Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review Issue #8
13SHARESWelcome everyone to the eighth edition of Spandex and Suplexes! This week saw the AEW Full Gear PPV and its fallout, the continued build to NXT TakeOver: WarGames and WWE Survivor Series, and multiple championships on the line. Let’s get started.
Credit: AEW
Results:
1. Britt Baker defeated Bea Priestley by submission
2. Proud and Powerful (Santana and Ortiz) defeated The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
3. Hangman Page defeated Pac
4. Shawn Spears defeated Joey Janela after interference by Tully Blanchard
5. SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) (c) defeated Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix) and Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship
6. Riho (c) defeated Emi Sakura to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship
7. Chris Jericho (c) defeated Cody Rhodes by technical submission after MJF threw in the towel to retain the AEW World Championship (As a result, Cody can never challenge for the AEW World Championship again)
8. Jon Moxley defeated Kenny Omega in an Unsanctioned Lights Out match
Thoughts: This was an excellent PPV. The Jericho/Cody match had great storytelling. While we knew it was inevitable that MJF would turn on Cody at some point, the way it was done here was masterful. After faking Cody and everyone else out into thinking he threw in the towel out of concern for Cody’s well-being, MJF delivered a sadistic nut shot to Cody as he smiled with a cocky grin. This moment was made even better with Jim Ross crying out on commentary: “You little bastard!” This one act has now made MJF the most hated man in all of AEW and is sure to set up an epic feud between himself and Cody.
The main event match between Moxley and Omega was insane and it would take me a while to cover every single crazy spot in that match. This was easily my match of the week and if you can only watch one match from this show, this the one to see. Moxley looked like a beast and showed exactly how big of a star he actually is as he got to show a side that Dean Ambrose was never allowed to in WWE. I see Moxley being the next challenger to Jericho’s world title as well as being the one to take Le Champion’s title. They could also easily set up a rematch with Omega, but I say keep them apart for a while and then do a big rematch down the road. Since making the jump from WWE to AEW, Moxley has proven to be one of the premier guys for AEW to build the company around for years to come.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) (c) defeated Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
2. Drew McIntyre defeated Sin Cara
3. Samir Singh (c) and Sunil Singh vs. R-Truth for the WWE 24/7 Championship went to a no contest
4. Seth Rollins defeated Walter by DQ after interference by Imperium (Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner, and Marcel Barthel)
5. Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) defeated Imperium (Walter, Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner, and Marcel Barthel)
6. Andrade defeated Cedric Alexander after interference by Zelina Vega
7. Erick Rowan defeated a local competitor
8. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) defeated Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster
9. Randy Orton, Ricochet, and Humberto Carrillo defeated The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson)
Thoughts: Raw managed to get the upper hand on NXT this week with Rollins, Owens, and The Street Profits defeating Imperium and The Viking Raiders defeating Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. Smackdown’s Bayley also got a measure of revenge against NXT’s Shayna Baszler and made a statement against Becky Lynch by throwing her into the barricade ahead of the three women’s champions’ triple threat match at Survivor Series.
It was announced during the show that Team Raw’s Survivor Series men’s team will be made up of Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Ricochet. Another match announced for the battle of the brands at Survivor Series was a triple threat match pitting Raw’s United States Champion AJ Styles against Smackdown’s Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and the NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong. This could be the show stealer of the night with three of WWE’s best going at it.
The Rusev/Lana/Lashley segment was just god awful. I’ll try to recap it as quickly as I can. Lana came out and claimed she was pregnant with Rusev’s child. Rusev came out to question her. Lana screamed at him to not call her a liar and she attacked him and jumped on his back as Lashley rushed the ring. She grabbed Rusev’s leg, allowing Lashley to beat down Rusev. Lana then revealed that she faked the pregnancy while walking back up the ramp with Lashley. This was really bad and I feel bad for everyone involved in this terrible storyline. The crowd booed this segment from start to finish. This may easily end up being the worst WWE storyline of the year and possibly even the worst feud of the year in all of wrestling period.
Overall, this was a very mixed show. The opening women’s tag match, the Team Rollins vs. Imperium match, and the six-man tag main event were all excellent while the rest of the show was just kind of there with the Rusev/Lana/Lashley segment being garbage.
Results:
1. Trevor Murdoch defeated Caleb Konley
2. Thunder Rosa and Marti Belle defeated Crystal Rose and Brooklyn Creed
3. The Question Mark defeated Dan Parker
4. The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer and Royce Isaacs) (c) defeated Outlaw, Inc. (Eddie Kingston and Homicide) to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship
Thoughts: Aron Stevens came out and announced that he quit and was going to back to Hollywood. I doubt this is actually the last time we see him, but I hope that when he does make his next appearance he will be booked as more than just a comedy heel who loses all the time.
Thunder Rosa is a great talent. She should definitely be the person that the NWA builds their growing women’s division around. Showing footage of her MMA fight was a really nice touch as it helps give Rosa a greater sense of legitimacy. I expect Rosa to face Allysin Kay for the NWA Women’s World Champion at Into the Fire and for her to win the championship.
Colt Cabana came out to talk about winning the NWA National Championship last week from James Storm. He was interrupted by Ricky Starks who made it clear that he wanted a shot at the National Championship. This could be a great match, possibly at Into the Fire. Starks has impressed me in recent weeks with his in-ring and promo abilities. I can see him being the next champion as he is a young talent that the NWA can build up and made into a focal point of the company for many years to come.
Eli Drake cut a promo on Nick Aldis and Kamille before he was interrupted by Thomas Latimer and Royce Isaacs who told him to keep his mouth shut. Mr. Anderson came out and offered some sort of assistance to Drake which confused him. This was intriguing as it insinuates that there may be some sort of secret alliance between Latimer/Isaacs and Aldis/Kamille.
After the tag title main event, Kamille came out and starting arguing with Aldis who was sitting at ringside. This lead to James Storm coming out and arguing with both of them. Eli Drake, Colt Cabana, and The Dawsons then came out and everyone starting arguing with each other as referees and officials tried to keep them all apart in a chaotic scene as the show came to a close.
Overall, this was a good episode of NWA Power that was very angle heavy and did a good job at advancing multiple storylines and left us with a lot of questions going forward. I am really looking forward to the Into the Fire PPV on December 14th.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Lio Rush (c) defeated Angel Garza to retain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
2. Xia Li defeated Aliyah
3. Keith Lee defeated Roderick Strong
4. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defeated Bronson Reed
5. Io Shirai defeated Mia Yim in a ladder match to earn the one person advantage inside WarGames after interference by Kay Lee Ray
Thoughts: The NXT Cruiserweight Championship match, the Lee/Strong match, and the main event ladder match were all excellent. Lee defeating Strong could be an indication that he will be Strong’s next challenger for the North American Championship after WarGames. Before and again during the Lee/Strong match, Finn Balor and Matt Riddle went at it, beating each other down.
After the match, Dominik Dijakovic emerged and wiped out The Undisputed Era and asked to be added to Tommaso Ciampa’s team at WarGames which Ciampa accepted. Due to Balor and Riddle’s attacks on each other, it was announced later that night that Riddle would be removed from Ciampa’s WarGames team and will instead face Balor one on one at WarGames. This means that Ciampa still has one more spot to fill on his team. Pete Dunne and Killian Dain were scheduled to face each other, but Damian Priest ran down and a three way brawl ensued. I expect a three-way match to be booked for WarGames between these three men which should a fun, hard hitting affair.
Throughout the night, multiple women were found taken out backstage. With Mia Yim’s teammates among those taken out, Dakota Kai offered to watch Mia’s back in her match with Io Shirai. Despite Kai’s assistance, Io showed she had her own backup when NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray interfered, helping Shirai gain the victory and revealing the final member of Team Baszler for WarGames. Bianca Belair came to the ring to celebrate with her teammates as Shayna Baszler walked out in stage to applaud her team.
Suddenly, Bayley jumped Baszler from behind and dropped Shayna’s face onto her own title belt. Bayley retreated as Team Baszler rushed up the ramp as the show came to an end. Bayley showing up and getting back at Baszler for Shayna’s multiple sneak attacks on her was a really cool moment. This week’s Raw and NXT did a good job at making Bailey feel just as important in the upcoming women’s triple threat match as Becky Lynch and Baszler.
Overall, this was a good episode of NXT that had some great matches and great build up for WarGames.
Credit: AEW
Results:
1. Jon Moxley defeated Michael Nakazawa
2. The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) defeated Jurassic Express (Marko Stunt and Jungle Boy)
3. Darby Allin defeated Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears in a triple threat match after inference by Joey Janela
4. Nyla Rose defeated Dani Jordan
5. Pac defeated Hangman Page
6. SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) (c) defeated Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships
Thoughts: Moxley’s promo was excellent and made him appear as the most unstable and dangerous man in AEW. His open challenge to anyone in AEW to face him, which was later answered by Darby Allen, is a good way to use Moxley until his next major feud is decided. Moxley vs. Allen next week should be an excellent match between these two hardcore wrestlers. Luchasaurus’ return to save Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt from The Dark Order was an awesome moment. The pop Luchasaurus got when he came out was one of the loudest of the night. This giant of a man is definitely a major star in the making for AEW.
The promo with MJF and Jericho was brilliant with two of the best talkers in AEW going back and forth before bounding over their shared hatred of Cody Rhodes. Cody hit the ring and went after MJF, but he was attacked by the debuting Wardlow. Being MJF’s muscle is a good role for Wardlow as he will serve as a big obstacle in Cody’s quest to get revenge on MJF.
Scorpio Sky being the first man to pin Chris Jericho in AEW was an interesting choice. Will Sky get a title shot at Jericho? We will have to wait and see. Overall, this was a very good episode of Dynamite with Pac vs. Page and the main event tag match being excellent.
Between AEW and NXT I feel that AEW had the better show this week based on the strong promos and big moments on AEW with the wrestling quality between both shows being equal. This brings my personal WNW score to: NXT – 4 and AEW – 3.
Results:
1. Chad Gable and Mustafa Ali defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to retain their spots on Team Smackdown at Survivor Series
2. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) (c) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) for the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship went to a no contest after interference by The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bobby Fish)
3. Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) defeated Kip Stevens and Kevin Timms
4. Bayley vs. Nikki Cross went to a no contest after interference by Shayna Baszler
5. Sasha Banks, Nikki Cross, Carmella, and Dana Brooke defeated Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai
Thoughts: After Gable and Ali defeated Ziggler and Roode, Team Smackdown’s Survivor Series men’s team was made official with the lineup being Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, Mustafa Ali, and Chad Gable.
NXT and Smackdown traded victories during the night. First, The Undisputed Era attacked The New Day and The Revival before being chased off by members of the Smackdown roster. In return, the Smackdown women successfully defeated the invading NXT women. With the Smackdown women’s victory, the Team Smackdown Survivor Series women’s team was finalized with the lineup being Sasha Banks, Nikki Cross, Carmella, Lacey Evans, and Dana Brooke.
In the final segment, we had Miz TV with guest Daniel Bryan. Earlier in the night Bray Wyatt unveiled the new design for the Universal Championship with the red leather being replaced with blue leather to match the blue brand. This segment was really well done with both Bryan and Wyatt delivering excellent promo work. Wyatt statement that The Fiend attacked Bryan because of what Bryan did to him seems to be a call back to Bryan betraying The Wyatt Family back in 2014. This is a great call back and fits The Fiend’s attack pattern of going after people who wronged Wyatt under his previous persona.
The segment ended with Wyatt and Bryan agreeing to face each other for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series. This match has a great backstory going into it, but I just wish we had more than just a couple of weeks to build it up. Despite that, this should be an excellent match in a very stacked Survivor Series show.
Overall, this was a good show with the opening tag match and the Miz TV segment being the highlights.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allen on Dynamite this Wednesday as well as the continued build for Survivor Series. Until next time, I’ll see you at ringside!