Welcome everyone to the forty-eighth edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review. I cover a week that saw the AEW All Out PPV, the continued build to WWE Clash of Champions, and a new NXT Champion crowned. Let’s get started.
Credit: AEW
Results:
1. Joey Janela defeated Serpentico
2. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) defeated The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver)
3. Big Swole defeated Britt Baker by knockout in a Tooth and Nail match
4. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus)
5. Lance Archer won the 21-man Casino Battle Royale last eliminating Eddie Kingston to earn a future AEW World Championship match
6. Matt Hardy defeated Sammy Guevara in a Broken Rules match
7. Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Thunder Rosa to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship
8. Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) defeated The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, and Stu Grayson)
9. FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) defeated Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page (c) to become the new AEW World Tag Team Champions
10. Orange Cassidy defeated Chris Jericho in a Mimosa Mayhem match by knocking him into the vat of mimosa
11. Jon Moxley (c) defeated MJF to retain the AEW World Championship
Thoughts: I really do not understand why this show is getting so much hate from other reviewers. Aside from the injury scare involving Matt Hardy and the confusion that it created during his match with Sammy Guevara, this was an overall great PPV. Every other match on the card ranged from good to fantastic with the highlights being Swole vs. Baker, Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express, the Casino Battle Royal, Shida vs, Rosa, FTR vs. Omega/Page, Cassidy vs. Jericho, and the main event.
One of the most interesting developments on this show was the continued heel turn tease for both Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. Lance Archer being the one to win the Battle Royal was a good choice as he and Jon Moxley should have a hell of a brawl when they clash for the title on the one year anniversary of Dynamite on October 14th.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. The Hurt Business (MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin) defeated Apollo Crews, Ricochet, and Cedric Alexander
2. The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) defeated Andrade and Angel Garza
3. Peyton Royce defeated Billie Kay
4. Asuka and Mickie James defeated Natalya and Lana by submission
5. The Hurt Business (MVP, Bobby Lashley, Cedric Alexander, and Shelton Benjamin) defeated Apollo Crews, Ricochet, and The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar)
6. Randy Orton defeated Keith Lee by DQ after interference by Drew McIntyre
7. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan) defeated Shayna Baszler in a 2-on-1 Handicap match
8. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan) vs. Nia Jax in a 2-on-1 Handicap match went to a No Contest after interference by Retribution
9. Dominik Mysterio defeated Buddy Murphy in a Street Fight by forfeit after interference by Rey Mysterio, Aalyah Mysterio, and Angie Mysterio
Thoughts: Drew McIntyre made his vengeance known as he made his unexpected return to Raw driving an ambulance into the arena and proceeded to Claymore Kick Randy Orton three times throughout the night (in a mirror of Orton Punt Kicking McIntyre three times two weeks before). The only downside to this storyline was Keith Lee’s involvement as he was relegated to an afterthought in his rematch with The Viper after a star making moment at WWE Payback. Any other wrestler could have filled Lee’s role in this match as it was just a set up for Drew’s inevitable interference. Hopefully, the Limitless One starts building some momentum soon.
In the biggest twist of the night, Cedric Alexander turned heel against his friends, Apollo Crews and Ricochet, and joined The Hurt Business after being courted to join by MVP for weeks. This turn should do wonders for Alexander’s career as The Hurt Business has been one of the biggest highlights on Raw this year and has already done great things for the other members.
Overall, this was a good episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being Cedric Alexander joining The Hurt Business, Drew McIntyre’s attacks on Randy Orton, and the main event Street Fight.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Finn Bálor defeated Adam Cole to become the new NXT Champion
2. Velveteen Dream defeated Ashante Adonis
3. Bronson Reed defeated Austin Theory
4. Roderick Strong defeated Killian Dain after interference by Bobby Fish
5. Rhea Ripley defeated Mercedes Martinez in a Steel Cage match
Thoughts: NXT kicked off Super Tuesday II with a bang as Finn Bálor and Adam Cole battled it out to determine the new NXT Champion. After an epic back and forth in what is My Match of the Week, The Prince picked up the win over the leader of The Undisputed Era to become a two-time NXT Champion. Bálor as champion should be interesting with many potential challengers out there for him to face as he sits on top of the Black and Yellow brand for the second time in his career.
Overall, this was a great episode of NXT with the highlights being Bálor vs. Cole, Kushida’s return, Strong vs. Dain, and the main event.
Credit: AEW
Results:
1. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) defeated The Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix)
2. Orange Cassidy defeated Angélico
3. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and Jake Hager) defeated Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss in a No DQ match
4. Nyla Rose defeated Tay Conti
5. Brodie Lee (c) defeated Dustin Rhodes to retain the AEW TNT Championship
Thoughts: It was awesome to see Miro (FKA Rusev in WWE) make his AEW debut on this week’s episode as Kip Sabian’s Best Man (and on Miro Day no less). The Bulgarian Brute is a fantastic talent who was yet another great wrestler that WWE dropped the ball on. Hopefully, now that he is in AEW, he will be given the opportunity to show off his skills to their full potential.
Overall, this was a great episode of Dynamite with the highlights being Jurassic Express vs. The Lucha Bros., Cassidy vs. Angélico, Miro’s debut, Jericho/Hager vs. Janela/Kiss, and the main event.
Between NXT and AEW this week, I am going to have to give the win to AEW. While both shows were equal in terms of in ring quality, AEW had the edge this week in terms of storyline progression. This brings my personal 2020 WNW rankings to: NXT – 13 and AEW – 23.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. AJ Styles defeated Jeff Hardy (c) in a WWE Intercontinental Championship match by DQ after interference by Sami Zayn (Hardy retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship)
2. Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Gran Metalik) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro after a distraction by The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins)
3. Nikki Cross defeated Tamina, Lacey Evans, and Alexa Bliss in a #1 Contender Fatal Four Way match to earn a shot at the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at WWE Clash of Champions
4. Otis defeated John Morrison
5. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso defeated Sheamus and Baron Corbin
Thoughts: Bayley’s promo about why she turned on Sasha Banks made perfect sense. Everything she said about attacking Banks before Sasha could do the same to her fit the story that they have been telling between The Role Model and The Boss over the past 13 months. Whenever Sasha does make her return, the excellent storytelling by Bayley so far should lead to their match having an epic, impactful feeling.
In another development involving the SmackDown Women’s Division, Alexa Bliss continued her path to the dark side when she attacked her friend, Nikki Cross, with Bray Wyatt’s Sister Abigail finisher during the #1 Contender Fatal Four Way match before leaving the match. This brought The Goddess one step closer to fully falling under the control of The Fiend.
Overall, this was a good episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being Styles vs. Hardy, Bayley’s promo, and the main event.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to this week’s Dynamite. While you are here on Florida Geek Scene, be sure to check out the first episode of my new spin off series, Spandex and Suplexes: The Interview Series, where I interviewed 17-year veteran pro wrestler, Alex Chamberlain. 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.
