Andrew’s NXT Takeover WarGames II & Survivor Series 2018 Star Ratings & Review

Survivor Series

Survivor Series Tag Match: Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, The Ascension, The B Team, The Revival & Lucha House Party vs The Usos, New Day, The Colons, Gallows, Anderson & Sanity

The Pre-Show match, that the storyline didn’t even acknowledge…so…that should say plenty.

The match was fun, showcased the Revival and Roode/Gable fairly well, but no one expected SmackDown to lose this one. SmackDown had the more decorated actual tag teams, so if they lost that would’ve prolly hurt the division. Oh, and yes, I think it’s ridiculous that Gran Metalik subbed in after Kalisto hurt himself. The ref should’ve just eliminated them. That just sets up a stupid plot hole that even commentary didn’t shut up about.

Winner: Usos via Uce Splash

Rating: *** 1/2

Survivor Series Women’s Match: Asuka, Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose vs Nia Jax, Tamina, Mickie James, Sasha Banks & Bayley

Now you’d consider with some of these wrestlers it wouldn’t be a good match. But surprisingly everyone pulled their weight, Nia lived up to her heelish ways by screwing over Sasha, but still got over. It’s a little odd this “facebreaker” moniker is somehow something she’s flaunting, but she was most likely going over anyway since she’s got the title shot coming and a new team with Tamina.

So I doubt she’s being rewarded for throwing a dangerous punch, but they’re just working reality into the show.

Winner: Nia Jax via Samoan Drop

Rating: *** 1/4

United States Champion vs Intercontinental Champion Match: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Seth Rollins (c)

Who, who dressed these two? Aside from that, the match was pretty solid.

It took a while to pick up speed but when it did, the two had some decent chemistry. Things were tense and Seth even took the Reverse Powerslam, so I’m guessing Vince isn’t still mad about the Cena bump.

Curious how Seth winning will play out for Shinsuke since he thought he was above everyone on SmackDown, and was just shown to be a little inferior.

Winner: Rollins via Stomp

Rating: **** 1/4

Raw Tag Team Champions vs SmackDown Tag Team Champions Match: Authors of Pain (c) vs The Bar (c)

Well what did we really expect? This was a decent brawling match, where Sheamus and Cesaro kept stride for stride with the Authors fairly well.

The comedy spot with Drake Maverick wetting himself was a little unnecessary and ridiculous, but it allowed an opening for the Authors to hit a newer finishing move. So it while I didn’t love it, it reminded me of a spot that Cornette or Heenan would’ve done. The good ole days of chicken shit managers.

Winner: AOP via Sitout Powerbomb/Neckbreaker Combo

Rating: ** 1/2

Cruiserweight Championship Match: Buddy Murphy (c) vs Mustafa Ali

No one will accuse 205 Live of putting on bad matches since Triple H took over, it’s just a lack of characters.

This match was kind of that same thing. Ali is known as the heart of 205 Live and Murphy is the Juggernaut, so yeah, one’s big and the other is the resilient underdog. Pretty it up as much as you like, the match told the same kind of story we’ve seen for a while, just with more athleticism than normal.

Ali hits a Spanish Fly off the announce table, makes it back in, but the bigger man just overpowers him and eventually hits his finish. Good match, but about par for the course with all of their other matches on 205 Live.

Winner: Murphy via Murphy’s Law

Rating: **** 1/4

Survivor Series Men’s 5v5 Match: Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley & Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe, The Miz, Shane McMahon, Jeff Hardy & Rey Mysterio

When Samoa Joe gets snuck with a Claymore within the first minute, and eliminated, ya the sweep for Raw looked inevitable.

Raw’s infighting could’ve been the downfall, the Shane putting Braun through the table felt like something they already did before, but all in all it was fun. Miz actually stepped up through most of the match and tried to be a leader, even leading to funny moments of setting up Shane to Coast to Coast people, before Braun hit a mid air lariat to send Shane into the future.

Bobby, Drew and Braun were the last three standing. How do you expect any of them, not named Joe, to have a chance against those giants?

Winner: Strowman via Powerslam

Rating: *** 3/4

Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair

What should’ve been Becky Lynch’s match of her career, turned into something more pivotal for Ronda and Charlotte.

The match itself was sloppy, plodding, and about as fluid as cement. We had a story element that was the only thing saving this match, which saw both Ronda and Charlotte being pushed pretty far.

Charlotte however broke first, when she hit Ronda with a Kendo Stick. She then proceeded to destroy Ronda with a few chairs and Kendo Sticks, taking out referees along the way. It was funny however to see that she didn’t know how to put a chair around Ronda’s neck for her first like six attempts.

Winner: Rousey via DQ

Rating: ***

Universal Champion vs WWE Champion Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs Daniel Bryan (c)

This followed a similar story to the AJ Styles match last year, but the beats were more deliberate. Brock dominates the first few minutes, looks like it’s a one sided squash, but then a comeback happens.

Granted, Daniel Bryan split the uprights with a low blow followed by his Knee Plus, but Lesnar kicked out. The match continued with Bryan trying to chop down Lesnar and had him on the ropes after another Knee Plus and a Yes Lock. Brock even nicely sold Daniel working over his knee, as it gave out, to stop him from hitting an F5 at one point.

Eventually Lesnar powers through, catches Daniel and F5’s his way to another victory. Match was pretty good after Daniel got in some offense.

Winner: Lesnar via F5

Rating: ****

Thoughts:

So from a purely ring work angle, of course Takeover was superior. But aside from the tag match, everything had enough elements to keep you entertained. Plus Survivor Series had two quality matches, so there’s no arguing it was a good show.

With all that said, Takeover was pretty close to being the best one of the year. Between this one and NOLA, it’s a toss up. As for Survivor Series, it wasn’t the best show of the main roster, but I enjoyed it. All in all, good weekend for WWE product, ratings and entertainment.

How did you feel about Takeover and Survivor Series? Anything rated too high, or too low? Let us know on social media @theCHAIRSHOTcom and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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