Welcome everyone to the 85th edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review. I cover a week that saw the final build to AEW Double or Nothing, the continued build to WWE Hell in a Cell, and the NXT Championship on the line. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston in a #1 Contender match went to a No Contest after interference by Bobby Lashley
2. Nikki Cross defeated Rhea Ripley in a Beat the Clock Challenge match
3. Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka
4. Cedric Alexander defeated Shelton Benjamin
5. Matt Riddle defeated Xavier Woods
6. Jaxson Ryker defeated AJ Styles after interference by Elias
7. Sheamus defeated Humberto Carrillo
8. Natalya and Tamina (c) defeated Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
Thoughts: Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston battled it out in a great match to determine who would face Bobby Lashley next for the WWE Championship. The match would end in a draw, however, when The All Mighty interfered in the match by attacking both men. Adam Pearce would later book a rematch for next week and banned Lashley from getting involved. While seeing Kingston involved in the WWE Championship picture has been great, I expect McIntyre to pick up the win next week and go on to face Lashley at WWE Hell in a Cell.
Overall, this was a good episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being McIntyre vs. Kingston and Riddle vs. Woods.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart defeated Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez
2. Pete Dunne defeated Bobby Fish
3. Mercedes Martinez defeated Zayda Ramier
4. Franky Monet defeated Cora Jade
5. Karrion Kross (c) defeated Finn Bálor by technical submission to retain the NXT Championship
Thoughts: Right before Karrion Kross defeated Finn Bálor to retain his NXT Championship in what is My Match of the Week, William Regal announced that next week would see a #1 Contender Triple Threat match between Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne, and Johnny Gargano to determine the next challenger. With Kross coming out on top, the most likely person to become his next opponent is O’Reilly with the match possibly taking place at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: In Your House on June 13th. While I would love to see Kyle win the title, I am unsure that Karrion’s reign will end so soon.
Overall, this was a good episode of NXT with the highlights being Cameron Grimes’ confrontation with Ted DiBiase and LA Knight and the main event.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Results:
1. Darby Allin defeated Cezar Bononi
2. Hangman Page defeated Joey Janela
3. Jade Cargill defeated Kilynn King
4. Miro (c) defeated Dante Martin by submission to retain the AEW TNT Championship
5. Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page defeated The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson)
Thoughts: This was the go home episode of Dynamite before tonight’s AEW Double or Nothing PPV. As of this writing, there are ten matches scheduled. The following are my predictions for tonight’s show: Serena Deeb will defeat Riho to retain the NWA World Women’s Championship, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston will defeat The Young Buck to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships, Sting and Darby Allin will defeat Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page, Miro will defeat Lance Archer to retain the AEW TNT Championship, Hangman Page will defeat Brain Cage, Christian Cage will win the Casino Battle Royale, Cody Rhodes will defeat Anthony Ogogo, Britt Baker will defeat Hikaru Shida to win the AEW Women’s World Championship, The Inner Circle will defeat The Pinnacle in Stadium Stampede, and Kenny Omega will defeat Orange Cassidy and Pac to retain the AEW World Championship.
Overall, this was a good episode of Dynamite with the highlights being Hangman vs. Janela, Orange Cassidy’s answer to Kenny Omega, Page/Sky vs. The Dark Order, and The Inner Circle Celebration.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins)
2. Natalya and Tamina defeated The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan)
3. Bianca Belair defeated Carmella
4. Kevin Owens defeated Apollo Crews by DQ after interference by Commander Azeez
5. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Chad Gable
6. The Mysterios (Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio) (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships
Thoughts: The dissention of The Bloodline continued this week on SmackDown. After The Usos picked up an impressive win over The Street Profits, Jimmy convinced Adam Pearce to grant The Usos a shot at the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships next week. Roman Reigns would then get in Jey’s ear, asking him if he really wanted to go back to being a tag team where people did not know which Uso he was after becoming “Main Even Uso” while working with The Head of the Table. With Jimmy not falling in the line, The Tribal Chief is now manipulating Jey into turning on his brother. Whether this leads to Jey tuning on Jimmy or ultimately sees Jey finally standing up to Roman, it will be a big moment that should be done after SmackDown is once again back on front of live audiences again in July.
Overall, this was good episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being The Usos vs. The Street Profits, Seth Rollins’ promo, and Reigns creating division between The Usos.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. I am looking forward to tonight’s AEW Double or Nothing PPV. 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.
