By Tony Earnshaw
Neville pinned Stardust
Damien Sandow & Fandango beat Heath Slater & Adam Rose.
Alberto Del Rio beat Jack Swagger & King Barrett in a Triple Threat to retain the US Title.
Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan & Luke Harper beat Usos & Ryback.
Bayley & Becky Lynch beat Sasha Banks & Naomi.
Lucha Dragons beat Los Matadores & The Ascension in a tag elimination match.
Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a no holds barred match.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including a look at the record-low Raw ratings from Monday night, the collapse in hour three, WWE title tournament booking, Roman Reigns, your calls and emails and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with a Raw Reaction show, tons of thoughts from Monday night, the usual outrage over BIG SHOW VERSUS ROMAN REIGNS AGAIN, thoughts on the tournament format, winners and losers, goofy booking of babyfaces and more, plus your calls and texts! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight to talk all the news in pro-wrestling including tons of thoughts on Raw from Monday night, the tournament matches, live reports and why it appeared the crowd was so dead, New Japan’s announcements for the Tokyo Dome and the G-1 Tag League Tournament, Dorian Roldan talks AAA and Alberto, Cibernetico may or may not have quit, tons of mailbag questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The bracketing for the WWE World Championship tournament which starts tonight on Raw and will continue with first round matches at Smackdown goes like this:
Roman Reigns vs. Big Show (Reigns winning) versus the Cesaro vs. Sheamus winner (Cesaro winning).
Alberto Del Rio vs. Stardust winner (takes place tomorrow at the Smackdown tapings in Manchester) versus the Kalisto vs. Ryback winner (takes place tomorrow).
Kevin Owens vs. Titus O’Neil (Owens winning) versus the Neville vs. Barrett winner (takes place tomorrow).
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz (Ziggler winning) vsersus Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze (Ambrose winning).
The winner of the Reigns vs. Cesaro match will face the winner coming out of Del Rio vs. Stardust and Kalisto vs. Ryback series in one semifinal.
The other semifinal will be Owens versus the Neville vs. Barrett winner against the winner of Ambrose vs. Ziggler.
If this goes via predictable patterns (and we are told it will be fairly predictable) the semifinals would be Reigns vs. Del Rio and Ambrose vs. Owens.
Raw kicks off at 8 ET/5 PT tonight for a show taped this afternoon in Manchester, England. Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer will review the entire show later on tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with a FREE show today talking all the news in WWE regarding Seth Rollins and where they go from here, the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame issue available now for subscribers and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Information on how to read the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2015 Hall of Fame issue is here!
Submitted by Jonathan Mitchell
– From the SSE Hydro
– Lilian Garcia was the ring announcer for the night, and she began the show with an impressive rendition of the Scottish national anthem, ‘Flower of Scotland’.
This was the first time I had heard this sung prior to a WWE live event in Scotland.
– Neville beat Stardust, pinfall after red arrow.
– Damien Sandow beat Heath Slater, schoolboy roll up for pinfall. The match lasted less than one minute. Sandow was the babyface but using original gimmick with navy blue robe, pink trunks, purple knee pads. Slater’s entrance theme was the ‘3MB’ version, with distinct lyrics stating: ‘We’re a three-man band!”
– Jack Swagger beat King Barrett, submission to patriot lock. Barrett cut excellent pre-match promo in a mock (but reasonable attempt at) Scottish accent, playing on the fact he is English and the rivalry between the countries, saying that he was the crowd’s local hero because there are no Scottish wrestlers in WWE because they are “pish”.
– The Wyatts (Braun Strowman, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan) beat The Usos and Dean Ambrose, one of the Usos (I was too far away to tell which one) submitting to Strowman’s standing triangle choke). Wyatt family entered to Luke Harper music and video (one with crazy eyes).
– Ryback beat WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens, disqualification after eye rake by Owens.
– Natalya and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Sasha Banks and Tamina Snuka (w/ Naomi ringside), Tamina submitting to Natalya sharpshooter. Bayley entered to generic rock music and not her regular NXT theme. A no frills entrance without inflatable, waving figures. Garcia announced Tamina Snuka as ‘accompanying team BAD members Naomi and Sasha Banks’ but Snuka wrestled the match with Naomi ringside.
– WWE U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio beat Fandango, pinfall after double-foot stomp into Fandango who was balanced between middle ropes on turnbuckle. Del Rio came out waving Mex-American flag.
– Lucha Dragons beat Los Matadores and The Ascension in a triple threat, pinfall by either Sin Cara or Kalisto on either Diego or Fernando [can’t remember which]. El Torito ran out to generic music to aid the Lucha Dragons against Los Matadores and turn the match.
– Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a no holds barred fight, pinfall after spear. Reigns entered through crowd, despite logistical difficulties in SSE Hydro arena layout, while Wyatt entered alone. Use of kendo stick, chairs, steel steps (once quite inventively) and tables, with both competitors put through a table, Harper and Rowan ran down ramp to interfere, Usos made the first save, Strowman followed and destroyed Usos single-handedly while Ambrose made second save
Notes:
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with a huge show. Dave Meltzer joins us to talk all the news on Seth Rollins being injured and stripped of the WWE Title, thoughts on the newest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and more! Plus, Caleb Konley joins us to talk indy wrestling, EVOLVE this weekend and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
On Thursday, WWE’s injury and superstar woes got even worse as WWE.com announced WWE Champion Seth Rollins tore his right ACL, MCL, and medial meniscusduring a match with Kane in Dublin, Ireland, and will be out of action six-to-nine months.
Rollins was doing a power bomb spot out of the corner when his knee buckled and he collapsed. He finished the match but then needed to be helped to the back afterwards.
Because of the severity of the injury, WWE has announced that his scheduled match with Roman Reigns will not take place at November 22nd’s Survivor Series in Atlanta, GA, and he is being stripped of the WWE Title. It appears from the WWE.com story that the plan is to run a tournament at the Survivor Series pay-per-view to crown a new WWE Champion.
With John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Randy Orton among the major stars on hiatus for various reasons at the moment, the timing of this injury could not be worse. One WWE source noted that some phone calls are likely already being made to some very big names.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discuss how the injury happened, how is next in line to be elevated with John Cena, Randy Orton and others gone, and more on Thursday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live available for members.
WWE champion Seth Rollins was injured and carried out of the ring at today’s WWE European tour opening show in Dublin, Ireland.
Rollins was defending his title against Kane in the main event, and was doing a powerbomb spot out of the corner (which started as a sunset flip) when his right leg gave out and he clutched at the knee. A table had been set up in the ring and Rollins looked to be getting ready to powerbomb Kane through it.
He did get up and continue the match, including doing the power bomb through the table, but had to be helped out of the ring. The severity of the injury is unknown as of this writing. Obviously, if Rollins continues to work the tour, it wouldn’t appear to be a serious injury.
A split WWE crew is working twenty different house shows over the next eleven days. Rollins is scheduled to defend the WWE title against Roman Reigns at the Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 22nd at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA.