Welcome everyone to the 56th edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review! I cover a week that saw the continued build to WWE Survivor Series, the final build to AEW Full Gear, and the next chapter of “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s campaign of vengeance against Randy Orton. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Jeff Hardy defeated Elias in a Guitar on a Pole match
2. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) defeated Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke by submission to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
3. Bobby Lashley defeated R-Truth by submission
4. Drew Gulak defeated R-Truth (c) to become the new WWE 24/7 Champion
5. Braun Strowman defeated Keith Lee and Sheamus in a Triple Threat match to qualify for a spot on the Raw Men’s Survivor Series Team
6. Nia Jax defeated Lana
7. The Hurt Business (Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)
8. Ricochet defeated Tucker
9. Drew McIntyre defeated The Miz and John Morrison in a Handicap match
Thoughts: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt continued his haunting of Randy Orton this week while The Legend Killer was also faced with being hunted by Drew McIntyre and The Miz. Needles to say, the WWE Champion has a large target on his back. Wyatt, along with Alexa Bliss, continued to showcase Bray’s creative genius with a hilarious and chilling edition of The Firefly Funhouse. Of the list of people who have wrong Bray in the past, Orton stands at the top. The signs of The Viper being on The Fiend’s hit list have been appearing from the beginning. The biggest sign being, of course, Bray’s painting of Sister Abagail’s home aflame on the wall of The Funhouse. The sins of the past are coming for Randy in the form of The Fiend and I am looking forward to seeing when Wyatt pulls the trigger on his vengeful plan.
Overall, this was a great episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being the opening segment involving Bliss, Orton, McIntyre, and Miz, Strowman vs. Lee vs. Sheamus, and this week’s episode of The Firefly Funhouse.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Dakota Kai defeated Ember Moon after interference by Raquel Gonzalez
2. Kushida defeated Cameron Grimes by submission
3. Drake Maverick and Killian Dain vs. Ever-Rise (Matt Martel and Chase Parker) went to a No Contest after interference by Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan
4. Toni Storm defeated Shotzi Blackheart after interference by Candice LeRae
5. Tommaso Ciampa defeated Velveteen Dream
Thoughts: The self-proclaimed Kings of NXT (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan) continued their attempted takeover of NXT this week with their vicious beatdown of Drake Maverick and Killian Dain. After the beatdown, McAfee revealed how he convinced Dunne, Burch, and Lorcan to join him in taking out The Undisputed Era, with the fact that Roderick Strong betrayed Dunne back in 2018 in the finals of The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to join the UE being mentioned. This a well put together faction with McAfee as the mouthpiece for these three talented competitors. Hopefully, the attack on Maverick and Dain leads to them getting a shot at the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Overall, this was a great episode of NXT with the highlights being Kai vs. Moon, Storm vs. Blackheart (which is My Match of the Week), Pat McAfee’s promo, and the main event.
Credit: AEW
Results:
1. MJF and Wardlow defeated The Inner Circle (Sammy Guevara and Ortiz) by submission after interference by Matt Hardy
2. Miro defeated Trent Beretta by submission
3. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen)
4. Nyla Rose defeated Red Velvet
5. Cody Rhodes and The Gunn Club (Billy Gunn and Austin Gunn) defeated The Dark Order (Colt Cabana, John Silver, and Preston Vance)
Thoughts: This was the go home show for tonight’s AEW Full Gear PPV. The show did a great job at building up interest in every match on the PPV except for the AEW Women’s World Championship match as the women’s division continues to be AEW’s weakest division when it comes to booking. The match that was built up the best was the AEW World Championship match between Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston.
This Moxley/Kingston feud has been amazing with these two men delivering excellent promos throughout this storyline with this episode being no exception. Playing off their real-life friendship has made this match deeply personal with both men’s pride being on the line in this upcoming “I Quit” match just as much as the AEW World Championship itself. I cannot wait to see these two former friends turned bitter enemies tear each other apart for gold and pride.
As for my predictions, I am going with Jon Moxley defeating Eddie Kingston, The Young Bucks defeating FTR to become the new AEW World Tag Team Champions, Kenny Omega defeating Adam Page to become the new #1 Contender for the AEW World Championship, MJF defeating Chris Jericho in order to keep their storyline going, Matt Hardy defeating Sammy Guevara, Orange Cassidy defeating John Silver, and Serena Deeb defeating Allysin Kay to retain her NWA World Women’s Championship. The two matches I am unsure of are Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin for the AEW TNT Championship and Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose for the AEW Women’s World Championship as they could go either way. My personal picks on who I would like to see win are Darby Allin and Hikaru Shida.
Overall, this was a great episode of Dynamite with the highlights being The Young Bucks vs. Private Party and the face-off between Moxley and Kingston.
Between NXT and AEW this week, I am going to have to give the win to AEW as, while NXT had the better in ring action, AEW’s storyline progression segments were fantastic, giving AEW the slight edge. This brings my personal 2020 WNW rankings to: NXT – 15 and AEW – 29.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Sasha Banks (c) defeated Bayley by submission to retain the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
2. Baron Corbin defeated Rey Mysterio after interference by Seth Rollins in a SmackDown Men’s Survivor Series Team Qualifying match
3. Ruby Riott defeated Zelina Vega and Natalya by submission in a Triple Threat SmackDown Women’s Survivor Series Team Qualifying match
4. Seth Rollins defeated Otis after interference by Buddy Murphy in a SmackDown Men’s Survivor Series Team Qualifying match
5. Jey Uso defeated Kevin Owens after interference by Roman Reigns
Thoughts: This week’s episode saw Jey Uso continue his descent to the dark side while being held under the iron rule of his cousin, Roman Reigns. After brutally assaulting Daniel Bryan last week, Jey continued to do Reigns’ bidding by taking on his Survivor Series teammate, Kevin Owens, after Roman felt that Owens has disrespected their bloodline. After an even back and forth, Uso took advantage of The Prize Fighter and the referee being distracted by The Tribal Chief’s entrance music, to hit a low blow on KO followed by a superkick and a Uso Splash for the win. Reigns then came out and held his hand on Jey’s shoulder in approval.
It is hard to see whether this storyline will lead to Jey eventually overcoming The Big Dog’s tyranny over him or if he will continue to sink into corruption as Roman’s loyal soldier. Time will have to tell, but it will be interesting to see the progression of either scenario. The Samoan Bloodline continues to grow their enemies list with both Owen and Bryan surely wanting to get their revenge over the two cousins.
Overall, this was a great episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being Banks vs. Bailey and the progression of the Reigns/Uso saga.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to watching AEW Full Gear tonight. While you are here on Florida Geek Scene, be sure to check out the first episode of my 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.
