofi & Woods build speed to DOUBLE DIVE! Direct hit and fans are all fired up! Woods & Kofi SMACK Ivar off the shields, then again, and again! One of the shields breaks! But Erik swings another! The New Day dodge and Woods KNEES Erik down! Kofi grabs a shield, puts it on Erik’s face, and Woods runs in to DROPKICK it into Erik’s face!
Fans rally up and the New Day go after Ivar. Woods stands on Ivar’s face while Kofi climbs the barriers! Kofi FROG SPLASHES Ivar on the floor! Cover, TWO! Ivar sputters and New Day is in control as SmackDown goes to break.
SmackDown returns and they’re brawling in the stands! Woods knocks Ivar down, he climbs a barrier, and he CROSSBODIES The Vikings down! Cover on Ivar, TWO! Kofi rushes Erik and KICKS him towards ringside. Fans rally but Erik TOSSES Kofi up and over! Woods CLOBBERS Erik over the barriers! Erik ends up falling on Kofi a bit, and then Ivar RAMS Woods into the barriers! Ivar gets some space, he runs in, and he SPLASHES Woods against the barriers! Cover, TWO!! Woods sputters but survives and fans rally up again, “NEW! DAY ROCKS!” Kofi gets a kendo stick! But Erik kicks him low!
Erik slides Kofi in the ring and he gets the kendo stick for himself! Fans boo but Erik says, “That was the last time, Kofi! It’s payback time!” But Kofi mule kicks back! Kofi has the kendo stick and he SMACKS Erik! And SMACKS him again! Then runs, but Erik dodges! SPINEBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Erik snarls and he gets the kendo stick now! He SMACKS Kofi and Kofi writhes. Ivar returns, he gets a kendo stick, and Erik stands Kofi up for Ivar to SMACK him down! Kofi writhes while the Vikings pace around. Fans boo but the Vikings soak up the heat. Ivar runs at Kofi but Kofi dumps him out! Kofi then slips out and SWING KICKS Erik away!
Kofi PENALTY KICKS Ivar down from the apron! Kofi looks under the ring, and he brings out MJOLNIR…’s cousin! Kofi goes up top, aims at Erik, and THUNDER SMASH! It breaks the hammer! Cover, TWO!! Kofi keeps focus and Woods returns to look under the ring. “This is Awesome!” and now there’s a TABLE! Kofi gets another TABLE! They have two tables and the fans are loving this! The New Day brings the tables around but Ivar CLOBBERS both of them! Ivar drags Kofi by his hair and puts him on the bow of the ship! Ace Ten Mao!! Erik then scoops Ivar for a SLAM onto Kofi! But Woods steps in, TORNADO DDT for Erik! Woods covers Erik, TWO!!
Erik’s got a cut on the top of his head that’s starting to bleed, but he’s still moving. Ivar drags Woods up by his hair, but Woods HOTSHOTS Ivar by his war beard! Woods steps in, TORNADO- NO! Ivar powers that away, but Woods ducks, dodges ‘n’ slides to SUPERKICK Ivar to a corner! Woods runs in, into a SEATED SENTON! Erik gets back in and drags Woods up! Woods goes up top, Erik hands Woods off to him, for a SUPER POWERSLAM!! Cover, Kofi DOUBLE STOMPS it apart! All four men are down and fans are loving this while SmackDown goes to break!
SmackDown returns again and Ivar has stacked both tables on top of each other! Erik drags Woods up and Ivar shouts to him, Woods fights back, he ROCKS Erik, DECKS Ivar, and ENZIGURIS Erik! Woods runs to WRECK Ivar with a dropkick! Woods gets back in, dodges Erik, slide sunder, for a ROLLING ELBOW! And a LEG LARIAT! Erik ducks the roundhouse but the SWEEP hits! Then the SENTON! Woods fires up and fans fire up with him! Woods goes out and looks under the ring again. Woods brings out a chair! Woods brings that chair in and he sits it up. He drags Erik up but Erik DECKS him with a right!
Erik grins as he looks at the chair. Erik drags Woods up, whips him to ropes and scoops, but Woods tilt-o-whirls through! Erik avoids hitting the chair but Kofi returns to KICK him! The New Day DOUBLE FACEBUSTER Erik into the chair!! Cover, Ivar SPLASHES it apart! Fans rally while Kofi flounders up. Ivar HEEL KICKS Kofi down! Ivar gets Erik up and Erik drags Kofi up. Ivar goes up the corner, Erik hands Kofi over to him, but Woods TACKLES Erik out of the ring! Kofi fights free but falls to the mat! Ivar stands up and turns around to go to the very top! VIKING MOONSAULT FLOPS!! Kofi goes up, to FROG SPLASH!!
Woods hurries up top, tightrope walk, LIMIT BREAKER!! Cover, Erik KNEES It apart!! Kofi fires off on Erik but Erik runs him at the ropes! Kofi body scissors Erik out of the ring! Kofi and Woods regroup, they see the Vikings are at the ramp, so they build speed to FLY off the ship! Direct hit at the ramp! Double cover, TWO!! Both Vikings survive but the New Day keeps on them with forearms and CHOPS! Erik RAMS Woods into barriers, Ivar RAMS Kofi into other barriers! The Vikings bring Kofi up and they LAWN DART him into the long ship’s dragon! Woods CHUCKS a shield at Ivar! Erik CLOBBERS Woods!
Erik puts Woods on the bow and climbs up after him. Woods mule kicks back! Woods reels Erik in, and he aims for the tables! Erik fights the lift, lifts Woods, but Woods CLUBS Erik down! Woods drags Erik up, HEADBUTTS him, then HEADBUTTS again and again and again! But Ivar CLOBBERS Woods with a shield! Kofi climbs a corner! Kofi LEAPS into a SHIELD BASH!! Kofi falls to the floor and the Vikings have Woods all alone! The Vikings roar, haul Kofi up, DOUBLE POWERBOMB through both tables!! Cover in the wreckage, the Viking Raiders win!
Winners: The Viking Raiders, by pinfall
Woods just suffered Ragnarok, the world-ending cataclysm! Will he and Kofi ever rise again? Or is there only the raid?
SmackDown presents Roman’s Reign, Part 1: The Reign Begins.
Paul Heyman of course narrates, and he says, “It began during unprecedented times. It became an unparalleled run of dominance. On August 30, 2020, Roman Reigns regained the Universal Championship at WWE Payback. For the past two years, over 23 title defenses against 14 world-class superstars, Roman Reigns has smashed all competition and claimed his rightful place at the Head of the Table. Tonight, we celebrate and indeed, we acknowledge the historic two year title reign of the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns.”
Sami Zayn is preparing backstage.
The Usos visit and see him in his suit. Sami knows tonight is a special night, so he got his hair done, he bought a new suit. The guy told Sami this is tribal print. Jey says it’s not. No? You sure? Back up, Sami. Jimmy says it’s close. But this is a big night. Can you believe what Roman’s done? Two YEARS! Hasn’t been done in decades! Tonight is so special, Sami has pictures of Roman’s biggest moments and they’ll be blown up and put on easels. Jey says it’s a Bloodline celebration, though. The Wise Man should be here. True, Sami agrees! But Heyman isn’t, he’s still hurt. So Sami can throw a party but he can’t help against his boy, Kevin Owens?
Sami did the best he can! Jimmy can tell, right? Yeah, Sami’s got this on lock. Let’s roll. Jey heads out, Sami asks Jimmy to vouch for him. Jimmy says, “Yeet.” Sami nods and takes note of that. But will Sami at least do right in Roman’s eyes?
Backstage interview with Shayna Baszler.
Kayla Braxton says The Queen of Spades that she will be challenging Liv Morgan for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in less than 24 hours, but Shayna says she WILL be champion. She will take that title by making Liv suffer. She will tear Liv apart limb by limb, take every join she gets her hands on and crank them and twist them until Liv is begging her- OH, Liv steps in. No matter what Shayna says, Liv is not afraid. At Clash at the Castle, Liv will not tap out. In fact, Liv will be the one to rip Shayna’s arm off. Oh? She’d like to see Liv try. Then #WatchHer. Who walks out of Cardiff with the belt? And who walks out without an arm?
Karrion Kross speaks.
“A moment in time, so many different things. For instance, for Drew McIntyre, he has a moment tonight to fight the humbling he suffered last week. For Roman Reigns, he has a moment tonight to commemorate being champion for two years. And unfortunately for my opponent, Mr. Gulak, he’s gonna have a moment tonight that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Because the timelines are about to change. Tick-tock.” Mr. Doomsday has his first match on SmackDown, after the break!
SmackDown presents Roman’s Reign, Part 2: The Main Event.
“For the past wo years, Roman Reigns has been THE main event. Sixteen times, Roman Reigns has main-evented the biggest shows of the year. From the Royal Rumble to Crown Jewel., From Survivor Series to SummerSlam. To the Grandest Stage of Them All, WrestleMania. Sixteen times against champions, legends and hall of famers. Men like Edge, Big E, Goldberg, John Cena, and Brock Lesnar. And sixteen times, Roman Reigns has emerged victorious. Tonight, we celebrate and we indeed acknowledge the historic two year title reign of Roman Reigns.”
Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett Bordeaux VS Drew Gulak!
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the moments left before the apocalypse comes for the Philly Stretcher. Will Gulak find a way to survive the end? Or will he have no choice but to #FallAndPray?
The bell rings and Kross offers a handshake. Gulak takes it but Kross kicks him in the leg. Kross grins, t hen choke grips Gulak into the corner! The ref counts, Kross lets off, but Gulak throws forearms and CHOPS! Kross just puts Gulak back in the corner. Gulak gets free but Kross eggs him on! Gulak CHOPS, and CHOPS, but Kross just leans into it! Gulak fires off forearms then runs, but into a BOOT! Gulak flounders, Kross runs in at the corner to clothesline! ELBOW! And ROLLING ELBOW! Kross then reels Gulak in for the DOOMSDAY SAIDO!! But Kross isn’t done with Gulak, he waits on Gulak to get up.
Gulak stands, swings, but into the KROSSJACKET!! Gulak taps, Kross wins!
Winner: Karrion Kross, by submission
But Kross makes Gulak suffer! Gulak fades out as Kross squeezes tighter! Gulak finally passes out and then Kross lets go! Scarlett smiles and raises Kross’ hand in victory. They then tie Gulak up in the ropes to use him to send a message. Will whoever is Universal Champion have to prepare for the time when they have to cross paths with Kross?
SmackDown presents Roman’s Reign, Part 3: SmackDown Ruler.
“During his historic 733 days as champion, Roman Reigns has called Friday Night SmackDown, ‘Home.'” Roman himself said SmackDown needs him to put food on everyone’s table. “Seven spectacular title defenses against some of the greatest superstars in the world today, the Tribal Chief has smashed them all. Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Rey Mysterio, (Matt) Riddle, all came to the Island of Relevancy on a quest for greatness, only to have their hopes dashed and their bodies smashed by the Tribal Chief. Tonight, we acknowledge the historic title reign of Roman Reigns.”
Ronda Rousey is here!
The Baddest Woman on the Planet paid her fine, but almost went to jail over how she treated WWE security staff! Ronda has an envelope as well as the mic as she gets in the ring. Fans are fired up to see Ronda, and she says she has an official statement from WWE global headquarters in regards to her suspension. And she can’t think of anyone she’d rather have read it than her “friend” and everyone’s favorite official, Adam Pearce! Fans boo but Pearce does walk out on stage to tell Ronda, “Listen. Whatever these decisions are, whatever that decision is, I want you to know, it has never, ever been personal.”
Oh, it’s not personal? But Pearce personally called the cops and personally had her arrested. To be fair, her choices got her arrested. We all know the hard choices are never easy, and there are protocols to be followed in the WWE. She may not want to hear this, but he was- Just doing his job? The same excuse of all spineless middle managers. She expected better of Adam. She can call him “Adam,” right? They have history, after all. She tells Pearce to read the note. If this is how she wants it, fine. He opens the envelope up. Ronda tells him to read out loud. Fans don’t want to sit here and watch him just look at the thing. Fine…
The message says, “Over the past several weeks, Ronda Rousey has engaged in behavior that is completely unprofessional.” Ronda says that is subjective, but whatever. “However, her behavior…” Wait, this seems to catch Pearce off. “Her behavior never broached the level of being criminal. Her arrest two weeks ago was completely unwarranted.” Heh, unwarranted. Get it? Can he finish? Yes, please. “Ronda Rousey has paid her fines in full. And while she will remain on probation, as of today, September 2nd, 2022, her suspension is over, and she will resume in-ring competition immediately.”
Oh, what was that last part? She couldn’t hear it over the fans cheering. It says her suspension is over and she will resume in-ring competition immediately. That’s her favorite part! Aw, shucks! Thanks, Adam. What’s wrong? Having a hard day at the office? Pearce says this is absurd! She attacks a ref, attacks security, held the show hostage, is a danger to everyone, it was Pearce’s duty to call the police! Heh, duty. Pearce says if it was up to him, he wouldn’t have suspended her, he would’ve fired her! Aw, she’s devastated. But what did he think was going to happen? The board was going to value his opinion over the most recognizable female athlete in history?
Ronda tells Pearce to kiss her ass! Pearce asks if this is a joke to her. Does she think that his job is easy? Is that what she thinks? Does she think it’s easy for him to do this 52 weeks a year, twice a week, two whole shows on two different networks, getting these shows on-air while babysitting egos like hers, but never once gets a thanks? Does she think anyone has ever gone up to him and said, “Hey, Adam, great job!” HELL NO! All he gets from people like Ronda- OH, would you fans shut up?! All he ever gets from people like Ronda is grief! And then the people from “the office!” Oh he WISHES someone from there would do this job, but they can’t cut it!
And Pearce is damn proud of the job he does here! He’s not proud of busting his ass for those who criticize and undermine him! As for her question about the board, he has no problem with the board. He just has a problem with HER! Oh~, Ronda acts like she owns this place! God forbid things don’t go her way! People call her the Baddest Woman on the Planet! But Pearce just calls Ronda “The single biggest bitch I’ve ever met!” Ronda frowns and Pearce realizes he was unprofessional. He was just stressed out. Ronda throws Pearce down and puts on a DOUBLE WRISTLOCK! Fans cheer as Ronda says if she should do it. YES! ARMBAR!!
Ronda lets Pearce go and he scrambles away to a corner. Ronda leaves him be, but will she be facing consequences for what she did to a WWE official?
Sami Zayn continues preparations.
This is going to be great! A delivery for Roman Reigns. Oh, they weren’t expecting flowers. Wait, black roses? They don’t smell very good. And the note is just signed, “TICK TOCK.” They’re from Kross!! Sami will just put those over here… Oh no, the smell is on his hands…
Hit Row VS Maximum Male Models w/ Max & Maxxine Dupri!
B-Fab, Top Dolla & Ashante THEE Adonis have a style all their own that doesn’t seem to sit well with Max Du-PRI. But can Maçé & Mansôör turn down the volume? Or will their tag team debut be anything but titillating?
SmackDown returns as MMM makes their entrance. Maxxine does the introductions for them, and then the teams sort out. Adonis wins rock-paper-scissors and starts against Mansoor. They tie up, go around, and Mansoor arm-drags hard to then pose on the mat. Adonis rushes over but Mansoor trips him up. Adonis kicks him away, kips up and dropkicks him down! Mace runs in but Adonis dodges! Dolla ROCKS Mace and Adonis DROPKICKS him, too! MMM regroups outside and B-Fab taunts them. But then Los Lotharios walk to the ring and Maxxine takes notice. Los Lotharios flirt with B-Fab, though, but Adonis & Dolla tell them to scram.
Los Lotharios talk some trash, but Dolla welcomes them to get in the ring then. Los Lotharios stay back, so B-Fab WRECKS them with a dropkick through the ropes! Fans fire up but Mansoor CLOBBERS Adonis! Mansoor bumps Adonis off buckles, fires off heavy hands and he tags Mace. Drop toehold and a strut on Adonis’ back! Then a BIG elbow drop! Cover, TWO! Mace drags Adonis up, bumps him off buckles then fires off big body shots! Tag to Mansoor, and he holds Adonis in place for Mace to run and back elbow! Feed to a DROPKICK, then cover, TWO! Mansoor drags Adonis back but Adonis BOOTS him away!
Mansoor gets the leg again, he ducks the enziguri, but Adonis rolls through to get away! Hot tag to Top Dolla! Fans fire up and Mansoor panics. Mansoor swings but Dolla blocks. Dolla wrenches the arm, DEKCS Mansoor, then kicks low to run. KNEE LIFT! Mace gets in but Dolla DECKS him! Dolla runs at Mansoor, and he SPLASHES him in the corner! Tag to Adonis, and they set Mansoor up, for the HEAVY HITTER! Cover, Hit Row wins!
Winners: Hit Row, by pinfall
And if you didn’t know, now you know! Los Lotharios are still mouthing off, and the brawl is on! MMM get involved, it’s 4v2 against Hit Row! Max Dupri directs traffic, but then the STREET PROFITS are here! Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins CLOBBER Mansoor, then GAMANGIRI Mace to throw him out! Dolla CLOBBERS both Lotharios! Fans fire up as the Profits and Hit Row stand tall, will they be bringing that smoke and getting that money money money money?
Backstage interview with Happy Corbin.
Kayla says after last week- No! He doesn’t wanna talk about Ricochet pulling off some miracle victory. And he doesn’t wanna talk about the week before that, or the week before that. His life is happy! He is happy! He doesn’t live in the past. So when you’re on a string of bad luck, sometimes you double down. Corbin knows he’s the best man in the locker room. He issues an open challenge! Anyone who wants to meet him in that ring is going to be crawling back to the back. Corbin heads out, but who will step up to try their luck?
SmackDown presents Roman’s Reign, Part 4: Tribal Warrior.
“Throughout his epic reign, Roman Reigns has successfully defended his championship in some of the most brutal, unforgiving matches in the history of WWE. Inside a steel cage. Under Extreme Rules. Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Hell in a Cell! Last Man Standing. Through it all, the Tribal Chief has survived vicious matches, only to come out stronger on the other side. Tonight, we celebrate and we indeed acknowledge the historic two year title reign of Roman Reigns.”
Open Challenge: Happy Corbin VS ???
Corbin goes to the ring and he dares anyone to come get some! But who will it be? Who wants their shot? It’s SHINSUKE NAKAMURA! Pat McAfee is loving this as his most disliked superstar is facing his most beloved! Will the King of Strong Style crush whatever is left of Corbin’s happiness?
The bell rings, Corbin and Nakamura circle and tie up, and Corbin powers Nakamura to a corner! Corbin fires off stomps and haymakers, then he lets off, shouting at the fans. Fans taunt “BUM ASS CORBIN!” but he drags Nakamura up. Nakamura ducks the haymaker to fire off a strike fest! AX KICK! Corbin falls and fans fire up! Nakamura KICKS Corbin to a corner, KICKS him more, and then gives him GOOD VIBRATIONS~! Nakamura lets off at 4, grins and gives Corbin another round. Corbin powers up to ROCK Nakamura, CLUB him, but he wobbles as he shakes out the cobwebs.
Corbin suplexes, Nakamura knees free then WHEEL KICKS Corbin down! Nakamura aims from the corner, “YAO~!” But Corbin hits Nakamura with DEEP SIX! Cover, TWO! Nakamura survives and Corbin is frustrated! Corbin snarls while fans chant, “Corbin Sucks!” Corbin says THEY suck! Corbin drags Nakamura up, reels him in, but Nakamura slips free! Nakamura dodges Corbin again, but Corbin slides out to slide in, into a KINSHASA!! Cover, Nakamura wins!!
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura, by pinfall
Sometimes when you gamble, you bust! That was about what happened with Corbin playing a game of chance with the SmackDown roster, will he have to be a bit wiser from now on? As for Nakamura, can he get back up towards a title opportunity once WWE is past Clash at the Castle?
WWE looks back at the origins of Connor’s Cure.
In 2014, Connor’s Cure was established to honor the life and memory of young Connor Michalek to help find a cure for pediatric cancer, so that no one else would have to go through the pain he did. After his passing, he was enshrined as the inaugural recipient of the Warrior Award for his bravery, love and hope. Through Connor’s Cure and V Foundation’s funding, they’ve awarded $4.5 million in grants and helped over 500 families worldwide. The WWE Universe has come together offering hope in the mission to kick cancer’s butt!
Corbin sulks backstage.
Happy isn’t feeling so happy right now, but wait! What’s this limo pulling up with the longhorns on it? “What happened to you? Get in.” Is that JBL?! JBL is giving Corbin a ride?! What will John “Bradshaw” Layfield have to teach Corbin in order to get him back on the winning side?
“Butch” Pete Dunne w/ The Brawling Brutes VS Ludwig Kaiser w/ GUNTHER!
The man formerly known as the Bruiserweight was tearing it up with the Impeccable German last week, and now they get to do it all over again! Will Dunne butcher Ludwig to send a message to Der Ring General? Or will Ludwig say “NEIN!” and send that message to the Brutes instead?
SmackDown returns and Imperium make their entrance. Gunther still walks in front of Ludwig, even though this is Ludwig’s match. The bell rings and Dunne rushes in! Ludwig catches him but Dunne is after the arm with a double wristlock! Ludwig pulls Dunne’s hair, pushes him away, but Dunne pushes Ludwig down! Dunne fires off hammering fists but Ludwig pushes him away again. Ludwig goes to a corner but Dunne is right on him! The ref counts, Dunne backs off, but Ludwig CROSS CHOPS him! Ludwig stands on Dunne’s hair while striking the Imperium pose. The ref counts but Ludwig steps away at 4.
Ludwig headlocks Dunne, Dunne powers out, things speed up, Ludwig dodges but Dunne CLOBBERS him on the return! Dunne drags Ludwig up, hammerlocks the arm and traps it to then pull on the far arm. Ludwig endures as Dunne BENDS the fingers! And BENDS! And BENDS! Sheamus is loving it as Dunne wrenches the arm to isolate it, and STOMP it! Ludwig clutches his triceps while the Brutes rally for Dunne. Ludwig blocks a kick to shot “NEIN!” Ludwig SLAPS Dunne then BUTTERFLY SUPLEXES! Ludwig then goes up and takes aim, FLYING- FOREARM!! Dunne blasts Ludwig outta the air!
Ludwig flops out of the ring, Dunne goes to the apron and LEAPS, into an UPPERCUT! Both women are down and fans are fired up! Sheamus and Gunther stare down and egg each other on, but the ref tells them to stay back. It is a tense moment as SmackDown goes to break!
SmackDown returns again and Ludwig ROCKS Dunne with a right! Then he pulls Dunne by his ear, but Dunne HEADBUTTS the hand! Dunne fires off hands, Ludwig gives them back, and the fans are fired up! Dunne DECKS Ludwig into a corner! Then runs in to GAMANGIRI! Dunne drops knees right on the bad arm! And then he whips Ludwig to waistlock and GERMAN SUPLEX! Ludwig flounders, Dunne STOMPS the hands! And BUZZSAWS Ludwig down! Cover, TWO! Ludwig survives but the Brutes rally up the fans. Dunne gets Ludwig’s arm and CLUBS away on the shoulder! Dunne rains down forearms then stomps the arm again!
Gunther coaches Ludwig, but Dunne drags Ludwig up to whip to a corner. Ludwig reverses, Dunne goes up, but Ludwig says “NEIN!” and keeps him from going over! Ludwig trips Dunne and Dunne hits buckles! Dunne BOOTS Ludwig, goes up, but Ludwig GAMANGIRIS now! Ludwig puts Dunne upside-down in the ropes to DROPKICK him down! INVERTED EXPLODER! Cover, TWO!! Ludwig snarls as Dunne survives. Ludwig runs, but Dunne ducks the Penalty Kick to ENZIGURIR! Dunne runs, into an UPPERCUT! Ludwig back suplexes, but Dunne lands on his feet! BUZZSAW! Ludwig is dazed and Sheamus is loving this!
Dunne goes to a corner, waits on Ludwig to get up, and he runs in, into a tilt-o-whirl SLAM!! Cover, TWO!! Ludwig can’t believe that Dunne survived, but it’s hard to believe Ludwig was still in this! Dunne BENDS Ludwig’s fingers! And kicks from below over and over and over again! Dunne gets up, but into the clinch! SIDE- NO, Dunne BENDS the fingers!! And SNAPS them!! Pump handle, BITTER END!! Cover, Dunne wins!
Winner: Pete Dunne, by pinfall
The Brutes celebrate with “Butch” but Gunther tells Sheamus that proves nothing! The jackets come off, Sheamus has his mates stand down, and the fans fire up! Sheamus brings down the suspender straps, but Ludwig says they need to take a tactical retreat! This is to happen at Clash at the Castle, not here tonight! Gunther accepts his lieutenant’s suggestion, but will the Celtic Warrior give Gunther a fight like he’s never had before?
SmackDown presents Roman’s Reign, Part 5: Greatness on a Different Level.
“Bruno Sammartino. Bob Backlund. Pedro Morales. Hulk Hogan. These legends laid claim to the longest reigns as WWE Champion. After 733 days of dominance, they are joined by the longest reigning champion of the modern era, The Head of the Table, the Tribal Chief, the first-ever Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns!” Roman says this is GOD MODE, Greatness On a Different level. “Tonight, we celebrate and we indeed acknowledge the two year, historic title reign of Roman… Reigns!”
Sami & The Usos finish preparations.
Check, check and check! We’re all set. Then let’s go! But wait. Shouldn’t they wait for Roman so they can all go out there together? Y’know, the entire Bloodline. Jey asks Sami what he means by the entire Bloodline. Sami meant the four of them. Jey says Sami is getting too comfortable around here. He’s stepping on the line. No, that’s not what this is! Jimmy says tonight is about Roman. They should all go out their to introduce Roman, then put the spotlight all on Big Uce. Sami’s for that, and so is Jey. Yeet. Let’s go! The Usos head out, and Sami takes a deep breath. Will this celebration go as planned for the entire Bloodline?
Tyson Fury posts on Instagram.
He is very excited for the first WWE “Premium Live Event” happening in the UK in roughly 30 years to be in Cardiff, with Roman Reigns VS Drew McIntyre for the Universal Championship. Fury will be live in the front row for that, he hopes to see you all there.
Sami & The Usos head to the ring!
They hold up the fingers, #WeTheOnes, and the set is just as Sami said it would be. Sami gest the mic to say, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the championship celebration honoring the TWO YEAR, historic title reign of the Tribal Chief, ROMAN REIGNS!” Fans are torn, but Sami says that’s right. Before he gets started, is it okay that he’s hosting this? He got dressed up and planned the whole thing. Jimmy says to do his thing as the Honorary Uce. My man! Thank you for that! Sami wouldn’t want be accused of being “too comfortable.” Sami then looks at Jey.
Sami starts with, “For the last two years-” Jey interrupts! “For two whole years, Roman Reigns has dominated everybody!” Fans are torn again. Jey says everyone who stepped up got sat down! Sami adds, “Preach!” Jey says everyone who stepped up been Superman Punched. “BET!” Speared. “YEET!” Guillotined. “DAS RIGHT!” They’ve been flat out beat! “100!!” Sami, what’re you doing? Just stop. Jey says what they need everyone to do right now is stand up, put your fingers to the sky, and help them introduce to you the Head of the Table! The Tribal Chief! The Needle Mover! God Mode himself! THE WWE Undisputed Universal Champion… Their cousin, ROMAN! REIGNS!!
Roman’s Escalade drives in, he exits the vehicle, and gets CLAYMORED by McIntyre!! The Scottish Warrior leaves Roman down on the ground and storms his way to gorilla! Sami and the Usos are freaking out as McIntyre makes his way out to the ring! Fans fire up and the Usos tell Sami to handle this! Sami goes to the ramp, but he gest a HEADBUTT! McIntyre then glares at the Usos. He throws off his shirt to show the bruises from last week. The Usos attack but he HEABUTTS Jey, CLOBBERS Jimmy, and then TOSSES Jimmy out of the ring! McIntyre wrecks the pictures and then runs to FLY! Direct hit on all three men!
McIntyre roars as he stands back up, then he puts Sami in the ring! McIntyre goes around the way, gets himself a chair, and TOSSES it into the ring! McIntyre grabs more chairs, TOSSES those into the ring, and Sami gets out before he gets hit! Sami grabs a chair, JAMS McIntyre with it, but then a CLAYMORE through the chair takes out Sami! McIntyre isn’t done, he drags Jimmy over to suplex onto and THROUGH the announce desk! McIntyre finds Jey, lines up his shot, and he copies Roman’s “OOAH~!” before the SPEAR through the barriers!! McIntyre gets a mic to say, “When are you gonna understand, Roman? I will never, ever stop!!”
“Look around me. The Bloodline, torn apart. God Mode deactivated! At Cardiff, it comes down to me and you. I am gonna kick your head right off your body, and you’re gonna look up at the NEW Undisputed Champion!!” Fans are fired up for McIntyre, will that historic reign we’ve heard about all night come to an end when these two Clash at the Castle?
My Thoughts:
Now this was a great go-home! For one, we opened with a great match. Viking Rules was surprisingly far more than just a themed Street Fight, they really decked out the ringside area for it. It was an awesome match, bordering on a PPV level match, and that finish was insane! Double powerbomb through two tables, no one was surviving that. The Viking Raiders move on, and I suppose we could still see them challenging for the tag titles, even with the Usos as Heels. We got a good promo from Shayna and Liv, but I still expect the story to be a parallel of Liv VS Ronda where Liv more survives than wins.
Kross had a good promo calling out both Roman and McIntyre, and then he of course destroys Gulak. Kross is going to be SmackDown’s contender, while Seth Rollins or Matt Riddle can be seen as Raw’s contender, depending on who wins there. I also like the nice touch of Kross sending gross flowers to Roman to be a reminder. We got a fairly good match out of Hit Row VS Maximum Male Models, though it was “overbooked” for good reason. Those four teams could also make a case for tag title contention, and I’m sure we’ll get an 8 Man Tag that then results in a Fatal 4 Way Tag. And if nothing else, Maxxine is totally ditching MMM for Los Lotharios.
Happy Corbin throwing out that Open Challenge was of course going to backfire. And as commentary noted, great continuity that it was Nakamura, who sent Corbin into that initial spiral after taking away the King of the Ring crown from him. And wow, JBL is going to mentor Corbin? Is he going to become even more of a “rich person” gimmick character? Maybe “Cowboy Corbin” with a really fake country accent? We also got an awesome “main event” match out of Dunne VS Ludwig. That was a lot like what we would’ve gotten out of these guys in NXT/NXT UK, so I’m glad RawDown fans got to see that. Dunne winning could be the go-home math version of Sheamus standing tall, so as awesome as it’d be for Sheamus to become Ultimate Grand Slam Champion, I think Gunther retains.
Then… Wow, okay, that Ronda Rousey segment. It was delivered well, which is a great thing for Ronda. She didn’t rush her lines, she didn’t drag things out, and I suppose there is something to the “sassy, smug Face” trope. I mean, it works for Sonic the Hedgehog. But honestly, I was more on Pearce’s side with his rant about being underappreciated working hard at a thankless job. But of course he gets walloped by Ronda, we’re supposed to think of her as Stone Cold Ronda and cheer her on as she defies authority and does what she wants. Oddly, I kinda hope Shayna wins the title so that she and Ronda can feud and Shayna can also be used as Pearce’s proxy.
I’m a little surprised we got FIVE little vignettes for the Roman Reigns retrospective instead of a couple bigger ones. With them emphasizing how we’re “acknowledging” his historic dominance, I feel like they’re giving Roman his sendoff before Clash. Of course, McIntyre busting up the celebration was wildly fun but also means McIntyre stands tall. I really hope go-home math isn’t a factor this time, because the timing is just perfect. Roman can lose, there’s time before the Royal Rumble where Roman can work to become even stronger and try to get the titles back. For McIntyre, he can finally have his moment in front of a live crowd, he can be on all the shows like he said he would, facing Kross and Rollins and Riddle and whoever else, and then we see how it all feels before a rematch with Roman.
My Score: 8.7/10
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Will the landscape of the WWE completely change in one day?
WWE returns to Saudi Arabia for a Night of Champions! And a NEW World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned after Seth Rollins takes on AJ Styles!
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Seth Rollins VS AJ Styles; Rollins wins and is the inaugural WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
- Becky Lynch VS Trish Stratus; Trish wins.
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: GUNTHER w/ Imperium VS Mustafa Ali; Gunther wins and retains the title.
- Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair VS Asuka; Asuka wins and becomes the new Raw Women’s Championship.
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Natalya; Rhea wins and retains the title.
- Cody Rhodes VS Brock Lesnar; Lesnar wins.
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn VS Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa; Kevin & Sami win and retain the titles.
PLAY BY PLAY
It’s the Night of Champions Kickoff Show!
Join Kayla Braxton, Matt Camp and Peter Rosenberg in discussing, analyzing and predicting all the action here tonight/today!
Backstage interview with Cody Rhodes.
Byron Saxton catches The American Nightmare as he arrives, and he asks about the condition of his arm, and about any last thoughts before the match with Brock Lesnar. Cody says cat’s out of the bag via the press conference the other day. There is a stress fracture, but that doesn’t change his spirits. Cody beat Brock Lesnar in under ten minutes last time. So this doesn’t change his spirits, this only changes the game plan. Cody is still going to have a broken arm tomorrow, but Lesnar is gonna wake up tomorrow being 0-2. Cody can live with this broken arm. Can Lesnar live with another loss? Cody puts it concisely himself, but will his spirit be what suffers next?
On this global stage…
“In a triple main event… Who will be victorious? Who will leave as a champion?” HHH says, “A champion is always on. It is a 24/7, 365 state of mind. Being a champion is more than a way of life. It is your life. And man, can it change your life. With the eyes of the world watching, history calls. And the answer will be deafening. In this kingdom, this is what it’s all about. Are you ready? I said, ARE, YOU, READY!? This… is a Night of Champions!”
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Seth Rollins VS AJ Styles!
The 60 diamonds represent the 60 years of this company. The eagle harkens back to the days of eagles on the top title. The crown harkens back to the days of THE Bruno Sammartino. Only one man can be the first to hold a title that means so much about the then, now and forever of the WWE. Will that man be a Visionary? Or will he be Phenomenal?
The introductions are made, the belt is on display, and one way or another, a new champion will be crowned!
The bell rings and the fans are thunderous already! They rally and duel, “AJ STYLES!” “SETH ROLLINS!” The two circle, Rollins avoids Styles, and fans sing for him. “OH~ OHH~ OHHH~!” The two reset and feel things out. They knuckle lock, then Rollins shoots past Styles and the fans sing again. But Styles DROPKICKS Rollins! And clotheslines him up and out of the ring! Then he slingshots, but Rollins avoids Styles! Styles lands on the apron and Rollins grins. Styles steps back in and fans rally up again. They tie up, Rollins headlocks, but Styles powers up and out. Styles hurdles, Rollins rolls, and the two stand off again.
Fans fire up, Styles swings but misses. Rollins comes back to SLINGBLADE! Styles bails out, Rollins goes to the apron and FLYING KNEES Styles down! Rollins puts Styles in, takes aim from the corner, but Styles ducks the Shining Wizard, only for Rollins to BOOMERANG! Cover, TWO! Rollins keeps cool and he brings Styles up. Rollins goes to suplex but Styles blocks. Rollins CLUBS away but Styles RAMS him into the corner! And again, and again! The ref counts, Styles lets off, and Styles snapmares Rollins to then run and KNEE DROP! Rollins clutches his face but Styles brings him around to KICK in the back!
Rollins grits his teeth, but Styles snapmares him into a chinlock. Fans rally, Rollins endures, and Rollins fights up to throw body shots. Rollins whips, Styles goes up and over and Rollins hits buckles! Styles CHOPS! And CHOPS! And CHOPS! Rollins goes to another corner, Styles whips him corner to corner but Rollins reverses. Styles goes up and over but gets caught, BUCKLE SHOT! Rollins keeps going, he RAMS Styles into the opposite corner! Fans sing for Rollins again while he catches his breath. Styles sits up in the corner, Rollins puts him on the top rope. Rollins CHOPS Styles and Styles flops to the apron.
Rollins climbs the corner, drags Styles up to join him, and fans rally as the two fight for control. Styles slips under, trips Rollins up and Rollins hits buckles! Styles ROCKS Rollins with a right, but Rollins hits back! They go back and forth, fans fire up with each haymaker, and then Styles snap suplexes Rollins into the corner! Rollins is folded up and fans chant “This is Awesome!” Styles drags Rollins up to CHOP! Rollins ROCKS and CHOPS in return, and on repeat! Rollins then fires hands from all sides, but Styles comes back with the Phenomenal Blitz! SLIDING FOREARM! Fans fire up as Rollins goes to a corner.
Styles runs in to clothesline! Styles fireman’s carries, Rollins slips off but Styles ducks the rolling elbow to wheelbarrow FACEBUSTER! Cover, TWO!! That was so close and Styles can’t believe it! Styles brings Rollins up, but Rollins RAMS him into a corner! Rollins gets space, but runs into an ELBOW! Styles goes up, QUEBRADA DDT! Cover, TWO! Rollins survives again and Styles is again surprised! Styles puts Rollins in a corner then up on the top rope. But Rollins throws hands! Styles comes back, but into a BOOT! FLYING SUNSET, TWO, but Rollins deadlifts Styles, for a BUCKLE BOMB!
Styles staggers, Rollins hurries to another corner and climbs up! FROG SPLASH!! Cover, TWO!! Now Styles survives and surprises Rollins! Both men rise, Rollins ROLLING ELBOWS! Then he turns styles, but Styles ducks the Dream Smasher to fireman’s carry! USHIGOROSHI! Cover, TWO!! Rollins survives and fans fire up while both men are down. Both men rise and the fans duel. Styles reels Rollins in, brings him up, but Rollins slips free to reel Styles in! Styles fights out to CHOP and PELE! Rollins falls and flounders to a corner while Styles stands up again. Fans rally, Styles storms over and then goes to the apron.
Styles climbs the corner and he brings Rollins up! Fans fire up as Styles has Rollins hooked, but Rollins RANAS free! Rollins then gets Styles up onto the top rope, climbs up behind him, and CLUBS away on Styles’ neck! Fans count and Rollins goes all the way to eight. Rollins dragon sleepers but Styles fights free! Rollins falls back, Styles works to adjust his position, but Rollins is right back up there! INVERTED SUPERPLEX!! Roll through, into SAVING GRACE! Cover, TWO!! Rollins is beside himself as Styles survives! Fans are thunderous as Rollins stands. Rollins stomps Styles, then goes back to the corner.
Rollins climbs up top, fans fire up, and Rollins PHOENIX- NO, he rolls through as Styles moves! Styles BOOTS Rollins, reels him back in at the corner, TORNADO HOT- NO, Rollins blocks that to HEADBUTT! Both men wobble, but Rollins brings Styles up again. But Styles fights the suplex! Styles tries to suplex but Rollins blocks now. They fight for control, Styles drags Rollins out to join him, and then APRON BRAINBUSTERS!! Fans go nuts as Rollins flops to the floor! Styles drags Rollins into the ring, then goes to the apron. Styles springboards, but Rollins trips him up! Styles now hits the floor!
Rollins builds speed, to DIVE! Direct hit at the ramp! Rollins clutches his leg, he may have done more harm than good. Fans sing “OH~ OHH~ OHHH~” for him and Rollins rises. Rollins goes to the steel steps, he and Styles get in the ring at 9 of 10! Rollins goes after Styles but Styles goes after the leg! CALF CRUSHER!! Rollins endures, reaches out, crawls around, but Styles rolls him from the ropes! CALF CRUSHER!! Styles pulls back on the leg while Rollins endures! Rollins reaches, and grabs Styles in a SLEEPER! Styles lets Rollins go and Rollins lets Styles go. Styles KICKS the leg, but Rollins LARIATS Styles!
Both men are down and fans fire up again! “This is Awesome!” as both men crawl to each other. Rollins and Styles stand, and they start throwing hands! Fans fire up with each haymaker, but Rollins gets the edge with forearms! But then Styles fires off palm strikes from all sides! And he KICKS the bad leg! But Rollins mule kicks! And Kawada Kicks! Fans fire up and Rollins swings big, but misses! Styles CHOPS, ROCKS and HEADBUTTS Rollins! Styles runs, Rollins ducks and PELES! Styles wobbles, but Rollins avoids his Pele! SUPERKICK! Styles falls over, Rollins runs in, and Rollins stomps the hand!
Rollins underhooks the arms, but Styles trips him! Styles hooks Rollins up but Rollins kicks free! Styles dodges a haymaker now and PELES! Styles steals the PEDIGREE!!! Cover, TWO!?!? Styles and Saudi Arabia are all shocked that Rollins survives! Styles crawls back to a corner as he thinks of what he has to do to finish this. Fans fire up again and Styles goes back to the apron. Styles aims but Rollins crawls over to that side. Rollins stands and glares at Styles. But Styles ROCKS Rollins first! Springboard, PHENOMENAL- SUPERKICK!! Rollins gets his bad leg working as he aims from the corner, Rollins runs in, but the leg gives up!
Rollins drags Styles up, Styles rolls him! Rollins rolls through, to get the PEDIGREE!! But the bad leg hurts from hitting it! Rollins grits his teeth, aims again, runs in, CURB STOMP!!! Cover, ROLLINS WINS!!
Winner: Seth Rollins, by pinfall (INAUGURAL WWE World Heavyweight Champion)
The Visionary has done it! He has made history once again! And Triple H is here in person to present the title directly to him! Will Rollins follow through on his promises to push the industry forward and to do it “the right way?”
Becky Lynch VS Trish Stratus!
The Man wanted The Chick to help her against Damage CTRL, and that she did do. But Trish could not handle being second, could not handle sharing the spotlight, and could not handle being the past and not the present. But will Trish tear down the current generation all in the pursuit of praise and gratitude? Or will she regret ever entering The Big Time?
The bell rings and fans sing Becky’s song now. Trish says okay, Becky, let’s go. And Becky DECKS Trish! Becky fires hands on Trish, Trish gest to ropes but Becky bumps her off buckles! Becky stomps a mudhole in, lets off as the ref counts, and then she brings Trish around to bump her off buckles again! And again! And then Becky gives her more stomps! The fans fire up but the ref counts, and Becky lets off again. Trish bails out but Becky slides! Trish dodges the dropkick to RAM Becky into steel steps! And then brings her around to RAM her face first into the steps! Fans cheer and jeer but Trish soaks it all up.
Trish SMACKS Becky off the Arabian announce table, then the American announce table! Trish puts Becky back in the ring, lines up the shot and PUNTS Becky in the side! Trish looks for the kick, it’s good! Then Trish CHOKES Becky on ropes! The ref counts, Trish lets off and she goes up top. But Becky ROCKS her first! Trish ROCKS Becky back, and Becky staggers away. Trish goes after Becky and gives her a mudhole stomp. Trish then goes up the corner and brings Becky up, HANGING SLEEPER! The ref counts, Trish lets Becky go and “apologizes.” Trish then brings Becky back in, for another HANGING SLEEPER!
Trish lets go, soaks up the cheers and jeers and then takes a bow. But Becky ROCKS her for it! Trish kicks back, reels Becky in, TORNADO DDT! Cover, TWO! Another cover, TWO! Trish is frustrated and she storms up on Becky. Trish stomps Becky in the corner, digs her boot in, but lets off as the ref counts. Becky sputters and crawls but Trish is on her. Trish SMACKS Becky off the apron! There are fans who chant “Thank You, Trish!” and she enjoys that. Becky hits back but Trish CLUBS her down! And again! And again! Trish digs Becky’s face into the mat! The ref reprimands, Trish lets off and soaks up more cheers and jeers.
Trish shows off “Thank You Trish” on the back of her suit, and then she brings Becky into a CAMEL CLUTCH! Becky endures as fans rally up. Trish makes Becky smile with fishhooks in her mouth! The ref reprimands, Trish throws Becky down and wipes her hands off. Trish then YANKS Becky around by her hair! Trish picks the strands out of her hair, then grabs at Becky again. Becky KICKS from below! Becky fires off on Trish and fans fire up. Becky whips, Trish reverses and hits a THESZ PRESS! Fast hands but Becky gets free! Trish gets around Becky to hit a NECKBREAKER! Cover, TWO!
Fans rally up but Trish swaggers around. Trish stalks Becky to ropes, then CHOPS her! Becky goes to a corner, Trish riles up the fans, and Trish CHOPS Becky again. Becky goes to another corner, Trish CHOPS her again! Becky goes to the fourth corner, then past that to the ropes. Trish CHOPS but Becky blocks! Becky ROCKS Trish with forearm after forearm! Trish hits back, the fans fire up with every haymaker! Becky gets the edge, whips to ropes, but Trish reverses. Becky comes back with FLYING FOREARMS! Fans fire up and Becky runs at the corner to FIRE-ARM! And ROCKET KICK! And then BECKSPLODER!
Trish scrambles away but Becky is after her! Becky has Trish in the ropes to fire off forearms and UPPERCUTS! Becky windmills hands on Trish and fans are thunderous! Becky goes up, GUILLOTINE LEG DROP! Cover, TWO!! Trish scrambles away again while Becky cools off. Becky runs and WRECKS Trish with a dropkick! Becky goes to the apron, and she FLYING FOREARMS Trish down! The fans are all fired up and Becky drags Trish up. Becky puts Trish in, but Trish skins the cat to RANA Becky into the POST! Trish soaks up the cheers and jeers, showing she can still do her old tricks.
Trish puts Becky in the, and hits a SPINEBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Fans rally and duel, but Becky hits back! Trish rains down fists in frustration, then runs corner to corner. Trish SPLASHES Becky, puts her up top, then climbs up after her. Trish throws hands but Becky throws them back! Trish CLUBS Becky, but Becky throws body shots! Becky sends Trish back, but Trish returns! STRATUSPHERE! Cover, TWO! Trish throws a fit but fans rally up again. Trish drags Becky up, reels her in, and she points to the sky! STRATUS- NO, Becky powers out! Becky ELBOWS Trish, reels her in at the corner, and hits DIAMOND DUST!
Trish flops and Becky hurries back up! Becky drops the MAN’S LEG! Cover, TWO! Trish survives, both women are down, and the fans rally up again. Becky nods, she’s feeling the energy. Trish rises, Becky brings her in, but Trish wheelbarrows and victory rolls to get the legs! But Becky kicks her away! Trish goes to a corner, Becky runs in, but is put on the apron. Becky ROCKS Trish first, climbs up the corner, but Trish trips her up! Trish then goes back, STRATUS- NO, Becky catches those legs, and steps over into the BOSTON CRAB! Trish endures as Becky bends her back! Trish crawls, reaches out, and gets the ROPEBREAK!
Becky lets Trish go and then goes out the side. Fans rally as Becky runs in and leaps off the steps, into a KICK! Fans boo but Trish grits her teeth and gets in the ring. Trish lets the ring count climb, because a win is a win, after all! Becky stirs at 7, and springs in at 9! CHICK KICK!! Cover, TWO!?! Becky survives and Trish can’t believe it! “This is Awesome!” as Trish drags Becky around. Trish sits Becky up to tell her she should be thanking her! Trish throws Becky down, sits her up, and throws her down again! Trish says Becky is not better than her! Trish SLAPS Becky, Becky drags Trish into the DISARM-HER!!
Trish endures, flails, reaches, and pulls Becky’s hair! Becky lets the hold go to pull Trish’s hair! The ref reprimands, the two throw hands! The ref counts, tries to separate them, Becky ducks a Chick Kick! Roll up, TWO!! MANHANDLE SLAM!! Cover, ROPEBREAK!!! Trish survives by a literal foot and Becky can’t believe it! Trish flops out of the ring, Becky storms out after her. Trish goes under the ring, Becky drags her back out. Becky puts Trish in, but ZOEY STARK is here?!? Zoey Stark appears from under the ring to hit a Z 360!!! Zoey puts Becky in for Trish to hit STRATUSFACTION!!! Cover, TRISH WINS!!!
Winner: Trish Stratus, by pinfall
What in the world!? Zoey Stark is on Team Trish!? Trish says Becky lost because Trish is smarter than her. Becky has a bloody nose and anger in her eyes, will The Man have to turn Trish & The Hunter into the hunted?
WWE Intercontinental Championship: GUNTHER w/ Imperium VS Mustafa Ali!
Der Ring General has been absolutely dominant as champion, setting the longest reign of the last 23 YEARS! And while The Beacon has shed his “Positive Ali” façade, he still has the confidence to stand up to this challenge. Will Ali win his first title ever in WWE? Or will nothing stop Gunther from becoming the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time?
Ludwig Kaiser has the mic to demand all our gratitude for our “WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, Derrrrrr RIIING GENERAL…! GUUUUNTHERRR!” The formal introductions are made, the belt is raised, and on an already historic night, we see which path history takes!
The bell rings and the two circle. Fans rally up for Ali but Gunther doesn’t react. The two tie up, Gunther headlocks, and he TOSSES Ali away! Fans boo but Gunther eggs Ali on. Ali gets up, the two circle again, and they tie up again. Gunther powers Ali to a corner, smothers him, but lets off, only for Ali to dodge the chop! Ali CHOPS, but Gunther just storms up on him. They circle, Ali gets around to KICK the leg! And again! And again! Gunther blocks a kick, and reels Ali into a SLEEPER! Ali arm-drags free, then goes up and over in the corner! Ali keeps moving to DROPKICK! Fans fire up as Gunther wobbles!
Ali runs to DORPKICK again! Ali runs, but into a scoop and SLAM! Ali writhes and fans boo but Gunther stomps him down! Gunther paces while fans rally for Ali. Gunther drags Ali up but Ali throws body shots. Gunther CHOPS Ali down! Ali sputters, but Gunther brings him up, to CHOP him down again! Gunther talks trash and fans boo, but Gunther goes back to Ali. Gunther drags Ali up, but Ali throws haymakers! Fans fire up but Gunther shoves Ali to a corner. Ali BOOTS back! Ali swings, but into a scoop and SLAM! Gunther gets the legs, BOSTON CRAB! Fans rally, Ali crawls and reaches out, but Gunther drags him away!
Gunther shifts into an STF! Fans rally as Ali endures, and Ali fights up to throw body shots. Gunther knees low! Gunther TOSSES Ali out but Ali holds onto ropes. Ali gets up to shoulder into Gunther! Ali slingshots, into a BOOT! Ali falls to the floor, and Gunther drags him up to POST him! Ali goes flying then lands hard, and Gunther goes into the ring to simply let the count handle this. Ali drags himself up at 7 of 10 but falls over! The count is 9, Ali springs in at 9.99!! Gunther is annoyed but fans fire up! Gunther drags Ali up, wrenches the arm, and CHOPS Ali down! Gunther drags Ali up again, just to CHOP him back down!
Fans boo but Gunther soaks it all up. Gunther stands Ali up again but Ali breaks free, CHOPS and ROCKS and then dodges to ROCK Gunther again! Ali CHOPS and CHOPS and CHOPS, then fires off windmill haymakers! Fans fire up, but Gunther shoves Ali away. Gunther runs in at the corner, Ali slips out to ROUNDHOUSE! Ali slingshots, somersaults, and NECKBREAKER! Fans fire up and Ali hurries back to the corner! Ali climbs, but Gunther CHOPS! Gunther ROCKS Ali, climbs up after him, and double underhooks. Ali fights those off and he HEADBUTTS Gunther! And again! And then SMACKS Gunther off the buckles!
Ali gets up, SUPER SUNSET- Wait, Gunther holds onto the ropes! Ali gets him loose and POWERBOMBS Gunther down! Ali skins the cat to the top rope, so that he can 450 SPLASH!! Cover, TWO!!! “This is Awesome!” as Ali is getting closer and closer! Ali goes up another corner, leaps, but Gunther blocks the tornado! Gunther throws Ali away to then LARIAT!! Gunther shouts at the fans, he drags Ali up, and LARIATS again!! Cover, TWO!?!? Ali survives and Gunther is furious! Fans are thunderous for Ali but Gunther eggs him on. Ali crawls over to Gunther, Gunther kicks him around and taunts him.
Ali rises up and the fans are with him. Gunther tells Ali to listen. “You don’t belong-” Ali SLAPS! Gunther SLAPS! Gunther POWER- NO, Ali slips out of the bomb to SUPERKICK!! And Ali goes up, FLYING TORNADO DDT!! Ali hurries up top again! 450- NO, Gunther moves and Ali rolls through! Gunther SHOTGUNS Ali! More like a cannon! Gunther GENERAL BOMBS Ali, high stacks, and Gunther wins!
Winner: Gunther, by pinfall (still WWE Intercontinental Champion)
Fans boo but Ali still put up one hell of a fight. But will Gunther continue to dominate the world, no matter who is put in front of him?
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn talk backstage.
They’re feeling good. Being here is crazy. Everything since WrestleMania! Even WrestleMania was so much more than they ever expected. Winning these tag titles together, what a run. Even if it ended tonight- Wait, whoa, why would it end? It won’t, but Sami wants to “acknowledge” the fact Roman Reigns is celebrating 1000 days as Universal Champion and he wants these titles. Somehow, he finds a way. Roman’s screwed them both over before. Kevin sees that. But that’s the only thing he “acknowledges.” Here is something for Roman to “acknowledge”: Kevin & Sami won these off The Usos, a greater tag team than Roman & Solo will ever be.
But here’s another thing: Kevin is sick of hearing about Roman’s 1000 days! Roman’s had his day, he has had 1000 of them! Today is THEIR day! Kevin didn’t come all this wat just to lose! No, today is THEIR day! Today, Solo loses! Today, Roman loses! Yeah? Yeah?! YEAH! Sami & Kevin are ready, will they make sure Roman’s 1000 days with his two titles is all he gets?
Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair VS Asuka!
The EST has beat the Empress of Tomorrow before, but this isn’t that Asuka. This Asuka is something more sinister, more ruthless, and more chaotic. Will Bianca not be ready for this Asuka? Or will Bianca continue the longEST women’s title reign of the last 23 years?
The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see who is truly the B E S T!
The bell rings and the two rush in! Asuka waistlocks, headlocks, hits the takeover, but Bianca headscissors. Asuka kips free, gets around and throws Bianca down by her hair! The ref reprimands and fans boo but Asuka is having fun,. Bianca ducks the Penalty Kick, kips up, and trips Asuka to rain down fists! Asuka turns it around, but then Bianca turns it back. They go back and forth, Bianca kicks Asuka way, and then she RAMS Asuka, rebounds, and runs her over! Bianca says if Asuka wants to mess around, then come on. Things speed up, Bianca handsprings over Asuka, then hurdles, but Asuka dropkicks the roll!
Asuka swaggers around, gets Bianca’s arms, and stands on her to give her DRAGON STOMPS! Fans fire up and Asuka lets off to swagger some more. Asuka gets an arm, she wrenches it, but Bianca ROCKS her with the other arm! Bianca RAMS Asuka into the corner, then tells her this is what she gets. Bianca TOSSES Asuka across the way, runs in and RAMS her into the other corner! Bianca brings Asuka out to whip her corner to corner, but Asuka reverses. Bianca goes up and over, and DROPKICKS Asuka down! Bianca kips up again and fans fire up. Bianca drags Asuka up, scoops her, and SLAMS her!
Fans rally, Bianca runs to handspring, but Asuka avoids the moonsault! Asuka goes to the apron, Bianca runs in to handspring kick her down! Fans rally as Bianca eggs Asuka on. Bianca then goes out after Asuka, but Asuka drags her down by the hair! Asuka whips Bianca into steel steps! Asuka grins while fans boo and the ref reprimands. Asuka puts Bianca in the ring at 5 of 10, then swaggers around more. Asuka runs in to HIP ATTACK Bianca in a corner, then GERMAN SUPLEX her away! SLIDING KNEE! Cover, TWO! Bianca is still in this but Asuka gets an ARMBAR! Bianca flails, stacks, TWO!
Asuka lets Bianca go to BUZZSAW the arm! Asuka stands on Bianca at the ropes, the ref counts, and Asuka steps off. Bianca shoves Asuka away but Asuka comes back, into a JAWBREAKER! Roll up, TWO! Both women hurry up, Bianca spins Asuka around and suplexes, but Asuka cradle counters! TWO, and Bianca runs in, into a LARIAT! Cover, TWO! Asuka is still having fun as fans start to rally for her now. Asuka wants an arm but Bianca fights her off. Asuka stomps away on that arm! Asuka grinds the shoulder, drags Bianca around, but Bianca fights up. Fans rally again but Asuka keeps Bianca down.
Bianca powers up again and she throws body shots. Bianca scoops but Asuka slips free to YANK Bianca down by her hair! The ref reprimands but Asuka just grins. Asuka kicks Bianca around, toys with her, and then smiles. Bianca blocks the boot, ROCKS Asuka, and then ROCKS her again! Fans rally up as Bianca fires off forearm after forearm! Asuka shoves Bianca away but Bianca BLOCKBUSTERS on the return! Fans fire up while both women are down! Bianca goes to ropes, drags herself up, and Asuka runs in, but into an ELBOW! Bianca BOOTS Asuka, goes up the corner, then goes up and over!
Bianca then runs in to rally with big shoulder tackles! And a DROPKICK! Fans fire up, Asuka swings but into a spin and suplex! A bit of a stall before a BIG SLAM, and Bianca kips up! Bianca runs to RAM into Asuka at the corner! Bianca climbs up and fans fire up as she rains down fists! Bianca goes all the way to TEN, but then Asuka slips under to grab the hair! The ref reprimands, Bianca yanks Asuka in to scoop and BACKBREAKER! Bianca handsprings to MOONSAULT! Cover, TWO!! Asuka is still in this but Bianca says okay. Fans rally and duel, Bianca has Asuka in a corner, but Asuka drop toeholds her into a buckle!
Asuka BUZZSAWS Bianca, YANKS her down with the hair, and grins while the ref reprimands her. Asuka aims, KICKS Bianca in the chest again and again and again, but Bianca ducks the buzzsaw! Bianca shoves Asuka, Asuka mule kicks back! Asuka goes up but Bianca ROCKS her first! Bianca climbs, she brings Asuka up and fans rally. Asuka resists the suplex, throws body shots then shoves Bianca away. Asuka leaps, MISSILE DROPKICK! Cover, TWO! Bianca is still in this, as she is the tougheEST, y’know. Asuka is still amused, though, and she brings Bianca up. But Bianca resists the scoop!
Bianca suplexes, but Asuka fights that to get the arm! FUJIWARA ARMBAR!! Bianca flails, kicks around, shifts to the other side, and she gut wrenches Asuka! But Asuka fights the bomb! Asuka runs back in, but into a SPINEBUSTER! High stack cover, TWO!! Asuka is still in this and Bianca is beside herself. Bianca runs, handsprings, but into a takedown! ASUKA LOCK!!! Bianca pushes back to a cover, TWO! Asuka runs in, into chicken wings! GlamEST- NO, Victory Roll! TWO and Bianca has the cover, TWO! Asuka catches Bianca to a backslide, TWO! BUZZSAW! Cover, TWO!!!
Bianca survives again, but nothing is ruining Asuka’s mood! She still grins and fans say “This is Awesome!” as she drags Bianca by her hair. The ref reprimands, Asuka lets go, then whips Bianca, only for Bianca to reverse! Asuka tumbles out, but then drags Bianca out by her hair! Asuka whips but Bianca stops from hitting steps, and she elbows Asuka back! Bianca sends Asuka into the steps! The ref reprimands them both, the ring count starts, and Bianca slides in at 2, only for Asuka to drag her out. Bianca returns the favor, the count rises, and they start shoving. Then they start throwing forearms!
Bianca CLUBS Asuka, puts Asuka in at 7, and hurries in after her. Asuka has the hair again! Asuka CLUBS away on Bianca, but Bianca RAMS her into ropes! Bianca CLUBS away on Asuka now, fans fire up and Asuka shoves Bianca away. The ref wants them to listen to her, and Bianca nods. Bianca goes to Asuka, RAMS her in a corner, fires off again, but the ref counts. The ref gets between them, Asuka MISTS! But Bianca narrowly avoids it! That was Asuka’s one shot, and now she’s mad! They run, Bianca gets around, torture rack! But Asuka arm-drags free! And catches Bianca to an ARMBAR!!
Bianca kicks, flails, fights around, stacks Asuka and covers, TWO! But Bianca deadlifts Asuka, for a POWERBOMB! That took all Bianca had there and she falls over! Fans fire up as Bianca shakes her arm out. Asuka goes tot he apron, Bianca storms over and grabs at her. The ref has Bianca back off, and then Asuka spits more mist, but on her own hand!? Bianca storms back over, torture racks again, but gets MIST FINGERS in the eyes!! ROUNDHOUSE!! BUZZSAW!! Cover, ASUKA WINS!!!
Winner: Asuka, by pinfall (NEW Raw Women’s Champion)
Asuka found a way around the rules, and now SHE rules over all! The EST’s great reign comes to an end, will no one be ready for this wicked Empress?
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley w/ Dominik Mysterio VS Natalya!
The Eradicator may have the blue brand’s belt, but she and The Judgment Day still run Monday Night Raw. However, the Queen of Harts says Rhea doesn’t show respect to anyone. Rhea disagrees, she does respect Natalya, which is why she’s going to do Natty the honor of ending her career! Will the world see Rhea’s brutality? Or will Natty win herself the greatest birthday present ever?
The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we see if we get another new champion tonight!
The bell rings and Dom talks trash on Natty. The ref reprimands, but Rhea CLOBBERS Natty from behind! Rhea stomps Natty out of the ring, goes out after her and BOOTS her at the desk! Then Rhea drags Natty up to SMACK her off the desk! “You ain’t nothing, Natty!” Rhea SMACKS Natty off the desk again, and again! Rhea RAMS Natty into the steel steps! Fans are torn but Dom is loving this. Rhea brings Natty around, and RAMS her into the other steel steps! Rhea drags Natty up, puts her in the ring, and then storms up to HEADBUTT Natty down! Rhea drags Natty up, pump handles and lifts, RIPTIDE!! Cover, Rhea wins!!
Winner: Rhea Ripley, by pinfall (still SmackDown Women’s Champion)
Brutality and agility, because that was fast and furious! Dom celebrates with Mami, and Rhea mockingly tells Natty happy birthday. Will nothing stop Rhea from eradicating every woman put in her way?
Backstage interview with Seth Rollins.
Byron Saxton is with the NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and Rollins wants Byron to do better than that. Say it with some oomph, some stank. The NEW~ World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Freakin’ Rollins. Yes, sounds so good! It has been a long, long time, nearly four YEARS, since Rollins held world championship gold. And tonight, on the night of nights, the starts are bright, and Rollins walks out our new WHC. That feels good! Feels right! Doesn’t it? Yes, right now. But what about going forward? What does the future of Raw look like with Rollins on top?
Oh, Sax Man, the more things change, the more they stay the same! Rollins will be live on Raw, and every Monday night moving forward, but the only difference will be that Rollins has world championship things on his mind! He is the Visionary, he is a revolutionary, and finally, he is world champion, Seth FREAKIN’ Rollins! HAHAHA!
Cody Rhodes VS Brock Lesnar!
The American Nightmare thought he finished this story at Backlash, but The Beast said nothing is over until he says it’s over! Lesnar has already broken Cody’s arm, but will he break Cody’s body, mind and spirit? Or can Cody pull off another miraculous victory to keep his own story going?
Fans sing Cody’s song, and we can see Cody has a titanium “Exos cast” to keep his arm together. Cody fires the fans up and has his pyro, but Lesnar grins because he sees that cast as a target. The bell rings and the two circle. Cody keeps the bad arm back but Lesnar approaches. Cody avoids being cornered and Lesnar nods. They circle again, Lesnar approaches again, but Cody again avoids being cornered. Cody bails out of the ring but Lesnar grins again. Cody says Lesnar wanted to fight, so let’s fight! Lesnar goes out after Cody, chases him around, they get back in the ring and Cody fires off hands!
But Lesnar RAMS Cody int a corner! And RAMS him again, and again! Lesnar clinches to OVERHEAD Belly2Belly! Cody flounders and goes to the ropes while Lesnar grins. Fans chant “SUPLEX CITY!” and Lesnar hits another OVERHEAD Belly2Belly! Cody flounders to ropes again, clutching the bad arm. Lesnar puts Cody in a corner to RAM him in again! And then OVERHEAD Belly2Belly again! Fans fire up as this makes three suplexes already. Lesnar stalks Cody, brings him up, but Cody ROCKS Lesnar with the cast hand! And again! And again! And again! Cody is going Cowboy Bob Orton on Lesnar!
Lesnar clinches Cody but Cody ROCKS him with the cast! Cody runs to RAM Lesnar out of the ring! Cody then builds speed, to DIVE! Cast first, too! Lesnar leans on the desk, Cody goes up to leap, AX HANDLE! Lesnar flounders into the ring, Cody climbs up, and he AX HANDLES again! Cover, TWO!! Lesnar survives taking titanium to the head again and again but fans fire up for Cody. Cody runs, springboards, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER KICK! Cody springboards again, CODY CUTTER! Cover, TWO!! Lesnar is still hanging tough, but Cody is stalking him now. Cody roars and waits on Lesnar to rise!
Lesnar stands, Cody dragon sleepers, CROSS RHODES!! But Cody’s arm bothers him, he can’t make the cover! Lesnar rises again, those stitches popping open. Cody dragon sleepers, for another CROSS RHODES!! Fans are thunderous and Cody grits his teeth. Lesnar sits up in a daze, Cody shouts for him to get up again! Lesnar staggers up, Cody dragon sleepers again, but Lesnar spins around! KIMURA!!! Lesnar has the already busted arm, can Cody turn this around like he did at Backlash?! Cody moves around, reaches out, but Lesnar has the body scissors, too! Cody reaches out, fights up, but Lesnar drags him back down!
Fans are thunderously rallying for Cody as he keeps fighting, and he pushes forward again! TWO and Lesnar still has the arm! Lesnar shouts at Cody to give up but the fans rally! Cody pushes, Lesnar rolls it through and he is sitting up with the KIMURA!! Cody reaches out, he’s so close to the ropes! Cody claws at Lesnar’s back, fans rally behind him, but Cody is fading out! The pain is overwhelming him! The ref checks, but Cody comes back to life!! Lesnar is shocked but he keeps pulling on the bad arm! Cody scoots and crawls, he claws at Lesnar’s back more, and fans are thunderous! Cody starts to fade again, but he gets the ROPEBREAK!!
Lesnar lets go in frustration and the ref checks Cody. The cast is made of titanium but what is Cody made of!? Lesnar snarls, he storms back over to Cody and brings him up. Fireman’s carry, but Cody slips free! CROSS RHODES!!!! Cover, TWO!?!? Lesnar survives again, what is HE made of?! Both men sit up, Cody grabs Lesnar’s arm and ROCKS him with the cast! And again! And again! And again! But Lesnar fireman’s carries again!! F5!!! But Lesnar can’t make the cover, he’s too tired! Lesnar crawls over, pushes Cody to a cover, TWO!!?? Fans say “This is Awesome!”, but just what is it gonna take to end this?
Lesnar drags Cody into the KIMURA!! Lesnar makes Cody suffer again, and he sits back up with the hold! Cody is fading, the ref checks, and Cody is OUT!! Lesnar wins!!
Winner: Brock Lesnar, by referee stoppage
But Lesnar isn’t letting go! The ref shouts, the bell rings more, and Lesnar finally lets go! Cody sputters back awake, will he learn later that he could not win a fight with The Beast? As for Lesnar, is he finally going to let this chapter of the story end?
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn VS Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa w/ Paul Heyman!
Speaking of stories, it seems one story that has yet to end is the drama of the Prizefighter, the Great Liberator and The Bloodline. Kevin & Sami have all but broken up the Tribal Chief’s table, will this be the last straw? Or will Roman celebrate 1000 years as Universal Champion by becoming THE Undisputed Champion of WWE?
As always, Roman raises the belts for the pyro. The Bloodline continues down the ramp and into the ring, for Roman to raise the belts again for more pyro. Then Kevin and Sami make their entrances, Sami in a formal white robe. The fans sing Sami’s song as he and Kevin go down to the ring, and the champs are fired up! The introductions are made, Heyman interrupting to make his introduction for himself and the “soon to be NEW tag team champions. First, from the Island of Relevancy, the Sultan of the Spike, ladies and gentlemen, this is… SOLO! Ladies and gentlemen, on his 1000th day of a historic championship reign, the reigning! Defending! Undisputed! WWE! Universal! Heavyweight! Champion! ROMAN! REIGNS!!”
Heyman gives the mic back and says that’s how it is done. But Sami takes the mic now, and he says in Arabian that we should all hold on a second. Sami says that tonight, in this ring, it is the WWE Tag Team Champions, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn! The fans are thunderous, the tag belts are raised, and we see what it truly takes to be tag team champions!
The teams sort out and as fans sing “OLE~ OLE OLE OLE~” for Sami, Kevin starts against Roman. Fans fire up as the bell rings and the fans sing “OLE~ OLE OLE OLE~” again. Roman gets annoyed, and Kevin realizes who should really start this match. Sami offers the hand, and Kevin tags him in! Roman smirks and nods as fans are thunderous for “SAMI! SAMI!” Roman gets annoyed as it keeps going, and he circles with Sami. Roman says no one would know who Sami is without him! Sami begs to differ, given the “OLE~ OLE OLE OLE~!” returns. Roman gets annoyed and tags out to Solo, which fans boo.
Solo and Roman circle now while Roman cools off outside. Roman says he should’ve never let Sami into the Bloodline! The fans keep chanting for Sami, Roman yells at them, and the fans boo. Roman then tells Solo to take Sami out. Solo and Sami tie up, are in a deadlock, but Solo throws Sami away! Solo eggs Sami on, fans boo, and Sami comes back. They circle again, the fans are still thunderous, and the tension builds. The two tie up, Solo powers Sami to a corner, and the ref counts. Solo lets off, swings, but Sami dodges to CHOP! Sami backs away and eggs Solo on. Solo wipes it off, but Kevin fires the fans up more.
Solo and Sami tie up and Solo puts Sami in another corner. Solo CHOPS and ROCKS and rains down fists! The ref counts, Solo lets off and roars, but the fans boo. Roman soaks up the heat, Solo brings Sami up and whips him corner to corner. Solo runs in but into an elbow! Sami goes up, leaps, AX HANDLE! Fans fire up and Sami brings Solo up for more haymakers. Sami whips, Solo reverses and CLOBBERS Sami! Roman nods and tells Solo to keep going. Sami sits up, he looks to Kevin, and Kevin says sure, why not. Kevin tags in and fans fire up as Kevin fires haymakers on Solo! Kevin knees, ROCKS Solo and runs, but into an UPPERCUT!
Solo stalks Kevin to a corner, HEADBUTTS him, but Kevin COHPS! Solo SLAPS Kevin, Kevin kicks low, and the forearms go back and forth. Solo HEADBUTTS Kevin, but Kevin BOOTS back! Roman avoids the back elbow, but Kevin avoids Solo to CHOP and fire forearms. Kevin whips, Solo reverses but Sami tags in! Kevin KNEES Solo, Sami drop toeholds, and Kevin SENTONS! Fans are thunderous but Roman runs in to CLOBBER Kevin! Sami chases Roman off but Roman taunts him and the fans. And then Solo CLOBBERS Sami! Fans rally for Sami and that upsets Roman. Solo CHOKES Sami on the ropes!
The ref counts, Solo lets off, and then Roman CHOKES Sami behind the ref’s back! Fans boo but Roman gets away with it. Solo drags Sami from the ropes, scoops him and SLAMS him, then runs to FALLING HEADBUTT! Solo yells at Sami, then he drags Sami around. Solo stomps Sami in the stomach but the fans rally up. Roman is almost confused by this, but Solo keeps Sami from Kevin. Solo HEADBUTTS Sami down, and he tags Roman in. Fans boo as The Tribal Chief steps in, but he talks trash on them. Roman goes to Sami, stomps him and throws hands. Sami flounders against ropes and Roman stomps him down.
The ref reprimands, fans chant “ROMAN SUCKS!” but Roman CHOKES Sami on the ropes! The ref counts and Roman lets off at 4. Roman taunts the ref but the ref says respect his authority. Roman snap suplexes Sami and covers, TWO! Roman is upset but the ref says that count was fair. Fans boo Roman being a brat but he goes back to Sami. Sami stands to CHOP! Roman smirks, but Sami CHOPS again! Roman UPPERCUTS Sami off his feet. Roman brushes himself off, and says, “What? You think you’re the Nature Boy now?” Roman throws Sami out of the ring, distracts the ref, and Solo goes after Sami!
Solo throws hands, then he SMACKS Sami off the desk! But Kevin attacks back! The ref sees all this, Kevin points out what Solo was doing, and Sami gets to the apron. Roman goes out to put Sami in the ring, then he goes to a corner. Fans boo but Roman tells them to hush. Roman taunts Kevin, the ref keeps Kevin back, and Roman throws hands on Sami. Roman stomps Sami, but fans chant “ROMAN SUCKS!” Roman is annoyed by that, but then Sami throws body shots! And haymakers! Roman UPPERCUTS Sami back down! Roman winces, fans chant “YOU SUCK! YOU SUCK!” but Roman frowns. Roman tags Solo and they drag Sami up.
The Bloodline mugs Sami, CLUBS him down, and the ref reprimands. Roman says okay, okay, and he exits. Sami crawls but Solo stomps him down. Solo drags Sami up, whips him, and SAMOAN DROPS him! Solo talks trash in Samoan and Roman says they’re the future tag team champions. Fans rally with “OLE~ OLE OLE OLE~” but Solo drags Sami up. Solo clamps a claw into the shoulder but Sami endures. Sami fights up, fans fire up, and Sami throws body shots. Solo ROCKS Sami, TOSSES him out, and now Roman gets to go after Sami, but Sami ROCKS Roman first! Sami fires off hands and fans fire up!
Solo sees this, hurries out, but Sami sends Solo into the desk! Sami hurries into the ring and crawls, but Solo runs in to stomp him down! Solo brings Sami up, bumps him off buckles, then SUPERKICKS Kevin! Fans boo but Solo goes to Sami. Solo puts Sami up, SLAPS him, and talks trash. Fans rally, Sami gets mad, and he ROCKS Solo in return! And again, and then fires off rapid kicks! And then TORNADO DDTS! Both men are down, but fans rally as Kevin rises! Sami and Solo crawl, hot tags to Roman and Kevin! The Prizefighter dodges Roman to CHOP, and fire off haymakers! Fans fire up as Kevin stomps away!
The ref counts, Roman bails out, but Kevin goes out after him! Kevin LARIATS Roman down, then SENTONS on the floor! Fans fire up and Kevin puts Roman in the ring. Roman staggers up, swings, but misses! Kevin SUPERKICKS Roman down! Kevin goes to a corner, “SUCK IT!” but Solo is back! Kevin DECKS Solo, but Roman CLOBBERS Kevin! Fans boo and that annoys Roman again. Roman raises the finger, #HeTheOne. Roman locks ‘n’ loads, runs in, but Kevin avoids the Superman Punch! Roman avoids the lariat, returns, but into a POP-UP POWERBOMB! Cover, TWO!! But Kevin just goes right up the corner!
Kevin aims to FROG SPLASH! Cover, TWO!! Roman survives but Heyman looks very worried! “This is Awesome!” while both men are down. Kevin rises first, he goes to another corner, and he waits on Roman to rise. Roman sits up, Kevin runs in and kicks! But Roman shoves Kevin away, Solo HOTSHOTS! Kevin staggers into the SUPERMAN PUNCH! Cover, TWO! Kevin survives and Roman is in disbelief. Roman says, “I’M the champion! I’m gonna be the tag team champions now, you understand? I’m gonna have all the championships!” Fans boo Roman, which again upsets him. But Roman just goes to a corner and reloads.
Roman lets out the battle cry, he runs in, but into a KNEE! And a kick! And a STUNNER!! Roman rebounds to SPEAR!!! Both men are down and fans are thunderous! Heyman holds up the lei and tells the Tribal Chief to rise up. Roman raises his finger, crawls to the corner, but Sami is back! Kevin also crawls, hot tags to Solo and Sami! Sami rallies on the Enforcer of the island with haymakers from all sides! Sami whips, Solo reverses, but Sami goes up and over to then clothesline Solo out of the ring! Sami then builds speed to FLY! Direct hit at the ramp! Fans fire up as Sami powers back up!
Sami pushes Solo into the ring, fans sing again, and Sami gets around to a BLUE THUNDER BOMB!! Cover, TWO!! Solo is still in this and Heyman is still a bit worried. Fans rally up for Sami as he sits back up. Sami goes to a corner, he waits on Solo in the other. Fans are thunderous again, Solo stands up, and Sami runs in! HELLUVA- SUPERKICK!! Solo hits first, then roars and grabs Sami by the hair! SAMOAN- BOOT from Sami! And then a CORNER EXPLODER! Fans fire up as Sami reloads fast! HELLUVA KICK!!! Cover, Roman breaks it in time!! Fans can’t believe it but this isn’t over yet!
Roman scowls and talks trash on Sami. Roman tells the ref to get back and he rains down fists! The ref reprimands, fans boo, and Roman lets off to glare at the ref. Roman drags Sami up, fireman’s carries, but Sami fights free! Sami fires hands on Roman now! Roman shoves Sami back, Sami dodges but almost runs into the ref! Roan runs in, but Sami sends the SPEAR into the ref!!! Roman is furious, but then he realizes this is an opening. But Sami is locked ‘n’ loaded! He mocks Roman, and SUPERMAN PUNCHES him!! Fans fire up as Sami gets Roman with his own move! Sami then goes to the corner and mocks the “OOAH~!”
Sami runs in, but into a SUPERMAN PUNCH! Roman brings that outta nowhere, and he says Sami can’t be him. But then Kevin SPEARS Roman!! Kevin rains down fists on Roman, he and Roman bail out, and Kevin SMACKS Roman off the desk! Again and again, dribbling him like a basketball! Then Kevin RAMS Roman into steel steps! Fans fire up as Kevin clears off the Arabian announce desk! And then he clears off the American desk, too! Kevin drags Roman up and over, puts him on the American desk, but the USOS are here!?! They attack Kevin! And DOUBLE SUPERKICK him down!
The Usos get Roman out of the way, they beat down Kevin and then tip the desk onto him! The Usos then aim at Sami, SUPERKICK from Jey! SUPERKICK from Jimmy! Solo stands, but Sami ducks, DOUBLE SUPERKICKS hit Solo!!! Roman sees that and is furious! The Usos realize they messed up hitting their own brother, but Roman misunderstands! Roman asks them what the hell they’re even doing here anyway! They were told to stay home! The Usos try to explain, but Roman pie faces Jimmy! Jey says they’re just trying to help! Roman says they’re not helping! They’re disobeying him! He pie faces Jey now!
Roman tells Jey there ain’t no more Day One, but then JIMMY SUPERKICKS ROMAN!!! Even JIMMY is in disbelief!! Jey asks what the heck, Jimmy?! This is ROMAN! Why’d he do that?! Fans want that “ONE MORE TIME!” and then Jimmy tells Jey to listen for once! This is what they shoulda done years ago! SUPERKICK for Roman again!!! Jimmy is all fired up, Heyman is in disbelief! Jimmy says this is THEIR time now! Jimmy would never treat Jey like Roman’s treated them! They are BROTHERS! Jey goes to Roman’s side but Jimmy says no, the Usos are for the Usos, not for Roman!
The Usos leave, and fans fire up! Jey is still reluctant, but he still goes. Solo stands, he’s furious, but Kevin gives him a STUNNER!! Sami is back, he gives Solo a HELLUVA KICK!!!! Cover, but there’s no ref! Wait, a new one slides in! Cover, SAMI & KEVIN WINS!!
Winners: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, by pinfall (still Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions)
Jey can’t believe what Jimmy’s done, but Jimmy says that’s what Roman gets! Roman himself is in disbelief over what just happened. Is this the last day The Bloodline is a faction? As for Kevin & Sami, could this be just the beginning of their own historic reign?
My Thoughts:
What an awesome Night of Champions! I can only nitpick using the phrasing of “triple main event” when, for one, only a match that closes the show is the main event. And even then, they didn’t have all three matches at the end to try and say they all closed the show. But WWE is gonna use phrasing however they want because they can. But given that, the World Heavyweight Championship opening was a surprise. I already said in the build to this that it was a given Rollins was going to win since it was Styles going against him and Styles is anchored to SmackDown with the OC. But I also said it was going to be an awesome match, which it was. Rollins has any number of possibilities for a first challenger, even with MITB coming and grabbing up a few people into the ladder match.
And great move to have Becky VS Trish follow, too, that was great stuff. Zoey Stark getting involved was a surprise I could not have called, but what a great spot for her to get in on. The feud with Candice LeRae and Nikki Cross just wasn’t working right, so Stark moving up into a big time story like this is great. I already sense a tag match of Trish & Zoey VS Becky and a returning Lita for an even bigger battle of generations. It also is a way to keep Becky out of the MITB picture, she’s above titles now.
And speaking of, great women’s title matches. I did not see either finish coming, and they were both rather creative. Rhea getting the jump on Natty thanks to Dom should’ve been a given, and Rhea beating Natty was itself a given, but I didn’t think it’d end up a squash. And then Bianca VS Asuka was great stuff, and it was also clear that the mist was gonna come into play. But great creativity for Asuka to miss with the spit attack to then go with mist soaked hands. Asuka winning was a surprise in itself, so this was a great way to do it that keeps Bianca strong and adds to Asuka’s Heel power. As I theorized on last night’s SmackDown, I’m thinking the Women’s MITB will factor into putting the right titles on the right shows, and I’d love for interactions between Rhea and this new sinister Asuka.
Gunther VS Ali was great stuff, and naturally the fans were on Ali’s side. But given the teasing of Riddle VS Gunther even with Ali being the winner of the battle royal, Ali was not going to get this title off Gunther. But it was a great match from Ali, so I hope this leads to something good for him, perhaps the MITB ladder match. Great stuff out of Cody VS Lesnar, and very clever that Cody would use his cast as a legal weapon in the match. But at the same time, Cody can’t be so overpowered, so passing out to the Kimura was the logical finish. Cody VS Lesnar Round 3 could easily be at MITB, but given Cody’s “broken” arm and Lesnar preferring the biggest paychecks possible, perhaps they save this for SummerSlam in Detroit, not MITB in London.
And of course, the one true main event was the tag title match because it also has the Bloodline story involved. I loved everything about that segment, but especially The Usos’ part to play. They took things into their own hands again even though Roman didn’t want them to, and then Jimmy finally snapped, Superkick’d Roman and we all cheered! Jimmy saying this is what they should’ve done all along was also a great detail, because it calls back to almost three years ago when Roman used Jimmy against Jey to make them both fall in line. This Bloodline Civil War stuff is going to be great, SmackDown next Friday is going to be huge.
My Score: 8.9/10
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Get ready to scissor in Sin City!
Just days before Double or Nothing, AEW Rampage sees The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn continue in trios action! Will they be aiming for The House of Black soon enough?
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Six Man Tag: The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn VS La Faccion Ingobernable; The Acclaimed & Billy win.
- Six Man Tag: Ethan Page & The Gunns VS ???; Ethan & The Gunns win.
- Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida VS Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir; Britt & Shida win.
- Best Friends VS Lee Moriarty & “Big Bill” Morrissey; Moriarty & Morrissey win.
PLAY BY PLAY
Six Man Tag: The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn VS La Faccion Ingobernable!
Max Caster, Anthony Bowens & Daddy Ass won the Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royal over three weeks ago and are still building momentum in the Trios Division. But will they be able to bring down Rush, Dralistico & Preston Vance? Or will LFI make Sin City tranquilo?
But of course, Platinum Max has a diss track! “Acclaimed in the house, we the nicest ever. This is not a game, this is not Fight Forever. Rush, you’re losing your cred. How you gonna fight us with all your pubes on your head? Wait, is this guy from Tijuana, bro? He looks like the dominatrix at the donkey show! We’ll make your crew say adios. Acclaimed here to win this match mas rapido!” Bowens gets the mic to say, “LAAAAS VEGAAAAAS~! The Acclaimed have arrived! SCISSOR ME, DADDY ASS~!” And he does~! But will this be muy bien for The Acclaimed? Or muy malo?
The trios sort out and fans sing “OH~ Scissor Me, Daddy~!” Bowens starts against Dralistico and the two circle. Dralistico copies the conducting of the choir, and even offers the scissor finger. Bowens goes to accept but Dralistico kicks low! Dralistoco CHOPS, CHOPS and CHOPS! But Bowens turns things around to CHOP, CHOP and CHOP! Dralistico CHOPS and CHOPS and CHOPS, but Bowens CHOPS and CHOPS and CHOPS! Bowens whips, Dralistico goes up and over and then ducks ‘n’ dodges to RANA! Bowens comes back with a mule kick, front kick, and KOTARO KRUSHER! Fans fire up because “EVERYONE Loves The Acclaimed!”
But Dralistico gets away and tags in Perro Peligroso. Bowens tags in Caster, and The Dangerous Dog circles with Platinum Max. They tie up, Vance headlocks, and Caster powers up and out. Vance runs Caster over, mocks the scissors, then runs. Caster drops, hurdles, then arm-drags! Caster has Vance’s arm and thrusts with it! Then Caster clamps the armlock, but Vance fights up to ROCK him with a forearm! Vance whips, Caster ducks ‘n’ dodges, and leaps, but into Vance’s arms! Vance FALL AWAY SLAMS Caster towards his corner! Billy tags in and fans fire up! Billy is a big man, just like Vance.
Billy takes off the brand new “I ♥ 2 Scissor” shirt, and shows off the DADDY ABS! Billy raises the hands, calling for a test of strength. Vance goes to oblige, but then Billy tells him “SUCK IT!” Fans fire up but Vance CHOPS Billy! Vance tells Billy to “SUCK IT!” then runs, but into a scoop! Billy carries Vance around, to FALL AWAY SLAM! What Vance can do, Billy can do better! Billy scoops and SLAMS Vance, tags Bowens in, but then Rush rushes in to ROCK Billy! Dralistico attacks Bowens and Caster, the LFI turn things around as they throw out Billy and Bowens. Billy is sent into the steps! Bowens and Caster are sent into railing!
Fans rally for The Acclaimed but the LFI all stomp away on Caster in the ring. The LFI mock the scissors, and then just flip off Caster before raising the LFI fists. Fans boo while Rampage goes picture in picture.
The LFI mug Caster more, then Rush CHOPS him in a corner. Dralistico CHOPS Caster, and then Vance stands Caster back up to CHOP him, too! LFI double whip Caster corner to corner, Dralistico runs in to SPLASH, and then Vance runs in to clothesline! Rush powers up, runs, and jumps just to BOOT Caster! Rush rolls back to tranquilo while the rest of LFI raise the fists. Fans rally for The Acclaimed while Vance bumps Caster off buckles. Vance then runs to BOOT Bowens! Rush drags Caster out, throws body shots, and then he and Dralistico put Caster back in for Vance. Vance then sends Caster back out to them, to send into railing!
Fans boo, the ref reprimands, but then LFI brawls with The Acclaimed on the outside! Rampage returns to single picture as fans chant “REF YOU SUCK!” Billy is sent into railing, and Dralistico dumps Bowens over into the front row! Vance keeps on Caster while Dralistico HEADBUTTS Bowens while he’s sitting on a fan’s lap! The fans help Bowens get up, Vance drags Caster up and tags in Dralistico. Dralistico CHOPS, then throws forearm after forearm. Dralistico goes side to side for a SUPERKICK! Dralistico lounges up top and the fans boo. Dralistico drags Caster up to whip but Caster blocks!
Dralistico CHOPS Caster, has him in an open corner, and he whips Caster corner to corner again. Caster dodges the splash! Dralistico rushes back after Caster, Caster dodges, and they DOUBLE LARIAT! Both men are down, they crawl for their teams, hot tags to Vance and Billy! Daddy Ass rallies on LFI! He SPLASHES Vance in a corner, brings him out, kicks low and, well, “SUCK IT!” FAMOUSER!! Cover, but Jose helps with the ropebreak! Fans boo, they know the truth! Jose mocks the scissor fingers while celebrating his antics. But Caster tosses Jose in! Billy drags Jose up while Caster RAMS Dralistico into railing!
Bowens RAMS Rush into railing on the other side, then goes to the corner. Billy scoop SLAMS Jose into position! Bowens is up top, SCISSOR ME TIMBERS! Jose flounders out of the ring, and the fans fire up as The Acclaimed- NO, Rush & Dralistico drag Caster & Bowens out of the ring! Billy swings on Vance but he dodges, to DISCUS LARIAT!! Cover, Caster breaks it! Caster says Billy but Rush CLOBBERS Caster! Billy is in the corner, Rush stomps him! Fans boo, but El Toro Blanco says “When you mess with the bull,” only to turn around into Bowens’ Five Tool Strike Fest! SUPERKICK!!
Rush bails out, but Dralistico springboards in, FLYING CODE BREAKER! Dralistico drags Bowens up, but Bowens wrenches and clinches, THE ARRIVAL! Caster hurries, he tags in off Billy and climbs up! MIC DROP!! Cover, The Acclaimed win!!
Winners: The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn, by pinfall
A fast ‘n’ furious battle, and Daddy Ass and his boys make it through! Bowens gets the mic to say, “How we doin’ tonight, Vegas?” Fans cheer, they’re doing great! “The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass, we feel the exact same way, because we’ve been running through this Trios Division all month long! And seeing as though we are in Vegas, I think we should do some gambling. What do you say?” Bowens says that if Vegas is gonna gamble, maybe Sunday night, remember this: The House always wins, but never bet on Black! Because EVERYONE LOVES THE ACCLAIMED! Bowens, Caster & Billy call out Malakai, Brody & Buddy, will the scissors cut down the House of Black?
Six Man Tag: Ethan Page & The Gunns VS ???
From one trios match to another, All Ego & The Ass Boys are taking on The Hardy Party at Double or Nothing, with Ethan’s contract on the line! Will Ethan, Austin & Colten be rolling into Sunday to exact revenge on Matt & Jeff?
The trios sort out, Austin starts against ??? and the two circle. Ethan & Colten distract ???, and Austin CLOBBERS him! Austin swaggers, then tags in Colten. Colten drags ??? up, puts him in the corner and stomps away on him! The ref counts, Colten lets off to tell her to shut up! Tag to Austin, Austin stomps a mudhole now, but the ref counts again. Austin lets off and shouts, then tags Colten back in. The Gunns whip, body shot, knee lift, and then LARIAT! Fans boo but the Gunns soak it up. Colten says if Ethan wants some, here he goes. Tag to Ethan and he soaks up the heat while trotting around ???
Ethan stomps ??? then brings him up, only to get a JAWBREAKER! Hot tag to 222! The Gunns jump in but Austin misses, Colten gets a BOOT, and then Austin gets a haymaker! 222 throws more heavy hands, but then Ethan BOOTS him down! Fans boo as Ethan looms over 222 and shouts, “Are you kidding me?” The Gunns take care of ??? and 333 by throwing them into the railing! Ethan puts 222 up, crosses the arms, ICONOCLASM! And then he and the Gunns get 222 up, feed to the 3:10 TO YUMA!! Cover, Ethan & The Gunns win!
Winners: Ethan Page & The Gunns, by pinfall
Ethan isn’t done, either, he wants a mic! A mic is given, and Ethan says he wants to talk to the “bozos” in Vegas. “Shut up, you basic ass civilians.” Ethan doesn’t care if anyone here was watching, he wants The Hardy Boyz to have been watching. Because if so, they just saw what a REAL three man crew, a REAL trio, can do! A REAL team! And on Sunday, guess we won’t find out what the Hardy Party can do because these three took out Kassidy! FOR GOOD! So it is clearly going to be 3v2 now. But wait, here come the Hardy Boys! Fans fire up as Matt & Jeff are on stage, and Jeff has a mic of his own!
Jeff says, “The Ass Boys are looking good out here on Rampage with a boost of ego. This Sunday, the Egos will be DELETED, compliments of us.” Matt tells Ethan that his contract and his ass will belong to Matt now! If they have to fight 3v2, they’re not afraid to. Because to them, fear is only a four letter word. Wait, Kassidy is here with a neck brace? Ethan mocks them to come on down, and Austin mocks the moaning and squealing. Kassidy says unfortunately, the doctor did not clear him to compete. However… He found a replacement. It’s HOOK!! The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil did help Hardy Party in the Firm Deletion, so he has returned to help them again!
Fans fire up as Hook follows the Hardy Boys to the ring, and that sends Ethan & The Gunns running! Will the remnants of The Firm be torn down once and for all now that Kassidy has #SentHook?
Backstage interview with Naturally Limitless.
Lexi Nair is with Keith Lee & Dustin Rhodes, and we all know things have been heating up between them and the now Mogul Embassy. It has just been announced that Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage are both in the Blackjack Battle Royal, as are they. What does that mean for them? Imagine that, huh? Swerve and Cage in a battle royal. So after Keith & Dustin eliminate them, because this is all for the International Championship, then Keith & Dustin can just eliminate everyone else and then make a decision on who wins it all. Dustin is confident he and Keith can come to an agreement.
But Swerve and Cage, you know it’s heated. You know it’s coming. Be ready. Keith adds that if the Embassy is in this, then he can’t wait! Keith heads out, and Dustin hopes Swerve saw that. Will nothing stop Keith & Dustin settling things with Swerve’s House this Sunday?
Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida VS Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir!
While The Doctor & The Full Metal Warrior couldn’t put away the Outcasts, they are sticking together in this ongoing battle of AEW Homegrowns and everyone else. Will these former AEW Women’s World Champions prove they are still a formidable team? Or will the Vicious Vixens be a major problem for them?
The teams sort out, Shida starts against Nyla as no strangers to each other. They circle, and then Nyla kicks low and CLUBS Shida on the back! Nyla bumps Shida off buckles, then tags in Marina. The Vixens double whip, but Shida ducks the double ax handles to shove Marina into Nyla, and then shove them both into a corner! Shida runs corner to corner to KNEE them both down! Shida then snap suplexes Marina onto Nyla! Fans fire up with Shida and she points to Britt. Fans fire up as Shida tags in Britt! Britt fires off on Marina, but Marina shoves her back. Britt dodges, comes back, SLINGBLADE! Cover, TWO!
Britt keeps on Marina with hammering elbows, then she wraps on a chinlock. Britt brings Marina up but Marina blocks the suplex. Britt powers up and still suplexes Marina up and over! Cover, TWO! Britt brings Marin up, ROCKS her, and then whips her to ropes. Marina reverses to CHOP and BOOT Britt down! Marina scowls, storms up on Britt, and tags in Nyla. The Vixens mug Britt in the corner, and Nyla CHOKES Britt on the ropes! Nyla laughs right into the corner camera before she lets go at 4. Fans boo as Nyla stands on Britt and Rampage goes picture in picture.
Nyla lets off as the ref counts, and then Nyla drags Britt up. Nyla scoops Britt to SLAM her down, then she soaks up the heat. Nyla stomps Britt, drags her up, and scoops to SLAM her again! Nyla mocks the “D! M! D!” and then stalks Britt to scoop her again. Britt slips off, but Nyla choke grips her for a CHOKE SLAM! Cover, TWO! Marina and Shida shout at each other, and Nyla brings Britt up to CLUB her on the back. Nyla bumps Britt off buckles, tags Marina, and Marina fires off body shots! Marina kicks Britt’s legs out, then tags Nyla back in. The Vixens drag Britt up to whip her hard into the corner!
Marina whips Nyla in to SPLASH! And then Nyla feeds Britt to Marina’s BOOT! Marina taunts Shida, clamps onto Britt with an armlock, and she grinds Britt down. Britt endures, reaches out, throws slapping hands on Marina, but then Marina whips Britt back into the corner! Nyla tags back in, the Vixens mug Britt more, and Nyla RAMS Britt in the corner! And again! And again! Nyla sits Britt down, digs her boot in, and mockingly counts along with the ref before letting off at 4. Nyla snapmares, clamps claws onto Britt’s shoulders, and Rampage goes to break.
Rampage returns and the Vixens double whip Britt into their corner again! Marina sends Nyla in but Britt avoids the splash! Marina hurries after Britt, misses, and she stubs a toe on the ropes! Gotta be careful going barefoot! Hot tag to Shida! Shida dodges Marina, ENZIGURIS her down, then rolls to SHOTEI Nyla! Marina throws a forearm, but Shida throws a flurry in return! Fans fire up with Shida as she just hammers away on Marina! Marina staggers around, swings, but Shida DECKS her! Shida puts Marina in a corner, climbs up, and Shida rains down more fists! The fans count along and Shida gets all the way to TEN!
Shida roars, brings Marina out with a kick, and then adjusts up top to MISSILE DROPKICK! Cover, TWO! Shida tags Britt then runs to ROCK Nyla! Britt brings Marina up, TWIST ‘N’ SHOUT! Cover, but Nyla scoop SLAMS Shida onto it! Nyla is mad and she hoists Britt up. Nyla hangs Britt out to dry, then goes to the corner! Nyla climbs, aims, but Shida saves her from the knee! Nyla runs back in, but Shida & Britt dump her out hard! And then a METEORA to the floor wipes the Native Beast out! Britt has a glove, she spells it out, “D! M! D!” But Marina CHOPS, KICKS and KICKS! But Britt dodges to SUPERKICK!
Britt hurries to ripcord and- NO, Marina gets around to ripcord and SAYANAGI! Cover, TWO into a ghost pin! TWO into the RINGS OF SATURN! Shida is in, KATANA puts Marina into the LOCK JAW!! Marina is OUT, the ref calls it! Britt & Shida win!
Winners: Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida, by submission
A hard fought victory for the Doctor and the Warrior! But wait, The Outcasts are on the tron! And they’re all shaking their heads but smirking as they stand over JAMIE HAYTER! They went after her backstage! Shida & Britt hurry to the back but the damage has been done! Will Hayter be able to defend the AEW Women’s World Championship after this?
Mark Henry welcomes us back to Rampage.
“Tonight, ahead of the Blackjack Battle Royal, Lee Moriarty & Big Bill take on Best Friends. Let’s see which team comes out on top. Well, it looks like there’s been enough talk. It’s TIME for the main event!” Will Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor have the hot hand going into the International Championship match? Or will #TAIGASTYLE and the human skyscraper make bust them already?
Best Friends VS Lee Moriarty & “Big Bill” Morrissey!
As Best Friends make their entrance, we see their best amigos, Bandido, Komander and even The Lucha Brothers all watching from the front row. They’re all going to be in the battle royal, too, and well, look at that. It would seem The Superbad Squad and the Varsity Athletes had the same idea. They’re all together in one section watching this in person, too.
Anyway, the teams sort out and Moriarty starts against Chuck. They circle, Chuck does some drop steps, and then the two tie up. Chuck waistlocks, wrenches an arm, then wristlocks. Moriarty works on the escape, but Chuck cranks the wrist. Moriarty stomps a leg, rolls and kips up to then arm-drag free. Chuck backs off and Moriarty does his dance. Fans boo but Bill cheers. Trent tags in and he circles with Moriarty. They tie up, Moriarty gets around to a waistlock but Trent switches. Moriarty switches back, Trent switches again, but Moriarty elbows free and hits a headlock takeover.
Trent headscissors, Moriarty kips free and hits another headlock takeover. Trent headscissors again, Moriarty kips free again, and fans cheer the standoff. Moriarty does his dance and fans boo again. Moriarty claps at Trent, but Trent offers a handshake. Moriarty accepts, but he sees the cheap shot coming! Trent laughs it off, but Moriarty rakes the eyes! Moriarty CHOPS Trent to ropes, whips him, but Trent reverses. Chuck hits Moriarty, but Moriarty DECKS him! But then Trent CLOBBERS Moriarty! Fans fire up with Trent and he brings Moriarty up. Trent CHOPS Moriarty down, then tags Chuck.
Best Friends double whip Moriarty to a corner, then Trent sends Chuck in to clothesline! Trent runs in to ELBOW! Trent brings Moriarty out, Best Friends double suplex! They both flex on Morrissey, then SLAM Moriarty down! Fans cheer but Big Bill runs in! He breaks the double clothesline to DOUBLE LARIAT the Best Friends! Bill clotheslines Chuck out, then he whips Trent corner to corner hard! Trent tumbles up and out and Bill paces. Best Friends are down while Rampage goes picture in picture.
Bill goes out to stomp Trent around, then stalks Trent. Bill rains down fists on Trent, but Chuck is after Moriarty! Chuck whips but Moriarty reverses to send Chuck into railing! Bill drags Trent up, ROCKS him, and Moriarty puts Chuck in the ring. Moriarty drags Chuck up, UPPERCUTS him, and then CHOKES him on the ropes! The ref counts, Moriarty lets off, and he distracts the ref so Bill can BOOT Chuck down! Moriarty covers, TWO! Moriarty drags Chuck up, the Varsity Athletes and Superbad Squad aren’t impressed with any of this, but Bill tags in. Bill throws body shots, the Lucha Brothers cheer Chuck on.
Bill digs his boot in, but steps off as the ref counts, and Moriarty CHOKES Chuck now! Trent protests but Moriarty scurries away. Bill soaks up the heat from Vegas, then he DECKS Chuck! Bill drags Chuck up, ROCKS him again, then tags in Moriarty. They mug Chuck, stomp away on him, and the ref counts. Moriarty lets off and roars, then goes back to Chuck. Moriarty drags Chuck up to wrench an arm into an ELBOW BREAKER! Moriarty snapmares Chuck, wraps him up, but Chuck fights the straitjacket. Moriarty turns Chuck over and hammerlocks an arm, to then SNAP LOCK it!
Chuck endures, even as Moriarty bridges over! Moriarty then goes back around to SNAP LOCK the arm again! Chuck endures, Moriarty bridges again, and then SNAP LOCKS a third time! Chuck manages to sit up, he throws some elbows, and he gets free! Only for Moriarty to DECK Trent with a cheap shot! Moriarty CLUBS Chuck, brings him around and tosses him out! The ref is distracted with Moriarty and Bill goes over to run at Chuck. But Chuck dodges, and the big boot from Big Bill gets stuck on the railing! That’s not good for Little Willie! Rampage returns to single picture and Moriarty rushes out! Chuck dodges and slides in, to hot tag Trent!
Fans fire up as Trent gets around to GERMAN SUPLEX Moriarty! And then GERMAN SUPLEX again! And HALF ‘N’ HALF SUPLEX! Fans fire up while Moriarty flops out of the ring. Trent builds speed to DIVE, but into Big Bill’s big hands! APRON CHOKE SLAM!! The Lucha Amigos all wince from that and Trent flops to the floor. Bill drags Trent up, puts him in the ring, and then he tags in. Bill runs in at Trent, but Trent dodges the splash! Bill hits buckles and maybe even post! Trent half nelsons but Bill elbows free, only to get a SEXY CHUCKIE KNEE! Trent then reels Bill back in, SOLE FOOD HALF ‘N’ HALF!!
Fans fire up with Best Friends, and Best Friends HUG! You GOT to give the people what they want! Trent then drags Bill up while Chuck climbs the corner. But Moriarty CLUBS Chuck down off the corner! Bill turns Alabama Lift into Canadian Rack, but Trent slips free! Trent runs, but into the BIG BOSS MAN SLAM!! Fans fire up from that feat of strength, and Bill tags Moriarty. They haul Trent up, Bill full nelsons and Moriarty gets the legs, NARAKU!! Cover off the full nelson swinging bomb, but Chuck breaks it!! Fans fire up as Best Friends survive! Moriarty drags Chuck up to TOSS him! Tag to Bill and they go back to Trent.
Moriarty wants Bill to go to the corner and Bill climbs up. Moriarty brings Trent up, but Chuck anchors Bill! Trent sends Moriarty into Little Willie! Moriarty flops out of the ring, and Best Friends fire off hands on Bill! They adjust Bill’s position up there, then climb up after him! DOUBLE SUPERPLEX!! Trent crawls to the cover, TWO!!! Bill survives and the Varsity Athletes are amused. The Lucha Amigos rally for Trent & Chuck as Chuck reels Bill in. But Moriarty slides in to claw Chuck’s eyes! The ref reprimands but Trent whips Moriarty. Moriarty reverses to send Trent out and then BOOT him down!
But Chuck kicks Moriarty and reels him in! AWFUL WAFFLE!! But Bill BOOTS Chuck!! Bill choke grips, and SKYSCRAPER CHOKE SLAMS him!! Cover, Bill & Moriarty win!
Winners: Lee Moriarty & “Big Bill” Morrissey, by pinfall
Moriarty & Morrissey stand tall, but this was in tag team action. The battle royal is every man for himself, will it come down to these two at the end? Wait, they go up to the Lucha Amigos to talk some trash, and Bandido gives thumbs down right to their faces. Bill shoves Bandido, so Bandido throws a forearm! Moriarty goes after Bandido, the Lucha Brothers go after Moriarty and Bill! And then Butcher, Blade, Kip, and the Varsity Athletes join in! People are sent into railing, and the Varsity Athletes mug Trent in the ring! Sterling tells them to keep going, but here comes ORANGE CASSIDY himself!
The Freshly Squeezed International Champion is here, he runs the Varsity Athletes off swinging his backpack, but the other entrants are still brawling it out on the outside! Cassidy shows off the prize, but here comes THE MACHINE! Brian Cage storms his way down to the ring, but here comes KEITH LEE! He and Dustin Rhodes storm their way down to the ring, and they add a lot of beef to the brawl! Naturally Limitless mugs Cage, the Varsity Athletes still mug Trent, and Cassidy just looks around at the chaos. But then “Whose House? SWERVE’S HOUSE!” Swerve is here in person, but he doesn’t seem in any rush to save Cage.
Keith eyes Swerve from the ramp, but Dustin still throws hands on Cage. Keith storms up after Swerve, but Swerve laughs and dares him to follow backstage. Cage turns things around on Dustin, all the other teams keep beating on each other! If this is how it is to close Rampage, how much wilder will it get when the title is on the line?
My Thoughts:
A really good Rampage for the go-home of Double or Nothing, and obviously since we didn’t see the traditional pre-battle-royal brawl on Dynamite, of course we saw it here to close the show. The main event tag match was great stuff, and what a great surprise that Best Friends didn’t win! The go-home math now says Moriarty & Morrissey aren’t winning, though I would love if one of them did have a belt. Honestly, they’re trying to make it seem like Cassidy is going to retain the title, since almost everyone else in the battle royal either A) has a feud going already or B) just isn’t at midcard champion level yet.
For example, Swerve & Cage VS Keith & Dustin. We should’ve had some kind of blowoff way sooner than this, maybe on a themed Dynamite and in a No Disqualification style match. Same thing for Ricky Starks, Jay White and Juice Robinson being in this match. But that problem goes all the way back to how AEW handled Starks VS Jericho and the Jericho Appreciation Society. In the end, if anyone new is winning this belt, I would actually want it to be Komander. Komander is still with AAA, so I would love to see him do a tour of Mexico with the title the same way Pac toured the UK with it to establish that first reign.
Decent squash match from Ethan & Gunns beating those jobbers we never even got the names of, and great promo with Hardy Party to establish a new take on the Six Man Tag. Hook joining is a natural choice given he helped the Hardys against The Firm before, but something about this feels like the same backwards pacing as we’ve seen with Starks. The Hardys should’ve turned the contract control tables on Ethan way before The Firm Deletion, with The Firm Deletion being the blowoff that sends the Hardys and Ethan in different directions. Hook & Hardys will definitely win, and we will get who knows how many months of shenanigans where Matt orders Ethan around.
Really good women’s tag match with Britt & Shida winning, even though there’s nothing to win for women’s tag teams in AEW anymore/right now. But of course The Outcasts attack Hayter 3v1 to put her on the defensive. This go-home math would mean Hayter overcomes the odds because she has Britt & Shida helping against Saraya & Ruby. Personally, I’m hoping Taya Valkyrie beats Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship, so that Jade can then jump up to the world title scene and really just tear into all six ladies. What bigger way to lead into AEW Collision, AEW All In and AEW All Out this Summer than with Jade finally being more than the midcard champion?
And great stuff at the beginning with The Acclaimed VS LFI. I just knew Acclaimed would find a way to win and then call out The House of Black. Apparently House of Black issued an open challenge for Double or Nothing, so The Acclaimed has answered it already. I am curious to know what stipulation The Acclaimed will bring to the Open House, but I really can’t be sure who wins. The House of Black have made the Trios Championships unique from the other titles, and have a growing popularity with the fans, but The Acclaimed are also really popular. This is like how AEW booked themselves into a corner with Hobbs VS Wardlow, and look where that’s gotten Hobbs.
My Score: 8.7/10
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Down The Wire: LeBron, Carmelo, Deandre Hopkins, OH MY!
Join the Brothers Wortz as they cover professional sports in an unprofessional manner!
Down The Wire: No Coach is Safe, Over/Under NFL Win Totals, Are the Yankees Cheating?
Join the Brothers Wortz as they cover professional sports in an unprofessional manner!
Down The Wire: NBA Playoffs, Bucks Coaching Search and NFL QB Tier List
Join the Brothers Wortz as they cover professional sports in an unprofessional manner!
Hockey Talk- Choking Chokers [050923]
On this weeks Hockey Talk, Patrick & Dave look at some epic choke jobs that punctuated the end of the...
Down The Wire: Mike Budenholzer is Out, NFL Roster Ranking, Awards Season
Join the Brothers Wortz as they cover professional sports in an unprofessional manner!
Bandwagon Nerds #184: Killing In The Name Of
The Nerds take a leisurely stroll through the Trailer Park to review some of the latest big time trailers including...
The 5×5: SNL Musical Guests
This week, Patrick brings back the 5×5 with special guest PC Tunney and they present their five best and five...
Bandwagon Nerds #183: Willem DaF***in’ Dafoe
This week Patrick, Tunney and Rey gather on the Bandwagon for another week of nerdtastic greatness. With no movie or...
Mitchell’s Hyrule Puro-Resu News Report! (5/10/23)
Get ready for a spectacle!
Bandwagon Nerds #182: Guardians Goodbye?
Patrick O’Dowd, David Ungar, PC Tunney and Aesop Mitchell hop onto this week’s Bandwagon and breakdown Guardians of the Galaxy...
Mitchell’s WWE Night of Champions Results & Report! (5/27/23)
So much GOLD!
Mindless Wrestling Podcast: Welcome to Rockville, Night of Champions and More!
DJ went to Welcome to Rockville, in Daytona and has a lot to talk about. Then, its back to the...
Mitchell’s AEW Rampage Results & Report! (5/26/23)
The Acclaimed are on a Rampage!
Mitchell’s WWE SmackDown Results & Report! (5/26/23)
The Eve of Champions!
Mitchell’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Results & Report! (5/26/23)
A Block VS B Block!
DWI Podcast #377: Left Handed Signature
Who will become the new World Heavyweight Champion at Night of Champions!
Mitchell’s ROH Results & Report! (5/25/23)
Z S JOE!
Use Your Head Trivia Podcast: Triple Threat
PC Tunney hosts, as Aesop, Dave and Rey battle it out for intellectual superiority on... USE YOUR HEAD TRIVIA!
Mitchell’s AEW Dynamite Results & Report! (5/24/23)
Viva Las Vegas!
Mitchell’s NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Results & Report! (5/24/23)
Round 9, part 2, FIGHT!
