Welcome everyone to the 58th edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review! I cover a week that saw the final build to WWE Survivor Series, the continued build to NXT TakeOver: WarGames, and the NWA World Women’s Championship on the line. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Asuka, Mandy Rose, and Dana Brooke defeated Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, and Lana by submission
2. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (c) defeated The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin) to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
3. Retribution (Mustafa Alia, T-Bar, Mace, and Slapjack) defeated Team Raw (Braun Strowman, Keith Lee, Sheamus, and Matt Riddle)
4. Bray Wyatt defeated The Miz
5. Drew McIntyre defeated Randy Orton (c) in a No DQ, No Countout match to become the new WWE Champion
Thoughts: The main event WWE Championship match between the champion, Randy Orton, and the challenger, Drew McIntyre, was a match to remember. From the epic entrance that saw Drew come out in a kilt with a massive sword in hand to the brutal back and forth battle in the ring all the way to the thrilling conclusion with McIntyre hitting Orton with The Claymore to win his second WWE Championship, this match proved to be an easy pick for My Match of the Week. With this win, the main event for Sunday’s Survivor Series with now be Drew McIntyre taking on the WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, in a Champion vs. Champion clash for the ages. I am looking forward to seeing these two World Champions go head to head.
Overall, this was a great episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being The New Day vs. The Hurt Business, Wyatt vs. Miz, and the main event.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Leon Ruff (c) defeated Johnny Gargano by DQ after interference by Damian Priest to retain the NXT North American Championship
2. Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis in a Blindfold match went to a no contest.
3. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell defeated Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter
4. Kushida defeated Arturo Ruas
5. Toni Storm and Ember Moon defeated Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez
6. Timothy Thatcher defeated August Grey by submission
7. Io Shirai (c) defeated Rhea Ripley to retain the NXT Women’s Championship
Thoughts: After Damian Priest got involved in Leon Ruff’s NXT North American Championship defense against Johnny Gargano by hitting Leon in the face to get Gargano disqualified, Ruff rightfully got in Priest’s face backstage for making him into a joke as champion. Later in the night, as Damian and Johnny brawled around ringside, the NXT North American Champ ran down to the ring and knocked both men to the floor before making a retreat. Ruff then demanded that NXT GM William Regal allow him to face both men in order to prove himself to be a worthy champion. While it is unknown if Leon can survive against both The Archer of Infamy and Johnny Wrestling and still walk out as champion, I like that they are letting Ruff be his own man and not a fool in someone else’s game.
Two WarGames matches were announced for the upcoming NXT TakeOver: WarGames event. For the women’s side, Shotzi Blackheart and a team of her choosing will take on Candice LeRae and a team of her choosing. As for the men’s side, the returning Undisputed Era will take on the men who tried to put them out for good, The Kings of NXT.
Overall, this was a great episode of NXT with the highlights being Leon Ruff standing up for himself, Storm and Moon vs. Kai and Gonzalez, Shirai vs. Ripley, and the return of The Undisputed Era.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Results:
1. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Top Flight (Darius Martin and Daunte Martin)
2. Orange Cassidy defeated Kip Sabian
3. Pac defeated The Blade
4. Serena Deeb (c) defeated Thunder Rosa to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship
5. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks defeated Cody Rhodes and Darby Allin
Thoughts: After Pac picked up the win over The Blade, he was jumped from behind by The Butcher and faced a three-on-one beatdown with Eddie Kingston and The Blade joining in. Rey Fenix ran down to ring to help his friend, but the numbers caught up to him as well. It was then that Fenix’s brother, Penta El Zero Miedo, came down to the ring with a chair. While he first acted as if he was going to attack his own brother, Penta instead swung his chair at Kingston, Butcher, and Blade, causing them to retreat. Penta then helped Fenix and Pac up as Death Triangle officially reformed. This was a great moment as the past few weeks made you wonder if Penta would choose to side with his best friend, Kingston, or his brother, Fenix. With his choice, we will now see a three-on-three war between the two teams.
Overall, this was a great episode of Dynamite with the highlights being the reunion of Death Triangle, Deeb vs. Rosa, and the main event.
Between NXT and AEW this week, I am going to have to give the win to NXT due to the overall match quality. This brings my personal 2020 WNW rankings to: NXT – 16 and AEW – 30.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) defeated Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Baron Corbin, and Sami Zayn
2. Natalya defeated Tamina in a SmackDown Women’s Survivor Series Team Qualifying match
3. Buddy Murphy defeated Seth Rollins
4. Daniel Bryan defeated Jey Uso
Thoughts: The contract signing between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns was very well done. Both men did a great job at performing their roles as the confident hero and the cocky villain respectively and made me extremely excited to see them clash on Sunday. The Scottish Psychopath and The Tribal Chief are the two most dominant forces in WWE today. The question is now who will prove to be mightier and walk out of Survivor Series as “The Best of the Best”?
The final chapter between Buddy Murphy and his former Messiah, Seth Rollins, was great ending to a story that began between the two men all the way back in January. Murphy and Rollins wrestled a great match that showcased why they are two of the best in ring competitors on the Blue Brand. The Juggernaut picked up arguably the biggest win of his career by overcoming the self-proclaimed Savior of SmackDown. Hopefully, this leads to even bigger things for Murphy as he has the skills to be a top guy on any show he is on.
Overall, this was a great episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being the opening segment between The New Day and The Street Profits, the contract signing between McIntyre and Reigns, Murphy vs. Rollins, and Bryan vs. Uso.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to WWE Survivor Series this Sunday. While you are here on Florida Geek Scene, be sure to check out the second episode of my spin off series, Spandex and Suplexes: The Interview Series, where I interviewed veteran pro wrestler, Randy Hogan. 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.
