The WWE announced today that The Undertaker would not be appearing on the U.K. tour after all.
The Undertaker’s status has changed constantly over the past week, but the announcements yesterday that HHH and Shane McMahon would be appearing on the tour is because both were going in place of Undertaker.
Undertaker was originally going to do the entire tour, then his schedule was cut to three dates, then to two, then to zero.
The show in Newcastle on Wednesday, which was going to be his only house show, was announced as having a HHH vs. Dean Ambrose main event, plus A.J. Styles vs. Chris Jericho and Kalisto vs. Ryback vs. Alberto Del Rio for the U.S. title.
The web site is also listing Kane, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens, King Barrett, Big Show, Paige, Natalya, Goldust, Eva Marie, Damien Sandow, The Miz, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Naomi, Tamina, R-Truth, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, and Fandango for the show.
Rose is obviously also off the show due to his being on a 60 day suspension for a Wellness policy violation.
Results from today’s show in Birmingham, England:
Cesaro beat Stardust Sin Cara beat Tyler Breeze Jack Swagger beat Tyler Breeze Kane beat Rusev New Day beat Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman to retain the tag titles Charlotte won over Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to keep the women’s title Usos beat Dudleys Roman Reigns beat Sheamus to retain the WWE title
WWE officials have informed us that Undertaker will be doing two shows next week on the European tour.
Undertaker is scheduled to appear on 4/19 in London, which are the Smackdown tapings, and will be doing a 4/20 house show in Newcastle.
Yesterday we had been told that he would be off the tour, but it was explained that there was a misunderstanding and he is off most of the tour, with Kane replacing him in all the other cities that he was originally advertised.
Undertaker was originally going to work the entire tour doing tag team matches in most cities. Last week he was pulled from advertising on most of the shows, but not all of them. As of yesterday, he was being advertised for three dates on the tour.
Originally, the European Tour was scheduled to be headlined by Undertaker on one side and Daniel Bryan appearances on the other, so had Undertaker pulled out of the entire tour they would have lost both of its headline acts.
Tonight’s Raw from Chicago will be highlighted by Shane McMahon’s 2nd Raw appearance since his surprise return. It’ll be interesting to see if the huge reception he received in Detroit was just a one-week pop or something sustainable until WrestleMania. Tonight’s show will serve a dual purpose of building WrestleMania along with Road Block this Saturday, where HHH will headline against Dean Ambrose for the WWE title. The WWE website has teased Kevin Owens not having a match set for WrestleMania, so he may factor into that finish to resume his program with Ambrose. Also tonight, the New Day will defend the tag team titles against Y2AJ. Now that the Divas Championship is a three-way match with Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks, there will likely be an angle to start that build, as well.
Our coverage starts at 8 ET.
The Big Takeaway: Shane McMahon returned to continue the buildup for WrestleMania with a verbal dual with his father. Highlight of the show was the New Day beating Y2AJ to retain the World Tag Team Titles in an awesome match. Afterwards, Chris Jericho turned heel on A.J. Styles by giving him three Codebreakers and stuffing a Y2AJ t-shirt down his mouth. The show should have ended at that point, but they had another 75 minutes to fill.
Show Recap:
Shane McMahon came out to another big reception. He said he heard what Vince McMahon had to say last week, and he’s lost respect for his father after he renounced his son. Shane said Vince had lost his touch with his business, his fan base, with reality, with him and his grandsons. Shane said it was his destiny to be in control of Monday Night Raw. That got “Yes” chants. Shane said the backstage politics would stop with him. And also, every baseball umpire will have the same strike zone. (I added that last part).
He mentioned guys who get breaks who have no talent would end. He repeated that it was his destiny to defeat the Undertaker and start a new legacy in the WWE in control of Raw. Then the Undertaker’s gong hit, but Vince came out. After getting no reaction last week, Vince got lots of heat. Then they chanted for C.M. Punk. Vince said Shane looked scared when the Undertaker’s gong hit, and he would feel terror at WrestleMania. Vince mentioned writing Shane out of his will and Stephanie McMahon would get everything. Vince stumbled on a picture of him and a little Shane just before they went to their first WWE event in Worchester, Massachusetts. He held up a framed copy of the picture, then threw it down and smashed on the ramp.
Vince said Shane grew up thinking his father was invincible. He was Vince McMahon, and Shane was just Vince’s son. Vince turned his attention to his grandsons, who would watch their father fail them. Vince said Shane’s dreams would be shattered, and so would theirs. The only solace would be once Shane is placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital, Vince would take Shane’s children, hug them and say “At least you have one father figure you can be proud of.” Vince said its totally ironic his greatest creation will put to rest his greatest failure.
Vince then brought out security and escorted Shane out of the building. Four guys came down Shane told security not to touch him because he was amped up. One of the security guys got in the ring on Vince’s orders. Shane threw some bad looking punches on the guy. Then other three ran in, but Shane cleared house with knees and punches. The stuff didn’t look good, but Shane was so over it didn’t matter. Shane’s music just started to end the segment.
Kevin Owens (C) defeated Neville in a nontitle match (10:19)
Another very good match where Neville had the crowd thinking he had it won after a Flaming Star Press from the second rope. Kevin Owens kicked out in a great near fall. Neville turned to do the Red Arrow, but Owens grabbed his trunks and held them for the pin with a schoolboy cradle. Earlier, Owens avoided a Neville dive out of the ring and threw Neville into the steps. Neville made the comeback with an enzuigiri. Michael Cole mentioned Owens boasting about being the greatest the Intercontiental Champion of all time and wanting to have a better WrestleMania match then Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat.
Owens jumped Neville after the match, throwing his shoulder into the post. He was about to give Neville a power bomb on the floor when Sami Zayn made his return, running out for the save. Zayn got a big reaction. Owens took a few punches and tried to walk out, but Neville kicked him in the head and Zayn sent him packing. Crowd was elated with the segment. Byron Saxton mentioned the possibility of Neville vs. Owens at WrestleMania, but this segment teased otherwise.
They aired a video tweet from the Rock (I guess Touts have gone the way of the WBF, the World and the XFL) promoting WrestleMania for free on the WWE Network.
Stephanie walked up to Dolph Ziggler. Stephanie mentioned a tweet that Dolph made putting down the authority that was deleted. Dolph brought up the Survivor Series from November 2014 when he fought back from a 3-on-1 deficit after the Big Show’s 2014 heel turn to put the Authority out of action forever. Well, for four weeks. And we’re supposed to take the stipulations at WrestleMania seriously because…? Anyway, Stephanie ordered Dolph to face three members of the League of Nations in an elimination match tonight by himself.
Summer Rae defeated Brie Bella (2:05)
Summer Rae won when Lana came out to distract Brie Bella, and Rae pinned her with a schoolgirl cradle in a finish we saw 15 minutes ago. Lana was wearing her 1988 Whitesnake video blue jean skirt outfit. She gave Brie a Bella Buster, trying to get heat for giving Brie her own finisher.
Dean Ambrose came out and said he has overthrown all plans for WrestleMania when he beats HHH at Road Block and becomes the new face of the WWE. He mentioned the new face of the WWE, going to be on Oprah (She’s off the air now), being on the cover of People magazine and going to various charity functions with HHH. Ambrose said he would make HHH buy him a new shiny suit, then said he would never wear a suit. He rambled on in this scripted rant when HHH came out.
HHH showed up and said reality is he would be WWE World Heavyweight Championship as long as he wanted. He said Roman Reigns thought he could take the championship, but his face is getting glued back together. HHH said maybe Ambrose should take another trip to the announce table to understand he can’t beat HHH. Ambrose said after he beats HHH for the championship, he’ll stand on the table, hold the championship up high and HHH could suck it. HHH said Road Block was something some idiot in marketing came up with. Ambrose was nothing more than a speed bump or a pot hole. HHH said Ambrose was just like Reigns, they both had problems with authority. And how is that working for Reigns? HHH told Ambrose should stop with delusional thinking.
They bickered back-and-forth until Ambrose demanded HHH come to the ring. HHH said he doesn’t fight on Ambrose’s time, just on his time. HHH said Ambrose would face Bray Wyatt tonight. He said Ambrose would come face-to-face with reality on Saturday, and reality is the Authority always wins. Well, that’s reality more than HHH even knows.
Sheamus, Rusev and King Barrett defeated Dolph Ziggler in an elimination match (6:33)
Sheamus pinned Ziggler after a Brogue Kick following a roundhouse kick by Rusev. Earlier, Ziggler pinned King Barrett at 5:45 with a Superkick to narrow the odds to 2-on-1, briefly. The tweet from Ziggler than Stephanie brought up earlier was shown where Ziggler welcomed Shane back and said he would send the Authority out of power just like he did at Survivor Series 2014, but the Authority punished him again.
They showed a video package of Shane’s wrestling career with the Big Show, JBL, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins putting over how tough he is. The videos were mostly from the late 90s-to-early 00s, and the majority of the highlights were Kurt Angle selling for him.
Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks were backstage bickering. They’re tagging tonight but argued over who would win in their triple threat match against Charlotte at WrestleMania. Lynch talked about somebody getting an Lass kicking.
Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks defeated Tamina and Naomi via submission (1:52)
Lynch made Naomi tap to the Bank Statement. Charlotte and Ric Flair were at ringside. Charlotte ran in and attacked both of her opponents, including an exploder suplex on Lynch.
R-Truth walked in to the building dressed as a pizza delivery man and walked past Mark Henry, who wondered what he was up to. Truth told Goldust he wanted to do dress like someone crazy and gave Goldust a Chicago deep dish pizza. Goldust wondered “What in the Blue Blazer are you thinking?” Goldust said he was lactose intolerant and if he had any pizza, his butt would explode. Goldust walked off. Truth said he had no idea about Goldust’s exploding butt and left the pizza sitting so Henry could help himself, proclaming his love for Chicago.
The New Day came out. Kofi Kingston mentioned they had held the WWE tag team titles for 197 consecutive days. Xavier Woods said Y2AJ would never last as a team and end up as the zombies in “Left For Dead.” Big E. mentioned they each got matching tattooes. Kingston and Woods acted like they didn’t know what he was talking about. Big E. said he was just kidding (though he wasn’t), saying he never got a blue and white tattoo on his butt cheeks. Chris Jericho came out with a Y2AJ t-shirt.
The New Day defeated Y2AJ to retain the WWE Tag Team titles (11:30)
Big E. pinned jericho after the Big Ending. Jericho tried a Codebreaker, but Big E. caught him and placed him on his shoulders. The best tag team match on Raw in ages. Jericho had Kingston in the Walls of Jericho and the crowd was begging for a tapout. Woods tried to push the bottom rope closer for Kingston to grab, but A.J. Styles knocked Woods down. Big E. took out Styles by slamming him into the barricade, then tagged in. Earlier, Jericho hit a lionsault on Kingston. Styles made a blind tag and followed with a springboard 450, but Big E. pulled Kingston out of the ring. Even better than Owens-Neville.
Postmatch, Styles helped Jericho to his feet. After Jericho got up, he turned heel on Styles by giving him a codebreaker. Styles barely got up before Jericho gave him another Codebreaker, then followed with another one. Jericho, who got good heat for this turn, then got the Y2AJ t-shirt and stuffed it down Styles’ mouth as he was down. Excellent execution from all parties involved.
They announced that the Rock would appear at WrestleMania.
Jericho did an interview with Renee Young saying everyone in Chicago, the town where Y2J was born, was doing but chanting for Styles. Now, they won’t be chanting his name anymore.
Kalisto (C) defeated Tyler Breeze in a nontitle match (2:11)
Kalisto pinned Tyler Breeze with Salida del Sol. Kalisto really doesn’t come across as anything special as U.S. Champion. He’s just feels like another Luchador that doesn’t stand out. At least Breeze got to do his ring entrance.
JoJo interviewed Kalisto. She was almost as tall as he was. Kalisto brought up Rey Mysterio and Eddy Guerrero as legends he saw at WrestleMania. Ryback stepped in and wondered how he doesn’t have a match in WrestleMania, or isn’t in the main event. He put Kalisto over as one of the best in the WWE pound-for-pound, but he doesn’t understand why people go to Superhero movies like Deadpool and think little guys can go around and save the world. Ryback said he makes Ryan Reynolds and Robert Downey Jr. look like Antman. He makes Nate Diaz and Connor McGregor look like Antman, too. However, Diaz’s PPV paycheck from Saturday night compared to Ryback makes his look like Little Beaver. Ryback went on forever about how being in a tag team only holds you down, which does wonders for putting over the tag team titles that just stole the show.
Social Outscasts came out. They’ve added a group cheer like “Wooo Bundy” from “Married with Children.” Bo Dallas said Ryback doesn’t want to be part of a team, which mean he can’t be one of the new Ghostbusters. Adam Rose said you have to be a woman to be a Ghostbuster. Curtis Axel screamed “Tonight, the Axeman cometh” and started chanting “Ye” like he was Mark Lewin. Rose, Heath Slater and Dallas started doing it and they danced in a circle until Ryback came out.
Ryback pinned Curtis Axel (2:06)
Ryback won with a Shell Shock. His new psuedo-heel gimmick where he brawls like a MMA Superheavyweight looks DOA as the crowd spent the match chanting for Punk again.
Vince was backstage on the phone saying how the old WrestleMania record was 93,000. Too bad he wasn’t on the subpoena list in St. Petersburg, Florida today. Stpehanie wondered in expressing concern that Shane would win at WrestleMania. Vince calmed her by saying “Don’t worry. I got this.” She said “But what if you don’t?”
Bray Wyatt did a prematch promo about his match against Brock Lesnar on Saturday at Road Block.
Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt by DQ (11:47)
Crowd was dead again as this show peaked at the tag title match and the Jericho turn. Ambrose gained the upper hand with his flying elbow when Luke Harper, Braun Strowman and Erick Harper showed up. They jumped Ambrose, and Wyatt gave him Sister Abigail.
HHH came out for an odd sequence. He nooded in approval at the Wyatt Clan for taking out Ambrose. Then as HHH was about to start pounding on Ambrose, Wyatt got in HHH’s face and they had a staredown that got the crowd’s attention. Wyatt smiled, rubbed his hands on HHH’s championship belt and left with his group. Sure did seem to tease a potential program between the two, which may finally get Wyatt to turn face. Then again, if that happens, we’ll be seeing Strowman do Hillbilly Jim spots in no time.
HHH cleared the announcer’s table teasing another beatdown of Ambrose. But Ambrose recovered and gave HHH Dirty Deeds, and a babyface was left standing at the end credits for a change.
SUMMARY: Ambrose has run out of top guy capital with the fans. They’ve seen him lose too many big matches to take him seriously as someone who can win the big one, especially the month before WrestleMania. Last year, at least his top matches had heat. That hasn’t happened recently. I understand JBL has to be a heel announcer, but his rant about what a travesty it would be if Ambrose became world champion sounds exactly the same every three months. It’s beyond monotony. Considering the main event of this show featured Lesnar’s next two major match opponents, it doesn’t feel like the company is maximizing his potential box office.
In an effort to increase the star power of the April post-WrestleMania tours of Europe, WWE announced that the recently-retired Daniel Bryan and The Undertaker would be heading to each be part of one leg.
It had already been announced that there would be a Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night in London, one of many such events happening in the months ahead, one of which is happening at NYC’s Madison Square Garden on March 25th.
While that will be a big draw on one tour, Shane McMahon’s opponent for Wrestlemania has been added for the other tour, actually wrestling on the shows. No opponent has been announced yet.
Previously, the two tours were announced as being headlined by Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus on one tour and I-C champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose on the other tour. Reader Tom Griffiths said that for the first show, the lineup is listed as Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns, New Day vs. Rusev & Sheamus, and Kane, Strowman, Becky, Sasha, Charlotte (w/ Flair), Usos, Dudleys, Jack Swagger, Rowan, Neville, Stardust, Sin Cara & Tyler Breeze.
The tour dates for the Wrestlemania Revenge tour is as follows:
Saturday, 16 April, 7:30 p.m.: Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, England
Sunday, 17 April, 5 p.m.: Nottingham Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, England
Monday, 18 April, 7 p.m.: Monday Night Raw at O2 Arena, London, England SOLD OUT
Tuesday, 19 April, 7 p.m.: SmackDown taping at O2 Arena, London, England
Tuesday, 19 April, 7:30 p.m.: Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Wednesday, 20 April, 7:30 p.m.: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
Wednesday, 20 April, 7:30 p.m.: The SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Thursday, 21 April, 7:30 p.m.: 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
Friday, 22 April, 7:30 p.m.: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
Saturday, 23 April, 7:30 p.m.: The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
The major topic of conversation today is the upcoming Global Cruiserweight Tournament; the potential opportunity it represents for talent, what it means (if anything) in terms of WWE’s feelings about cruiserweights in general, and what you need to be prepared if you’re a cruiserweight who sees this as your big opportunity to get on the WWE radar screen. Les and Vic segue into discussing being a junior heavyweight in the territory era (25:02) and one of the greats regardless of weight class; the one and only Danny Hodge. From there, we’ll talk the latest regarding Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponent (43:23) and what could be the end of Wade Barrett (and many missed opportunities) in WWE (51:44).
The meat of the show was a good, wrestling-oritented program with Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens advancing to the semifinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Tournament. Unfortunately, the bread that contained that meat was a bad segment with the Undertaker, Kane and the Wyatts combined with the most disgusting angle the WWE has done in years. It was a segment so putrid, it’s one of those times you wonder how the WWE won the Monday Night Wars, then remember it was more the stupidity of the opposition than the skill of the winners.
Show Recap:
They opened the show with a moment of silence to honor the victims in the terrorist attacks in France. In retrospect, this was mordibly ironic.
All four quarterfinal matches in the World Title tournament will air tonight. That includes Neville vs. Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto.
A group of faceless druids in dark robes came out in advance of the Undertaker and Kane’s entrance. The preceding three sentences took ten minutes of air time.
Kane said they reserved a special place for Bray Wyatt and his family in the darkest pits of hell. Apparently, they run constant reruns of 1999 Nitro there.
Undertaker said Wyatt’s kind of evil is no match for theirs. He said the Brothers of Destruction have already decided their destiny, and they will never Rest in Peace. This led to the Wyatt Family coming out.
Bray said the Brothers of Destruction have reigned supreme for 25 years, and that is long enough. He said it’s time for a new Army of Darkness to emerge. Wyatt said he is the Face of Fear, and after the Survivor Series, they’ll just be remembered as the Brothers he destroyed. Wyatt added that as for the Undertaker’s Creatures of the Night, they are mine. The Wyatt flash went off, the lights went on, and the druids all emerged wearing goat face masks. Around 8 of them charged the ring, but Undertaker and Kane quickly disposed of them, choke slamming two of them. Luke Harper, Braun Strowman and Eric Rowan started to go after them, but Wyatt called them back. Wyatt told them to wait until the Survivor Series, but until then, Follow the Buzzards. Does Wyatt want to start using those magical powers he showed off two weeks ago? Or has that gone the way of those earrings that Dolph Ziggler gave Summer Rae in September?
Kevin Owens defeated Neville in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament (10:44)
Owens avoided a Red Arrow and got the pin with the Pop-Up Power Bomb. As good a match as you would expect. A great false finish where Neville went for the Red Arrow, but Owens grabbed the ropes, causing Neville to crash to the mat. Owens went for the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Neville did a leap frog and pulled off a Reverse Frankensteiner that everybody bought as the finish. Owens kicked out. Neville teased the Red Arrow early, but Owens rolled out of the ring. So Neville responded with a Moonsault to the floor.
Out of nowhere, they showed flashback footage of Paige pinning A.J. Lee from April 2014 to win the Divas Championship in her first night on the main roster. This was done to play up a contract signing between Paige and Charlotte later tonight for Survivor Series.
HHH and Owens had a conversation backstage and the two shook hands.
They aired still photographs from WWE.com of Seth Rollins undergoing surgery for his torn ACL. He’s now getting a total babyface buildup for his return, including a viral campaign using the slogan “Redesign. Rebuild. Reclaim.” That indicates some major heel turn has to be coming soon.
Tyler Breeze defeated R. Truth (4:06)
Tyler Breeze won with the Beauty Shot. Still can’t make sense of Breeze making his company debut with a job to Ambrose last week.
Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament (16:41)
Ambrose won after hitting Dirty Deeds following a scramble. Another very good match and this show is off to a solid start. Lots of good near falls, including Ziggler selling his knee, but still hitting a Superkick and a Famouser. They had a scientific match, similar to the old Ring of Honor Pure Championship matches. Unique spot where Ambrose and Ziggler were on the top rope together, where they did a double knockdown spot to the floor after landing simultaneous right hands.
Ambrose cut a promo afterwards saying if he became champion at Survivor Series, there would be less talking and more action. Well, he’s screwed.
The New Day defeated the Usos and Ryback by DQ (5:49)
Lame finish. Jey Uso got the heat for most of the match after a tope onto Big E. and Xavier Woods. Uso got the heat for most of the match until Ryback went into the ring illegally and shoved the referee for the DQ. Afterwards, Ryback threw Woods onto Big E. and Kofi Kingston. The Usos had their faces painted like the French flag.
HHH talked with Cesaro before his match with Roman Reigns. HHH told Cesaro he had everything it took to make it to the top, but he was lacking that extra something. He had the ability. HHH, using dialogue that sounds like it came straight from Vince McMahon’s mouth, told him to reach for the brass ring tonight, basically implying he could join the Authority if he beat Reigns. Cesaro looked at his hands after HHH left.
Reigns came out and talked about his fan section, dubbed “The Roman Empire.” Reigns said he knew the road was going to be tougher for him since he refused to join the Authority. But he’s gone too far to sell out now. After getting booed in Manchester, Reigns got a much better reception tonight.
Roman Reigns defeated Cesaro in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (20:21)
Reigns won after a series of counters ending with the Superman Punch and the Spear. Another solid match, but I didn’t think it was as good as Ambrose-Ziggler. Cesaro did a great job of carrying him. Cesaro went for the equalizer late, but Reigns escaped and got the finishing combination. Earlier, Cesaro twirled Reigns around for a 6-rep Giant Swing, which turned into a Sharpshooter, then a crossface before Reigns escaped with a Samoan Drop. Reigns backdropped Cesaro over the top rop, and Cesaro sold his right elbow. Reigns forgot which arm he was supposed to be selling midway through the match.
They did a tribute to Nick Bockwinkel, posting a graphic with JBL and Michael Cole putting him over as the greatest technical wrestler of all time. It was very nice and they invited viewers to go to WWE.com for more interviews regarding Bockwinkel.
The Dudley Boyz defeated the Ascension (3:12)
Bubba Ray Dudley pinned Viktor after the 3-D. It sure did fill 3 minutes.
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Coulter were stopped backstage by Renee Young. HHH walked in and gave the same speech to Del Rio that he gave earlier to Cesaro about going from the Man of the People to being the Man.
Kalisto did an inset promo about people saying his win over Ryback was a fluke. He said his dreams are bigger than any man and he’s fighting for his life.
Alberto Del Rio defeated Kalisto in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Tournament (10:04)
Del Rio won with the Diving Double Foot Stome while Kalisto was tied to the tree of woe. This was Del Rio’s 4th Raw since his return, and this was the third crowd totally silent for him. He feels like a bigger deal on the underground circuit that he does in WWE because they don’t know how to book superstars that will get over to minorities. It doesn’t help the pairing with Coulter isn’t over a lick. Match was a Lucha-style, which the fans in South Carolina weren’t familiar with.
I guess sensing the attention Holly Holm’s upset of Ronda Rousey received over the last 48 hours, they put Paige’s contract signing with Charlotte in the main event segment. These people have no clue. They went five minutes reciting scripted dialogue, which didn’t have 2% of the impact Holm’s forearm shiver on Rosey did at the weigh-in. Charlotte brought up her late brother Reid, then started to cry, and it felt so forced. Charlotte said Paige was there for her when Reid died, and she thought they were family. Charlotte said it wasn’t about a championship, it was about who has your back at the end of the day. But Paige let her selfish ways get in the way. Charlotte said a champion is someone that little girls watch at home wanting to be like. Charlotte said she won’t be champion forever, but she won’t lose it on Sunday and when she does, it won’t be to someone like Paige.
Paige said no one will have Charlotte’s back on Sunday, not even Ric Flair. Charlotte shouted her down and she just. kept. talking. Then Paige said something about Reid not have much fight in him. God this was awful. They started brawling, but the fans weren’t that hot for it. Charlotte kept escaping from the refs in a pull-apart while the fans just watched without reacting. Charlotte never did sign the contract, which was stupid since that’s what the whole show was built around. A disgusting segment.
SUMMARY:
There are times after big UFC events where on the following Monday’s Raw, the WWE looks like a company that lost it’s relevance and doesn’t even know it. Tonight was largely a good show which also should have anyone who cares about the WWE’s future scared straight. The final segment wasn’t manipulative. It had the ambition to manipulate but failed. And it reeked, not just in terms of quality but of an antiquated mindset of what lures viewers to shows. Charlotte is not a talking personality, but the company put her in that role. In the main event, no less. And that speaks volumes to how out of touch Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn and other WWE power brokers have worn out their welcome. I have no idea how a company that loses 25% of its audience in three years doesn’t have mass turnover at the main creative end, and tonight was a desperate ploy that failed miserably.
– Air Date: November 12, 2015 (Nov 11 in Canada) – Location: Manchester Arena in Manchester, England
The Big News:
Undertaker did not actually appear on Smackdown, but did accept Bray Wyatt’s challenge for a tag team match at Survivor Series. Also, Kalisto beat Ryback clean.
Show Recap:
The show started with a recap of Seth Rollins’ injury and they plugged tonight’s tournament matches.
The Wyatts interrupted and a video recap was shown of the angle with Undertaker and Kane from Raw. They piped in some crowd booing as the Wyatts stood in the ring. Luke Harper said they would sacrifice “dem Uso boys” to honour Bray Wyatt. Erick Rowan said Bray brings sorrow to those who oppose him and they would do the same tonight. Braun Strowman said “Look at my face… and see your annihilation.” Strowman added that he would pile bodies to the sky for Bray.
Bray said Kane and Undertaker may have escaped the pits of hell but they’ll never be the same again. He’s taken pieces of them and now they are apart of him. Bray challenged the Brothers of Destruction to a tag match at Survivor Series against two of his men, and gave them until the end of tonight to accept.
Bray said we would remember Survivor Series as the night Kane and Undertaker were buried forever. Usual lame Wyatt segment. The crowd chanted for Undertaker a few times through the segment. The highlight was the unintentional comedy of Strowman yelling, “Look at my face.”
Braun Strowman (w/Wyatt Family) beat Fandango via submission
Some of the crowd did the Fandango dance and he danced too until he got into the ring, saw the Wyatts and resigned himself to his fate. He started with a dropkick but Strowman tossed him around and won with the head-and-arm choke in less than 2 minutes. Fandango actually tapped instead of merely passing out.
WWE Title Tournament First Round Match: Neville beat King Barrett via pinfall
They showed a clip of Neville from earlier tonight saying Barrett was embarrassed on Raw and he would finish what Wayne Rooney started with a Red Arrow. This was not an inset promo, but rather a clip from what looked like a sit-down interview. This is a much better idea than the usual inset promos.
They did a dangerous spot early in the match where Barrett hung Neville’s feet over the top rope and then just slammed him head first into the mat. Neville rolled to the outside selling his head and Barrett followed him out, slammed his head into the announce table and launched him into the barricade.
After a break, Barrett used a pump handle slam and continued working over Neville. Barrett slid Neville to the outside and he crashed into the barricade. Barrett took some time to tell the announcers that he would be the next champion. Neville ran along the top of the barricade (a la Jeff Hardy) and hit a flip dive on Barrett. He used kicks and a standing shooting star press in the ring for a two count.
Barrett hit a back kick for a two count and argued with the referee that it was a three, accusing him of taking a pay off from Neville. Neville came back with a German suplex but Barrett followed with a swinging side slam. Neville countered Wasteland into a DDT and landed Red Arrow for the win. This was good. It went about 14 minutes and Neville took a beating. They announced Neville vs. Kevin Owens for Raw.
Backstage, the Usos told Renee Young that they have a rivalry with the Wyatts and weren’t about to be sacrificed. Jimmy was taken out by Strowman two months ago and they weren’t going to forgive and forget.
WWE Title Tournament First Round Match: Kalisto beat Ryback via pinfall
Kalisto said he respects Ryback but he shouldn’t be underestimated. He then spouted some cliches about being an underdog. This was another sit-down interview, but the material sucked. Ryback did an inset promo. I’m not really sure what Ryback said, because he spoke quietly as his music played in the background and his fireworks went off. He thinks he’ll be champion, probably.
They shook hands to start but Kalisto quickly began kicking away. He hit Salida Del Sol a minute into the match but Ryback kicked out aggressively at two, sending Kalisto to the outside. After a break, Kalisto used more kicks, but Ryback just picked him up and hit a spinebuster followed by two hard powerbombs. This presumably could have been a finish but Kalisto rolled to the outside. Ryback took control until Kalisto dropkicked him to the outside. Kalisto tried an Asai moonsault but Ryback slammed him into the mat (they messed this up).
Kalisto countered a shell shocked into a rollup for a near fall. Ryback hit a meat hook clothesline but Kalisto got his foot on the rope. Ryback tried a backdrop off the top rope, but Kalisto countered into Salida Del Sol for the pinfall win. Ryback kicked out just after the three count.
The match was good, not great, but Kalisto really got over well here and this might’ve been the highlight of the show. The crowd popped and the commentators put this over as a big upset win. Ryback shook Kalisto’s hand afterwards.
WWE Title Tournament First Round Match: Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter) beat Stardust via pinfall
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter did a promo on the stage. Colter said the United Kingdom was really the Divided Kingdom because all the countries hate each other. He called the people haters, but him and Del Rio have eradicated hate in MexAmerica. Del Rio said the fans of the two “soccer” teams hate each other but they should be united. Colter said they would unite the MexAmerica Title (U.S. Title) with the World Title. This really sucked. The crowd chanted “What” at Colter and Del Rio was greeted by silence.
Stardust did an inset promo calling himself the dark horse in the tournament and would become champion. Del Rio worked him over a while but he came back with a Side Effect and reverse DDT. Del Rio went for an armbar but Stardust countered with a disaster kick for two. Stardust went to the top, so of course Del Rio knocked his legs out and used a tree of woe double foot stomp for the win. This was uninspiring to say the least.
They showed a replay of the Paige/Charlotte/Becky Lynch angle from Raw.
Backstage, Roman Reigns told Renee that his journey to become WWE Champion has been like climbing Mount Everest. The closer he gets to the top, the harder it gets. On Monday, he meets an avalanche in the form of Cesaro, but Cesaro can’t stop him because “Nothing at this point can stop me now.” They replayed a clip of Triple H’s offer, but Reigns said he wasn’t a sell out and would be standing on top of the mountain as the sole survivor of this tournament. Reigns delivered his lines well but it was heavily scripted and it was hard not to notice.
The Usos beat Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (w/Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman) via DQ
This was the main event. Harper and Rowan attacked the Usos before the match started. The Usos fought back and one Uso took down the two Wyatts with a dive outside the ring. The Usos jumped back in the ring and challenged Harper and Rowan to get in. Rowan jumped in and the match officially started.
Harper and Rowan worked over Jey until he made a hot tag to Jimmy. He hit an enzuigiri and a crossbody for nearfalls. Rowan took out Jey outside the ring as Jimmy used a Samoan drop and running hip attack on Harper. He tried a dive to the outside but was caught by Rowan, and Harper followed with a superkick.
Back in the ring, Harper hit a sitdown powerbomb but Jey broke up the cover with a splash. Jimmy hit Harper with two superkicks, and both Usos hit Rowan with superkicks, sending both bad guys to the outside. Usos took them out with dives, and Bray had seen enough. All four Wyatts attacked the Usos for the DQ.
Bray mocked Taker’s throat slash as Harper and Rowan gave Jey a double chokeslam. Strowman followed by doing his stupid slam on Jimmy and Bray finished him off with Sister Abigail. Bray was about to do it again but the Undertaker’s dong sounded and the lights went out. Undertaker’s voice played over the speakers. He said the Wyatts would be dragged through the gates of hell and they would rest in peace. So I guess he accepts.
Final Thoughts:
This show felt more important than the usual Smackdown thanks to the title tournament. The first two tournament matches were good and it was refreshing to see Kalisto beat Ryback, even if he is just being set up for Del Rio. The rest of the show was lackluster, as it was laid out very much like Raw. The tournament took up most of the time and the show concluded with an angle for the Undertaker. Except, unlike Raw, he didn’t show up, so it felt pretty flat.
It should also be noted that there was no women’s segment on this show outside of the one Raw replay (unless they add something for the Thursday airing in the U.S.). No match or interview. So there’s that.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with Hell in a Cell fallout, tons of notes on the shows, calls, text messages and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including full results of Hell in a Cell, all the matches and angles, Undertaker vs. Brock, blood everywhere, plus news on Global Force Wrestling, AJ Styles, mailbag and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
