This week ushers in a new standing in the WWE. This week’s Raw is a season finale and SmackDown Live’s final show. SmackDown will be re-branded as it’s former name Friday Night SmackDown on the Fox network. While Raw will have a “season premier”. With all this going on, we do not know the status of 205 Live. NXT will face off against AEW Dynamite for the first time. Will we have superb WWE shows or will it just grind until AEW shows up on TV? Find out all right here, right now! It is a great time to be a Pro Wrestling fan!
RAW:
The Chase Center in San Francisco, CA hosted this week’s Raw, which precedes next week’s “Season Premiere”.
The opening for the closing season.
The 9/23/19 episode started out with Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman agreeing to a rematch from Clash Of The Champions in tonight’s main event. Rollins admitted before the crowd that he is afraid of “The Fiend”, but he is a survivor and will persevere against the nightmare.
The Viking Raiders bested the OC in what can only be described as a pretty evenly matched contest. This wasn’t the normal squash match we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. The Heyman Era gave us a quality contest where Ivar and Erik snatched the victory away from the OC after a well-timed Viking Experience for the three count.
Lynch/Banks hype. Maria’s baby’s daddy.
Becky Lynch was backstage with Michael Cole and she once against hyped up her “Hell In A Cell” title match with Sasha Banks, who faces Nikki Cross later.
Rusev made his successful in-ring return with a submission victory over Ec3. The Accolade spelled the end for the former 24/7 champion, and it was revealed that Rusev’s return merely coincided with the timing of Maria’s announcement last week. He is not the father of the baby.
Build up for Fatal Five-Way. Sasha Banks vs Nikki Cross. Brock Lesnar announcement.
Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, Robert Roode and AJ Styles all had words throughout the night backstage hyping their number one contenders match for a shot at Rollins and the Universal Title next week.
Sasha Banks submitted Nikki Cross with the Banks Statement after a fantastic match. These two really went the distance on an action packed show. The quality of the matches thus far this evening have been impressive and they allowed these two to tell a good story, one that even saw Bayley and Alexa Bliss’s involvement from the outside. Cross hit her neckbreaker maneuver, but Bayley’s distraction earned her a right cross from Bliss. Cross then went up top for a crossbody and was rolled into the submission. Good stuff here.
Brock Lesnar will make an appearance on Raw’s “Season Premiere” next week before his title match with Kofi Kingston.
Lacey Evans vs Ember MOon. FIREFLY FUN HOUSE! 24/7 Champion update.
Lacey Evans got a win over Ember Moon with the Sharpshooter as she and Natalya continue their story. Moon had some offense, but she really needs a change in direction as she’s been flat on both brands she’s appeared on. We’ll see where she lands in the draft.
“Firefly Fun House” gave us Bray Wyatt splitting an action figure of Seth Rollins in half for Rambling Rabbit and Huskus The Pig to share, because it’s “caring”. Frighteningly brilliant stuff here.
Carmella is the new 24/7 champion after she double-crossed R-Truth after getting frantic about running around non-stop for four months now. Truth wasn’t upset and he backed the play. It’s her turn to shine and now the women on Raw gave chase.
Hail to the King. AOP update.
Chad Gable with a DQ victory over “King” Corbin was to follow. Corbin has an incredible new entrance, complete with scepter, crown, robe and new music. He and Gable once again tore it down and the ending came when Gable ahd the ankle lock submission applied, but Corbin grabbed the scepter and struck true before he was made to tap out. The crowd rallied behind Gable and this was just good business. These two told an amazing story last week and they did so again this week.
Akam and Razar, the Authors of Pain, return soon, and they had another gritty promo backstage which was intriguing.
Fatal Five-Way for the number one contention for the WWE Universal Championship.
Rey Mysterio outlasted Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles and Robert Roode to find himself victorious in the fatal five way matchup that earns him a Universal Title shot next week against Seth Rollins. Nakamura eliminated Ricochet first with a Kinshasha. AJ Styles took out Nakamura with a Phenomenal Forearm after Roode sidestepped the effort and then Roode eliminated Styles with a Glorious DDT. Roode looked like he was on his way to victory, but Mysterio dug deep down and hit the 619 and then a frogplash for the victory. This was fun and next week should provide a classic matchup between the two. I wouldn’t want to be Mysterio after the ending of this week’s main event though.
The Fiend strikes!
The main event was a no contest between Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman after the arrival of “The Fiend”. Strowman was poised to deliver his powerslam to Rollins, but “The Fiend” arrived after the lights dimmed and the eerie music hit. Wyatt shoved his fingers down the gullet of the “Monster Among Men”, showing that anyone can fall victim to the “Fiend”, no matter how protected they might seem.
Wyatt toyed with Rollins, who cowered in the corner, and Strowman attempted to rise, almost locking eyes like a bull with Wyatt, only to find himself the victim of the Mandible Claw once again. We ended the show this week allowing a promising character to show dominance over a top star. A job well done this week folks, a truly great show.
The final SmackDown Live:
On the final SmackDown Live show on the USA network, how will WWE go out? Will it be with a banger of a show, a wimper with no care in the world, or just meh? Next week, SDL will be branded back to Friday Night SmackDown and on the Fox network.
Hot start! Erick Rowan vs Daniel Bryan. Rowan wins via Iron Claw Slam.
This was a fantastic opening. The Redwood calls out the Planet’s Champion and they went straight to bashing each others skulls in. The crowd gave Bryan a huge pop hearkening to his old under dog days. Don’t get me wrong, the crowd will react to any way Daniel Bryan wants, he is just that good. After a stellar match that ended on a small botch, with Bryan’s legs getting twisted in the ropes. Roman Reigns comes down for the save and it’s announced that Roman/Daniel will face off agaisnt Rowan/Harper at Hell In A Cell.
Kofi Kingston’s confidence.
In a lackluster interview with Michael Cole conducting. Kingston tells Cole he is a fighting champion and will win against The Beast. Cole looked optimistic, as well as the rest of the WWE fans. Come on.. we all know Brock is going to win with Fox wanting more of a sports like show. Lesnar is a multi sports animal, and despite what hardcore fans think, Brock brings in tickets. It was fun Kofi, going to miss that title at your waist.
Shorty G vs Maria’s punching bag. Chad Gable wins over Mike Kanellis via Anklelock Submission.
Just a ordinary day for Gable. Chad calls out King Corbin, another wrestler shows up, Gable beats wrestler, another wrestler makes a short joke. I am very happy that Gable is getting his time to shine, but enough of the short jokes. They are juvenile and hardly would make a real person go fight another person. Just let Gable shine a world class athlete, keep him a baby face, and you may have Kurt Angle 2.0.
3 of the 4 Horsewomen go at it. Sasha Banks/Bayley vs Charlotte/Carmella. Sasha wins via Bank Statement on Carmella.
Did you know that Bayley and Carmella are very good friends? Well if you didn’t know, like 99% of the WWE Universe, the commentators drilled that in to our heads. Another seemingly slapped together match that could’ve been better. The truth was shown by Charlotte when Carmella was in the Bank Statement. Flair had a just bored look her face and didn’t even attempt to, you know save her tag partner. Boss N Hug then attack Flair as Becky Lynch ran in for a save. I’m still not buying that Flair and Lynch are besties.
24/7 hi jinks.
Also, Carmella is saved by R-Truth, as he puts her on his back as the ladies locker room go after Mella’s 24/7 title. During the match the rules for the 24/7 title was suspended (of course it was), but when the match was over, it was fair game. The likes of Sonya DeVille, Kari Sane, Asuka, Ember Moon went after them. That is kind of sad, considering that crowd was a bevy of super star talent. Stars that are forgotten. Oh, SEGWAY TRAIN!!!
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ali. Shinsuke wins via Kinsasha (again) pin fall.
These two men have obvious chemistry in the ring. Yet, this is what the fans get, a forgotten story line dusted off, once hot property Ali getting bashed in by Nakamura’s knee. I hope this is a burying, but it seems that WWE is trying to let the fans know.. “Hey! We didn’t forget Shinsuske! Oh! Also Ali!!!”. However, this is what it seems. Side note poor Sami Zayn again! He is regulated as an annoying mouth piece for Shin, when it was shown that Shin doesn’t need one a few week back.
New Day vs B-Team. New Day win via Midnight Hour.
Umm, yawwwn. This was nothing but a squash match. Not even a fun one, because The New Day is becoming the most decorated tag Team in WWE history! So why do this? My guess is to have the audience remember that SDL has a tag team division. Remember that? Yeah, I almost forgotten too.
More forgotten folks. The Kabuki Warriors vs Fire and Desire. Kari hits the InSane Elbow on Mandy Rose for pin fall.
Ok, wow.. not in a good way… but wow. On one half, you have two of the BEST female workers in pro wrestling, on the other half you have a breakout star and a mainstream star. This match did not do any favors to the four ladies. It was great to see Kari Sane and Asuka just dominating. However, the call for Mandy Rose to take the brunt of the match was a bad call. There was many times that it seemed that the Kubuki Warriors were not on the same page as Rose. Sonya DeVille barely saw any action, leading to a blah match.
The way SDL on USA network goes out.
Kevin Owens meets up with Shane McMahon in the ring. Shane trying to work his corporate magic, gives KO an offer. Shane will reinstate and remove the fines from KO, if he decides to drop the lawsuit. Owens does not budge and counter offers, a Ladder Match st Hell In A Cell with careers on the line. Shane accepts and that is how the FINAL SDL SHOW ON THE USA NETWORK ENDS!
The final grade.
It seems that WWE is more focus on moving SmackDown than making a unforgettable show. SDL had all the makings of one, but just became a stop gap show. The start was FIRE, but throughout the show it became stale. This was just a middle of the road show, with looking forward to next week. So long SDL, there was some great memories made.
205 Live
The show kicks off this week with a couple of backstage promo segments. First up is Cruiserweight champion Drew Gulak reacting to Lio Rush returning last week on NXT and winning the chance to be #1 contender to the Cruiserweight title. The champ then segued into tonight’s main event tag match, but more on that later. Before getting to the action, we got another segment of Singh brothers’ nonsense. I hope this is actually going somewhere.
Humberto Carrillo vs Angel Garza
The seeds were planted a few weeks back when these lucha cousins were on opposing sides of a multi-man tag match for there to be a solid rivalry here. This was their 1st one on one match here in WWE, but clearly they have great chemistry. I can easily see this being a pair who crosses paths off and on throughout the entirety of their careers. Their talent, chemistry, and familial connection will allow them to work as both foes and team mates and then foes once again. The more established Carrillo rightly came out on top this time, but that won’t always be the case.
THE Brian Kendrick was interviewed by Sarah Schrieber and portrayed a new twist on his character that isn’t just a heel, but a mentally unhinged heel.
Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak & Tony Nese
Former #1 contender Lorcan brought backup this week in the form of his tag partner Danny Burch. These two are one of my absolute favorite underrated teams on the entire WWE roster, but they had stiff competition in the form of Gulak and Nese. The champ and his frienemy have long been dominant forces in this division and have pretty good chemistry when working together. They nearly outsmarted the Brit-Am Brawlers on more than one occasion, but when all was said and done Burch pinned Nese for the victory. It should be interesting to see what the fallout is and where the story goes from here.
In other news, we should know the fate of 205 Live by the end of this week. Some well regarded sources are saying that it will be moving to Fridays along with its current TV partner Smackdown. Personally, I still think it should move to Wednesdays and be paired with NXT, so that the announcers don’t have to keep lying about the crowd being into the action. At Full Sail the crowds actually WOULD be into the action. Regardless of where the show lands on the schedule, the NXT creative team WILL reportedly be in charge of the division.
NXT UK
Oliver Carter vs Ligero
I don’t understand the presentation of Carter. He had vignettes prior to his debut and was talked up like someone who might make an impact. Instead he’s been used as glorified enhancement to help Joseph Conners and now Ligero build momentum.
Tyler Bate makes his 1st appearance since failing to win the UK title at Takeover Cardiff. As he’s apologizing to the fans for letting them down, he’s interrupted by Jordan Devlin. This has the potential to be an amazing program.
Nina Samuels gets an extended squash against local wrestler Dani Luna.
Trent Seven vs Noam Dar
Weeks of backstage encounters and arrogant taunts from Dar have finally led to this match. It was a solid effort from both men until Dar got a little too cute with Seven’s Mustache Mountain towel. The disrespect caused Seven to snap and beat on Dar in the ropes in spite of the ref’s warnings. The result is a DQ victory for the Scottish Super Nova, but surely this is not the end of this particular saga.
Next week NXT UK makes a 24 hour move from 3pm EST on Wednesdays to 3pm EST on Thursdays. Already announced for the show next week is Piper Niven vs Isla Dawn and Tegan Nox vs Kay Lee Ray in a non title match.
NXT
This week the show begins by following the 4 members of Undisputed Era up a set of stairs. They step onto a raised platform and hold all the gold aloft. At this point the camera pulls back to reveal that they are standing above a new announce desk, and the announce team welcomes us to NXT on USA.
Keith Lee vs Dominik Dijakovic
This is the 3rd meeting between these two massive performers. Match number 1 ended in a draw, number 2 was a win for Dijakovic, and tonight Lee evened things up with his own win. These two men have great ring chemistry and they never cease to amaze doing things that guys their size should not be capable of executing. There’s no way they are ending this series in a tie, so the question isn’t IF they’ll meet again but rather WHEN will they meet again.
Dakota Kai vs Taynara
New Zealand’s Dakota Kai was making her triumphant return from ACL surgery, and she arrived with new gear. No more childish tie dye. Instead she has a sportier looking white and black look. Taynara also had a slightly tweaked look to her gear, but kept the martial arts influence. She seems to have lost her last name though. Her graphic simply said Taynara, and with the exception of one slip up from Beth Phoenix none of the announcers used the name “Conti.” Kai picked up the victory with a twist on the GTS that was referred to as GTK (Go To Kick). She is the “captain of team kick” after all.
Street Fight #1 Contender Match: Matt Riddle vs Killian Dain
After last week’s street fight ended in a full roster brawl, GM William Regal booked a do over this week with slightly higher stakes. This time the winner gets a title match against Adam Cole. They actually played up these stakes in the story of the match by keeping it in the ring far more than previous encounters between the two. For the most part it was a battle of Dain’s power vs Riddle’s technical prowess. That said Riddle is deceptively strong in a way that reminds me a bit of Cesaro. Note to Mauro Renallo though, not every move this man makes needs to have the word “bro” squeezed into the name. Dain tried what had worked before by delivering a trio of Vader bombs, but this time Riddle kicked out and went on to lock in a fujiwara armbar for the submission victory. Post match Cole came down to get in the Bro’s face, but ended up on the receiving end of his own armbar.
Hour 2
It’s worth noting that unlike last week, there didn’t seem to be any issues handling the traffic tuning in to the WWE Network for hour 2. Thankfully, this is the last time that midshow switch needs to happen.
Rhea Ripley vs Kayden Carter
I was confused at first, because I hadn’t seen any news regarding the former Lacey Lane having been rechristened as Kayden Carter. While this was clearly just another step on Ripley’s rode to another title reign, Carter did get some moments to look good before falling to a Riptide. Rhea is being built up good both here and on UK, so I’m not sure which belt they’re going to have her go after.
Burch & Lorcan vs Ever-Rise
First of all, I have to feel bad for Burch and Lorcan. They worked the main event of 205 in California on Tuesday night and then traveled back to Florida for NXT on Wednesday night. I know that tough travel schedules are part of the game in professional wrestling, but that seems a little ridiculous to me. It’s yet another reason that I strongly feel 205 should be based out of Full Sail and run either before or after NXT each week. Same talent, same creative team, and a crowd that would be much more receptive to what the division offers.
The former “3.0” is now being called Ever-Rise in their second televised match. The teams worked well together at a nice pace with plenty of technical prowess, but it was the more established duo that got the win. I’m wondering if they’re being built back up for another title opportunity.
Chelsea Green and Deonna Purazzo are shown together in the audience. Based on things I’ve been seeing on social media, I suspect they will be working as a tag team.
Cameron Grimes vs Raul Mendoza
This was another notch in Grimes’ belt as he rebuilds momentum after finishing 2nd in the Breakout Tournament. Unlike his last match that only lasted as long as it took the ref to count, Mendoza actually made him work for it this week.
Imperium (Wolfe, Aichner, & Barthel) vs Kushida & Breezango
Kushida’s partners were a mystery for the entire show until their music hit. NXT Breezango turned out to be a good choice to pair with Kushida. They still have fun but also get down to business (something the main roster creative team doesn’t seem to grasp as a legit possibility). It was a solid match with the faces getting the hard fought win. Alas, the celebration was short lived as UK Champion Walter showed up and left Kushida lying on the ground. I thought the build to their eventual showdown would be a bit slower, but it seems we may get that match sooner rather than later. Might it be added to the stacked card for next week?
NEXT WEEK
All two hours of NXT will be on USA starting next week, and with AEW also debuting their new show next week HHH and company are stacking the show with title matches. Candice LeRae will face Shayna Baszler for the NXT women’s Title, The Street Profits are getting a rematch for the Tag Titles against current champions Fish & O’Reilly, and Matt Riddle seizes the opportunity he won this week to face Adam Cole for the NXT Title. The announce team was also promising “limited commercials,” whatever that means.
NEWS
- Congratulations to the Miz and Maryse on the birth of their 2nd daughter, Madison Jade Mizanin on September 20th.
- Mickie James, currently recovering from ACL surgery, could end up working behind the scenes as a producer when she eventually makes her way back. She could also land on one of the announce teams if her recent appearance on Main Event is any indication.
- Lisa Marie Varon, WWE’s Victoria, is officially retired from in ring competition. The former 2 time WWE Women’s Champion, 5 time TNA Knockouts Champion, and 1 time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion had her final match this past weekend for Masters of the Ring Entertainment.
- WWE has made the official announcement that the new Tuesday night show will be called WWE Backstage. As had long been expected, Renee Young and Booker T will be the hosts and others from the company will join them on occasion. The show debuts at 11pm EST Nov. 5 on FS1.
- There are reports making the rounds that John Hennigan, aka John Morrison, aka Johnny Mundo, aka Johnny Impact has signed a deal to return to WWE.
- Jim Johnston will debut his first non WWE theme song for Ring Of Honor’s PCO at Death Before Dishonor. Johnston was with the WWE for 32 years. Jim was responsible for some the most iconic entrance theme songs such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, DX, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, and countless others.
- The commentary teams for Raw and Friday Night SmackDown have been released. On Raw it will be Vic Joseph, Dio Madden, and The King Jerry Lawler. On Friday Night SmackDown it will be Michael Cole and Corey Graves. Odd one out is Renee Young, as she will host the FS1 “WWE Backstage” as mentioned above.
- AEW’s UK fans will have to suffer a multi day delay. British free-to-air network ITV annouced that it will air AEW’s Dynamite on Sunday. A full four days after airing, followed with a recap show.
