– Neville beat Stardust in 9:30 with the Red Arrow.
– Jack Swagger made the Miz tap out to the ankle lock in 9 minutes
– Lucha Dragons over the Ascension in 7:45. Kids were into the Dragons. Kalisto’s mask actually came off when he did a splash onto the Ascension but luckily he landed face down and was able to put the mask back on within a few seconds.
– Adam Rose came out with somewhat of a new gimmick. He wore black dress pants and blue dress shirt with white glasses. He told all the fans they are looser and should leave. This went on for about 3 minutes until Jimmy Uso superkicked Rose to start and end the match in 5 seconds.
– Street fight: Randy Orton beat Sheamus in 20 minutes with the RKO. Good psychology by Orton leading to the RKO
– Natalia beat Naomi in 5:30
– Dolph Ziggler over Rusev in 17 minutes. Rusev showed real good intensity and Ziggler is always good.
– Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose beat Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. Good crowd reaction throughout the match. Strowman looked real green but he is new. The other 3 looked great.
Notes:
– 20 minutes before the show started, they had the fans vote on what match they want to see on the monitor above the ring. The choices were all from past Summerslams. The choices were Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels, Undertaker vs Mick Foley or Undertaker vs Edge. Undertaker vs Edge won.
– Attendance was way down from the last show here. One side of ringside seats was only about 10% full. Overall floor seats were only about 30 percent full. Seems like the price of those tickets went way up since the last show here. Overall, I’m estimating the crowd at only 2,500.
By Jared Lampman
Here is a quick run down of the live event in Erie tonight.
Arrived at the end of the first match which had Neville going over Stardust. What I saw of it was awesome. Really had the crowd going.
Swagger over The Miz in what was easily the laziest match of the night. My wife has never been to a live event and rarely watches the product but she even commented on how slow they were and how little they appeared to be trying.
Lucha Dragons get the win against The Ascension. Match was entertaining and got the crowd rolling after the Miz/Swagger snooze fest.
Jimmy Uso goes over Adam Rose with a super kick after Rose antagonizes the crowd. I guess Rose was trying out a new gimmick which I had not seen. He was wearing a collared shirt tucked in to slacks with thick rimmed glasses. His promo probably lasted 5 minutes at the very least. Nothing remarkable. Seems like he is on his way out the door and they are just throwing him out there to fill time. As soon as he finished talking Uso delivered the kick and it was over in less than 10 seconds.
Last bout before intermission was Orton and Sheamus in a street fight. Match went about 15 minutes I am guessing with Orton going over with an RKO. Good hard fight that was pretty physical. Sheamus got thrown through a table leaning against the ring post which got a nice pop.
Ziggler over Rusev in a nice hard fought bout. Ziggler nails the Zig-Zag shortly after Summer Rae smacks him with her shoe and she is sent back to the locker room. No flirting between the two.
Second to last match is Natty and Naomi with Natty getting the sub via sharp shooter. My wife is really into the Divas since we began watching Total Divas together. She enjoyed the match but was sad it was the only divas bout on the card.
Main Event was Dean and Roman vs. Bray and Braun. Crowd popped big for Ambrose and Reigns. Only saw half the match before leaving. We took my 10 month old and he had about had it so we got while the getting was good.
– They announced they return to Cleveland for the Fast Lane PPV in February.
– Neville beat Stardust with a 450 splash.
– Kalisto & Sin Cara beat Ascension when Sin Cara pinned Viktor after a swanton. Decent match. Ascension were the least over act of the two house shows I saw this weekend.
– Jimmy Uso beat Adam Rose. Rose came out in a vest and glasses and cut a promo, attempting to stop the show. The referee rang the bell regardless. Uso superkicked him immediately and hit the splash off the top for the finish.
– Jack Swagger beat Miz with the ankle lock. Miz cut a promo first acting like a face in his hometown, but quickly turned back heel.
– Street fight: Randy Orton beat Sheamus. They used a Singapore cane. A table spot for a false finish. Orton got the pin with the RKO. Solid match. Went probably just under 20 minutes.
0 Dolph Ziggler beat Rusev. Best match of the night. They went somewhere over 15 minutes, lots of near falls, Summer Rae hitting Ziggler with the high heel for a false finish. Rusev’s execution and presence were excellent. I was most impressed with his performance over anybody else I saw on this show or the Toronto show the night before with the Cena tour.
– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman. Reigns pinned Wyatt after the spear for the finish. Strowman was protected as monster who doesn’t bump. In doing so, he looked fine, not out of place. Pops for Reigns and Ambrose I thought were close to equal, though there were audible screams from women when Reigns tagged in for the first time. Reigns was not booed at all.
The Toronto show the night before with the Cena tour was a far better show.
The Big Takeaway: Kane made his return. Well, there are now two Kanes. There’s the Corporate Kane, who acts like Joseph Park. And then there’s the Demon Kane, who showed up at the end of the show. Add in the fact that the Big Show went over on this program, it seemed tonight was a salute to 1997. Which is fiiting, because this show could have the lowest ratings of any Raw show since that year. It was a boring show.
Show Recap:
The Wyatt Family started the show. Bray Wyatt said he tried to warn Roman Reigns, but he wouldn’t listen. Wyatt said he reached up to Mt. Olympus and grabbed the Golden Idol and brought him to his knees.
Reigns interrupted him and said he wanted to finish things one-on-one with Wyatt tonight. Wyatt declined. Regins accused him of being scared and said he wanted to fight Wyatt. It led to Wyatt whipsering something to Luke Harper and Braun Strowman, they left the ring and Wyatt agreed to fight.
Regins and Wyatt fought for a bit before Harper and Strowman ran in. Strowman gave Regins soemthing resembling a chokeslam, except Regins landed face first. Dean Ambrose ran out and hit Strowman with a tope. Eventually, the heels overpowered Ambrose. Crowd chanted for Chris Jericho. Instead, Randy Orton came out and cleaned house, including dropping Harper with a back suplex on the announcer’s table. It ended with Orton and Ambrose hitting dropkicks on Strowman, who budged but didn’t go down. Finally Regins knocked Strowman out of the ring with a Superman’s Punch.
Seth Rollins walked into HHH and Stephanie McMahon’s office and found Director of Operations Kane waiting for him. Rollins didn’t know how to react and asked him why Kane tombstoned him last night. Kane acted like he had no idea what he was talking about.So Kane was doing the Joseph Park/Abyss gimmick from TNA in 2013, where Director of Operations Kane was a separate person from his wrestling alter ego. In fact, DIO Kane was downright chipper, saying he had healed from the broken angle that Rollins had laid onto him. Kane said he arranged for Rollins to face John Cena tonight in a rematch for the U.S. Championship. Rollins had no idea how to react and left quickly.
The announcers have already assigned different names to Kane’s various personas: Corporate Kane and Demonic Kane. I thought Alvarez’s Libertarian Kane was pretty good, myself.
Lucha Dragons and Neville defeated The Ascension and Stardust (10:31)
Clumsy match in spots as Konnor and Kalisto has problems working together. Kalisto pinned Viktor with Salida del Sol. Sin Cara slipped attempting a springboard dropkick on Konnor. Later, Cara did a top on Viktor and appeared to hit his head across the announcer’s table.
Rollins found the Authority backstage and couldn’t believe that HHH and Stephanie would reinstate Kane as Director of Operations. He said he was in no shape to wrestle Cena tonight after wrestling twice last night. HHH and Stephanie told him not to worry about Kane and just focus on Cena.
Ryback defeated Bo Dallas (3:36)
Ryback won with the Shellshock. Kevin Owens was on commentary and ran in after the match. Ryback gave him a Meat Hook clothesline and tried to give him the Shellshock, but Owens got away. Ryback was more aggressive in the match after losing the Intercontiental Championship last night.
Ric Flair came out to introduce Charlotte as the new Divas Champion. Fans started chanting “Thank you, Ric.” He said the proudest moment of his entire life wasn’t his first world championship or his retirement match with Shawn Michaels, it was watching his little girl win the Divas Championship. Charlotte, Paige and Becky Lynch came out.
Charlotte got emotional talking to her father saying she was as proud of him as he was of her. Charlotte thanked Lynch for always reminding her to never take life too seriously. Charlotte turned to Paige and said she followed in Paige’s footsteps and they started in NXT together.
Paige took the microphone away and turned heel. She said Charlotte was just a placeholder for the championship and nothing about the Divas division has changed. She said the whole celebration was patronizing and reminded Charlotte that she won the championship on her first day. Paige said Lynch was the least relevant of all of them. She said Lana and Summer Rae were too busy trying to climb over top of each other instead of wrestling. Paige said she didn’t even know where Nattie was because she was too busy taking care of her husband. Paige also said we all knew the real reason why the Bella Twins got to where they are, and said Charlotte wouldn’t be where she is without her old man. Paige said “Whooo” and walked off. This was supposed to be a heel turn for Paige, but she got mostly cheers.
Nikki Bella, Brie Bela and Alicia Fox followed that up by coming out. Nikki mainly no sold losing the title and said Brie was going to take the title from Charlotte tonight.
Charlotte (C) defeated Brie Bella via submission to retain the Divas Championship (6:22)
Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. Brie spent most of the match on offense, which led to a sloppy match. Brie mainly worked on Charlotte’s left leg, continuing the storyline from last night where Nikki did the same thing.
Sheamus defeated Mark Henry (2:23)
Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick that missed so badly, even the announcers admitted it. So they redid the spot for the finish. It was Henry’s turn to job in his home state. Sheamus did a promo saying it was only a matter of time before he become world champion.
Stephanie and HHH met with Kane, who just took a sip out of his “World’s Greatest Director of Operations” mug. HHH was curious about Kane showing up last night. Kane again acted like he was oblivious to giving Rollins a tombstone. Stephanie spoke up and said there was no need for Kane to insult out intelligence and play mind games with them. Kane said he would never do that and he wanted to do what’s best for business. Stephanie asked for Kane to give it back and extended her hand. Kane gave her five. Stephanie said she wanted his mask back. Kane noticed that the mask was gone from its case, and said if Stephanie had stolen it, they would have a very big problem. Kane turned deadly serious for a minute, but then got his smiley face back and said he would make sure he would do his job for what’s best for business.
Paige found Nattie backstage. Nattie said what Paige said earlier to Charlotte was unprofessional. Nattie said there have been times where she has felt left behind in the Divas division, but she did something about it. She told Paige that the only person who was standing in Paige’s way was Paige. Nattie said she was wrestling Naomi later.
The New Day came out. The crowd really didn’t respond to them and gave them more of a heel reaction. Xavier Woods sold being put through a table last night by the Dudley Boyz, held up a piece of table and claimed it had to be removed from his buttocks last night. Big E. did a promo saying they had to build a wall around Dudleyville to protect their citizens, their families and their furniture. It was an attempt to get Donald Trump heat, but it didn’t work.
The New Day and Rusev defeated The Dudley Boyz and Dolph Ziggler (14:10)
Rusev pinned Dolph Ziggler after a Thurst Kick after Ziggler gave Woods a Superkick once he got on the apron with the trombone. Pretty good match. Ziggler gave Rusev Wazzup with the Dudleys holding each of Rusev’s legs. Midway through the match, Woods began playing Rusev’s theme song on his trombone as Dolph Ziggler got the heat. When Kofi Kingston hit a dropkick, Woods started screaming about how Kingston had an 8-foot vertical leap. Crowd didn’t react to very much.
Naomi defeated Natalya (3:45)
Naomi won with the Rear End after Tamina and Sasha Banks jumped up on the apron. Not much of a match and the crowd has been dead for the past hour.
Rollins walked into the Authority’s office wanting to know what the plan is tonight. Stephanie said Kane everything out of his system that he needed to last night. Rollins couldn’t believe it and said HHH knew what Kane was capable of. HHH lashed out and Rollins and told him to focus on Cena. Rollins reluctatnly agreed, again teasing the inevitable HHH-Rollins match somewhere down the line.
The Big Show defeate Cesaro (6:16)
After Cesaro hit a vertical suplex on The Big Show into the ring, Show got up first and hit the knockout punch for the clean pin. Great booking for the long-term future there.
Postmatch, Show cut a promo on Brock Lesnar. They’ll be wrestling on a Network Special at Madison Square Garden on October 2nd. He reminded Lesnar that he pinned him at the 2002 Royal Rumble. It was a good promo.
The Wyatt Family did a promo running down Orton. Wyatt told Orton they all fall down, and Orton would, as well. Strowman said he once captured a snake with his bare hands and drank its blood, and claimed the snake is in a better place now.
John Cena (C) defeated Seth Rollins to retain the U.S. Championship (15:34)
Not only the best match on the show, but the only match tonight that would exceed 3 stars. Rollins hit a Frog Splash, but Cena powered out of the cover attempt and hit an AA for the pin. Spots included Rollins using Cena’s STF, and Cena also grabbing the STF but Rollins got the ropes. Rollins didn’t do any knees to the face, to no surprise.
Postmatch, Corporate Kane appeared on the big screen and told Rollins part of his job was to make sure Rollins could be the best champion he could be. He said many people were coming after Rollins’ championship. Then the background turned fiery red, and Kane said in a deep, brooding voice “including some he could never imagine.”
Kane’s fire pyro went off. Then the demonic Kane burst through the mat and dragged Rollins under the ring. Rollins disappeared through the hole, and steam shot out from the bottom.
SUMMARY: So in an effort to make Kane interesting for the next PPV cycle, they ripoff a TNA storyline. That says it all.
– Air Date: September 17, 2015 (Sept 16 in Canada) – Location: Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR
The Big News:
Big Show beat Cesaro clean, and they teased big dissension between Seth Rollins and Sheamus.
Show Recap:
Smackdown started with a video package of Sting’s first Raw match(es). They also announced Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins & Sheamus for tonight.
Seth Rollins came out and said he would make history at Night of Champions when he successfully defends both of his titles against two legends. Crowd chanted “We want Sting.” Rollins said he would crush John Cena’s spirit and show why Sting is the past.
Rollins moved onto tonight’s tag match. He’s fine with teaming with Sheamus because he’s the man and isn’t that worried. Rollins said he keeps his friends close and his enemies closer (zzz), which brought out Sheamus. Sheamus said Rollins doesn’t want him as an enemy.
Sheamus claimed Rollins won’t see it coming when he cashes in. Rollins laughed and said it would hard not to see him coming. The crowd chanted “You look stupid,” and Sheamus yelled “R.T.H.!” — Respect the Hawk.
Sheamus said he just wants them to be friends and would love a fight with Reigns and Ambrose. Immediately after saying he wanted to be friends, Sheamus said he would be scouting Rollins and would be the next WWE Champion whether Seth sees it coming or not.
If this sounded like every opening segment ever, that’s because it was.
Team BAD came out to Naomi’s music. Rich Brennan plugged the upcoming NXT Iron Man match with Banks and Bayley. After a break, Team BAD had the heat on Lynch. Naomi and Banks did the Benjamin and Haas leapfrog guillotine spot, except they used the bottom rope.
Lynch kicked away both heels and made the hot tag to Paige. Paige used knees and a superkick but was momentarily distracted by Banks on the outside allowing Naomi to roll her up for the win. Paige was pissed and the commentators discussed how poorly things are going for Paige lately.
Backstage, Stardust said he and The Ascension would defeat Neville and the Lucha Dragons. He didn’t quite phrase it that way.
The New Day came out with their usual protest signs. Big E had a sign that said “Wait for it…” on one side and “Booty!” on the other. Jerry Lawler seemed concerned by the “Broken Wood is No Good” sign.
Xavier Woods said a table is a terrible thing to waste. He emphasized that the Dudleys were “boys” and they were disrespecting every man and wo-man. Woods said they were disrespecting one wo-man in particular — Mother Nature.
Big E wanted to help the Dudleys by having them sign a petition to save the tables. The petition was on a wooden clipboard, which Kingston said was like a mini table. They chanted “Save the tables” but the Dudleys interrupted.
Kofi Kingston (w/New Day) beat D-Von Dudley (w/Bubba Ray Dudley) via pinfall
D-Von broke the clipboard over his knee and hit a flapjack on Kingston. Big E pulled out a table but Bubba tossed him down. Woods distracted D-Von so D-Von went after him. Kingston used the distraction to apply a school boy for the win. (Yes, this was basically the finish of the previous match.) New Day ran off with a table. New Day were entertaining as usual but the match was just an angle and it didn’t really get over.
Backstage, Alicia Fox, Brie and Nikki Bella prepared for their “Bellabration.” Brie went over the checklist and Alicia said they got 298 champagne bottles shipped from France. That’s a lot of bottles. Brie said they would end up in Brie Mode. Nikki exclaimed “I’m such a queen!”
Nikki had a few crazy demands, including the attendance of “Kim and Kanye.” Brie tried to tell her they weren’t coming but Nikki wouldn’t hear it. Nikki said they should be able to handle any issues and left. Brie and Alicia looked on concerned. All three were good in their roles as vacuous ninnies that nobody could possibly like. So this was… good, I guess?
As Big Show walked backstage, The Miz handed him a confidential document. Miz politely asked him to looked at it and walked away. Show looked at the document, rolled his eyes, groaned, and tossed it away. Show’s total disgust towards Miz was amusing.
Big Show beat Cesaro via pinfall
Cesaro immediately hit a dropkick and proceeded to work over the arm. Show was able to overpower Cesaro and tossed him aside. Booker called Show “a giant guy” and Lawler said Show used Google Earth to take a selfie. Booker added something a bit more insightful when he said he’s known Show since he started and hasn’t lost a beat.
Cesaro came back with uppercuts, a running knee and flying crossbody for two. Show went for a chokeslam but Cesaro countered and tried a Neutralizer, but Show used a back body drop and a KO punch for the win.
As painful as it sounds, I can see why they protect Big Show, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of Cesaro. We know this already, and they obviously don’t care.
Reigns and Ambrose were backstage and were interrupted by Renee Young, which seemed to annoy Ambrose. Renee said she was just doing her job and asked who their partner would be. Reigns wasn’t going to tell her but did say it was Ambrose who made the call. Ambrose said she would find out when the Wyatts do and they won’t be outgunned anymore. Reigns said they would beat Rollins and Sheamus tonight to prepare for war on Sunday.
Kevin Owens beat Dolph Ziggler via DQ
Rusev did an inset promo, calling Ziggler a sissy. He said Summer wasn’t impressed by skinny abs or gift bags but she would be impressed when he crushes Ziggler in half. Speaking of getting crushed, Owens gained control after hitting a senton to Ziggler’s back. Owens taunted Ziggler who tried to make a comeback, but Owens cut him off with a DDT.
After a break, Ziggler fought out of a headlock and used a backslide for two and a Fameasser for two. Ziggler blocked a superkick and hit a jumping DDT for a near fall. Outside the ring, Owens used a fallaway slam, sending Ziggler into the barricade. Ziggler beat the 10-count so Owens tossed him into the post and over the barricade into the timekeeper area. Ziggler again beat the 10-count.
Owens followed with a superkick and went for a powerbomb on the apron but Ryback ran out for the save. Ryback tried to get him with shell shocked but Owens bailed. They announced Owens as the winner by DQ and he seemed content.
Brie and Alicia went over the guestlist for the Bellabration but realized that nobody was showing up. They blamed it on traffic.
They plugged Connor’s Cure and played a video package.
Outside of an arena boardroom, Nikki showed up for her Bellabration. Brie and Alicia tried to stop Nikki from going in, but she went in the room, opened her champagne and realized nobody was there. She freaked out and Brie/Alicia said they tried to warn her. They said they would try to fix it and left.
Charlotte, Paige and Becky showed up (the latter two in party hats). Charlotte said Nikki wouldn’t be able to pull any crap at NOC and Paige told her not to eat too much cake. Team PCB left and Adam Rose showed up to tell Nikki that her party sucked. He left and Nikki tossed away her cake, which landed on Brie and Alicia.
Elsewhere, Summer Rae asked if Ziggler was okay and asked about the expensive earrings he got her. Ziggler said he was done with the drama and wanted to let bygones be bygones. He said sometimes a rose is just a rose, but added, “sometimes it’s more.” So he’s not done with the drama.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE & US Champion Seth Rollins & Sheamus via pinfall
Rollins was sent to the outside and Ambrose was about to go for a drive, but Rollins comically ducked. Ambrose just stopped at the ropes and Reigns clotheslined Rollins instead. That was funny. Ambrose then hit a dive on Sheamus and they went to commercial.
Sheamus and Rollins argued during the break but were able to gain control after each tossed Ambrose into the barricade. As they worked over Ambrose, Booker said he would not be their mystery partner at NOC and wouldn’t answer the phone if they called.
Ambrose came back with a swinging neckbreaker and made the hot tag to Reigns, who hit Rollins with a clothesline, shoulder block, Samoan drop and ten clotheslines in the corner. Rollins tried a school boy but Reigns countered into a one-armed powerbomb.
Rollins used a chop block and superkick and tried to tag out, but Sheamus jumped off the apron. Rollins grabbed his briefcase so Sheamus went after it, allowing Rollins to tag him. Sheamus stalked Rollins on the outside, so Ambrose hit a suicide dive. Reigns hit Sheamus with a superman punch and Ambrose followed with Dirty Deeds for the win.
The lights went out and they showed a Wyatt video package that emphasized on Strowman. Bray said it doesn’t matter who was foolish enough to join Ambrose and Reigns because they all fall down. This bit was good.
Final Thoughts:
This show was perfectly fine even if nothing terribly newsworthy happened. Paige turning seems like a lock unless they decide to swerve us.
Welcome to my wonderful, stupendous, one of a kind coverage of NXT! A forgotten reality show that eventually became the hottest brand in WWE.
Here are the second round brackets in the Dusty Rhodes Classic:
– Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady – Dash & Dawson vs The Vaudevillains – Hype Bros vs Jason Jordan & Chad Gable – Rhyno & Baron Corbin vs Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano
The Big News: William Regal announced that the main event of Takeover on October 7 will be Bayley vs Sasha Banks in a 30-minute Iron Man Match.
The Medium Sized News: Baron Corbin and Rhyno advance to the final four of the Dusty Rhodes Classic, which will take place at Takeover as well.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Next week Blake & Murphy get their rematch for the NXT Tag Team Championship against The Vaudevillians.
The match between Tyler Breeze and Adam Rose never got started
Tyler’s seasonal residence has taken him to Cairo, Egypt this fall. Rose walked out wearing short trunks and eyeglasses. He vowed to take a big, hot, steaming poop on NXT like the WWE Universe took one on him.
Before the match began, Bull Dempsey came out and announced he is going to beat Breeze so bad. Before Bull could attack him, Tyler cut a promo about how them being partner’s was the real accident. The other accident was the day Bull was born. Bull laughed it off. Breeze went on to say he would love to beat Bull, but he’s in the middle of a match.
Bull asked Adam Rose to leave so he could wrestle Tyler. Adam told him no, called him tubby and slapped Bull. Bull responded by attacking Rose. Adam got sent packing with a Full Body Attack. He tried to do the same to Breeze, but Tyler stopped his momentum and left the ring.
-Next week it is Tyler Breeze vs Bull Dempsey
Tye Dillinger pinned Danny Birch
Dillinger is the Perfect 10 if you haven’t heard. He also lives on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Tye is supposed to be a heel, but the fans really enjoy chanting 10.
Corey Graves and Byron Saxton argued over what it meant to be a Perfect 10 while Birch had him locked in a wristlock. Dillinger made his comeback and won with a move where he rolled Birch’s body around to smash his head off of Tye’s knee.
-Backstage Rhyno and Baron Corbin stated they are not worried about another upset from Gargano and Ciampa.
-Asuka is coming next week. She’ll get here before Nia Jax.
Apollo Crews pinned Solomon Crowe
My brother’s favorite wrestler is back, this time to lose to Apollo Crews. They started the match with a handshake and Crowe was offended when Crews offered another handshake after being schooled on the mat.
At one point Crowe was sitting on the mat and Crews lifted him up from that position into a suplex. Crowe was outside and Crews went for a baseball slide, but Crowe lifted up the ring apron, catching Crowe in it. Corey Graves could not shut up this entire match about Solomon Crowe being on Google.
Crews made his comeback and hit a whole bunch of impressive, athletic moves, before winning with the standing moonsault.
-Ciampa and Gargano cut their promo backstage saying they belong in NXT and will show why later tonight.
-Dana Brooke and Emma cut a promo with Devin. They noticed that the champion is back and a bunch of new people are debuting and it’s pushing them into the background. They plan on introducing themselves to the newbies.
-Sasha Banks arrived at the arena.
-Kyle Edwards updated us on the Dusty Rhodes Classic. He announced that the Final Four teams will face off at NXT Takeover on October 7.
In a 2nd round match in the Dusty Rhodes Classic, Rhyno & Baron Corbin defeated Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano
I swear I am going to start kicking my wall if Corey Graves keeps ranting about the internet.
Ciampa and Rhyno worked wonderfully together. I know they were both in ROH at the same time, but don’t know if they wrestled each other. If they did I guarantee it was good, just based on their interaction here.
Gargano gave both men a Suicide Dive and Ciampa dove off the top rope onto both of his massive foes. The heels finally cut off Ciampa to get the heat. Speaking of heat the fans generally like Rhyno, but they hate Corbin due to him not being at the same level in the ring as the others on NXT. With that in mind Corbin wasn’t in the ring as much as his partner.
Gargano got the hot tag and looked really good working with Corbin. Go figure. The heels went for a double team Gore, but Gargano leaped over Rhyno. After a little more, Corbin caught Gargano and dropped him with End of Days for the win.
-The Vaudevillains cut a promo building up their tournament match this weekend in Texas. In walked Blake, Murphy & Alexa who announced that they are invoking their rematch clause for a tag team title match next week.
-Nia Jax is still coming soon. It’s only been what? 4 weeks now? She does have like 2 more months to reach Glacier levels.
-The new NXT Women’s Champion is here to end the show. Bayley got a standing ovation and people chanting her name. She stepped inside the barricade and did a lap around the NXT Arena, climbing up the bleachers to get slapped on the back by everyone. She brought Izzy (the little girl who dresses like her) into the ring to do the Bayley entrance.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley pinned Sara Dobson
Dobson took most of the match and got Bayley in a front face lock. Bayley lifted Dobson up and rammed her into the turnbuckles. Bayley picked up the win with the Bayley to Belly.
-After the match Bayley grabbed the mic to cut a promo when she was interrupted by The Boss. Sasha had a smirk on her face as she sauntered to the ring. I got a laugh that she just arrived at the building 20 minutes earlier and then put her gear on before coming out.
Sasha was here to congratulate Bayley and said that all she has heard in weeks is how they stole the show at Takeover with the best women’s match this company has ever seen. The fans chanted “Match of the Year”, which Sasha said that was great for everyone but her. She is here to be the best. Bayley is good and at Takeover she was great, but Bayley is still not her.
Bayley’s entire comeback was accepting a challenge for a rematch that Sasha never made. Sasha didn’t want a match tonight or next week. She is here to prove a point and send a message. Sasha turned down the challenge for 2 out of 3 falls and the fans caught on, chanting “Iron Woman”.
This brought out William Regal who announced the match that was announced on Twitter last week. Bayley vs Sasha at Takeover in a 30-minute Ironman Match.
-The girls shook hands and the show ended with Bayley standing in the ring holding the strap. Until next week say your vitamins and take your prayers.
The Big Takeaway: Sting wrestled his first Raw match ever tonight. He actually wrestled two. The first against the Big Show ended with a Seth Rollins run-in after all of 1:43. The subsequent tag team match saw him defeat Rollins with the Scorpion Death Lock. Much of the discussion on this show will center around the Dusty Finish in the Nikki Bella-Charlotte match, where Charlotte appeared to have won, only to have it reversed when Stephanie McMahon ruled Twin Magic couldn’t count as a title change. This show was billed as the “Season Debut” of Raw. If this was the first Raw you ever watched, you would have thought Stephanie McMahon was the most pushed personality in the company.
Show Recap:
The Authority came out to welcome fans to the new season of Raw. Stephanie McMahon put over the new stars they’ve created over the past year like the New Day, Neville, Rusev, and others. HHH promoted Seth Rollins vs. John Cena & Rollins vs. Sting at NOC.
Stephanie talked about Nikki Bella defending the Divas title against Charlotte. HHH announced Sting would compete tonight for the first-time ever on Raw against The Big Show.
Stephanie brought out the New Day, then started clapping them. This led to HHH joining them, which was amusing.
The New Day (C) defeated the Prime Time Players to retain the WWE World Tag Team Titles (12:10)
Kofi Kingston pinned Titus O’Neal after the Midnight Hour. O’Neal got distracted by Xavier Woods playing the trombone on the apron. Among the newest Woods spots was playing the Pink Panther theme while Big E. struts and Woods playing notes in cadence while Langston and Woods stomp an opponent in the corner. Decent match.
They showed portions of Sting’s past, including a tag team match with Dusty Rhodes against The Road Warriors at Starrcade 1988, which was Dusty’s final NWA bout before his departure for the WWE. He was wearing a striped shirt that was barely more flattering than the polka dots he would be wearing a year later.
Rollins walked in to talk to the Authority. HHH arranged Sheamus vs. Cena for tonight just in case Sheamus thought about cashing in the briefcase tonight.
Ric Flair showed up with Charlotte to do an interview with a now short-haired Renee Young. Charlotte talked about what a dream it would be to win the Divas title. Flair said he’s now living vicariously through his daughter and wants to see her win tonight.
Sasha Banks defeated Paige via submission (5:15)
Sasha Banks won with a backstabber into a Bank Statement. Tamina moved Banks out of the way of a Paige charge into the corner. At one point, Paige delivered a facebuster that appeared to knock the hell out of Tamina. It appeared referee Charles Robinson was concerned momentarily.
There was a very nice tribute to Connor Michalek to start a program the company has launched called “Connor’s Cure” during September, which is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month
The Wyatt Family came out for MizTV. They continue the gimmick that Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose can’t find a third partner for the trios match at Night of Champions. Miz was basically a babyface trying to get a word out of Bray Wyatt, who said he wanted everyone to understand regardless of who shows up at Night of Champions, they will all fall down.
Ambrose and Reigns came out. Ambrose threw the Miz out of the ring while the five men had a stare down. Reigns acknowledged Jimmy Uso was his cousin and Wyatt took him out, which he would pay for. Reigns said they have found a third partner. Reigns vowed to win a war against the Wyatts on Sunday. Wyatt’s flash went off and the scene just ended.
Sting’s next flashback moment was the Great American Bash 1990 where Sting defeated Flair to win his first NWA/WCW World Championship.
John Cena defeated Sheamus (14:43)
Good match with some good selling by Sheamus. Cena won after he no sold the Rolling Senton by Sheamus and immediately hit the AA for the pin. Earlier in the match, Sheamus attempted the Brogue Kick but Cena countered with a clothesline. Crowd was very negative towards Cena, but he delivered in another good match.
Ryback did an interview where he had to sing lyrics to “All Shook Up” that was greeted by crickets. Kevin Owens came out as part of their fledgling program. Owens talked about how Ryback read the book “The Secret” to get him past a low point. Owens brought out his own copy of “The Secret,” said he read it and said he felt sorry for anyone who believes in that garbage. Owens called the book a crutch for weak people. Owens said Ryback was the strongest man in the locker room, but also the weakest mentally.
They were arguing over a book. Then Ryback recited these scripted lines and started repeated “Feed Me More.” Ryback said he respected Owens’ path to the WWE. Ryback admitted that he fell on his face when he first arrived in the WWE, but brushed himself off and won a championship. Ryback said he went to the Authority earlier today, and said they arranged an Intercontinental Championship match between the two at NOC. Ryback wanted to how a showdown, but Owens did his usual walkaway. All I can say is don’t ever watch NWA or Memphis promos via youtube on days leading up to Raws, because you’ll be very depressed after segments like these.
What was supposed to be Neville vs. Stardust turned into a six-way fight. The Ascension are now henchmen for Stardust. Lucha Dragons accompanied Neville and cleared the ring of the heels.
There was a package putting over Nikki Bella as the Divas champion who carried the entire Divas division on her back for the last 295 days. Bella pompously asked viewers have they started their year because she spent the year started a Divas Revolution.
Charlotte defeated Nikki Bella (C) by DQ in 9:55, so Bella retains the Divas Championship to become the longest reigning Divas Champion in history.
It’s only fitting that they showed a clip of Dusty Rhodes from 1989 earlier because they booked a Dusty Finish that killed the crowd tonight as much as it did 26 years ago. They went with Twin Magic as Alicia Fox tried to interfere, which allowed Brie Bella to run-in. Charlotte immediately pinned her with an inside cradle. Flair ran down like his daughter had won the title. Then Stephanie came out and announced that the integrity of the championship must be retained, telling the referee what happened and Charlotte won by DQ, but Bella would still be champion. However, Stephanie ordered a rematch at Night of Champions where if Nikki lost by DQ, countout, pinfall or submission, she would lose the title.
You might wonder why Stephanie didn’t make this ruling when they did this same finish at Money in the Bank. The answer is Stephanie wouldn’t get a chance to stand out as the company’s main star on a June PPV as much as the “season debut” of Raw. The sad part is they had a really good match going where Charlotte sold her arm great and the fans didn’t need to be coerced to emotionally invest in the match. It’s going to be tough trying to recreate that atmosphere on Sunday.
Cesaro defeated Rusev (4:03)
Dolph Ziggler came down and tried to offer Summer Rae a package. Rusev got distracted, allowing Cesaro to get the pin with an Inverted Chikara Special. Ziggler gave Rusev a superkick afterwards. Nothing match. Rusev was backstage furious about losing and slammed the door in Rae’s face. While Rusev was inside, Rae opened up the gift to find a gorgeous piece of jewelry. She started to smile when Rusev screamed at her to come inside.
The Big Show met with the Authority, who gave him a pep talk trying to beat Sting. Before every Authority segment, do they flip a coin to determine if they’re heels or faces?
Sting defeated The Big Show via DQ (1:43)
Rollins ran in for a DQ and I was getting flashbacks to 1999 Nitro the way this last hour went. Thank God Cena came out and joined Sting in clearing the ring. HHH then did the same routine they’ve done at countless Raws after they went off the air where they ordered an immediate tag team match between the four.
Sting and John Cena defeated Seth Rollins and The Big Show via submission (9:13)
Sting got the hot tag and made Rollins tap out to the Scorpion Death Lock after Cena gave the Big Show the AA. Cena spent most of the match trying to lift Show for a slam or the AA, only to fall under the weight. Sting did a good hot tag sequence, but the aura of Sting wrestling his first match on Raw seemed lost on the crowd.
SUMMARY: The company lost a lot of fans to football tonight, if they didn’t beforehand. For starters, the Authority appeared on seven segments on this show, and was mentioned in eight. If they’re role is clearly defined, more power to them. However, it’s impossible to emotionally invest in them as characters when they’re constantly flopping between babyfaces and heels. The effort to promote the company’s efforts to fight pediatric cancer are great. However, HHH is the same person who was negative on Kurt Angle doing PSAs because Angle was a heel in the mid 00’s, so it reeks of hypocrisy. As long as Rollins is the world champion subservient to the Authority, he’s not going to get over strong.
WWE ran a pretty decent show in Jonesboro, AR tonight. Crowd not as large as the last time I came to town for a show back in 2012 for Punk v Ryback.
R-Truth over Bo Dallas
Truth won after countering a sunset flip reversal.
Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow over the Ascension
Axel hit the facebuster Viktor for the win By far the worst efforts I’ve ever seen from the face team. Big bummer when Axel hit what must be the worst dropkick in his career. Goofy match.
Natalya over Alicia Foxx
Long heat segment, Natalya never getting more than one offensive move in before getting cut off. Easily best match so far.
WWE Champion/U.S. Champion Seth Rollins over Dean Ambrose
Rollins won after hitting an exposed turnbuckle shot and a Pedigree. Great match, tons of moves, sick Falcon Arrow, Rollins argues with the crowd and a child in the front row over whether or not he’s a sissy.
WWE Tag Team Champions New Day Big E and Xavier Woods over the Primetime Players
New Day won after Xavier Woods hits Titus O’Neil with a DDT and a big second rope legdrop. New Day were hilarious as always. Xavier Woods wore Big E’s singlet after claiming the airline lost his luggage. He adopted some of E’s moveset including a nice belly to belly, an attempt at the running splash, and the body block. Referred to himself as Big Woods.
Cesaro over Kevin Owens
Cesaro won after reversing a popup powerbomb into a hurricanrana. Smart match, not too crazy as to overshadow the main, but a back and forth with big moves and Owens preventing Cesaro from ever hitting the big swing.
Roman Reigns over Bray Wyatt in a streetfight
Lots of big shots back and forth at the beginning. Both guys were over and definitely brought a different feel to the main event. Bray Wyatt worked over Reigns with kendo stick shots and throwing a chair at his head. Hits a Uranage through a table, loses control to a series of Reigns punches and slaps before taking a powerbomb through a table. Luke Harper breaks up the pin, hits a big superkick, only to eat superman punches to the glee of the crowd.
Lights out, Braun Strowman appears and chokes out Reigns until chants for Ambrose lead to the save and comeback. Reigns throws Wyatt headfirst through a chair in the corner and follows up with a Spear while someone near by freaks out and screams “DESTROOOY HIMMMM.” Big spectacle match sends the crowd home happy.
