This week in wrestling had WWE’s final draft picks and AEW’s tournament continue. Firefly Fun House goes up in smoke. An epic AEW match or matches. NXT brings it and is it the end of 205 Live? Find out all you need to know right here!
RAW:
The Pepsi Center in Denver, CO hosted the second night of the Live WWE Draft, this time on the USA network and at Monday Night Raw.
Fight for first pick. First round draft picks. Andrade stands tall.
Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte in the first match of the night. The former Smackdown Women’s champion was subbing for an injured Sasha Banks, and a surprise roll-up from “The Man” was all that was needed to end this.
Stephanie McMahon announced Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair, Andrade and Zelina Vega for Raw as well as Brock Lesnar and The New Day for Smackdown. Outside of Flair changing brands once again, no surprises here.
Andrade defeated Ali via pin fall with the Hammerlock DDT and hopefully this talented star will get a chance to truly shine on Heyman’s Raw. He deserves it ass he’s been a top hand for a few years now.
Second round picks. Tag Team title match.
McMahon is back and she announces Aleister Black, The Kabuki Warriors and Rusev for Raw and Daniel Bryan and Bayley for Smackdown. Seeing Black on Raw will be huge as he basically had no time on Smackdown. If the women’s champions ever lose the titles, Raw immediately has two top hands back on the broadcast and in the meantime, they’ll still appear on both shows.
The Viking Raiders are the new Raw tag team champions, besting Roode and Ziggler after the Viking Experience spelled the end for the now former champs. I believe this is the first time we’ve had an undefeated team winning the titles. Kudos to Erik and Ivar, they’ve been solid, even with just preliminary talent. This would make sense shortly.
Third round draft picks. Path to the Fun House. Aleister Black rolls on.
Stephanie McMahon informs us that Cedric Alexander, Humberto Carillo and Erick Rowan are headed to Raw and Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn and Ali are on Smackdown. I was hoping to see Nakamura switch brands with Zayn, but Rowan will be intriguing. I don’t even know how they plan to use Carillo as they try to figure out what’s happening with 205 live.
Seth Rollins vowed to find his way into the Firefly Fun House to confront “The Fiend” later and Natalya will have a mystery partner in a non-title bout against The Kabuki Warriors.
Aleister Black defeated Eric Young via submission with the Dark Ritual. This is the second week we get to see the one-armed dragon sleeper. A very impressive move for a man who hopefully enjoys a push.
Fourth round draft picks. Richochet vs Shelton Benjamin. Contract signing.
McMahon gives us Buddy Murphy, Jinder Mahal and R-Truth on Raw as well as Robert Roode, Dolph Ziggler and Carmella for Smackdown. It’s sad to see Mella and Truth split, but it’s great for an under utilized Buddy Murphy and mixing up the tag teams freshens the divisions a bit.
Ricochet defeats Shelton Benjamin with the Recoil for the pin fall victory. A competitive bout with two great hands given some time. Is Raw slowly becoming the wrestling show now? I can get behind that.
Lana and Bobby Lashley have a massage session which continues to demean Rusev and that will continue their story.
Jerry Lawler moderated a contract singing with Braun Strowman and Tyson Fury. Fury mocked Strowman’s strength and that makes their bout official.
Fifth round draft picks. Not a secret anymore Murphy. Street Profits and OC clash.
McMahon gives us the results of round five with Samoa Joe, Shelton Benjamin and Akira Tozawa to Raw and “King” Corbin and The Miz to Smackdown. Miz did nothing the majority of this year on Raw and “King” Corbin needs a fresh brand to continue his heel ways. Happy to have Joe on the red brand for sure.
Buddy Murphy defeats Cedric Alexander via pin fall with Murphy’s Raw. This is exactly what we needed. What a contest between two premiere athletes. Love it. Great to see Murphy with some TV time.
The Street Profits were attacked by the OC earlier and it will lead to a six man tag match with the Profits having a mystery partner as soon as next week.
There have been a multitude of celebrities on the show tonight and apparently a “blockbuster trade” will be revealed between the two brands over the next 24 hours. It should involve “The Fiend”.
Final round draft picks. Warriors stand above all.
The sixth and final round of the draft sends Titus O’Neil, Liv Morgan and Rey Mysterio to Raw and “Shorty” Gable and Elias to Smackdown. Mysterio should have gone to Smackdown with Lesnar and Cain Velasquez. That might be the trade situation when it happens if it involves “The Fiend”. Hopefully Morgan gets some TV time.
The Kabuki Warriors defeated Natalya and Lacey Evans with pin fall after a roll-up by Asuka on Evans. Strange bedfellows here indeed and it was fun. It was even better seeing the champs win a non-title match. Evans and Nattie did not turn on each other, but you have to believe they’ll give it another go. A great win for Sane and Asuka.
Firefly Fun House up in smoke.
“Firefly Fun House” was invaded by Seth Rollins and I have no words to describe how in the blue hell the man even got there. He did in fact “burn it down” by copying the Orton debacle a few years back and burning the imaginary place to the ground. The crowd booed him mercilessly as this occurred. They want “The Fiend” to win the title and I don’t know how it’s going to happen with puzzling segments like this. We shall see I suppose. – Joel M
AEW Dynamite:
AEW was live from the historic pro wrestling stomping grounds of Philadelphia. Birth place of ECW, Dragon Gate USA, Combat Zone Wrestling and many other promotions. It was up to AEW to deliver with Dynamite, were they successful or not? AEW Women’s title was up for grabs. AEW’s Tag Team tournament continued. An all star Tag Team Match and Darby Allin’s biggest match yet. This is Dynamite!
Tag Team tournament match. Santana and Ortiz conquer.
SCU vs Best Friends. SCU wins and advances via Powerbomb/Dropkick combo pin fall
Before the match could start, The Lucha Bros ambushed SCU’s Christpopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian. Daniels took the worst of the beating as he received a Pile Driver on the steel ramp. Laying motionless, the Ref threw up the dreaded “X” symbol. This symbol in real life means that something went seriously wrong, in this case it was the story. Scorpio Sky then tells the Ref he will fill in.
The match started with Best Friends in charge and targeting Kazarian’s lower back from the prior assault. Best Friends continued the weakened back until Scorpio was tagged in. Sky didn’t fare much better fighting in street clothes. Chucky Taylor went to target Sky’s ankle, even ripping off his shoe and tossing out the ring.
Scorpio then goes on a run taking out both Trent and Taylor, with one shoe on! The crowd ignites from Sky’s performance and in turn pumps him up. Scorpio tosses his other shoe in the crowd to a huge pop and the crowd tosses it back in the ring as show of respect. That my friends is something you can’t plan or script, and it was good. At the end, Scorpio/Frankie hits a nice Power Bomb/Dropkick combo for the win. Fantastic start, emotional and great action in the ring.
Santana/Ortiz vs Alex Reynolds/Johnny Silver. Satana/Ortiz win via Street Sweeper pin fall.
A match that was a showcase for Satana/Ortiz aka squash match. Not to knock the indie stars of Silver and Reynolds, but they knew what they were getting into. After the Street Sweeper finish, Jericho appears on the screen and drops a promo about them. Which was great, but Ortiz/Santana annoyed me by barking in the camera, which had a microphone throughout the promo. Baby steps guys, baby steps.
AEW Women’s title match. More AEW Tag Team tournament.
AEW’s Women’s Champion Riho vs Dr. Britt Baker. Riho wins via roll up pin fall.
Here is a classic case of a in ring veteran vs a performer of a few years. Want to guess who is the vet? It’s Riho.. at age 22. Riho has been working in the business since she was NINE YEARS OLD! Yup, not a typo.. during that course she has won many championships. Then there’s Britt Baker, only in tuned to the sport for about four years. That is NOT a knock on Baker, she does work in the ring very well. However, when pitted against a vet like Riho, things start to show.
The usual story for Riho, the underdog that just won’t quit and winning the hearts of the fans. Baker’s story is still a mystery. Is she over hyped, pushed to the top from back stage politics, ready to take the title and make it something special? Well, all that is up for debate, what we got was a good in ring story.
In classic Riho fashion, she never gave up against her larger opponent. Landing strikes that counted, then when all hope was lost from Baker’s Lockjaw submission. The gritty Riho, prevented the final move and rolled up Baker for the pin fall. Good stuff. May be a one off, but if htese two clash again, I hope Baker is more refined.
Lucha Bros vs Jurassic Express. Lucha Bros win via Spiked Packaged Pile Driver pin fall.
The biggest wrestling dino, Luchasaurus was pulled from this match due to a hamstring injury. So Marko Stunt took his place, teaming with Jungle Boy. If you do not know about Marko Stunt, he is 5’2″ of pure heart and will never back down. Lucha Bros toyed with Stunt early on. I said toying as a nice phrase, because they went to town on this lad.
Every time Marko reversed a move and had some offense, Lucha Bros struck him down. It was almost uncomfortable for a casual watcher see the what would the Lucha Bros do to the Lion Heart Marko. However, do not think this was a total one sided fight, Jurassic Express fought damn hard and surprised and frustrated the heavily favorite Lucha Bros. However, Cero Midos reigned supreme and advanced in the tournament.
PPV level tag team match. AEW Title match.
Kenny Omega/Adam Hangman Page vs Jon Moxley/Pac. Page wins via Rite of Passage pin fall on Pac.
Well now, what a match! This is a match that deserves to be on a PPV. Yet AEW gifted us this match for free on Dynamite. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will not be going into the move for move description of the match, because you should watch it. It had thrills, it had chills, it had… top bills? Ok, my rhyming skills are awful, but this match you should see.
At the end featured Moxely and Omega grabbing their respected extreme weapon and face off. A barbed wire broom for Omega and a barbed wire bat for Moxley. However, PAC was trying to keep his record intact and threw both weapons away. Telling Moxely to use his head to win. Jon then hits the Dirty Deeds on PAC and leaves the ring. Allowing for an Omega V-Trigger and Page’s Rite Of Passage pin fall.
This completely gives AEW multiple paths on story build. Now Moxley can face off against PAC. Allowing some separation between the Omega/Moxley feud and give Page a chance to fight any one. Great job AEW, great job.
Pain Maker Chris Jericho vs Darby Allin for the AEW World Championship Title in a Philadelphia Street Fight. Jericho wins via Walls Of Jericho submission.
A perplexing match up that followed with supreme in ring story telling and putting over. Jericho is like Santa Clause in putting over young talent. Darby Allin is a star in the making before our very eyes. The biggest complaint about this stellar match was the rules. The TV audience knew in advance that rope breaks were allowed, but not the audience at the arena. If you know a Philly crowd, then you know that they know the rules better than the promotion.
This where it gets dicey, The match itself was fantastic. However without the crowd fully knowing the rules, they booed hard with every rope break. Aside from that, this was a spectacular display of in ring story telling. With Allin having a penchant of taking abuse and never giving up, to Jericho’s desperate attempts to put away the young worker.
After Jericho wrapped tape around Allin’s hands, forcing Darby to fight without his hands, the crowd LOST IT! Seeing this young man only four years into the business athletically take apart Jericho was fantastic! When Jake Hager came in to stop the Coffin drop and Jericho locking in the Walls Of Jericho for the win did a few things. It solidify Allin as a threat, made Jericho’s in ring knowledge a threat, set up future bouts, and I’m a happy man.– David G.
NXT:
This week seemed to feature more matches of shorter lengths than we’ve seen thus far in NXT’s run on USA. I’m wondering if this slight format tweak is in response to the competition over on TNT. We got to see a lot of great wrestlers in action still, so let’s dig in to what went down…
Undisputed North America
Although other titles were not completely forgotten, most of the big developments this week related to Roderick Strong’s North American Title. He was originally set to defend that title next week in a rematch with former champion Velveteen Dream. That all changed on this week’s show.
The opening match of the show featured the in ring return of former NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa just 7 months after a surgery that could potentially have ended his career. He looks great and picked up a short but sweet win over 3rd generation superstar Angel Garza. After the match all 4 members of Undisputed Era came out and surrounded the ring. Ciampa kept the high ground center ring, and the Era did not engage.
What the Era did do was deliver a USB to the announcers. The drive was later revealed to contain a video of the UE bragging over an unconscious Velveteen Dream. As it turns out, Dream is dealing with a legit back injury and this angle is being used to write him off while he recovers. General Manager William Regal soon informs Cathy Kelly that Dream will not be able to fight next week. Instead Strong will defend the North American Title against the winner of this week’s rubber match between Keith Lee and Dominick Dijakovic.
Lee and Dijakovic deliver yet another fantastic display of power, athleticism, and in ring chemistry. Unfortunately, we still don’t have a definitive winner in the feud, because Strong interjects himself in the finish. Hopefully the two big men will have a future opportunity to settle things, but for next week they’ll BOTH get a shot at Strong’s title in a triple threat match.
The women jockey for position
Io Shirai (whose entrance should come with a seizure warning) took on Kayden Carter. Carter has a lot of future potential and even had solid chemistry with Shirai, but it’s not her time just yet. After the match Shirai grabbed a mic and made it known that Rhea and Bianca are not the only women with their eyes on the prize. Ripley doesn’t like what she hears and comes how to stare down the Genius of the Sky. Io seems unfazed by the more dominant star.
Tegan Nox makes her first return to the Full Sail ring since suffering a devastating knee injury during the 2nd Mae Young Classic. Wearing Captain Marvel themed ring gear Nox picks up the win over Taynara with her shiniest wizard. Good friend Dakota Kai comes out to celebrate, but their jubilance is cut short by the champ and her Horsewomen. They exchange words but not blows… for now.
Everything Else
Two of the best but slightly underrated tag teams on the roster showed off their skills as Imperium’s Aichner and Barthel scored a victory over Lorcan and Burch. I would have though the latter team would be built up for another run at the tag titles, but Imperium is still establishing their dominance as a unit.
Bronson Reed is someone who has not exactly lived up to his presumed potential since debuting on the black and gold brand. He still wasn’t able to turn around his luck as this week his purpose was to provide a strong win for Matt Riddle.
Killian Dain continued his momentum with a dominant beating of Boa. On his way back up the ramp he crossed paths with Pete Dunne. It was just enough of an encounter to tease a future program between the two. On this night though, Dunne had a date with the undefeated Damian Priest. They were having a solid though slightly short match until the Archer of Infamy took advantage of a ref distraction to deliver a low blow. After that, all it took was his finisher, and the streak remained in effect. I look forward to eventually seeing what these two can do with more time and a better story. ~Jason M
Next Week:
- Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair
- Roderick Strong defends the North American Title against Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic
- Finn Balor returns to NXT action
NXT UK:
Imperium Rising
The 1st match of the night featured Ilja Dragunov facing Saxon Huxley, a match that was supposed to happen two weeks ago were the young Russian not injured. Dragunov picked up another solid win while Alexander Wolfe watched on from the stage. Post match, Aichner and Barthel entered and for a moment the young Russian thought he might find himself on the wrong end of a beating. Aichner and Barthel simply walked to the ring for their match while Wolfe beckoned Dragunov to join him backstage.
Imperium’s opponents were the Hunt. In some ways this felt similar to their match against Burch and Lorcan on Wednesday. Two solid teams, sometimes underrated, putting on a dependably solid match in service of Imperium’s continued dominance.
The Future
The UK brand’s favorite underdog Xia Brookside did what she does best in overcoming Nina Samuels in a match. We also saw a backstage conversation between Piper Niven and Rhea Ripley. Ripley doesn’t like Piper, but she doesn’t like Jinny and Jazzy more. They’ll all soon meet in tag action.
Jordan Devlin hit the ring to run his mouth as usual, but Dave Mastiff came out to shut him up. They too will meet again soon. Next week Trent Seven and Noam Dar finally get in the ring to settle their ongoing issues.
UK Tag Titles
The main event saw NXT UK Tag Champions Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster defending against Gallus members Mark Coffey and Wolfgang. This was a fantastic match that never stopped. Joe Coffey watched on from the stage while being careful not to risk getting involved in a DQ finish that would cost his team the win.
They went back and forth with a lot of very creative offense. Either team could have won at almost any moment, and it really had a big fight feel. When all was said and done, it was Gallus who finally got their first taste of gold as the NEW Tag Team Champions. ~Jason M
Friday Night SmackDown:
This is WWE’s first show post draft. How will it all fall in to place? Will there be a new faction? Six man tag team action! Six pack match for the number one contender match! Big Dog and The Planet’s Champion unite! Let’s dive in!
Intercontinental Championship match. Shorty G is real. Eight man tag team craziness.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Roman Reigns. Shinsuke wins via disqualification and retains the title.
Alright, a match that has polarizing issues. In one hand, we see Roman getting pused like when he was hated in the past. The other, we see again Shinsuke not being utilized like way he deserves. This ends up being a GREAT match! The two slugged it out only to have my new personal WWE heel, King Corbin interfere and cost Roman the title.
This in a way, is a step up. WWE utilizing the hate of the booking for all men involved and is trying to create a nucleus of a feud. Even Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan was involved and we know he needs a better story line. This leads into a match latter on.
Chad Gable vs Curtis Axel. Gable wins via Ankle Lock.
What did you expect? This was a squash match for on the WWE’s best organic baby face. THe fact Gable continues to use Kurt Angle’s Ankle Lock proves it. However, after the match the rumors became cannon. Gable confirms that he is “Shorty Gable” but is going to shorten (pun intended) to “Shorty G”. Now the trademarks filings from WWE has made it to the TV screens.
Heavy Machinery/New Day (Big E/Xavier Woods) vs Dolph Ziggler/Bobby Roode and The Revival. New Day win via Midnight Hour pin fall.
Now this was a showcase of tag team talent. These eight men went at it! From the veteran composer of the New Day and The Revival to the insane chemistry from Heavy Machinery and surprisingly Zig and Roode. This had almost everything you would want from a classic eight man tag team match. I could go on play by play, but you should watch it for yourself. I wager you would not be disappointed. New Day hits the Midnight Hour on Dawson for the win.
Bayley on Miz TV. Six Women Number One Contender’s Match. The Monster is a Monster.
Miz TV creates a match.
Bayley along with Sasha Banks was Miz’s guest on Miz TV. Bayley continued her heel persona and claimed the the WWE Women’s division is “just lazy”. This prompts Nikki Cross to arrive and state that she will win the number one contender’s match. After that a slew of WWE women talent arrive, leading to this match..
Six-Pack Match for number one contender to SmackDown’s Women’s Title. Nikki Cross wins via The Purge on Mandy Rose for the pin fall.
The set up was good, the match was was strong, and fan favorite Cross won. Good booking right? Well almost, while this match showcased the talents for the more casual crowd. It makes me question that there are some being held back again, like Sonya DeVille. DeVille really doesn’t need Mandy Rose and vice versa. Dana Brooke just needs a few good matches for her to elevate, Carmella must need to kill the past. So what does this do for the ladies I mentioned? Nothing, except for Cross, as she won a match to face Bayley. Not saying that she does not deserve it, I’m just saying all the ladies deserve to more fleshed out.
Braun Strowman vs Drew Gulak. Braun wins via No contest.
Ok, there is a part of me that was giddy to see Gulak in a big match. Then I realized it was nothing but fluff. The ever climbing an talented Gulak attempted to give his Power Point presentation to Strowman. However it failed and Braun just beat up a guy that gain popularity from months of busting his butt off in great matches. Thanks WWE… thanks.
Main event time!
Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan vs Shinsuke Nakamura/King Corbin.
Prior tho the match with Seth Rollins being pulled from the Team Hogan vs Team Flair match at Crown Jewel. Roman Reigns was announced as Team Hogan’s Captain. Umm, yay? Well on to the match, which was… ok.
Corbin and Nakamura established themselves as the ultimate heels in the show. However the unrelenting force of Roman and Bryan is too much too overcome from mid-carders. Not Shinsuke, but King Corbin and his vortex of making anybody he teams with a mid-carder. A tired Daniel Bryan hits his running knee on Shinsuke for the pin fall. Best friends rejoice.
Is Smackdown getting better?
Well in a way, yes. However, FSD has many obstacles to overcome. Like, consistency in story telling. Both in ring and out of the ring. Making matches count and have the crowd in home & in arena care. This is a step in the right direction with the upgraded camera work, but still needs help to compete. –David G
205 Live:
Well if the writing on the wall wasn’t apparent in the past few weeks. The opening of 205 Live cemented it. This show has a ticking time frame before it’s closure. Let’s dive in the short end.
Drake Maverick’s announcement and the beginning of the end.
205 Live GM, Drake Maverick announces that he and William Regal have come to terms on using 205 talents on NXT. Umm, yeah.. we have seen this. Especially when The 205 Live Cruiserweight title was re-branded as the NXT Cruiserweight title. This is the first official step folks, we have all seen it. However, this seems like the machine has plotted a path to eliminate 205 Live.
A gentleman vs a rouge. Tag team action. Triple Threat Match.
Brian Kendrick vs Jack Gallgher. Kendrick wins via Sliced bread pin fall.
This was an exciting match to start off after the foreseeing news. The action was brisk and the two men put on a great show. However the in ring savvy of Kendrick proved too much for the younger star. The Rouge Brian Kendrick lands the Slice Bread for the pin fall.
The Singh Bros vs Justin Alexander/Justin Morris. Singh Bros win via Bollywood Blast pin fall.
In a not so subtle squash match. The ever 205 popular Signh Bros pick up a win from lesser known workers aka squash match. This really display on why the Singh Bros have been a lightning rod of attention at 205 Live. They can be heels, the duo can be baby faces, at last they can entertain. Write up folks, the Singh Bros win again.
Oney Larcan vs Tony Nese vs Aruya Daivari. Nese wins via Sunset Driver pin fall.
Ok, this match you HAVE to see! The trio laid it all on the line, spot fest after spot fest. You should know by now that I love spots fests when done right. This match was just as the same as my love for them. Almost a never dull moment, the men exceeded expectations. Whether it was knees to a chest to 450s to moonsaults, it was entertaining. With Nese winning, Tony gets on the headsets and warns Lio Rush that he is coming. WOW, that could be a match of the year contender! -David G.
News and tidbits:
- Eric Bischoff has been fired from WWE Friday Night SmackDown as Executive Director. Bruce Prichard, known as Brother Love has replaced him
- Long time WWE announcer and backstage interviewer Justin Roberts has signed on to AEW. Roberts spent 12 years with the WWE before being let go in 2014.
- WWE has failed to purchase Japanese promotion NOAH, in which was poised to become NXT Japan.
- Legendary Jushin Thunder Liger has announced that his FINAL U.S match will be in CMLL on Nov 9th. His opponent has yet to be revealed. Liger will retire after Wrestle Kingdom 14.
