Welcome to this installment of the weekly UnWrest posts. This edition will look at both Raw and SmackDown emanating from Jolly Ol' England. Get your tea and crumpets ready.
Let's Do This!
Raw Thoughts (11/5/18) - Will Wrestling Fans Remember, Remember This 5th of November?
- Baron Corbin had the Raw locker room up on the stage while WWE reaired footage from the Universal Championship match at Crown Jewel. He announces that he will manage the Raw Men's Team, and that the first three members are Drew, Dolph, and Braun. He then announces that Alexa Bliss will captain Raw's Women's Team. Kurt Angle comes out to a great ovation from the English crowd. They set up a match between Angle and Corbin for the Captain position of Team Raw. Then, Braun runs out and goes after Corbin for costing him the Universal Championship.
A really fun open to the show here that sets a lot of wheels in motion. They only have 2 weeks to hype up Survivor Series, which may or may not be a blessing in disguise. After all, there's only so much "brand superiority" nonsense I can stomach.
- Natalya, Sasha, and Bayley take on The Riott Squad in an Evolution rematch. Natalya comes out wearing Anvil's trademark sunglasses to the ring. The Riott Squad jump the faces before the match. Natalya takes the brunt of the Riott Squad's attack early on. Finally, Sasha and Bayley get involved in the match after a commercial break. Poor Ruby Riott eats a big knee from Bayley. What is it about the Riott Squad and their opponents giving stiff shots? Another nice long tag match between these two teams. It almost makes you forget that these two teams weren't allowed to wrestle a few days ago. Almost.
Ruby Riott destroys Anvil's sunglasses in front of Natalya who just crumbles in the ring. The Riott Squad just walk off as even the referee seems completely shocked by what has happened. Natalya cries with Sasha and Bayley consoling her as she holds the remains of her father's sunglasses. That's some old school heat right there. I now want to see Natalya beat the hell out of these women. Good booking and decision as far as I'm concerned.
- We had to sit through Apollo Crews vs. Jinder Mahal. If you didn't watch Raw, you were saved. Seth walks out with both Tag Titles and the Intercontinental Championship. Interestingly enough, Rollins takes time to blast Corbin for helping Lesnar regain the Universal Championship, calling it a slap in the face to Reigns, the company, and the fans. (Thus, the seeds for WrestleMania may have just been planted.) He tries to forfeit the titles, but Corbin makes him defend the titles in a 2-1 Handicap Match against AOP. And well... as expected, AOP decimated Rollins to win their first main roster tag team titles. But Rollins put on one of his usually great performances even in defeat.
Afterwards, Dean comes out and lays out Seth with Dirty Deeds.
Ambrose continues to play this heel role well by not giving all the answers immediately. Instead, the audience is just going to have to wait just like Seth. I will say this: Afterwards, the crowd was cheering loudly and clapping for Rollins. So, mission accomplished so far in this whole feud.
- I loved it when Elias came out to interrupt Dolph Ziggler, and he started playing the chords to "Seven Nation Army" along with the fan chants. "OHHHHH! WALK WITH ELIAS!"
England is a magical place. I keep saying this whenever I get a chance to watch NXT UK shows. They are the one place on Earth where people sing TO Elias.
As for the match itself, Elias held his own against Ziggler and won a decent match on TV. The thing with this match though is that the crowd in England just showered him with chants and songs. Again, that's a good sign in most situations. However, Fandango was over in England too. And we all know how that turned out unfortunately.
- Ronda Rousey comes out and cuts a promo on Becky Lynch. She puts over Becky a lot. She may be "The Man," but Ronda is the baddest "b" on the planet. Nia Jax reminds Ronda that she's waiting for her after Survivor Series.
Afterwards, poor Ember Moon wrestles Nia. And as hard as Ember worked in this match, the end result was never in doubt. Ember just never really stood a chance. Tamina comes out after the match and confronts Nia. But Nia and Tamina join forces to beat up Ember Moon. This is the 2nd or 3rd heel turn for Nia Jax at this point.
- The Baron Corbin/Braun Strowman chase storyline had its moments, but there was too much of Corbin on this show period. Corbin doesn't have the characteristics of a McMahon or a Heyman to warrant multiple times on screen.
- Bobby Lashley mowed over Finn Balor yet again. Ok, Finn Balor got a few moves in, and Lio Rush did provide an out with his distractions. But let's be honest: Vince loves jobbing Finn Balor.
In fact, after the match, to make things more clear, Finn Balor was hit with a Claymore by Drew McIntyre who came down for his match against Kurt Angle in the main event.
- Drew McIntyre was made to look like a dang beast in his match against Angle, and Angle was the gracious pro here helping to make McIntyre look even better than he did coming in. McIntyre only came close to losing when his ego and anger got the better of him as Angle got the Ankle Lock in. But he got out of the hold relatively easy and hit Angle with his own Olympic Slam. McIntyre makes Angle tap out to his own Ankle Lock in an impressive moment. Angle again made McIntyre look awesome here, and McIntyre is destined for great things in WWE barring any injuries.
Overall, this was a solid episode of Raw. They built up Survivor Series somewhat on the men's side. Things got a little too comical with Strowman and Corbin, but that's just my thoughts on the matter. AOP finally got the tag team titles. Natalya now has a reason to go after The Riott Squad with great vengeance and furious anger. We also got a new alliance between Tamina and Nia that could spell trouble for the Raw Women's roster. And we got even more steam behind the Drew McIntyre character with his utter humiliation of Kurt Angle. Bottom line: This was a newsworthy edition of the show. And a good one in my opinion, especially by the UK standards that we usually get with Raw and SmackDown.
SmackDown Live Thoughts (11/6/18)- Good Enemies, Worst Friends
- Shane McMahon and Paige open the show up. Shane states that he interfered and injected himself into the World Cup Final because he couldn't fathom Raw getting the win. And he does not consider himself "The Best in the World." Good. Neither do we. Let's move on and pretend Crown Jewel didn't happen. (Actually, that's a legitimate request.) Daniel Bryan and The Miz are named "Co-Captains" of Team SmackDown for the Survivor Series Men's Elimination Team. Well, we know how well THAT'S going to end up. But in a shocking moment, they agree on one thing: Shane McMahon is on their team. This begins an awkward running joke throughout the show where the two would agree on something and find it weird.
- Next, we get The New Day facing The Usos in a match to determine the team captains of Team SmackDown's Tag Team Survivor Series Team. As usual, these two teams just completely steal the show for WWE this week on the main roster. A lot of high-risk maneuvers involved here as the two teams kill each other for a chance... to... lead SmackDown?! The Usos and New Day could get an Iron Man match, and I'd be along for the 1 hour ride. The Usos get a big win for their team as they set themselves up as captains and immediately recruit The New Day to be a part of their team.
- Becky Lynch cuts one HELL of an epic promo on Ronda Rousey, telling her that she's been through hell and wasn't supposed to be where she is. But there she is. And she's coming after an arm at Survivor Series. Afterwards, she says that she wants a fight and issues an open challenge. Of all people to answer, it's....
SANITY'S/NXT's NIKKI FRIGGING CROSS!!!!!!
She runs the ropes like the madwoman she is while Becky just stands nonplussed. She wants to play. The man doesn't play, Becky says. The man just fights. And it's on!!!!
Becky wins a very fun match between the two by making Nikki tap to the Armbreaker. Nikki was fun in this match, and the camera caught a lot of Cross's crazy looks. I doubt this was more than a 1 off appearance (for now), but I was happy to see Cross on the main roster.
- Best Line of the Night: "My guy always comes through in the clutch." - The Miz about Samoa Joe, a guy who has lost every world championship opportunity he has ever been in on Raw and SmackDown.
- Nakamura promises to give Seth Rollins a new problem: A knee to face. (I am quietly hoping that this is the match that shows that next level of Shinsuke Nakamura that has been missing for the last 2 years at least.)
- Rey Mysterio is next as he faces Andrade Cien Almas in a physical, hard-hitting match. Their chemistry was excellent in this match as Rey... GETS RKO'D OUTTA NOWHERE! Wow. Anyways, Rey vs. Almas was a great match while it lasted. I definitely want to see more of these two going at it. This was a match where Almas could have won on several different occasions, and that's the type of match you want your heels losing, especially those seen as being "on the rise."
- AJ cuts a promo backstage saying that he is spoiling the fact that he will beat Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. You have to love AJ for trying. Nice joke.
- The SmackDown Women's Team is announced: Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville, Asuka, and Charlotte Flair. But Charlotte doesn't show up. Instead Mandy shows up and asks why Sonya was picked instead of her. She goes through each of the other women on the team and provokes Naomi into a fight. Ok. That was semi-pointless. The only thing I think they may have done there is maybe setting up a break between Deville and Rose.
- The SmackDown main event was Samoa Joe taking on Jeff Hardy. I'm surprised the English weren't singing to Joe or Hardy in this one. Instead, they were just chanting. Lazy Brits. Jeff and Samoa had a decent enough match, but both are so cold right now that it is hard to really invest in the match. Joe was made to look terrible at Crown Jewel. Joe wins with the Clutch after Hardy nails the Swanton Bomb into Joe's knees. After the match, Daniel Bryan beats up both Samoa Joe and The Miz, and he throws Shane McMahon around when he tries to stop Daniel.
So, they are building up the fact that Team SmackDown might implode in on itself. Again, this is the phony type of storyline that they keep trying to push on Survivor Series these days, and let's be clear: Raw is getting the overall win here like they have the last two years. Fox deal be damned. Vince views Raw as the A-Show and always will.
Overall, though, I felt that SmackDown was the better overall show between the two. They reduced a lot of fluff and produced some really good TV, including The Usos vs. New Day and Almas vs. Mysterio matches. Add in there Becky vs. Nikki and the fun of Miz and Bryan being co-captains, and this was a fun 2 hours of WWE programming.
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Hope you enjoyed this installment of this week's UnWrest series. Check in later for the NXT review.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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