Welcome everyone to the 51st edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review. I cover a week that saw the WWE Clash of Champions PPV, the final build for NXT TakeOver 31, and two AEW championships on the line. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Lince Dorado) to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
2. Sami Zayn defeated Jeff Hardy (c) and AJ Styles in a Triple Threat Ladder match to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion
3. Drew Gulak defeated R-Truth (c) backstage to become the new WWE 27/7 Champion
4. Asuka (c) defeated Zelina Vega by submission to retain the WWE Raw Women’s Championship
5. Bobby Lashley (c) defeated Apollo Crews by submission to retain the WWE United States Championship
6. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) (c) defeated Andrade and Angel Garza to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
7. R-Truth defeated Drew Gulak (c) backstage to become the new WWE 27/7 Champion
8. Asuka defeated Bayley (c) by disqualification in a WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship match (Bayley retains the championship)
9. Drew McIntyre (c) defeated Randy Orton in an Ambulance match to retain the WWE Championship
10. Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Jey Uso by TKO after Jimmy Uso threw in the towel to retain the WWE Universal Championship
Thoughts: This was a show of three parts. The first past of the show was great with the Ladder match being not only the match of the night, but My Match of the Week as well. The way Sami Zayn won the WWE Intercontinental Championship by handcuffing both Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles was brilliant and made Zayn look like a clever and crafty villain. The second part of the show was simply just okay with all the matches looking like they belonged more on an episode of Raw or SmackDown rather than a PPV. The third part of the show that saw the two world titles on the line was fantastic with the Ambulance match being highly entertaining and the WWE Universal Championship match displaying excellent storytelling as Roman Reigns put on one the best character driven matches of his career.
Overall, this was a great PPV with the highlights being the Triple Threat Ladder match, McIntyre vs. Orton, and Reigns vs. Uso.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Asuka (c) defeated Zelina Vega by submission to retain the WWE Raw Women’s Championship
2. Keith Lee defeated Andrade
3. Akira Tozawa defeated R-Truth (c) backstage to become the new 24/7 Champion
4. Drew Gulak defeated Akira Tozawa (c) backstage to become the new 24/7 Champion
5. R-Truth defeated Drew Gulak (c) backstage to become the new WWE 27/7 Champion
6. Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke defeated Lana and Natalya
7. Kevin Owens defeated Aleister Black by DQ
8. R-Truth (c) defeated Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa in a Triple Threat match to retain the WWE 24/7 Championship
9. Buddy Murphy defeated Dominik Mysterio
10. Mustafa Ali, Apollo Crews, and Ricochet defeated The Hurt Business (MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin)
11. Drew McIntyre (c) defeated Robert Roode to retain the WWE Championship
Thoughts: The focus of the seemingly never-ending feud between Seth Rollins and the Mysterio family has now appeared to shift to a redemption story for Buddy Murphy. Murphy showed genuine anger at Rollins for showing the private text conversation he had with Aalyah to the rest of the Mysterio family in order to try to hurt them, even grabbing Seth by his suit collar in the first instance of The Disciple truly standing up to The Monday Night Messiah.
Aalyah also showed more sympathy for Murphy when she stopped Dominik from attacking him with a kendo stick during their match, a distraction that ultimately lead to Murphy rolling up Dominik for the win. Though I had truly grown weary of this feud, especially after the terrible segment from last week, the thought of this story shifting to Murphy taking down his former mentor intrigues me and I am looking forward to seeing where it leads.
Overall, this was a great episode of Monday Night Raw and a vast improvement over last week’s episode with the highlights being the opening segment, Asuka vs. Zelina Vega, the Rollins/Murphy/Mysterio family story, and the main event that saw a great outing by the returning Robert Roode.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Shotzi Blackheart defeated Dakota Kai
2. Cameron Grimes defeated Joey Pistachio
3. Ridge Holland defeated Cameron Grimes by referee stoppage
4. Kushida defeated Tony Nese by submission
5. Adam Cole defeated Austin Theory
6. Kayden Carter defeated Xia Li
7. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae defeated Damien Priest and Io Shirai
Thoughts: The face to face meeting between Kyle O’Reilly and Finn Bálor hosted by Shawn Michaels did a really great job at building momentum for their NXT Championship match this Sunday at NXT TakeOver 31. O’Reilly was presented as Bálor equal and though The Prince is the favorite to win, this segment made it feel like Kyle could very well walk out of TakeOver as champion. As for the other matches this Sunday, it will be interesting to see if Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae make good on their promise to become the first married couple in NXT history to hold championship gold simultaneously.
Overall, this was a good episode of NXT with the highlights being the O’Reilly/Bálor face to face, Cole vs. Theory, and the main event.
Credit: AEW
Results:
1. Darby Allin defeated Ricky Starks
2. FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (c) defeated SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) after interference by Tully Blanchard to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships
3. Chris Jericho defeated Isiah Kassidy
4. Orange Cassidy defeated Preston Vance
5. Britt Baker defeated Red Velvet
6. Jon Moxley (c) defeated The Butcher to retain the AEW World Championship
Thoughts: During the show, Cody Rhodes accepted Brodie Lee’s challenge to have a Dog Collar match next week for the AEW TNT Championship. Cody’s promo was excellent and made next week’s Dog Collar match a must-see encounter. After such a big return last week along with his fiery promo this week, it seems the likely outcome for next week will see The American Nightmare regain his AEW TNT Championship. However, considering how dominate Lee has been, nothing can be assumed for sure. No matter who wins, it will be interesting to see who walks out as champion and who will step up to challenge for the AEW TNT Championship next.
Overall, this was a great episode of Dynamite with the highlights being Allin vs. Starks, Cody’s promo, FTR vs. SCU, and the main event.
Between NXT and AEW this week, I am going to have to give the win to AEW due to the overall match quality. This brings my personal 2020 WNW rankings to: NXT – 14 and AEW – 25.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Jey Uso defeated AJ Styles
2. Otis defeated John Morrison
3. Sheamus defeated Chad Gable
4. Matt Riddle and The Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) defeated Baron Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro
5. Sami Zayn (c) defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Thoughts: The slow build of the corruption of Alexa Bliss came to a head on this week’s SmackDown. In a special SmackDown edition of The Kevin Owens Show, Owens tried to get to the bottom of what is happening to Bliss. After Alexa claimed she was fine and talked about how she feels a strange attraction to “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, KO claimed that she was brainwashed. The Fiend himself then appeared and attacked The Prize Fighter with the Mandible Claw. Wyatt then approached The Goddess and offered her his hand, which she gladly took with a demented smile. It was announced later in the show that Kevin Owens will face The Fiend next week in The Fiend’s first ever match on SmackDown.
After months of build that goes all the way back to the build up to Wyatt and Braun Strowman’s match at WWE SummerSlam, The Fiend and the new, crazed Bliss are now together. I am very much looking forward to seeing where this Joker/Harley Quinn-like duo go from here as this development creates fresh creative opportunities for both Wyatt and Bliss.
In other news from the show, it was announced that Roman Reigns will face Jey Uso in a rematch for the WWE Universal Championship at WWE Hell in a Cell on October 25th. Also announced for next week was Big E vs. Sheamus in a Falls Count Anywhere match and Night One of the 2020 WWE Draft.
Overall, this was a great episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being the opening segment with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, Uso vs. Styles, Alexa Bliss joining The Fiend, and the main event.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to NXT TakeOver 31 tomorrow night and Night One of the 2020 WWE Draft this Friday on SmackDown. 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.
