Welcome everyone to the ninth edition of Spandex and Suplexes! This week saw the final build to NXT Takeover: WarGames and WWE Survivor Series. Let’s get started.
Results:
1. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair defeated The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay)
2. Humberto Carrillo defeated Karl Anderson after interference by The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins)
3. Bobby Lashley defeated No Way Jose by technical submission
4. Seth Rollins defeated Andrade by DQ to retain his spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series after interference by Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Lince Dorado, and Gran Metalik)
5. Buddy Murphy defeated Akira Tozawa
6. Erick Rowen defeated Alex Malcom
7. Kevin Owens vs. Drew McIntyre went to a no contest
8. Asuka defeated Natalya
9. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) (c) vs. Randy Orton and Ricochet for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships went to a no contest after interference by the Smackdown roster
Thoughts: After Lynch and Flair’s victory, NXT’s Shayna Baszler, Maria Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke attacked The IIconics. Lynch and Flair ran down to the ring to try to fight them off, but they were soon overwhelmed by the numbers disadvantage. Lynch and Flair tried to chase after Baszler and crew over the barricade, but they were stopped by security. Becky did not take kindly to this and knocked out one of the guards.
Smackdown would also make their presence felt as Lucha House Party attacked Seth Rollins, costing Andrade the chance to replace Rollins on Team Raw. LHP set their sights next on Andrade, but Rollins hit the ring and helped Andrade fight them off. Rollins then told Andrade that they would fight again. This would not be the last we see of Smackdown that night.
Prior to his match with Akira Tozawa, Buddy Murphy knocked on Aleister Black’s locker room door and mockingly challenged him to a fight before leaving for the ring before Black opened the door. After the match, Murphy attempted to do the same thing again, but Black was ready for him and opened the door. Black stared down Murphy with Buddy having a look on his face that implied he was wondering what he had done. Black vs. Murphy will be an excellent match and can be a great long term feud.
NXT showed they were not done, as Triple H interrupted the Kevin Owens vs. Drew McIntyre match, which was actually a really good match until it was suddenly ended, in order to speak to Kevin Owens. Triple H went over Owens’ history in NXT and stated that Owens more than anybody else put NXT on the map. He continued by mentioning how Kurt Angle on Raw and Shane McMahon on Smackdown both fired Owens, believing Owens didn’t belong on Raw or Smackdown, but Triple H believes Owens belongs on NXT. Triple H pointed out the NXT stars standing on the stage and said they weren’t here to attack Owens, but that they were just there to make sure they could talk in peace. He then said the other RAW wrestlers don’t give a damn about Owens and trashed the RAW locker room.
Several RAW wrestlers then ran out and brawled with the NXT wrestlers. The Undisputed Era then hit the ring and attacked Owens from behind with Triple H and Adam Cole seemingly arguing about this. The OC ran out and chased off The Undisputed Era. This was very similar to when Triple H acted like he wanted to recruit Rollins. However, the difference here is that it seem like Triple H was being genuine with wanting Owens as he acted like he was not happy with UE attacking Owens like they did with Rollins. Could this potentially lead to a possible Owens betrayal at Survivor Series? We will have to see.
Three announcements were then made on the show: AJ Styles will defend his United States Championship against Humberto Carrillo next week on Raw, Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio at Survivor Series will now be a No Holds Barred match, and the Team Raw Survivor Series women’s team lineup will be Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Sarah Logan.
During the main event, Smackdown wrestlers beat down some Raw wrestlers backstage before a bunch of Smackdown guys came out and beat down Orton, Ricochet, and The Viking Raiders. Suddenly, some NXT wrestlers ran out and started beating down the Smackdown wrestlers. The NXT wrestlers then surrounded Orton, Ricochet, and The Viking Raiders. Even more NXT members came out from the crowd and surrounded the ring as well. The Raw wrestlers started fighting off the NXT guys as they came into the ring, but they were overwhelmed.
Seth Rollins’ music hit and an army of Raw wrestlers ran out and joined the brawl with all three brand’s armies going at it. AJ Styles got beat down in the ring by the NXT wrestlers as Triple H appeared on the screen. Triple H said NXT will show everyone at Survivor Series that they are the A-brand of WWE. He then challenged RAW and Smackdown to take their best shot at NXT on Wednesday. This was an awesome brawl and it did an excellent job at building excitement for Survivor Series. The challenge by Triple H to Raw and Smackdown was a good way to get a lot of eyes on NXT for Wednesday.
Overall, this was a good episode of Raw with the brand warfare being booked really well. It was nice to see Smackdown finally get into full invasion mode. My only gripe was that the ending to Owen vs. McIntyre was not explained which was a shame as it was a really good match up until the “finish”.
Results:
1. Nick Aldis defeated Trevor Murdoch by submission
2. The Question Mark vs. Ricky Starks went to a no contest after interference by Aron Stevens
3. Thunder Rosa and Marti Belle defeated Allysin Kay and Ashley Vox
4. Aron Stevens and The Question Mark defeated Colt Cabana and Ricky Starks
Thoughts: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) came out and said that they wanted a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championships. The NWA World Tag Team Champions, The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer and Royce Isaacs), then came out and said they would successfully keep their titles. When asked about their relationship with Kamille, Thomas Latimer said they were only friends. So, we now know that there is a connection between The Wild Cards and Kamille. The question now is if Nick Aldis is also connected to them. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express seem to be the next challengers for the tag titles. It will be interesting to see if these Hall of Famers manage to win the titles they have held multiple times before.
Eli Drake came out and cut a promo on Mr. Anderson. Anderson entered and challenged Drake to a match right then and there. Drake feigned agreement, but when Anderson started walking to the ring, Eli attacked him from behind. Eli then drove Anderson into the ring and then grabbed a turnbuckle and knocked Anderson out with it. Drake tried to attack Anderson a second time, but he was pulled back by officials. This could be a great feud as these are two of the best promo men in the NWA.
Near the end of the women’s tag match, Melina debuted and made her way down from the crowd. This distracted Allysin Kay enough to allow Thunder Rosa to roll up Kay for the pin. Marti Belle then ran in and leveled Kay with a rolling elbow. This was followed by Rosa hitting a double stomp from the top rope on Kay. Melina then posed in the ring with Rosa and Belle. Melina is a good addition to the NWA women’s division as she adds more name value.
After the main event, James Storm came out and cut a promo on how Aldis is avoiding defending his title. Kamille entered and whispered something into Storm’s ear that made him smile before he went backstage. What could Kamille have whispered to Storm? I guess we will have to wait until next week to find out.
Overall, this was another good episode of NWA Power. I am very interested in finding out what was said to Storm at the end of the episode. The NWA Into the Fire PPV can’t come soon enough.
Results:
1. Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley went to a no contest after inference by Shayna Baszler, Maria Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke
2. Matt Riddle defeated Ricochet
3. The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) defeated The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson)
4. Kay Lee Ray defeated Dakota Kai
5. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) defeated The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake)
6. Adam Cole defeated Dominik Dijakovic in a ladder match to earn the one person advantage inside WarGames
Thoughts: After the challenge set by Triple H on Raw, Smackdown and Raw brought the battle for brand supremacy right to NXT’s doorstep. During the Riddle/Ricochet match, Smackdown’s Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura appeared. This distraction allowed The Original Bro to cradle Raw’s Ricochet for the three count. The Swiss Superman and The Artist attacked Riddle, but Ricochet dived onto Cesaro. Roderick Strong then appeared and attacked his opponent for Survivor Series, Nakamura. Riddle then kicked Strong out of the ring and fought off a sneak attack from his NXT TakeOver opponent, Finn Balor.
NXT and the Raw/Smackdown invaders traded victories with O’Reilly and Fish defeating Smackdown’s The Revival in a fantastic tag team match and Raw’s Viking Raiders defeating The Forgotten Sons. It was announced during the show that Pete Dunne will take on Damian Priest and Killian Dain in a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. The winner of the match will face Adam Cole for the NXT Championship at Survivor Series.
After the excellent ladder match between Cole and Dijakovic, chaos ensued with a mob of Raw, Smackdown, and NXT wrestlers emptying out into the arena and having a massive brawl. A big spot included Keith Lee and Ivar hitting side-by-side suicide dives on a crowd of wrestlers. Cole tried to escape, but Seth Rollins appeared and superkicked him and hit the Stomp. Tommaso Ciampa then arrived, kicked Cole in the head, and brawled with The Beastslayer to close the show.
Overall, this was an awesome show with the Undisputed Era/Revival tag match, the ladder match, and the ending brawl being the highlights. This year’s build up to Survivor Series has been the most exciting and fun build up for this PPV in a very long time.
Results:
1. Fenix defeated Nick Jackson
2. Hikaru Shida defeated Britt Baker
3. Hangman Page and MJF won the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal
4. Luchasaurus defeated Peter Avalon
5. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) defeated Proud and Powerful (Santana and Ortiz)
6. Jon Moxley defeated Darby Allen
Thoughts: During the show, Jericho came out with Jake Hager to announce that he will be having a Thanksgiving celebration next week for himself. He was interrupted by SCU (Scorpio Sky, Christopher Daniels, and Frankie Kazarian). The three men taunted Jericho with the fact that Scorpio Sky became the first man to pin Jericho in AEW last week and managed to manipulate Le Champion into agreeing to an AEW World Championship match with Scorpio Sky for next week. SCU and The Inner Circle then brawled with Santana, Ortiz and Sammy Guevara joining in. SCU became overwhelmed by the numbers disadvantage. Jurassic Express’ Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt rushed the ring to assist SCU, but they were both taken out by The Inner Circle as well. It was not until Luchasaurus hit the ring that The Inner Circle ran off.
Scorpio Sky vs. Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship should be a great match. I do not expect Sky to win the title at all, but it should still be an entertaining contest. The person who benefited the most from this segment was Luchasaurus, who looked like an absolute monster with the entire Inner Circle choosing to bail from the ring rather than fight the masked giant. I am calling it now that Luchasaurus will one day become the AEW World Champion. He has everything a wrestler needs to become a major star: amazing athleticism, massive size, a unique look and gimmick, and massive support from the fans.
Near the end of the Private Party vs. Proud and Powerful match, Santana tried to use a loaded sock as a weapon, but he was disarmed by Nick Jackson. This allowed Private Party to deliver their Gin and Juice maneuver to score the win. After the match, Sammy Guevara came out and attacked Jackson, only for Dustin Rhodes to make his big return and blast “The Spanish God” with the cast on his left hand that was injured by Guevara weeks earlier. Dustin got a big pop from the crowd for his return.
The main event match between Moxley and Allin was excellent and is my match of the week. AEW has done a good job at building up Allin as a homegrown breakout star and he can be a consistent talent to build the promotion around for many years to come.
Overall this was a good episode of AEW Dynamite with the main event match and the SCU/Jericho segment being the highlights of the show.
It was very close in choosing whether AEW and NXT had the better show this week. After some consideration, I feel that NXT had the better show based on the overall wrestling quality as well as the crossover warfare with Raw and Smackdown. This brings my personal WNW score to: NXT – 5 and AEW – 3.
Results:
1. Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks in a Triple Threat match
2. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bobby Fish) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) and Heavy Machinery (Tucker and Otis)
3. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz went to a no contest after interference by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
4. Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and Robert Roode defeated Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali, and Chad Gable
Thoughts: After the eight-man tag match, Nakamura, who was watching the match on the ramp with Zayn, was attacked by Raw’s AJ Styles from behind. NXT’s Strong saw this and ran up the ramp to join the fight. Sami Zayn then used a steel chair to beat down Styles and Strong before retreating with Nakamura when the rest of The Undisputed Era ran up the ramp. Nakamura vs. Styles vs. Strong has the potential to be the match of the night at Survivor Series and is the match I am looking forward to seeing the most. Speaking of Nakamura, that new Intercontinental Championship belt that Zayn presented to him is very nice looking. While I do love the white strap belt, this new title has a really good design and is now the best looking belt on Raw and Smackdown.
After the main event match, Seth Rollins led Team Raw from the crowd and began a brawl in the ring with Reigns. Braun Strowman ran out with an army of Team Smackdown allies to even the odds. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Road Dogg led a tank down the ramp along with an army of NXT wrestlers. This began an insane brawl between all three brands. The most interesting part of the brawl was Keith Lee and Strowman staring each other down. They began to fight as the show went off the air. This was yet another awesome brawl between the three brands. This brawl made me really want to see Braun and Lee fully go at it. Hopefully, we will see this at Survivor Series.
Overall, this was a good episode of Smackdown. While there were not very many matches, the segments and fights build around them made up for it. The highlights of the show were the women’s triple threat match, The Fiend’s attack on Daniel Bryan, and the ending brawl.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to NXT Takeover: WarGames and WWE Survivor Series as well as the AEW World Championship match this Wednesday on Dynamite. Until next time, I’ll see you at ringside!
Nicholas Slade
Nicholas grew up reading J.R.R. Tolkien's books, watching Disney and Studio Ghibli films, and reading Marvel comics and Japanese manga. The superb storylines and characters ignited his passion for writing. He graduated from Full Sail University in 2015 with a BFA in Creative Writing for Entertainment. During his writing career thus far, Nicholas has had numerous short stories and articles published in an array of literary magazines and websites.
