A further update from yesterday’s report on the comeback of Sami Zayn is that his first match back will be a single match with Finn Balor for the NXT title tomorrow night in Newcastle, England.
Zayn returns from six months out due to shoulder surgery on the NXT U.K. tour which runs from 12/10 to 12/16 and will be in the main event of several shows on the tour including the opener.
He is not announced for a match on the live Takeover special on 12/16 in London, but is advertised as appearing on that show as well.
The World Tag League finals are nearing an end, as tonight we’ll finally see the winners of this two week tournament be crowned. Evil and Tetsuya Natio, a relatively new team, will fight against one who rarely teams up in Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. With the aces of the tag division, Anderson and Gallows awaiting whichever team wins, who will make it past the finals and into the Tokyo Dome to face the dominant champions?
Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka vs. David Finlay and Juice Robinson
Really fun match. All four guys worked hard. Not given a ton of time, but looked really good with the time they were given. Robinson, as mentioned before, has really adapted to the style well and fit in here with the likes of Finlay, who is good, and Komatsu and Tanaka, who are great. Robinson and Finlay got the heat on Komatsu. Tanaka got the hot tag and ran wild, soon turned into a ruckus with everyone getting involved. Tanaka and Komatsu hit the dual boston crabs, with Komatsu submitting Finlay.
Jay White vs. Mascara Dorada
This is an interesting match as I don’t think White has had too many singles matches in the year he has been wrestling regularly for the promotion. He did some heel antics early, ripping Dorada’s mask. Dorada did this really cool spot where he walked back to the entrance, ran and gave a hurricanrana over the guardrail to White. They had some good back and forth, with Dorada winning after a springboard hurricanrana and the Dorada screwdriver. White looked good and held his own. He’s really athletic and is a surefire candidate for rookie of the year. Good match.
Bushi came to the ring after the match, wearing his Los Ingobernables hat. He offered it to Dorada. He signaled to the crowd he wasn’t interested, turning his back on Bushi. Bad mistake. He laid him out, then took his mask off to embarrass him. He exited the ring and stole Dorada’s CMLL Welterweight title, so looks like that’s a title program down the road.
Jushin Thunder Liger and Kushida vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask
The focus here is between Liger and Tiger Mask, who are feuding over the NWA Jr. heavyweight title. Yes, this a repeat of a feud from last year, except Tiger Mask is now the champion. They went at it for a while. Taguchi and Kushida were tagged in and had some nice offense. It’s so hard to take Taguchi seriously with his new butt attack gimmick. I mean it’s fine for opening level matches but if they ever put him in a IWGP Jr. title situation again that’d feel like a waste of time. Tiger Mask and Liger were back in the ring, then Tiger Mask rolled him up out of nowhere with a crucifix for the win. It was fine.
Tencozy, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata vs. Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi
Mao-chan was back with Yujiro selling her DVD as if she were Toru Yano. I don’t think their DVDs are the same genre. Typical eight man tag you’d see on a New Japan show. Nothing bad, just kind of there. It was decent overall. Anderson caught Nakanishi with the stun gun, then pinned him after a Magic Killer. Makes sense for them to get a win here as their next challengers are being crowned.
All of a sudden, Truth Martini appeared in a video, highlighting him and the House of Truth. That was random. He appeared with Jay Lethal, who said he will defend the ROH title at the Toyko Dome and questioned who will challenge him. Apparently he doesn’t check the internet I think most of us know who that will be by now (Elgin).
The Kingdom vs. The Addiction
Liger, who was on commentary, went completely crazy for Maria as they made their entrance. Good match but nothing out of this world. Very much a back and forth match. The Kingdom win with a spike piledriver on Kazarian.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano vs. Cody Hall and Bad Luck Fale
Not that interesting of a match. Nakamura worked a lot with Hall with Fale and Yano continued their feud. Yano taped up Fales ankle as Nakamura and Hall were in the ring. Hall went for the Razor’s Edge but Yano low blowed him, allowing Nakamura to hit the boma ye for the win.
After the match, Yujiro Takahashi and Tama Tonga ran in. Takahashi beat up Yano with a chair as Fale entered the ring again. Nakamura came back and cleared house, so I guess this sets up a Yano feud with the Bullet Club B squad.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto vs. Yoshi-Hashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba
They did some atypical eight man tag house show gimmicks, including the “everyone brawls out of the ring spot”. Elgin came in and took everyone out, which got him over big time with the crowd. He and Yoshi-Hashi have real good chemistry with one another. Okada and Tanahashi had their big moment that the crowd got into as well, chanting for Okada. Shibata and Ishii worked a lot in the end, doing their usual, stiff offense. Shibata had in in a sleeper and Ishii fought forever until finally being taken to the ground and was pinned after the penalty kick. Good match overall
Shibata dropped the NEVER title on Ishii after the match, so there is your NEVER title program. It’s been done, but then again when it was done those were incredible matches, so not much to complain about. Okada and Tanahashi posed in the ring after the match, the crowd 100% behind Okada.
World Tag League Finals: GBH (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) vs. Evil and Tetsuya Naito
They set up a table at one point and Honma set it up like he was going to piledrive Honma through the table but Bushi interfered and instead Naito gave him a neckbreaker on the table. Makabe had a chair wrapped around his neck and Evil grabbed another chair and smacked the two chairs together at one point. Not a fun spot. Bushi came in at one point and gave the mist to Makabe, who took him out while Naito gave Honma a top rope hurricanrana for a nearfall. They worked over Honma for a long time after this. Makabe came back and gave the lairat to both Evil and Naito. Honma came back and helped set up the King Kong Knee drop by Makabe, then followed with a top rope kokeshi for the win. The match was good in spots but overall didn’t feel like a big deal until the ending, which was actually pretty great and heated.
Here’s spoilers from the Tuesday, December 8th Jacksonville, FL, Smackdown tapings:
– The Lucha Dragons beat WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day in a non-title match
– Ryback beat The Ascension in a handicap match
– There was a contract signing for the Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose Intercontinental title match. Owens attacked Ambrose, but Ambrose came back, Owens bailed, and then Ambrose signed the contract.
– Dolph Ziggler beat Tyler Breeze
– Becky Lynch beat Paige via submission due to distraction from WWE Divas Champion Charlotte
– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE Champion Sheamus & Kevin Owens
Raw last night did 3.04 million viewers, the second lowest modern number, beating only the 2.95 million of the 11/23 show.
The number was down from last week partially due to the show falling off the tracks late, but also the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins game did 14.15 million viewers, a number very close to the game on 11/23, while last week’s game did 10.12 million viewers.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.27 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.04 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.85 million viewers
The biggest UFC Fight Week in company history is finally here, with three straight nights of fights coming from the fight capital of the world- Las Vegas, Nevada. It all kicks off with UFC Fight Night 80 on Thursday night at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, an exclusive event airing on UFC Fight Pass. The action kicks off at 6:45 PM eastern time with the preliminary card heading into a 10 PM eastern time start for the main card.
The main event will be the first time a female non-title bout has headlined a UFC event as former strawweight title challenger Rose Namajunas takes on budding star Paige VanZant in VanZant’s first showcase in a main event slot. The card as been billed as “Paige & Sage” as 19-year-old Sage Northcutt also competes on the card, taking on Cody Pfister in a lightweight bout. The UFC is banking on VanZant and Northcutt to carry the company into the future, and they get their chance to shine in the beginning of the biggest week in UFC history. There is more action on the card, so let us take a deeper look and give you five storylines to keep an eye on for UFC Fight Night 80 on Thursday.
1. Who wins the main event between Rose Namajunas and Paige VanZant?
Two rising contenders in the UFC’s women’s strawweight division square off in the main event of the first of three straight nights of UFC action. Paige VanZant, a 115-pound fighter being groomed for big things in the future at just 21 years of age, makes her first headline appearance against Rose Namajunas, an injury replacement for Joanne Calderwood, who was originally scheduled to fight VanZant. There is an argument to be made whether this is a stiffer test for VanZant as Namjunas and Calderwood have a different approach to a fight, but either way, it will be the toughest test for VanZant, winner of her first three UFC bouts, as she looks to knock on the door to a title shot. Namajunas has already fought once for the title, in the inaugural fight for the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship, but came up short in her quest as she was submitted by Carla Esparza. Esparza has since lost the title to the dominant champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, while Namjunas has fought just once since then, a submission win over Angela Hill in October.
This is an interesting bit of match making as both women could be built up for a fight for the championship. Granted that Namajunas is an injury replacement, but this is a tough match-up for VanZant, who the UFC is banking on as a potential challenger. Even though Claudia Gadelha is waiting in the wings, it would be easy to envision a scenario where VanZant gets a title shot with a win. She isn’t ready, but a win puts her at 4-0 in the UFC, a record only matched by Jedrzejczyk at 115 pounds. VanZant is a grinding wrestler with excellent conditioning and a solid top game and submission game. Namajunas has submissions for days, but she can break mentally when pushed into a tough fight. We haven’t seen VanZant tested too much as she has won her three UFC bouts with relative ease. This one won’t be as easy. It really is a tough fight to predict, but I do see VanZant getting the win in the later rounds.
2. Will Sage Northcutt continue to live up to the hype?
This event is being billed as the “Paige and Sage” show as, along with Paige VanZant, the UFC is banking on 19-year-old Sage Northcutt to be a future star in the sport. He has been impressive in his young career with six wins by stoppage, and five coming in the first round. He may be young, but he is clearly ready for the UFC with his skills, and he brings in a lot of hype. It may not be as warranted, but he has the marketability that the UFC looks for when grooming a future star, and he has shown the skills to back it up, albeit against lesser competition. He had an impressive UFC debut, destroying Francisco Trevino in just 57 seconds at UFC 192 in October. Trevino made it easy for him, though, as he came in four pounds overweight, didn’t look like he cared too much, didn’t put up much of a fight, complained when the fight was stopped, and, to top it all off, failed a drug test and was later released from the UFC.
Northcutt is going to be built up the right way by taking on lesser competition until you can no longer avoid giving him top-flight opponents. He is taking on Cody Pfister on Thursday night, a solid fighter, but one that doesn’t have the look of being a future contender. Pfister is 12-4-1 in his career and has just one loss in his last ten fights after starting his career 4-3, and he does train with a solid camp in the Team Takedown camp. He is just 1-1 in his UFC tenure and is coming off a decision win over Yosdenis Cedeno at UFC 189 in July. He is the perfect opponent for Northcutt at this point. The question is whether Northcutt is too overhyped. He has gotten a lot of attention in the last two months since his UFC debut, and he has gone and trained at other camps in the meantime. Whether how all of this fame, hype and change in fight status will affect him remains to be seen, but he gets the bigger stage to show if he will continue to live up to the hype, or if he just isn’t ready for the limelight yet. Pfister, despite being groomed as someone who is being fed, isn’t taking this lightly, but I see Northcutt getting the job done and continuing his path.
3. Who wins in a solid co-main event scrap when Jim Miller and Michael Chiesa do battle?
Lost in the shuffle of the hype behind Paige VanZant and Sage Northcutt is an excellent co-main event scrap in the lightweight division as UFC veteran Jim Miller makes his 21st appearance inside the Octagon to take on former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Michael Chiesa, winner of five of seven in the UFC. It will be the biggest fight to date for Chiesa, who is coming off a dominant decision win over Mitch Clarke in April. Chiesa’s only losses in the UFC have come to Jorge Masvidal and Joe Lauzon, a fight that was controversially stopped due to a cut. In Miller, he has an opponent who has scored 14 wins during his UFC career, but he has also scored just five wins in his last ten bouts after being very close to scoring a chance at earning a title shot at 155 pounds. Miller got back on track with a close split decision win over Danny Castillo in July.
These two men have similar fighting styles with wrestling and takedowns as their primary strengths to go along with solid submission skills. Both men grind their opponents, and it is an interesting clash of styles. Both men fight as southpaws, but land roughly the same amount of strikes with the same type of accuracy. Chiesa’s takedown game may be a little stronger as he averages more over the course of a fight, and he has shown better defense. Chiesa will also have a five-inch height advantage and a four-inch reach advantage, and he will want to exploit his length over Miller. Miller hits a little harder and mixes his kicks and knees in well. This is a tough fight to predict as the betting odds have it as pretty much a pick ’em. It will be Miller’s Octagon experience against the gritty nature of Chiesa in what should be an excellent fight. I like Miller just a little bit more to score the win due to his experience, but Chiesa is going to make it a battle.
4. Why is Aljamain Sterling in the prelims?
No offense to any other fighter competing on this card, but the best fighter fighting on the UFC Fight Night 80 card is buried way down in the preliminary card, and that is rising bantamweight prospect Aljamain Sterling. A product of the Serra-Longo fight team in New York, Sterling is a perfect 11-0 in his career, with his last three wins coming after signing with the UFC as an injury replacement in early 2014. He has scored wins over Cody Gibson, Hugo Viana and Takeya Mizugaki in his UFC career, and he has been dominant in all of his fights. He has scored seven of his eleven wins by stoppage, and alongside Thomas Almeida, he is looked at to be the future of the UFC bantamweight division. He has been inactive for a while, whether it be due to injury or the UFC matchmakers having trouble finding him an opponent and spot on a card.
Sterling deserves to be showcased on the main card. He is extremely talented and will likely fight for the title within the next two years. He had to campaign hard to get on a fight card, and his fight was the last fight put together for this card. The UFC realized they were making a mistake in not featuring him prominently, and made him a late addition to the open workouts for this event. He has an extremely tough opponent in Johnny Eduardo, who has 36 professional bouts in his career. Eduardo has scored wins in 13 of his last 14 fights, but injuries have limited him to just three fights in the last four years. Eduardo hasn’t fought since a May 2014 knockout win over Eddie Wineland, but it was his most impressive performance to date inside the Octagon. This is one fight that has been flying under the radar for this crazy fight week. Sterling deserved to be on the main card, and really, this fight did as well. He will show why when he steps into the Octagon on Thursday night.
5. What else on the card is there to keep an eye on?
Rounding out the main card for this UFC Fight Pass exclusive event is a former “TUF” winner, as “TUF: Nations” middleweight winner Elias Theodorou puts his perfect 11-0 record on the line against Thiago Santos. Theodorou is coming off a big TKO win over Roger Narvaez at UFC 185 in March, and he is a solid prospect at 185 pounds. He gets a big test in Santos, who has won three of his last four fights, and is coming off one of the best knockouts of the year, a head kick knockout of Steve Bosse at UFC Fight Night 70 in June. Headlining the preliminary portion of the card is a solid welterweight bout as Tim Means looks to get back into the win column following a loss to Matt Brown when he takes on John Howard, who got back into the win column after ending his three-fight losing skid when he scored a split decision win over Cathal Pendred at UFC 189 in July.
Three other fighters to keep an eye on during the preliminary card are Antonio Carlos Junior, Danny Roberts and Kailin Curran. Carlos Junior is a former “TUF: Brazil” winner as a heavyweight, and has since moved down to 185 pounds, where he has a huge size advantage. However, he utilized IV’s, and this will be his first fight without them, so it will be interesting to see how that effects him. Roberts is making his UFC debut with an 11-1 record and on the heels of five straight wins. He has an excellent mix of skills and has scored nine of his wins by stoppage. Curran is still in search of her first UFC win, having dropped both of her prior UFC bouts. She was in a heated battle with Paige VanZant in her UFC debut, and was dominating her fight with Alex Chambers before being submitted late in the fight. She has a lot of potential and just five career bouts, but gets a favorable match-up taking on Emily Kagan in the opening bout.
Full UFC Fight Night 80 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions
MAIN CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
Women’s Strawweights: (#3) Rose Namajunas vs. (#7) Paige VanZant Betting Odds: Namajunas (+160), VanZant (-185) Prediction: VanZant by submission in round 4
Lightweights: (#14) Jim Miller vs. Michael Chiesa Betting Odds: Miller (+105), Chiesa (-125) Prediction: Miller by decision
Lightweights: Sage Northcutt vs. Cody Pfister Betting Odds: Northcutt (-1250), Pfister (+800) Prediction: Northcutt by knockout in round 1
Middleweights: Elias Theodorou vs. Thiago Santos Betting Odds: Theodorou (-250), Santos (+210) Prediction: Theodorou by knockout in round 2
Welterweights: Tim Means vs. John Howard Betting Odds: Means (-335), Howard (+275) Prediction: Howard by decision
Welterweights: Omari Akhmedov vs. Sergio Moraes Betting Odds: Akhmedov (-140), Moraes (+120) Prediction: Akhmedov by knockout in round 2
Middleweights: Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Kevin Casey Betting Odds: Carlos Junior (-290), Casey (+245) Prediction: Carlos Junior by submission in round 3
Bantamweights: (#5) Aljamain Sterling vs. (#10) Johnny Eduardo Betting Odds: Sterling (-700), Eduardo (+500) Prediction: Sterling by submission in round 2
Welterweights: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Andreas Stahl Betting Odds: Ponzinibbio (-190), Stahl (+165) Prediction: Ponzinibbio by decision
Welterweights: Danny Roberts vs. Nathan Coy Betting Odds: Roberts (-155), Coy (+135) Prediction: Roberts by knockout in round 1
Featherweights: Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Phillipe Nover Betting Odds: Tukhugov (-330), Nover (+270) Prediction: Tukhugov by decision
Women’s Strawweights: Kailin Curran vs. Emily Kagan Betting Odds: Curran (-350), Kagan (+290) Prediction: Curran by submission in round 2
Kansas City, Kansas: – Central States title-wire fence around ring match: Dr. Lee Grable defeated Richard Brown to win Central States title
1959
Pensacola, Florida: – Billy Wicks defeated Pancho Villa in a tournament final to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship
1971
Buffalo, New York: – Dominic DeNucci defeated Waldo Von Erich for the National Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Title
Miami, Florida: – The Alaskans (Mike York & Frank Monte) defeated The Australians (Larry O’Day & Ron Miller) to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Title
1972
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Dusty Rhodes – Billy Robinson beat Dick Murdoch – Superstar Billy Graham beat Don Muraco – Rene Goulet drew Reggie Parks
1973
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Red Bastien – The Crusher no contest Superstar Billy Graham – Chris Taylor (pro debut) beat Rene Goulet – Buddy Wolff beat Geoff Portz – Greg Gagne beat Tony Rocco
1974
Green Bay, Wisconsin: – Baron Von Raschke won a 15 Man, $12,000 Battle Royal – The Crusher beat Horst Hoffman – Ivan Putski drew Baron Von Raschke – Chris Taylor beat Buddy Wolff – Greg Gagne beat Bobby Heenan by countout – Jim Brunzell drew Geoff Portz
1977
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Verne Gagne & the Crusher beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Ray Stevens by count out – AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant – Angelo Mosca beat Larry Hennig – Super Destroyer beat Johnny Solo – Larry Hennig beat Ivan Crankovic – Super Destroyer beat Jan Nelson
1978
Sydney, Australia: – Andre the Giant & Ron Miller defeated Butcher Brannigan & Ox Baker to win the Australian-Asian heavyweight tag team title
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rick Martel – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest AWA Tag Team Champions Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera – Bunkhouse Match: Blackjack Lanza beat Bobby Heenan – Mad Dog Vachon no contest David Shults – Mr Saito beat Baron Von Raschke – Superstar Billy Graham beat Steve Olsonoski – Bulldog Bob Brown beat Bill White
Tokyo, Japan: – Antonio Inoki & Hulk Hogan d Dick Murdock & Adrian Adonis
1990
Memphis, Tennessee: – Tony Anthony & Doug Gilbert defeated Jeff Jarrett & Cody Michaels to win the USWA World Tag Team Title
1994
Atlanta, Georgia: – Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) defeated Stars & Stripes (The Patriot & Marcus Bagwell) to win the WCW World Tag Team Title
2001
Glasgow, Scotland: – Psicosis defeated Juventud Guerrera to win the World Wrestling All-Stars International Cruiserweight Title
2008
Tokyo, Japan: – Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Shuji Kono & Suwama
2013
Tokyo, Japan: – Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson beat Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Comedian Howie Mandel will be appearing at Tuesday’s WWE television tapings in Jacksonville, FL, as part of the Tribute to the Troops show.
Tonight’s show will be a combination taping of Smackdown (which airs Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in most of the rest of the world), and Tribute to the Troops which is scheduled to air on 12/23 in the U.S. on the USA Network.
Mandel, best known for hosting Deal Or No Deal and being a judge on America’s Got Talent, is the only celebrity thus far announced as appearing on the show. Military personnel and their families from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Naval Station Mayport, and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base will be allowed in for free.
WWE started doing Tribute to the Troops in 2003 as the brainchild of John Layfield. At first, WWE performers would put on a show at an international military location, but in recent years, it was taped in conjunction with a regular television taping.
The go-home show for the TLC PPV was strange, but still an improvement from last week. The most relevant long-term takeaway from the show was the instant breakup of the Alberto Del Rio-Zeb Coulter faction. There was a hot opening match and a good singles match between Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler. Then came some strange stuff involving Charlotte and Paige. Followed by even more strange stuff with Titus O’Neal and Stardust.
Show Recap:
The League of Nations were in the ring with its own new music. Sheamus mentioned Rusev from Bulgaria, Alberto Del Rio from Mexico (I thought it was MexAmerica?), King Barrett from England and himself from Ireland. Sheamus said they couldn’t find anyone from America to lace their boots. He talked about how they were the best of the best. Suddenly, the Wyatt Family appeared in the ring. This was the start of their long-awaited face turn, and it took the fans awhile to catch on, but they started chanting “yes.” Bray Wyatt said he didn’t care about nations, this was his world and he was allowing them to breathe in it. They came out to create chaos.
They teased a showdown when the Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer came out. Bubba Ray Dudley and Wyatt jabbered back and forth. Devon Dudley said when you’re extreme, you don’t die, you multiply. Rhyno came out. Considering they used a Robin Harris quote and the word “Extreme,” maybe their gimmick is “That 90s team.”
Just as they were about to get in the ring, Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos came out through the crowd. They’re running 16 guys out there in one match when they have no depth. Fandango vs. Brooklyn Brawler anyone?
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos defeated The League of Nations in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match that also included The Wyatt Family and the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer (21:26)
Fans got into Rhyno for the nostalgia pop Dreamer wore polka-dot pants, I guess as a tribute to Dusty Rhodes. That week on the road must have done a number on Dreamer because he looked like he aged 5 years in one week.
Dreamer pinned Eric Rowan with a DDT to eliminate the Wyatt Family in 4:45. Michael Cole called the DDT a “Dreamer Driver.” Do what?
Sheamus pinned Bubba Ray at 11:06 with a Brogue Kick There was a 12-way brawl midway through this cycle that led to Rhyno and Reigns having a staredown. Man it was scary that someone from the dying days of ECW got a better reaction than the man groomed to be the next John Cena. Del Rio jumped Rhyno before they touched.
Reigns pinned Sheamus with a spear to win the match at 21:26. Really good final sequence where Del Rio tried to pin Reigns after Sheamus hit him with a Brogue Kick outside the ring, but Reigns kicked out. Del Rio then applied the cross armbreaker, but Jimmy Uso broke it up with a splash off the top. Amrbose and Jey Uso did topes on the heels at various points. Strong match overall.
Sheamus sold his ribs backstage when Renee Young walked up to ask him about the match he just lost. A deadly serious Sheamus said Reigns’ victory over him was as close to the world championship as he will ever get. Young asked if there was anything he could learn about tonight’s opening match. Sheamus vowed to make Reigns pay in front of the whole world tonight.
Stardust ranted to himself in his private liar about making the entire WWE Universe see the whole world is a dark place. Titus O’Neal made his weekly appearance and suggested Stardust should leave his dingy room and get some. He didn’t mean that. O’Neal told Stardust to get a life, read a book. Stardust refused to listen. Stardust looked back to respond to O’Neal, who disappeared.
Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae watched from their VIP section.
Kevin Owens (C) defeated Dolph Ziggler in a nontitle match (19:12)
Another good match where Kevin Owens won with a Pop-Up Power Bomb. They worked spots around a side headlock. Dolph Ziggler ran his right shoulder into the post and sold his right shoulder extremely well the rest of the match. High spot included Owens doing a senton into the corner. Ziggler rolled out to the floor several times, but hit Owens with a jumping DDT. Breeze never got involved.
Right after the pin, Ambrose came out eating popcorn and drinking a soft drink. Owens was furious his music didn’t play. Ambrose got in the ring, threw popcorn and drink in Owens’ face and left. Sure made Ambrose look like a jerk.
Wyatt cut a promo on the Dudleys, Dreamer and Rhyno. Braun Strowman said he had a dream where he would become Tommy Dreamer’s worst nightmare.
Miz met with Neville backstage. Miz wanted to teach Neville how to be a true superstar so he could be the next Daniel Bryan. If that happens, I guess we’ll never see any crowd signs for Neville again. This led to Miz bringing in Donny Deutsch, who stars in a new USA Network show called “Donny.” Deutsch used to have a CNBC talk show that had WWE personalities appear all the time. Miz and Deutsch chatted. Neville and Deutsch shook hands. Really was more of a promotional piece than anything.
Naomi and Sasha Banks defeated Brie Bella and Alicia Fox (6:12)
Clumsy match. Naomi pinned Brie Bella with the Rear View after Sasha Banks grabbed her foot from the outside. Not much to it. Team BAD’s new gimmick is saying “Unity” in unison at the highest pitch possible.
Right afterwards, the New Day came out wearing unicorn horns. They gave the members of Team BAD the horns and did a group handshake.
The New Day claimed to submit thousands of baby names to Kanye West and Kim Kardshian. But they don’t believe WWE Tag Team title shots should be handed out generously, saying they had to defend against Lucha Dragons and the Usos in a ladder match. They did a skit to prove they didn’t need ladders, proving they could get a kitten out of a tree without a ladder. To prove it, Big E. played the role of a tree, Kofi Kingston played a kitten. Kingston jumped on top of Big E, while Xavier Woods told Kofi to climb down. Kofi mee-owed. Crowd didn’t really follow it.
Lucha Dragons defeated Kofi Kingston and Big E. (C) in a nontitle match (7:10)
The Usos were at ringside on commentary. Woods blew the trombone into the Usos face, which led to Jey trashing the trombone and going after Woods. Kingston watched this unfold from the ring, which led to Sin Cara getting the pin with an O’Connor Roll.
Reigns did an interview. Note to self: never watch Mid-South episodes on Raw days. Watching Bill Watts, Jim Cornette and even Terry Taylor cut these promos that were short on polish and high on emotion and drawing money makes the current product look so colorless. Reigns said he would face Sheamus later tonight to see who would teach who a lesson.
On that note, it was time for MizTv. Charlotte and Ric Flair came out. Charlotte told Miz that he didn’t introduce her father correctly, clearly teasing a heel turn. Charlotte and her father had matching Rolex watches. Flair said he would be in Charlotte’s corner for her title match against Paige at TLC. Miz brought up Charlotte’s win over Becky Lynch. Charlotte interrupted Miz saying she was going to do what it took to win.
Miz did a babyface speech saying that Charlotte has changed and wanted to know what she had to say to Paige. Charlotte said if she had anything to say, she would say it on Sunday. Miz said Piage interferred with her friendship with Lynch and wanted to know why Charlotte wouldn’t answer the question. Flair got up and talked Miz down. Miz said Charlotte was hiding behind her father. Miz pressed on until Charlotte spoke up and called Paige a “two-faced gothic piece of trash.” Charlotte said she would destroy Paige for everything she ever said about Charlotte.
Miz brought out Paige, who got a babyface pop. Did a miss Paige’s babyface turn? Flair took Charlotte out of the ring instead of confronting Paige. Charlotte left, but Paige slapped Flair. That led Flair to tell Charlotte to get her. Then came a weird sequence. Charlotte jumped on Paige, who didn’t get a comeback and rolled out of the ring. Isn’t it usually the newly turned babyface who has to be pulled off the newly turned heel? And wasn’t Miz the Flair in waiting two years ago?
Ryback and Rusev went to a double countout (10:13)
Ryback chased Rusev around the ring until Ryback appeared to run into Lana, who feigned an ankle injury. As Ryback checked on her, Rusev jumped him from behind and put him in the Accolade. Lana showed the ankle injury was a gimmick, then laughed as she and Rusev kissed. Lana did an inset promo saying she knew Ryback didn’t mean to hurt her last week when he rammed the steps into her last week. Cole billed this as a weird interview and he was right. Ryback did a rolling tope to the floor, which wasn’t flawless but damn impressive for someone his size.
They showed a teaser for Shawn Michaels podcast interview with Steve Austin. Of course, they broached the subjet of Montreal. Austin asked Michaels if the scenario where Bret Hart would be placed in the Sharpshooter was Michaels’ idea, and they cut to the end before Michaels could answer. I’m going to create a bingo card for all the answers that Michaels has given about Montreal over the past 18 years. He went from saying it wasn’t his idea, to telling RF Video that Bret had proof that Michaels wasn’t involved in the screw job in the “Wrestling with Shadows” documentary footage but didn’t show it, to admitting he did know about it, and then claiming it was his idea. Wonder which answer Shawn’s God likes?
Jack Swagger defeated Stardust (3:36)
The match was in progress when Del Rio and Zeb Coulter came out. O’Neal was on commentary. He’s basically doing Dave Meltzer’s gimmick where he wants Cody Rhodes to drop the Stardust character. Swagger won with the Patriot Lock. Immediately afterwards, Del Rio popped Swagger with a hard chair shot. Stardust came up from behind Del Rio. O’Neal screamed “Del Rio, look out!” Wasn’t he trying to help Stardust? Why did he need to warn Del Rio since he had a chair? Del Rio hit Stardust.
Then Swagger popped up from the chair shot after barely selling it. He and Del Rio each had a chair at this point. Swagger swung and knocked the chair out of Del Rio’s hands. Del Rio stumbled over Coulter’s motorized cart. Swagger then yelled at Coulter about how he had turned his back on the people and his country. Coutler rode off on his cart.
The Rose Bush atrocity saw a 2nd week. Adam Rose said the Miz was trying to use Neville for a remake of Dumbo, which Neville was a shoo-in for. They implied Neville had a big nose. Ungodly bad stuff.
In the back, Del Rio was mad at Coulter because he tripped over Coulter’s cart. ADR told Coulter he didn’t want him around anymore. Coulter tried to but in and remind ADR that he was the reason ADR held the U.S. Championship, but ADR wasn’t hearing any of it. Coulter rode away. So this pairing is history, and not a moment too soon. This was an ill-advised act from the beginning and it was best to cut bait while they could.
Braun Strowman defeated Tommy Dreamer by submission (2:43)
It was what you would think. Strowman won with the head-and-arm choke. JBL compared Strowman to Bill Kazmaier, which could be prescient, but not in the way he meant.
Reigns showed up to the ring, which had tables, ladders and chairs in it. Reigns remembered that’s how the Shield started, in a TLC match. He started climbing the ladder as a metaphor for his career. Crowd chanted “what” at him. Reigns said it was Sheamus who knocked him down this ladder. He said he wasn’t leaving until Sheamus showed up.
Sheamus came out. He said Roman was out of touch. Fancy that line coming from this company. Sheamus vowed to beat Reigns again. They bickered back and forth until Reigns got off this line saying that he thought Sheamus had potatoes, but it turns out he has Tater Tots. That succeeded in getting the crowd to chant “Tater Tots.” Sheamus started to run in the ring, but he stopped. Sheamus said he was going to build a castle of mangled ladders, broken chairs and tables on top of Reigns. Again, Roman challenged him.
Sheamus said if he got in the ring, Sheamus would hit him with a chair. So Reigns threw the chair away. Reigns said he didn’t want Reigns to power bomb him through a table. So Reigns put the table away. Then Sheamus wanted the ladder put away, Reigns did that. This was going on forever. Crowd did respond with more Tater Tot chants.
Sheamus finally got in the ring put Reigns decked him quickly. Reigns started to clear the announcer’s table when Sheamus made a comeback. They fought into the crowd, where Reigns dumped a trash can on him. They spilled out into the fans with more brawling and worked their way to the ramp. Reigns teased power bombing Sheamus off the ramp, but Sheamus stopped him and rammed Reigns into the tables and chairs on the set. Sheamus gave him a chair shot. Reigns popped up like Swagger earlier. At least they were consistent. Reigns hit Sheamus with a chair.
They fought back to where they started, where Sheamus tried to power bomb Reigns through the table, but Regins escaped. Reigns tried to spear Sheamus through the announcer’s table, but Sheamus dodged him. Sheamus rose his arms, but Reigns got up and speared Sheamus through a set of tables set up at ringside. There were some “Roman” chants, but the crowd was pretty quiet for most of this segment and much of the hour overall.
SUMMARY: This was a show booked in reverse. We got a solid first hour and it just lost steam from there. Reigns and Sheamus feels like a cold program, which anyone who watched Sheamus win the title would have predicted. I might regret writing this, but Reigns doesn’t have that special quality as a main eventer. He can’t carry a 10-minute talking segment and the fans don’t see him as a top of the card talent. Maybe an upper midcarder, but he isn’t getting the reaction of a star. On the bright side, moving Del Rio away from Coulter was for the best. No one needs to steal Del Rio’s spotlight because he can be a top heel if booked properly.
