Welcome everyone to the 82nd edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review. I cover a week that saw the continued build to WWE WrestleMania Backlash, AEW Blood and Guts, and the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. AJ Styles and Omos (c) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to retain the WWE Raw Tag Championships
2. Charlotte Flair defeated Dana Brooke by submission
3. Damian Priest defeated John Morrison
4. Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) defeated Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander
5. Angel Garza defeated Drew Gulak
6. RKBro (Randy Orton and Matt Riddle) defeated Elias and Jaxson Ryker
7. Sheamus defeated Mansoor by DQ after interference by Humberto Carrillo
8. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) defeated Naomi and Lana to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
9. Bobby Lashley defeated Braun Strowman
Thoughts: Raw’s tag team division has been entertaining over the past couple of weeks with teams like AJ Styles and Omos and Randy Orton and Matt Riddle. With both teams picking up impressive wins this week, I think it is only a matter of time before these two teams clash with the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships on the line.
Charlotte Flair being added to the WWE Raw Women’s Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Asuka at WWE WrestleMania Backlash was predictable but should result in a great match between three of the best women superstars in the company. I predict Ripley will retain which will lead to a singles match between The Nightmare and The Queen.
Overall, this was a good episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being Styles/Omos vs. New Day, RKBro vs. Elias/Ryker, and the main event.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defeated Leon Ruff in a Falls Count Anywhere match
2. Cameron Grimes defeated Asher Hale
3. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake) by submission
4. Sarray defeated Zayda Ramier
5. LA Knight defeated Jake Atlas
6. The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) defeated Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart (c) to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions
Thoughts: In the main event, The Way gained more championship gold as Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell defeated Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions. This was a bit of a surprise result as I did not expect Moon and Blackheart to lose the titles so soon. However, The Way have been a constant highlight on the black and yellow brand, so I have no problem with the group gaining more success and championship gold. It will be interesting to see which team decides to step up as the next challengers.
Overall, this was a great episode of NXT with the highlights being Scott vs. Ruff, Ciampa/Thatcher vs. Grizzled Young Veterans, and the main event.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Results:
1. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston defeated Kenny Omega and Michael Nakazawa
2. Cody Rhodes defeated QT Marshall
3. Britt Baker defeated Julia Hart by submission
4. SCU (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) defeated The Varsity Blondes (Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison), The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster), and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) in a Fatal Four Way Tag Team match to earn a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championships
5. The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz) in a Blood and Guts match by surrender
Thoughts: This was the AEW Blood and Guts special episode of Dynamite. The main event of AEW Double or Nothing was teased at this week as it was announced that the winner of the upcoming Pac vs. Orange Cassidy would go on to face Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship. Omega vs. Pac, Omega vs. Cassidy, or a triple threat between all three would all be great world title matches for Double or Nothing. In all three scenarios, I see The Cleaner walking out as champion.
The main event Blood and Guts match, which is My Match of the Week, was overall a great and fun match as everyone involved gave their all in what turned out be a physical and bloody war. The only criticism I would give it would be to the ending. A match like this should have an explosive ending rather than having The Inner Circle verbally surrender due to MJF threatening to throw Jericho off the top of the Blood and Guts cage as it came off as a bit anti-climactic. While MJF did end up throwing Le Champion off the cell, the so called “diamond plated stage” that he went through was clearly seen to be just particle boards and a crash pad, which took away a bit off the impact of the moment. As I said before though, the match itself was great overall.
This was a great episode of Dynamite with the highlights being Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page attack on Darby Allin, Kenny Omega’s promo, and the main event
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Cesaro defeated Seth Rollins after interference by Jimmy Uso to earn a shot at the WWE Universal Championship at WWE WrestleMania Backlash
2. Carmella defeated Ruby Riott by submission
3. Dominik Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler
4. Tamina defeated Reginald by DQ after interference by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler
5. Apollo Crews, King Corbin, Sami Zayn, Chad Gable, and Otis defeated Big E, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, and The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins)
Thoughts: The saga of the WWE Universal Championship continued this week. After getting rid of a major adversary by defeating Daniel Bryan last week, Roman Reign’s enemy list only seemed to grow this week. After bringing back Jimmy Uso, Reigns expected him to fall in line behind him like his brother Jey, but that was not to be this week as Jimmy made it clear that he had not forgotten what The Tribal Chief did to him back at WWE Hell in a Cell last October. With Cesaro earning a shot at the WWE Universal Championship at WWE WrestleMania Backlash (thanks to a little help from Jimmy) and Seth Rollins showing that he is not intimated by The Head of the Table at all, Roman’s championship reign may be at its greatest threat of ending so far.
Overall, this was a great episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being Cesaro vs. Rollins, Jimmy Uso’s return, and the main event.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. 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.
