They showed clips of Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at WM25 before the show started. No dark matches. As for the house, it was pretty good. Just the top tier of the Boardwalk Hall and a bit near the Titantron was unoccupied.
– Dolph Ziggler and The Usos vs Miz and the Dudley Boys
The faces win via pin with a triple superkick on the miz. 15 mins, fun spirited little opener.
– Kevin Owens promo to remind the fans about the 30 min Ironman match for the title. He calls AJ a rookie, and vows to make AJ disappear without him ever getting to pin KO.
– Sin Cara vs Rusev w/ Lana
Lana cuts a pre-match promo on AC, calling it a knockoff of Vegas. USA chants for Bulgarian Rusev and Mexican Sin Cara. Rusev dominates most of the match and wins with the Accolade in 7 mins.
– Social Outcasts (Slate & Axel) vs Damien Sandow and Neville
Social Outcasts cut a promo before match. Bo is ringside but there’s no Adam Rose tonight. Comedy match for the most part. Neville pins Axel with Red Arrow in about 10 mins.
– Tyler Breeze vs Ryback
Ryback was a babyface in this match, which solidifies Breeze as an unloved jobber. Ryback pins Breeze with a Shellshock in a 7 minute squash match.
– Alberto Del Rio vs. U.S. Champion Kalisto
Kalisto retains with a Salida Del Sol after rana’ing ADR into an exposed turnbuckle that ADR undid himself in 10 mins.
– A short video package for WM 32 aired featuring the Rock. Chimel announced an intermission.
– Naomi and Tamina Snuka vs Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks
Paige was special guest referee. Tamina tapped to the Banks Statement in 9 mins.
– Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan vs. Big Show and Kane
No pyro. Big Show with probably the biggest face reactions of the night up to this point when he tagged in 2 mins into the march. House shows are weird. Slow big man match. Big Show was so seriously over that it weirded me out. Hot tag to Big Show and Show runs wild. Double chokeslam to Rowan by Kane and Show for the pin in 10 minutes.
– Short video thanking the fans before the final match of the evening.
– AJ Styles vs WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens in a 30 minute Ironman match
Nearly three minutes were spent on Owens stalling outside until AJ plancha’d KO. The next five or so minutes were spent on chinlocks and chinlock-counters. Lots of these throughout the match.
First fall: KO via countout when AJ got superkicked ringside with 13:20 left.
Second fall: KO via pinfall with the Pop-up Powerbomb with 12:50 left.
Third fall: AJ applies an Oklahoma roll pin with 11:20 left.
Fourth fall: KO counters the rolling pin attempt by AJ with a straddling pin of his own (like Bulldog over Bret at Summerslam 92) but while grabbing the ropes for another pinfall with 9:24 left.
Fifth fall: AJ counters pop-up Powerbomb with a rana pin with 7:30 left.
AJ applies the calf crusher with a minute left but KO does not tap. KO wins 3-2.
Overall, a good house show, but it was a house show so although there was a lot of good action, there also was a lot of stalling and showboating in every match. After the show ended, KO puts over AJ on the mic post-match and then put himself over as the greatest IC champ of all time until AJ returns and hits the springboard forearm on KO to close the show and send the people home happy. I did not consider the B-show to be that much inferior to Roadblock, and the talent that appeared and the matches themselves were quite good.
– Enzo Amore & Big Cass w/Carmella def. NXT Tag Champions The Revival Dawson & Wilder in a non-title match
Their act wasn’t as over as in some U.S cities, but the S-A-W-F-T had a decent reaction and they got a “How you doin?” chant at the beginning of the match. Good opener. Enzo and Big Cass won with the Rocket Launcher.
– Jack Swagger b Stardust
Dead spot, but it was what it was. Swagger won with the Patriot Lock.
– Goldust b Viktor
Okay match. Viktor rolled up Goldust while holding the ropes. The referee caught him, Goldust reversed him for the pin. After the match, Ascension beat up Goldust until R-Truth did the save.
– Brock Lesnar b Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper in a handicap match
Bray did a promo saying that Brock would have to face both Bray and Luke Harper. Heyman cut a short promo and announced Brock from Saskatchewan, Canada. He sure doesn’t know much about Canadian politics!
Brock beat Harper with the F-5 in a short match, something like five minutes. Brock got a great reaction from the crowd as did Heyman especially when he took the mic from Jojo, who’s the ring announcer tonight. Crowd chanted “na na na hey hey good bye” to Harper.
– Divas Champion Charlotte w/Ric Flair b Natalya
Charlotte won with her feet on the ropes. Good match. Flair got a good pop. Crowd was into it.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) w/Xavier Woods b League of Nations (Sheamus & Wade Barrett) by DQ
Good match. The finish saw Kofi pinning Sheamus, but Barrett broke the pin with the trombone. After the match, Xavier and Big E hit the Midnight Hour on Barrett.
– Pat Patterson came to the ring and thanked the crowd for the homage he got the last time. He said that Montreal was the best wrestling town. He thanked Jojo and said she was beautiful and good!!
– Sami Zayn vs. I-C Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose
Zayn got a huge “ole ole” chant when he revealed his Montreal Canadiens jersey. He was at the hockey game last night, got a 30 seconds interview on the giant screen and got a jersey from the team with his name on the back. Kevin Owens got a bigger pop than Zayn which is normal since he’s been on Raw and SmackDown for a longer time. Owens refused to shake hands with Patterson.
Owens and Zayn got a lot of time only the two of them in the ring. This is awesome chants early in the match. Package piledriver into a side suplex. Blue Thunder Bomb by Zayn for a two count. Crowd was really into it. Owens super kicked both Zayn and Ambrose before Ambrose got Owens with the Lunatic Lariat. Another this is awesome chant. Zayn got a close pin too. Dirty Deeds on Zayn. Owens broke the pin with a Senton Bomb and pinned Zayn for the win. Very good match. Best match on the card. By far.
Ambrose and Zayn stayed in the ring after the show. He said that everyone should be inspired by Zayn. Zayn was a bigger local star by the end of the match. Sami chants. He said that him and Kevin started from the bottom here in Montreal and now they are main-eventing the Bell Centre and he thanked the fans. He said that sooner or later he would beat Owens for the IC title, maybe at WrestleMania. Good babyface promo. He was just missing some French to get the crowd even more behind him.
Crowd was pretty dead for this match who didn’t know who Corbin was. Corbin won with End of Days.
– Sin Cara vs. Stardust
Good pop for both, good match. Crowd really into chanting “Cody”. Sin Cara went over.
– R-Truth vs. Adam Rose
R-Truth wins with help from Goldust.
– Alberto Del Rio vs. U.S. Champion Kalisto
Good match. Kalisto wins. Crowd really into the match.
– Team B.A.D. vs. Summer Rae and Sasha Banks
Summer and Sasha win. Crowd into Sasha. “We want Sasha ” chants throughout match.
– Sheamus vs. Mark Henry
Sheamus wins.
– Dean Ambrose vs. I-C Champion Kevin Owens
Ambrose wins via DQ I think for refusing to stop kicking Ambrose in the corner? Owens gets on mic, downtalks Evansville and a kid with a sign that said “sux” instead of “sucks”. Ambrose hits the dirty deeds. Crowd goes home happy.
Overall, it was a good, solid house show. Ambrose and Owens by far the most over people all night.
Don’t hold your breath given changes are made weekly, but I-C champion Kevin Owens vs. A.J. Styles’ first singles match in WWE (at least the first one being advertised) is on the docket for the March 25th MSG house show in NYC, also billed as Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night.
We incorrectly noted Thursday that the Styles/Owens match would be their first ever. They actually wrestled a singles match in upstate New York a few years ago for the 2CW promotion as well as for the House of Hardcore promotion.
A new lineup was released Thursday for the show with a number of changes from the original lineup. The new main event has Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. WWE Champion HHH & Sheamus. Originally, HHH was going to be in Sheamus’ corner for a singles match with Reigns.
Additionally, two other announced matches are U.S. Champion Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio, and Big Show vs. Bray Wyatt. Additionally, Bryan will be there to address the crowd for his Appreciation Night.
Alberto Del Rio interfered for the DQ and Dean Ambrose made the save. This set up a tag team match for later in the show.
U.S. Champion Kalisto pinned Kevin Owens.
Dolph Ziggler was on commentary and distracted Owens. After the match, Owens laid both Ziggler and Kalisto out.
– The Miz did an interview talking about his upcoming match with A.J. Styles.
Ryback beat Erick Rowan
After the match, Braun Strowman attacked Ryback. Ryback has no gear. He’s ditched the singlet and is now wearing regular tights.
– Renee Young interviewed Becky Lynch. Sasha Banks came out during the interview.
A.J. Styles beat The Miz via submission with the calf killer
After the match, Chris Jericho cut a promo and challenged Styles to a match next week on Smackdown, which will be taped this coming Tuesday in Portland, OR.
– They advertised Brock Lesnar’s first live Smackdown appearance in a decade for Tuesday night in Portland, OR.
– Roman Reigns did an interview regarding the main event.
– The New Day did an interview. The Social Outcasts, minus Bo Dallas came out.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day beat The Social Outcasts.
Charlotte beat Alicia Fox with the figure eight.
Brie Bella was at ringside.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat Rusev & Alberto Del Rio.
Packed house at the Turner Hall Ballroom. Crowd was hot for the entire show.
NXT Tag Champions The Mechanics (Dash & Dawson) def. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
Show opened with Dash and Dawson vs Enzo and Big Cass for the tag team championships. Enzo said that tonight they would get redemption for what happened in the UK. Lots of Enzo flying around spots. Dash and Dawson ended up getting the win on a roll up after the ref was getting Cassady out of the ring when he didn’t see him tag in.
Carmella def. Alexa Bliss
Carmella got on the mic and said for tonight only she was going to be the princess of Milwaukee. Good chain wrestling from these two. Carmella gets Bliss to tap out with a choke via her leg around Alexa’s neck.
Elias Samson def. Bull Dempsey
Bull comes out with a youth cheesehead on, which gets a great reaction. Then, the lights went out. A spot light shined on the bar to the left of the ring and Samson’s music hit to which he got up from the bar and went to the ring. Pretty neat concept for an entrance, just not sure how this character sets him apart from the rest. The match takes a while to get underway after Samson is not thrilled with Dempsey’s squats. Dempsey also removed the cheesehead, but the crowd urged him to wear it while he wrestled. Samson won with a swinging neck breaker (I believe). This was a total comedy match. After the match, Samson spit on the cheesehead and ripped it into pieces. Dempsey got ahold of Samson’s guitar, took the money from it, and threw the bills into the crowd.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. NIa Jax
Jax was in control for much of the match. Bayley eventually made her comeback and actually hit the Bayley to belly finisher on Jax.
INTERMISSION
Sami Zayn def. Tommaso Ciampa
Crowd was split 50/50 for this as Ciampa calls Milwaukee home. This was easily match of the night. Get, stuff match. Ciampa was chopping and slapping Zayn so hard that blood blisters were seen on Zayn’s chest and neck. Zayn hit his usual dive to the outside. Ciampa hit Zayn with a power bomb back breaker for a 2 count that had everyone fooled as the actual finish. Crowd really got into this match. Zayn won with the helluva kick.
After the match, Zayn and Ciampa shook hands out of respect in the ring. Zayn got in the mic and talked about ECW running shows in Turner Hall 15 years ago and that what NXT is doing today is exactly what ECW was doing 15 years ago. Zayn mentioned that someone told him that Turner Hall was their favorite venue to work at, and after wrestling in it tonight, he agrees….Kevin Owens!
Owens comes out and says that person was him that told him that and that Turner Hall was supposed to be the last venue he worked as an independent wrestler before he went to WWE but do to circumstances beyond his control, he never got to wrestle at Turner Hall. Owens said that Sami is probably getting a little upset at Owens, but said he knew Sami wasn’t going to do anything about it because Owens is too important. Owens said that while he’s been main eventing Raw, Smackdown, live events etc, Zayn has been sitting in his couch nursing his injuries. This lead to Zayn kicking Owens in the face. Owens retreats and Zayn says that he can have his Raw and Smackdown, because NXT belongs to Sami Zayn.
Eva Marie def. Peyton Royce
Yep, they followed up the match of the night and biggest surprise of the night with EVA MARIE. Nothing really to write home about. Royce has some great leg kicks. Eva wins with a spinning neck breaker.
NXT Champion Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews vs Baron Corbin
Corbin stayed out of the ring to start but while Finn and Crews were tied up, Corbin would trip one of the two. Finn and Crews teamed up to take out Corbin and his shenanigans. Finn and Crews had a great series of moves, counters, holds, etc. Corbin eventually got some offense on both Finn and Crews. Couple cool, fast paced spots involving all 3 competitors. At one point, Corbin had Crews in a head lock, which allowed Finn to drop kick Corbin and Corbin’s momentum caused Crews to be DDTed. Finish saw Crews hit the standing moonsault on Corbin, Finn broke up the pinball with a Cope de Grace and was able to pin Corbin. After the match, Crews and Finn posed for the crowd. They shook hands, hugged, and threw up the “2 Sweet” sign.
– Night begins with guest General Manager Ric Flair. Crowd predictably went nuts for Flair.
– WWE Tag Team Titles Elimination Match: New Day def Dudleys, New Day, and Prime Time Players
Prime Time eliminated first. New Day win with a pin on Devon. Very little actual wrestling. Poor match. Woods put through a table with a power bomb after the win.
– Zack Ryder def. The Miz
Ryder gets the pin in uneventful match.
– Sheamus def. Cesaro
Good reactions for both. Sheamus wins with brogue kick in an entertaining match.
– WWE Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Paige vs. Alicia Fox
Charlotte made Fox tap out to retain title. Paige was noteworthy for generating good heat with crowd.
– Kane def. Big Show in a no-DQ match
Kane wins by chokeslam through a table after Show tried coming off the turnbuckle.
– Curtis Axel def. Bo Dallas
Axel pins Dallas in less than a minute. Dallas protests he wasn’t ready, challenges anyone in the back to a match. R-Truth answers. After some stalling and a pointless dance-off, Truth pins Dallas in the less than a minute. Crowd less than impressed.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Tyler Breeze with Summer Rae
Decent match with quite a few back and forth pin attempts. Summer Rae banished from ringside by referee. Ziggler gets pin with a superkick.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose
Decent enough match. Owens gets himself disqualified with a chair shot. Attacks Ambrose with chair after the bell. Ziggler runs in and makes the save, Sheamus comes in attacks Ziggler. Cesaro runs in and gets Sheamus with Cesaro Swing, New Day run in to attack Cesaro, closely followed by Dudleys who join the melee. Dudleys, Ambrose and Cesaro corner Owens and Ambrose exacts revenge.
– Air Date: November 5, 2015 (Nov 4 in Canada) – Location: World Arena in Colorado Springs, CO
The Big News:
Kevin Owens escaped a non-title match with Dean Ambrose by tricking the referee.
Show Recap:
They announced two matches for tonight – a “traditional” four vs. four Survivor Series tag match, and Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens non-title (as usual, they didn’t mention that it was non-title).
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter came out to start. Colter said there was no room for hate in MexAmerica and he called the people haters. He said everyone has people they hate, and he called those people black hearts. Ok? Del Rio said Viva MexAmerica. Jerry Lawler and Rich Brennan were both confused. Me too. Why are they heels if they want to bring people together and eliminate hate?
Non-Title: U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter) beat Neville via pinfall
Lawler said he wasn’t sure if Neville has faced anyone with the experience of Del Rio. Neville almost beat John Cena a few months ago. Neville hit a hurricanrana and had control early until Del Rio used a back stabber. During a commercial break, Del Rio launched Neville into the barricade. Neville fought out of a headlock and used kicks and a moonsault to the outside, followed by a rana into a pin attempt for a near fall.
Del Rio was able to knock Neville off the top and hit a weak-looking double footstomp for the win. After the match, Del Rio jumped back in the ring and superkicked Neville and applied the arm bar. Neville tapped wildly until Jack Swagger ran out to make the save. The two men faced off but Del Rio wagged his finger and left. Neville sat up at this point and I wondered why he didn’t just run after Del Rio. The match was alright.
The Usos beat The Ascension via pinfall
The Usos got a good reaction and people were doing their chant as the match started. Ascension worked over Jimmy briefly until he made the hot tag. Jey used a Samoan drop and running hip attack on Viktor but Konnor broke up the cover. Jimmy hit Konnor with a superkick, but Konnor bounced off the ropes, so Jimmy and Jey did a double superkick to knock him out of the ring. They also did a double superkick to Viktor and Jey finished him off with a flying splash for the win. Booker called the Usos the most exciting tag-team in history.
8-Man Elimination Tag Match: The Wyatt Family beat Prime Time Players & Lucha Dragons
The Wyatts took turns working over Darren Young. Eventually, Braun Strowman applied the head-and-arm choke, with the ropes separating himself and Darren. Strowman let go after the referee counted to four, and Darren dropped to the outside where he was counted out. Titus went to check on him so Strowman attacked him from behind. The Lucha Dragons just stood there and watched.
After a break, they worked over Titus until he made a tag to Sin Cara, who used a hurricanrana on Harper and suicide dive to Rowan. Sin Cara did a rana into a pin for a two count and a tornado DDT, but Rowan broke it up. Harper came back with a discus clothesline for the pinfall.
Kalisto used kicks on Harper but got nailed with a suplex and the Wyatts took over again. Kalisto crawled for a tag but two Wyatts took Titus off the apron. Kalisto came back anyway with a spike hurricane on Harper and springboard kick to Bray. Titus was still out, allowing Rowan to hit a tackle and full nelson slam. Rowan pinned Kalisto.
Titus made his comeback on Harper, including a power slam for two. He followed with a sitout powerbomb but Bray and Rowan broke up the cover. Strowman put him in the head-and-arm choke, Bray tagged himself in and hit Sister Abigail for the win. Clean sweep for the Wyatts.
Recap: Braun Strowman eliminated Darren Young via countout, Luke Harper eliminated Sin Cara via pinfall, Erick Rowan eliminated Kalisto via pinfall, Bray Wyatt eliminated Titus O’Neil via pinfall. This wasn’t much of a match outside of Kalisto’s offense.
Backstage, Dean Ambrose told Renee Young that he prepared for tonight by waking up early, around 11:00 AM, taking in some fresh Colorado air and by speaking with John Denver (who’s dead.) Owens walked up asking what Ambrose was talking about. Owens said he was annoying Renee and told him that he’d be facing the greatest Intercontinental champion of all-time. Ambrose laughed and said he can pin Owens tonight just like he did on Raw. Owens said tonight wouldn’t be a 10-man circus like Raw and Ambrose said we’ll see. Owens walked away.
Ryback beat King Barrett via pinfall
Barrett had the heat for a few minutes but Ryback won with a shell shocked.
Backstage, Sasha Banks told Renee that they gave Natalya the attention she wanted by attacking her. Renee said Natalya challenged the “leader of Team B.A.D.” tonight. Naomi said that stuff might work on Team P.C.B. but it won’t work on them, because they know who their leader is. Sasha intimated that it was her who would accept the challenge and walked off. Naomi gave her a look before following. Tamina gave Renee a look, but Renne just smirked because she’s not intimidated I guess.
Natalya beat Tamina (w/Naomi & Sasha Banks) via pinfall
Tamina stepped in and took the challenge. Naomi and Sasha were just fine with this. Tamina had the heat for a while until Natalya came back with a clothesline. She went for a sharpshooter but Sasha distracted her, allowing Tamina to hit a Samoan drop. Tamina went for a splash but Natalya got her legs up and followed with a school boy for the win. Tamina is bad so this was not good. The crowd didn’t care either, outside of some light chants for Banks.
Non-Title: IC Champion Kevin Owens beat Dean Ambrose via DQ
After a break, Owens had control after tossing Ambrose into the barricade twice, hitting a senton and gutbuster. Ambrose came back with a superplex and tornado DDT for a near fall. Owens tried a pop-up powerbomb, but Ambrose jumped over him. Owens hit a superkick, but that sent Ambrose into the ropes and he bounced back with a clothesline.
Ambrose kicked Owens in the gut (to set up Dirty Deeds) but Owens dropped down and sold it like he was kicked in the nuts. The referee checked on him and called Ambrose for the DQ. They showed two replays and Ambrose clearly kicked him in the gut. The referee saw the replays and began yelling at Owens, who grabbed his title and began leaving since the match was over.
As Owens left, Ambrose nailed him with a suicide dive, then hit another one on the other side of the ring. Ambrose went after him but Owens bailed through the crowd. Ambrose was pissed but posed in the ring as the show ended. Match was good while it lasted.
Final Thoughts:
Thanks to a skeleton crew, this was basically a straight wrestling show with only two backstage interviews and the usual Raw highlights. And not a particularly good one.
Since not much happened, a minor point: The Lucha Dragons should not have been fed to the Wyatts. They just come off two big wins in a row (Smackdown last week and Monday’s Raw) and this was a total setback. The Wyatts winning their match in a clean sweep is perfectly fine, it just should’ve been against some other team with PTP.
Also, if you care, at least five different wrestlers used superkicks tonight.
