The Big News: Samoa Joe and Finn Balor will square off one more time, on June 8 at NXT Takeover.
The Medium News: Balor returned to the NXT rings and put away The Drifter
The Little Beaver Sized News: Rachel Ellering debuted and Alex Riley did one last job.
The show kicks off this week with the longest reigning NXT Champion in history! The now former champion, Finn Balor, returns to Full Sail University for the first time since losing his championship.
The fans chanted “Thank you Finn”, which made him thank the fans. Finn moved on to address the new champion, Samoa Joe. He brought up that both Takeover matches could have gone either way, but Balor won, however in Lowell, Massachusetts that match could also go either way.
This was the cue, not for Samoa Joe, but for Elias Sampson. Sampson played a song dedicated to Balor losing the belt. Sampson told Balor that he is nothing without the title, so Balor gave him a Pele Kick, which sent The Drifter drifting away.
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They replayed Eric Young’s backstage interview from last week, saying the cream always rises to the top and he is now where he belongs.
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Finn Balor said that he will finish saying what he needs to say to Samoa Joe when he gets done kicking Elias Sampson’s ass.
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NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated Corey Hollis & John Skylar
Hollis and Skylar now have matching gear, so they are an official team. The crowd exploded for Gable and Jordan, chanting that they deserve it. This match was your normal American Alpha match. Gable ran wild with chain wrestling, Jordan got in a little before Gable tagged in and got cut off for the heat.
Hollis and Skylar got more in this match than you would probably expect considering their respective pushes, but Jordan got the hot tag and it was Full Suplex University on their foes. The Revival came out to watch the finish of the match, which distracted the champs momentarily, but they picked up the win with Grand Amplitude.
After the match the champs laid down the gauntlet for The Revival, but Dash & Dawson backed away saying it would be done on their time.
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Shinsuke Nakamura did a brief promo mocking the idea of Alex Riley’s rage.
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In a Loser Retroactively Gets Fired Match, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Alex Riley
When they called him to wish him well in his future endeavors, do you think Riley screamed “SAYITTOMYFACE”?
Riley used his size to mock Nakamura at first, but that didn’t last long since Nakamura then mocked him back. Riley took over by rolling out of the way of a knee drop and spent most of his time on offense making fun of the idea of Strong Style, which was the cue for Nakamura to make his comeback. Honestly this was more of a squash than the opener, as Nakamura won quickly with the Kinshasa.
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Austin Aries was in William Regal’s office and wanted proof to show how great he is. Blake & Murphy barged in and demanded a tag team title match. Aries brought up how disrespectful this was and we got an argument. Mr. Regal said next week will be Blake & Murphy vs Austin Aries and a partner of Aries choosing.
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Alexa Bliss pinned Rachael Ellering
Women’s Division time. The former pixie going one on one with the daughter of Paul Ellering, Rachael. A few weeks ago, Alexa defeated Tessa Blanchard, so now Corey Graves joked that she’s going to beat everyone’s daughter.
This match was just fine except for a spot where it looked like Ellering missed a dropkick by several feet, but they changed camera angles so you didn’t see it. Anyway Alexa won with the Sparkle Splash.
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Bayley was backstage and said Asuka gave her the fight of a lifetime in Dallas and now she is training and will win again. Up walked Nia Jax who said Bayley was weaker. This led to a challenge for a future match.
They then announced the math for next week.
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Finn Balor defeated Elias Sampson
Main event time, Balor’s first match since going down in defeat to Samoa Joe 3 weeks ago. Sampson worked on Finn’s injured shoulder that he has taped up following the beating Joe gave him. Balor made his comeback with some hard chops and kicks to The Drifter. Balor used the corner dropkick and finished Sampson off with 1916, which is the new name for the Bloody Sunday DDT. 1916 is the year of the Irish uprising.
After the match Balor said he is not taking anything away from Samoa Joe…yet, but he wants his rematch. Balor is obsessed with NXT and obsessed with being NXT Champion, but now he is possessed like a demon stalking his prey. He is possessed with going after what belongs to him.
This brought out Samoa Joe. Joe shouted at him from the ramp, saying he deserves nothing and does not deserve a title shot. William Regal ran out and shouted that we will not break down into chaos before announcing Joe vs Balor for Takeover on June 8. while Joe continued to rant rom the ramp, Balor did a running dive over the top, taking out the champion.
So that does it for this week! Thank you for reading and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
– The show opened with a Dean Ambrose promo. He said they were now even as Jericho took out his plant, and Ambrose took out the jacket; “an eye for an eye”. He said he would take away everything from Jericho like his ego. Jericho’s pyro goes off and arena lights go out. Lights come back on and Jericho is in the middle of the ring standing over a fallen Ambrose. Jericho then puts Ambrose in a straight jacket.
As Ambrose fights to get out and to his feet, Jericho pummels Ambrose with kicks and punches. Dean manages to get a few kicks in before taking a Codebreaker. Refs out to separate them. Jericho gets in the last shot before leaving the ring. He jumps on the announce table, grabs the mic, and says his gift to all of us is “The Gift of Jericho”. He continues to stand atop the table soaking up the boos.
– Rusev is shown backstage slamming the lids shut on several rolling cases screaming as Lana follows behind.
Rusev w/ Lana submitted Sin Cara w/ Kalisto with the Accolade
– Renee interview with Emma. She asked Emma who Dana Brooke is. Dana cut her off and said she’s a fitness champion. She then ran down Becky Lynch.
Dana Brooke w/ Emma b Becky Lynch
– Backstage promo with The Club. AJ tells Anderson and Gallows to take out The Usos tonight.
– New Day in ring promo. They recapped The Vaudevillains interfering on Raw, and said they put their noses in their BootyOOOOOOOOs, that the Vaudevillains “Kanye West’d” them, and interfered when the situation had nothing to do with them. It’s a dated reference but it’s ok because The Vaudevillains are from the 1830s. Out come Vaudevillains who said they are real men from a bygone era. English begins singing Xavier’s WWE Tag Team Champions line. Gotch states the sun will set on The New Day at Extreme Rules and the night belongs to The Vaudevillains.
– Aiden English b Kofi Kingston
– Backstage promo with The Family. Roman Reigns told The Usos that if AJ shows his face, he will be out there ASAP.
– The Usos b Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows via DQ when Gallows hit an Uso with a chair on the outside. Roman Reigns has managed to turn 50% of the audience against The Usos as there were dueling chants of “Let’s Go Usos/Usos Suck”.
– We got a “Life Lessons with Coach Backlund” segment based on managing time. Bob wants Darren Young to use his watch, calendar, mail, and desktop. Young said he had all that on his phone which upset Bob.
– The Gorgeous Truth b GoldDango. After the match, Tyler Breeze and Fandango turned on their partners and put the boots to Truth and Goldust.
– We got a Shining Stars vignette. They arrive next Monday on Raw.
– We got a Renee interview with Charlotte and Ric Flair. Charlotte said what happened on Monday was a travesty, and how dare the McMahons treat him that way. Ric said he’s the dirtiest player in the game & taught Charlotte everything she knew.
– Kevin Owens & The Miz w/ Maryse b Cesaro & Sami Zayn when Owens pinned Cesaro after a frog splash.
The continuation of the “New Era” of Raw didn’t ended up being a positive factor in the ratings as the Monday, May 9th edition of the show did 3.23 million viewers, down six percent from last week. It was the second lowest rating for a show outside of football season since 1997.
A week ago, the combination of a post-PPV show and the first Stephanie & Shane McMahon show did 3.43 million viewers. The modern era low for a show outside of football season or a major holiday was 3.12 million viewers which was set two weeks ago.
Dancing With the Stars, featuring UFC’s Paige VanZant, remained the most-watched show on television with 11.33 million viewers.
Raw was third on cable for the night, trailing two NBA playoff games on TNT. The first, which went head-to-head with Raw, did 4.01 milliion viewers while the late night game, which started just before Raw ended, did 6.16 million viewers.
In this week’s case, the culprit was that the audience at the start was lower than usual. The second hour was the high point, although the first two hours were virtually identical. There was a third hour drop, but it wasn’t as bad as some have been. The real story of the low number wasn’t people tuning out, but that they didn’t tune in at their usual levels to begin with.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.35 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.36 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.01 million viewers
Subscribers can access Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez’s Wrestling Observer Radio Raw report here.
On Tuesday, WWE announced a profit increase but a revenue decrease from the first quarter of this year as compared to last year.
Profits are up $13.9 million for Q1 2016 as compared to $9.8 million for Q1 2015 while revenue finished at $171 million for Q1 2016, down from the $176.2 million they did in Q1 2015.
The decrease in revenue year to year can be completely attributed to WrestleMania being in the first quarter last year and second quarter this year. That significantly decreased live event revenue in taking out the WrestleMania gate, as well as merchandise revenue.
Given that, actual 2016 Q2 revenue should be up probably $40 million or more as compared to last year, but WWE indicated that second quarter profits would actually be lower than last year. However, they have projected an increase for 2016 as a whole.
While not factoring in the WWE Network, the first quarter was a break-even proposition based on Wrestlemania. Mania had no impact on the profitability year-to-year, but the event and week itself generated a total of $24.9 million. If you factor that out, the first quarter revenue would have been $151.3 million if you’re doing a fair comparision.
Other Notes
There were not a lot of notes coming from the call, since the key figure, network subscribers, was covered in the call after WrestleMania.
The WWE has greatly changed the way it is reporting data, no longer featuring PPV, home video and web merchandise sales in the key performance indicators, and focusing on social media and global video views, as well as the Network and live attendance.
When asked how WrestleMania did on PPV this year, either George Barrios didn’t understand the question or didn’t answer it because he gave numbers of what the show used to do. The person asking ended up moving to the next question instead of following up.
Questions about tiered network subscriptions or whether Raw or Smackdown would be put on the Network during the same week of airing were vaguely answered, with Barrios and company saying they won’t discuss the nature of TV contracts.
PPV and home video have been greatly declining categories while merchandise has been greatly increasing.
Injuries, Shane & New Stars
Vince McMahon noted that due to injuries, they made chicken salad out of the show, and said that within the next 30 days, many stars will be returning, noting in particular Seth Rollins, John Cena, Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. They talked about adding 13 new stars to the main roster and credited NXT, although the new stars are a mix of outside wrestlers like A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows with people like Baron Corbin, Enzo, Cass, and The Vaudevillains who did come via the NXT pipeline.
McMahon said that the injury rate isn’t any higher than before, and just said that the news gets out more, and most injuries are three to four month injuries. He said that the game isn’t any more risky and talked about being “well ahead of everyone else” when it comes to concussion treatment.
Shane McMahon’s name came up and Vince talked of the great job he’s done as talent, but it was made clear he was working only in a talent capacity.
Barrios talked about long-term strategy such as heavy investments in China that they hope pay off in the long run. He said that while profits were up over last year in the current quarter, a key point was the nature of the video game contract and that more royalties were paid this quarter than at the same time last year. He noted that would even out, and that the second quarter profit margin would be down from last year. He expects after six months, things would be even. He said they expect growth in profits in quarters three and four.
The company talked OIBDA expectations of $70-$85 million, and indicated more at the high end of that level. Last year’s total was $69 million.
Social Media
What ended up as a key talking point is that when it comes to social media and videos viewed, 70 to 80 percent comes from overseas, while when it comes to revenues, that number is reversed. They were asked if so much social media and video viewing, metrics they are pushing as the most important, would indicate why overseas isn’t generating revenue like stateside. Laura Martin, who has been a strong company backer, even said she wondered if those statistics are meaningless if they aren’t driving revenue.
Barrios, in short form, talked about it as a long term strategy, noting in particular huge consumption in India but that the network, for example, hasn’t done big numbers there.
They indicated, without actually saying it, that 70 to 75 percent of the free subscribers during the WrestleMania ramp up period have been converted to paid subscribers and that they should average 1.5 million paid during the quarter.
The Big Takeaway: Vince McMahon took one look at a 7-footer the day after WrestleMania. Six weeks later, even without one singles match, he main evented Raw. That’s the position that Big Cass found himself in against Chris Jericho, though the match itself didn’t happen and Cass was only a bit player in the final segment. Show had a solid angle between Roman Reigns and A.J. Styles. Match of the night was Sami Zayn vs. The Miz.
Chris Jericho came out for the Highlight Reel.
He claimed Dean Ambrose was supposed to be his guest tonight, but after Jericho attacked him with Mitch the Plant last week, Ambrose suffered whiplish, vertigo and a bulging disc. Jericho said Ambrose may not be in the WWE for a long, long time. Jericho uncovered the remains of Mitch the Potted Plant, which got a “Mitch” chant. Let the record show a root from the dirt resting on a stool is more over than the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Jericho said Mitch and Ambrose had a lot in common. They both came to the WWE to entertain people, but both underestimated the tsunami known as Chris Jericho. Now, like Mitch, Ambrose is a shattered mess of dust and bones waiting for someone to put him back together again. Jericho showed tweets from fans exressing sorrow over Mitch’s death. Jericho took credit for putting Ambrose in a St. Louis hospital, and claimed Mitch had more charisma than Ambrose. Jericho could glue Mitch together, glue it back together, sell it to a flea market for $12 and it would still be worth more than Ambrose. Jericho said he understands why fans relate to Ambrose, because Ambrose was a loser and a slob just like the fans.
Jericho proclaimed himself the Hailey’s Comet of the WWE, because talent like him comes around once every 76 years. He invited fans to drink in the Gift of Jericho and posed.
Big Cass came out without Enzo Amore. Cass said if this was the Gift of Jericho, he better have a receipt because he wanted his money back. Cass said Jericho was one of the greatest of all time, but Jericho didn’t understand this was the new era. Cass said the phrase “We have arrived” wasn’t a cry for attention, it was a warning. Cass said “I have arrived” and Jericho better get out of his way or he would run through Jericho. Jericho said Cass should run to the hospiital and check on his buddy “Enzo Annoying.” Jericho claimed he heard Enzo was staying at the same hospital as Ambrose. Too bad the New Day showed Amore checking out of the hospital last week. Cass challenged him to a fight.
Jericho reminded Cass he was the best in the world at what he does. Cass said he was 7 feet tall and the crowd added in “And you can’t teach that.” Jericho didn’t the usual heel routine of walking off. Cass gave him the “Sawft” catchphrase. Jericho jumped on the apron, but Cass gave him the big boot to the floor. Michael Cole and Byron Saxton couldn’t stop talking about how Cass was 7-feet tall. It looks like they’re putting the wheels in motion already for Cass to become a singles star, which is par for the Vince McMahon-owned course.
– Jericho walked up to Stephanie McMahon for our weekly emasculation of talent. Jericho said Shane McMahon was responsible for the new era of Raw, and he and Stephanie could help destroy it. Stephanie was a babyface this time, ordering Jericho to face Cass in the main event, then ordering him never to put a wedge between her and her brother. Like there wasn’t a wedge between them already. Are we supposed to forget Stephanie’s interviews she cut on Shane leading up to the WrestleMania match, as well as the match itself?
Baron Corbin did an inset promo saying he wasn’t part of the New Era, he was only out for himself.
Baron Corbin defeated Dolph Ziggler (8:32)
Corbin won with the End of Days. Earlier, Dolph Ziggler kicked out of the Deep 6. Ziggler got a near fall with a Famouser in a good match.
– Charlotte and Ric Flair walked up to Shane McMahon. Flair congratulated Shane for his match at WrestleMania and claimed Shane’s top of the cage elbow against Undertaker was the greatest move he had ever seen. Imagine if Shane had actually hit the move. Charlotte asked Shane to reverse Stephanie’s decision to ban Flair from ringside at Extreme Rules. Not only did Shane not reverse the decision, but said Flair was banned from ringside tonight.
– A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, now known as “The Club,” did an interview with Jojo. Styles brought up being power bombed by Roman Reigns onto the table last week. Styles said the Club is officially back together again tonight, but made it clear he would defeat Reigns on his own at Extreme Rules.
R-Truth defeated Fandango (2:11)
R-Truth won with the Truth Detector. The deal is Goldust and Fandango have formed a tag team called “Goldango.” Tyler Breeze and Truth responded by forming a team called “The Gorgeous Truth” in an attempt for Goldust and Truth to make each other jealous. Just before the finish, Fandango pushed Truth into Breeze, who didn’t look happy with Truth despite his partner winning. Announcers were so bored with the match, JBL mentioned Ozzy Osbourne’s hair stylist. Michael Cole acted like he had no idea what he was talking about and asked how Sharon would react to that, apparently oblivious to reports that Ozzy and Sharon have split.
– Kevin Owens, the Miz and Cesaro were backstage with Stephanie and Shane. Stephanie spoke up and said they would face each other for Miz’s Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules. Miz objected because he could lose his championship without getting pinned. Stephanie said no one asked him what he thought. Sami Zayn walked in and objected, saying he deserves an opportunity. Zayn challenged Miz to a match tonight, and if Zayn wins, then the Extreme Rules match becomes a four-way.
Shane and Stephanie were fine with it, despite Miz’s objections. Stephanie then dismissed everyone. Stephanie and Shane then had a moment of togetherness, complimenting each other over how they handled the situation. I hope the babyface outsmarts the Authority before the payoff of this Stephanie-Shane angle. Otherwise, Shane is going to look some kind of bad when Stephanie inevitably turns on him.
Paige defeated Charlotte (C) in a nontitle match (7:42)
Overloaded booking at the finish. Charlotte tried to cradle Paige with her feet on the rope. Natalya jumped on the apron. Flair, despite being barred from ringside, ran out. Paige was distracted. This brought out Shane, who had a team of officials bring Flair to the back. With all of this going on, Paige pinned Charlotte with a schoolgirl cradle. Charlotte looked distraught that she may not be able to beat Natalya at Extreme Rules without her father at ringside.
Sami Zayn defeated the Miz (C) in a nontitle match
A great performance by Zayn, who won with the Helluva Kick. Miz worked over Zayn’s right knee, and the crowd was right behind up, particularly after Miz put on the Figure Four. Miz tried to get the pin on a rollup using the ropes, but the referee caught him. Zayn made his comeback with the Blue Thunder Bomb. A very good match. Zayn is now in the fatal four-way for the I-C title at Extreme Rules.
– Becky Lynch was asked by Renee Young about Emma thumbing her in the eye last week. Emma claimed it was accidental. Lynch said it was on purpose. Emma walked up and said it was just like Lynch to blame her loss on other people. Then Dana Brooke, making her Raw debut, snuck up on Lynch and jumped her from behind. Emma and Brooke talked about being a team on NXT and talked about beating up Lynch just like it was the old days. Brooke teased giving Lynch another cheap shot, but held up.
– Darren Young did a vignette said life is what you make it, and said he needed a person in his life to guide him. Bob Backlund popped up on a split-screen. Young asked him to be his life coach. Backlund said he would be Young’s wrestling coach. Young said he didn’t need a wrestling coach, he needed a life coach. Backlund interrupted him and said he’s never been a life coach before, but the first thing Young needs to understand is “Wrestling is Life.” Then came a onscreen promo lifted directly from Donald Trump’s campaign, entitled “Making Darren Young great again.”
– Xavier Woods hosted an episode of “Up Up Down Down,” featuring Ziggler. It was a product placement for Pizza Hut. Big E. took two slices, leaving Ziggler empty handed, which is a metaphor for his year so far.
– Zack Ryder told Shane the ladder match at WrestleMania was proof he belonged in the WWE. Owens walked in and accused Shane of handing Zayn a chance at the Intercontinental Championship, and said Shane was getting in a habit of handing title shots to people who are undeserving. Ryder mentioned he beat Owens at WrestleMania. Owens correctly mentioned that Ryder didn’t beat him. Ryder brought up being in the Fatal Fourway match at Extreme Rules. Shane ordered Owens would face Ryder in a match tonight, and if Owens lost, he would lose his spot in the Fourway at Extreme Rules.
– Reigns and the Usos were hanging out backstage. Reigns said tonight was about beating the Club and representing the Family (the name for their team) to the fullest in an elimination match. Reigns said they would eliminate Anderson and Gallows as a team, but Reigns would take care of Styles by himself.
Sin Cara defeated Rusev (3:45)
Sin Cara won after another distraction finish. Rusev got out of the way of a senton and hit a thrust kick. He called for the Accolade, but Kalisto jumped on the apron. For some reason, Lana jumped on the apron, as well. Rusev got distracted by all this and Cara pinned him with a schoolboy cradle for the same finish we saw in Charlotte’s match. Kalisto did a Facebook interview. It was like he was reading from the Crash Davis school of interviews. He might as well have said “I just want to give it my best shot and good lord willing, it will work out. I’m just happy to be here.” In fact, that wasn’t far from what he did say.
– The final Shining Stars of the Caribbean vignette arrive. They will arrive next week to remind us that, somehow, Primo and Epico have jobs and Damien Sandow doesn’t.
The Family defeated The Club in an elimination match (11:39)
Styles was disqualified after Anderson hit Reigns with a chair outside the ring. The Club got the man advantage when Anderson pinned Jey Uso with a schoolboy cradle at 2:38. Jimmy Uso evened things up at 4:42 by pinning Anderson with a small package. Styles pinned Jey Uso during a commercial break with the Phenomenal Firearm. Reigns made it a 1-on-1 match with Styles when he pinned Gallows at 9:17.
The Usos ran down after the DQ and jumped Anderson and Gallows, who threw the Usos out of the ring. Reigns recovered to give Anderson and Gallows spears. This led to a terrific staredown between Reigns and Styles that was so solid, it had portions of the crowd chanting for Reigns. Reigns had a chair as he gazed at Styles, who was standing on the apron ready to deliver the Phenomenal Forearm. Reigns said he didn’t need to chair to beat up Styles and tossed it aside. Styles threw the chair back at him.
When Reigns picked it up, Styles did a springboard, but Reigns picked up the chair, so Styles rolled out of the ring. Styles reminded Reigns the chair would be fair game when they meet at Extreme Rules. This was very well laid out. Of all the times not to have Reigns in the main event segment, it came during his best angle of the year.
Kevin Owens defeated Zack Ryder (4:03)
Owens won with the Pop-Up Power Bomb. Ryder’s biggest spot was hitting the Randy Savage Elbow for a near fall. Owens retains his spot for the I-C title fourway at Extreme Rules
– Cass did an interview with Young. More scripted crap that this company just can’t drag themselves away from. Cass dedicated the match to Amore.
– Former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. did a promo for the new show “First Impressions,” then started chanting for the New Day. This led to New Day coming out. The Vaudevillains did an insert promo saying they would take the tag team championships from New Day at Extreme Rules. New Day did a promo where they were confused about the Vaudevillains name, they held up a giant Booty-O, and got the crowd to chant “All hail to Booty-Ohhh.” Big E. said the Vaudevillains were from a by-gone era, an era that wasn’t very good for people like us: people who used smart phones. It led to them getting the crowd to chant “New Day Rocks.”
The Dudley Boyz defeated the New Day (C) in a nontitle match (5:08)
Aiden English and Simon Gotch ran down to jump Woods, leading to Big E. getting involved. In the midst of all this, Devon Dudley pinned Kofi Kingston with a short-armed clothesline. Postmatch, the Vaudevillains gave Kingston the Whirling Dervish.
The main event match between Jericho-Cass, which was promoted for two hours, never got going.
Cass made his ring entrance. Jericho was in the midst of his entrance when, just as his jacket started to lite up in the dark, someone could be seen jumping him. That person put on Jericho’s jacket, it lit up, then the mystery figure got in the ring. It was Ambrose, who started to tear up the jacket. Jericho ran down and put the fists to Ambrose. Jericho was incensed his jacket was destroyed and started to leave, but Cass blocked his path and threw him in the ring. Ambrose gave Jericho Dirty Deeds, then pulled out a pair of scissors and tore the jacket into shreds. Some of the bulbs and fuses that light the jacket starting blowing, which made for an interesting visual. Jericho was left screaming at Ambrose about how his $15,000 jacket was ruined.
Shane and Stephanie watched this scene from backstage. They each complimented the other about how good a job they had done throughout the night. Stephanie suggested their next step should be an episode of “Ride Along,” but Shane didn’t think they were ready for that. Shane said goodnight. As Shane walked away, Stephanie looked at the framed photo of Shane as a toddler with Vince McMahon before they went to his first wrestling show in Worcester, Mass. She had a blank look on her face, then she vaguely grinned.
SUMMARY:
The main programs of Reigns-Styles and Jericho-Ambrose were built very well tonight. This was an interesting show in terms of hour structure and how it relates to ratings. Putting Cass in the main event slot is just Vince’s theory of relying on the big guys when the chips are down. It’s too early to be breaking up the Enzo & Cass tag team, and clearly the company thought building Cass for the main event was a better idea than actually having him wrestle in it. Unfortunately, the words “New era” have now entered the dreaded WWE lexicon of staged terms that come off as lame, joining such hits as “Diva Revolution,” “WWE Universe” and “WWE Superstar.” And it’s only going to grow over time.
Submitted by James Girouard from the Denny Sanford Premier Center
– Dolph Ziggler b. Baron Corbin with a superkick and zig zag
Surprisingly good match. From a mechanical perspective, Corbin is much improved from where he was even a year ago.
– Titus O’Neil b. Fandango with a powerbomb
Fandango attacked Titus before the bell. Match itself probably went about a minute. Not much to it.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte b. Natayla with a rollup after putting her feet on the ropes
Other than one or two mistimed spots early, the work was very good. However, the ring announcer (Eden Stiles) did ask the crowd before the match if they “wanted to see some beautiful women in the ring” so apparently old stereotypes die hard.
– Sami Zayn b. Stardust with the Blue Thunder bomb
Stardust stalled for most of the match and got quite a bit of heat. Zayn had a loyal, vocal minority really into him but Stardust was more over as a heel than Zayn was as a face. Match was fine, nothing special.
– AJ Styles b. Kevin Owens with the Phenomenal Forearm
Very good match, best of the night. Owens got a lot of heel heat early but was so great that as the match wore on he was getting as many cheers as boos. AJ’s in-ring timing is even more amazing live than it is on TV.
– Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows b. Darren Young & Mark Henry with the Magic Killer
Not much to the match, although it was weird to see Mark Henry as the babyface in peril. For not having been on TV very long Anderson & Gallows did get a decent reaction.
– Big Cass b. Primo with his East River Crossing sidewalk slam
Primo jumped Cass as he was cutting a promo before the match, but Cass ended up wiping him out quickly. Crowd was really into the singalong.
– IC Champion Miz (w/Maryse) b. Cesaro after throwing him into an exposed turnbuckle
Miz got tremendous heel heat from the second he walked out from the curtain until the match was over. Match was all sorts of overbooked with run-ins and interference from Maryse.
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns b. Sheamus with the spear
Hard hitting but the two have had much better matches. Both men were heavily booed at the start, but as the match wore on the reactions to Roman were probably 50-50. It is interesting because the last time Reigns was in Sioux Falls against Bray Wyatt he was pretty much universally cheered.
All in all, one of the better house shows I’ve seen from WWE since they started coming back to Sioux Falls regularly about 15 years ago. None of the matches were bad and the stuff that wasn’t as good was kept short. A lively crowd that was into the talent helped.
– Pre-show poll asked which match from WM32 to show before the event
Reigns def. HHH (11%)
The Undertaker def. Shane McMahon (40%)
Brock Lesnar def. Dean Ambrose (49%)
– Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks def. Emma & Lana – 18 min.
Crowd loved both the faces (Sasha might have had a bigger reaction due to the Eddie Guerrero connection). Sasha does The Banks Statement for the win while Lynch did her submission at the same time.
– Sin Cara def Epico – 9 min.
Guess worth noting that Los Matadores somewhat exist since that was his Titantron and attire for him. Some of the crowd seemed to boo that since at least some knew that’s a dead gimmick.
– Goldust def. Viktor with R-Truth as ref – 12 min match
R-Truth came out 1st with a decent pop. No reaction to Viktor, and fine reaction to Goldust. R-Truth played favor to Goldust and would often ignore Viktor’s attempted pinfalls or submissions. Finally, Goldust got an upper hand then won on a quick 3 count against him. Crowd enjoyed such mannerisms from R-Truth during the match (he ate some cotton candy from a fan from ringside) and after the match, both Goldust and R-Truth played along Truth’s theme song with the crowd.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) def. Kane & Big Show vs Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman in an elimination match – 17 min match
New Day came out first to a good reaction, then Rowan and Strowman came out to boos, biggest pops were to Kane then Big Show. Match was fun, Kane eliminated Wyatts, and then Xavier pinned Kane almost immediately. After Wyatts started to attack them, they then did a triple chokeslam by Kane and Show (with Xavier in between them). New Day then got the Big Show to dance, then Kane after 2 or so minutes.
INTERMISSION
– Hype Bros def. Social Outcasts – 10 min match
Decent pop for Ryder, and Mojo looks like he just enjoys it all. Outcasts were just there to do what they were to do, no fanfare.
– US Champion Kalisto def. Alberto Del Rio – 12 min match
Crowd was into both (“Si chants ” for Del Rio, “Lucha” for Kalisto) Match was pretty good. In the beginning, Del Rio attempted to not fight go back through the Titantron.
– Dean Ambrose def. Rusev – 17 min match
Dean probably got the biggest pop between him, women’s babyfaces, and Kane with Big Show. Crowd was into both him and Rusev until Lana came out to distract and got heat on Rusev then she was kicked out by the ref. Ambrose after a struggle wins after Dirty Deeds.
It’s Titus O’Neil’s first televised (non-battle royal) match since the February RAW on which he lost to Adam Rose and roughhoused the boss! This, of course, is also Sandow’s final televised match with the company, after receiving his release last Friday.
Tom Phillips is also back at the announce desk on this truly landmark edition of Main Event, capitalising on the shitcanning of one Rich Brennan. After accepting Jerry Lawler’s welcome, Phillips proclaims this a “new era with new opportunities”. And no Rich Brennans.
Sandow worked heel here, because who cares. He was on offence for the majority of the sub-four minute duration of this match, before Titus made a quick comeback and creamed him with the Clash of the Titus. O’Neil did the bark after the bell and looked awkward as the Kansas crowd failed to care.
– O’Neil’s attempts to dance with a fan are to-the-backed, as we abruptly cut to the Star Room, where Cody Rhodes is STILL Stardust. Cody blathers on about one of the writers’ favourite topics – Dolph’s cruddy comedy “career” – before making a Star Trek reference (something about being cloaked like a Romulan warbird). He also made a joke about Dublin being the largest city in the world because it’s “always doubling”. Hey, at least it’s not a Social Outcasts promo!
Apollo Crews def. Viktor by pinfall
Good ol’ Smiley Black Man continues to exclusively work squash matches, polishing off the sole remaining Ascension member with the toss powerbomb in just over four minutes. Viktor, whose work I usually enjoy, disappointed me here by applying a reverse chinlock for a very long time.
Baron Corbin def. Sin Cara by pinfall
Third squash in a row here, as hometown hero Corbin puts away Sin Cara in under four minutes. It was a little more interesting than the previous two matches however, with Corbin cutting off an early tope suicida attempt with a vicious forearm, before eventually eating one during the comeback. Said comeback also featured a botched quebrada attempt that Corbin had to quickly adjust his position to receive.
After taking Cara’s suicide dive, Corbin recovered and flung Cara head first into the ringpost from the powerbomb position, as he did to Dolph Ziggler at Payback. Back in the ring, the reigning ARMBAR champion finished the Lucha Dragon off with the End of Days.
Dolph Ziggler def. Stardust by pinfall
Playing off Stardust’s earlier promo, these two worked a comedy match in the early going; featuring a Vintner-esque double noogie from Dolph and a spot where Ziggler ran Stardust around the ring while hammerlocked!
Ziggler eventually flew into the ringpost shoulder-first to start the heat. Unfortunately for Stardust, who then went on to work Dolph’s left shoulder for the next five minutes, Dolph struck the post with his right – as more than one replay clearly demonstrated.
Phillips failed to call a Disaster Kick, which got two for Cody after he cut off Ziggler’s comeback. Dolph then hit a superkick out of nowhere to wrap this ten minute match up.
Final Thoughts
Not a great show this week. Credit to Cody and Dolph for trying something different with the comedy stuff, but once the heat started the match died and the finish was weak. The rest of the show was just squash city. Not one to seek out, by any means.
Crowd didn’t know who either of them were but they won the crowd over by the end.
– Bayley defeated Eva Marie
Huge reaction for Bayley. She is way over with the crowd. A lot of Bayley shirts. Eva Marie was hated, except for a small group of guys that chanted “Let’s go Eva” through the whole match. It was pretty funny!
– Austin Aries defeated Tye Dillinger
Crowd was 50-50 this match. Was surprised to see how over Dillinger was.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss
Pretty slow match. Bliss started bleeding in the match and it was either a busted nose or lip.
– Intermission
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Tyler Breeze
Both were over with the crowd but Nakamura got a huge reaction when he arrived.
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe
Good match. American Alpha got one of the biggest reactions of the night.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor
Huge reactions for both men. Best match of the night. After the match, Balor sang karaoke with the crowd and sang “Friends in Low Places”.
Ziggler wins by pinfall after a DDT and a kick to the face. Before the event begins, Baron Corbin cuts a promo on the screen saying he’s going to “give Ziggler a beating like he’s never had before.”
– Mark Henry & Darren Young vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
Anderson pinned Darren Young after the Magic Killer.
– Kevin Owens cuts a promo on the videoboard, saying AJ Styles sports the worst hair cut, he doesn’t deserve to be in the same ring as him, and if anyone is phenomenal, it’s him. He says he’s going to beat him like you’ve never seen another man beat someone before.
– Titus O’Neil vs. Fandango
O’Neil wins by pinfall after a power bomb.
– Sami Zayn vs. Stardust
After the bell rings, the crowd bursts out into Sami and Cody chants. Stardust goes a bit ballistic and exits the ring to raise his hands to the crowd asking “What the heck?” Stardust then grabs a chair from under the ring but drops it as he tries to enter from the ref telling him not to bring it in. Zayn and Stardust then jump on the turnbuckles for a cheering contest in which Zayn wins after large amounts of boos for Stardust. As the match goes on, Stardust tries to pin Zayn multiple times. Each time he fails, the crowd puts up two fingers and Stardust shows three to each section. Zayn wins after a jump splash from the turnbuckle by pinfall.
– Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles
Right as the bell rings, Owens leaves the ring and walks around and rips up a fans sign. Styles wins by pinfall after the Phenomenal Forearm.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya
As Natalya goes after Charlotte in the turnbuckle, Charlotte counters and throws Natalya down and then rolled her up with her feet on the ropes to retain the title.
– Big Cass vs. Primo
Cass comes out with a mic and states that his partner is out with a head injury, but as long as he’s here, he’ll be doing it for the both of them. He goes on to say that he has one word for anyone who gets in his way. Before he can spell out “Sawft,” Primo attacks him from behind. Cass wins by pinfall and picks up the mic again and continues his speech, including spelling out “Sawft.”
– IC Champion The Miz (with Maryse) vs. Cesaro
While Miz is tapping from Cesaro’s submission, the ref is busy arguing with Maryse. Cesaro lets go of the submission to celebrate though no bell is rung. The ref explains and Cesaro starts to complain at Maryse. Then Miz throws Cesaro into the turnbuckle from behind and Cesaro falls. Miz then wins by pinfall.
