Welcome everyone to the 60th edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review. I cover a week that saw the continued build to WWE TLC, the final build to NXT TakeOver: WarGames, and the “Winter is Coming” AEW Dynamite special. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Jeff Hardy defeated Elias in a Symphony of Destruction match
2. Slapjack defeated Ricochet after interference by Mustafa Ali
3. Asuka and Lana defeated Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax
4. Cedric Alexander defeated Xavier Woods
5. AJ Styles defeated Keith Lee and Matt Riddle in a #1 Contender Triple Threat match to earn a shot at the WWE Championship at WWE TLC
6. Dana Brooke defeated Reckoning
7. Drew McIntyre and Sheamus defeated The Miz and John Morrison by DQ after interference by AJ Styles
Thoughts: The next chapter of The Fiend/Randy Orton rivalry kicked off the start of the show with Alexa Bliss’ “A Moment of Bliss” segment with The Viper himself as her “guest”. After claiming that he burned down Sister Abagail’s home years ago because it was Bray Wyatt’s vulnerability, Orton declared that he had found The Fiend’s vulnerability: Alexa Bliss.
This caused The Fiend to appear, but when he arrived, The Legend Killer had Bliss in his arms. This caused The Fiend to hesitate and motion Orton to hand her over to him. Randy did so slowly, escaped the ring, and walked up the ramp shouting “Who’s laughing now?” While Orton may feel that he has found The Fiend’s weakness, I have a feeling he is falling for another deception by Wyatt and Bliss, as Alexa herself suggested. It was later confirmed that Wyatt and Orton will face off at WWE TLC.
Overall, this was a great episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being the A Moment of Bliss segment, Hardy vs. Elias, Styles vs. Lee vs. Riddle, and the main event.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Damian Priest and Leon Ruff defeated Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar and Raul Mendoza)
2. Cameron Grimes defeated August Grey
3. Jake Atlas defeated Tony Nese
4. The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) went to a no contest after interference by Ever-Rise (Chase Parker and Matt Martel)
5. Shotzi Blackheart defeated Raquel Gonzalez in a Ladder match after interference by Io Shirai to earn the WarGames Advantage for Team Shotzi
Thoughts: In the final episode before this Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Team Shotzi was finalized in the main event with the addition of Io Shirai. I predict that Team Shotzi will defeat Team Candice in the women’s WarGames match. As for the rest for the rest of the card, I predict that The Undisputed Era will defeat Team McAfee in the men’s WarGames match, Dexter Lumis will defeat Cameron Grimes, and Tommaso Ciampa will defeat Timothy Thatcher. The only match I am unsure of the outcome of is the NXT North American Championship Triple Threat match as I could see any of the three men (Ruff, Priest, and Gargano) walk out victorious.
Overall, this was a good episode of NXT with the highlights being The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Imperium and the main event.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Results:
1. MJF and Orange Cassidy won the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal last eliminating Wardlow to advance to next week to fight for the Dynamite Diamond Ring
2. Chris Jericho defeated Frankie Kazarian
3. Britt Baker defeated Leyla Hirsch after interference by Rebel
4. Cody Rhodes and Darby Allin defeated Team Taz (Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs)
5. Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley (c) after interference by Don Callis to become the new AEW World Champion
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Thoughts: This was the “Winter is Coming” special edition episode of Dynamite. The two biggest news to come out of this week’s episode was the AEW debut of “The Icon” Sting and Kenny Omega winning the AEW World Championship with help from Impact Wrestling’s Don Callis. Sting making his debut in AEW was an awesome surprise. It will be interesting to see what role he will be playing in the company as he was not allowed to wrestle while in WWE after the neck injury that he sustained in his match with Seth Rollins back in 2015.
The Jon Moxley/Kenny Omega match was excellent and is my clear Match of the Week. Having Don Callis acting like he was there on commentary just to support Omega, only for him to interfere and help Kenny win the title, was well done. The most intriguing aspect of the entire thing came afterwards when Callis said that he and Omega would explain things on this Tuesday’s Impact. It was later confirmed that AEW and Impact Wrestling had formed a working relationship which is huge news and could have game changing implications on the entire industry.
Overall, this was a great episode of Dynamite with the highlights being Rhodes/Allin vs. Starks/Hobbs, Sting’s debut, Moxley vs. Omega, and the announcement of the AEW/Impact Wrestling working relationship.
Between NXT and AEW this week, I am going to have to give the win to AEW due to the overall match quality and Sting’s debut. This brings my personal 2020 WNW rankings to: NXT – 17 and AEW – 31.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Natalya defeated Bayley by submission after interference by Bianca Belair
2. Daniel Bryan, Big E, and Rey Mysterio defeated Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Dolph Ziggler
3. King Corbin defeated Buddy Murphy after interference by Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler
4. Kevin Owens and Otis defeated Roman Reigns and Jey Uso by DQ
Thoughts: Two matches were added to WWE TLC on this week’s episode of SmackDown. The first came in the opening segment after Kevin Owens challenged Roman Reigns to a TLC match for Reigns’ WWE Universal Championship. This match would be made official after the commercial break. While I do not see Owens being the one to end Roman’s title run, I expect KO and The Tribal Chief to have a great, physical encounter. The second match added was a WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship match that will see the champion, Sasha Banks, defend her title against Carmella. I expect Banks to retain her championship.
Overall, this was a great episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being the opening segment with Owens, Reigns, and Uso, the six-man tag team “Pat Patterson Tribute” match, and the main event that saw Reigns lay out both Owens and Uso with a steel chair.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to NXT TakeOver: WarGames this Sunday and to this Tuesday’s Impact to watch the fallout of Kenny Omega and Don Callis’ actions. 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.
