Welcome everyone to the monumental 100th edition of Spandex and Suplexes: A Wrestling Review. I want to first thank all my readers for making this review series so successful and long running. I also want to thank Florida Geek Scene for giving me a platform to ramble off my thoughts on the goings on of this crazy sport we call Professional Wrestling each week.
I also want to announce that starting with the next issue, Spandex and Suplexes will be changing from a weekly series to a monthly one. This is due to increased work in my private life as well as me wanting to work on some new projects. This is not the end though as I will still give my thoughts on what is going on the wrestling world at the end of every month here on Florida Geek Scene. For this 100th issue, I cover a week that saw AEW Grand Slam, the final build to WWE Extreme Rules, and the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on the line. Let’s get started.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) after interference by Bobby Lashley
2. Doudrop defeated Eva Marie
3. Randy Orton defeated AJ Styles
4. Shayna Baszler defeated Nia Jax by referee stoppage
5. Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo defeated Mustafa Ali and Mansoor
6. Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. defeated Natalya and Tamina (c) to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions
7. Jeff Hardy defeated Sheamus to earn a spot in the WWE United States Championship match at WWE Extreme Rules
8. Roman Reigns defeated Bobby Lashley and Big E in a Triple Threat match
Thoughts: The opening six-man tag team match between The New Day and The Bloodline was great with two of the best factions in modern WWE history tearing it up in the ring. Ultimately, it would be Bobby Lashley who made the difference as his attack on Big E, Kofi Kingston, and The Usos distracted Xavier Woods long enough for Roman Reigns to hit him with a spear to pick the win. Lashley was not done though as he took out both Big E and Reigns after the match. This attack led to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville making the main event a triple threat match between Big E, Lashley, and Reigns.
As good as the opening six-man tag match was, the main event topped it with a PPV quality match between three of the top guys in all of WWE today. The match protected all three men with Big E not being the one pinned, Lashley only being pinned because he allowed his anger with Big E to blind him, and Roman Reigns picking up another massive win.
Overall, this was a great episode of Monday Night Raw with the highlights being the opening promo with The New Day, The New Day vs. The Bloodline, and the main event.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Roderick Strong defeated Kushida (c) to become the new NXT Cruiserweight Champion
2. Kay Lee Ray defeated Amari Miller
3. Dante Chen defeated Trey Baxter
4. Cameron Grimes defeated Joe Gacy
5. Elektra Lopez defeated Anna Scheer
6. Odyssey Jones defeated Cary Millman and Darren Chiappetta in a 2-on-1 Handicap match
7. Tommaso Ciampa and Bron Breakker defeated Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland after interference by Kyle O’Reilly
Thoughts: While NXT 2.0 is currently Tommaso Ciampa’s show, the future face of the brand in WWE’s eyes is clearly Bron Breakker. The son of the legendary Rick Steiner had yet another impressive showing this week, teaming with the NXT Champion against Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland. After Kyle O’Reilly got some revenge on Dunne and Holland by hitting Ridge with his own baton, Ciampa would take out The Bruiserweight with a Willow’s Bell, allowing Breakker to hit Holland with a powerslam for the win. After the match, Bron made it clear that he wants the NXT Championship after hesitating the give the belt back to Tommaso. A clash between the veteran and the newcomer now seems to be a matter of when rather than if. The question is, will WWE go ahead and pull the trigger on the young Steiner then and have him defeat The Blackheart to win championship gold?
Overall, this was a good episode of NXT with the highlights being the opening segment, Strong vs. Kushida, and the main event.
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Dynamite –
Results:
1. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega went to a time limit draw
2. MJF defeated Brian Pillman Jr. by submission
3. Malakai Black defeated Cody Rhodes
4. Sting and Darby Allin defeated FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) by submission
5. Britt Baker (c) defeated Ruby Soho by submission to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship after interference by Rebel and Jamie Hayter
Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Rampage –
Results:
1. CM Punk defeated Powerhouse Hobbs
2. The Elite (Adam Cole, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) defeated Christian Cage and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus)
3. Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and Jake Hager) after interference by Dan Lambert
4. The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix) and Santana and Ortiz defeated Hardy Family Office (Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, The Butcher, and The Blade)
5. Penelope Ford defeated Anna Jay after interference by The Bunny
6. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer) in a Lights Out Tag Team match
Thoughts: These were the special AEW Grand Slam special episode of Dynamite and Rampage. These were both PPV quality shows that provided non-stop entertainment from start to finish. First things first, what can I say about Danielson vs. Omega that has not already been said? It was an instant classic between two of the best of all time. It is my clear Match of the Week and yet another contender for My Match of the Year. The rest of the show delivered as well with Malakai Black pulling out another win over Cody Rhodes. In an interesting twist, the New York crowd booed the heck out of Rhodes throughout the match, despite Cody being the Face, as Black was the clear fan favorite in this match.
Rampage continued the fun with CM Punk having his first TV match in over seven years by defeating Team Taz’s big man, Powerhouse Hobbs. The main event saw Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston go to war with Suzuki-gun in a brutal Lights Out match. Moxley and Kingston would pick up the win thanks to some help from the debuting Homicide.
Overall, these were both fantastic shows with Danielson vs. Omega, Black vs. Rhodes, and Baker vs. Soho being the highlights for Dynamite and Punk vs. Hobbs, The Elite vs. Christian/Jurassic Express, and Moxley/Kingston vs. Suzuki-gun being the highlights for Rampage.
Credit: WWE
Results:
1. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Apollo Crews to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
2. Zelina Vega defeated Liv Morgan after interference by Carmella
3. Nikki A.S.H. defeated Natalya
4. Roman Reigns defeated Montez Ford by submission
Thoughts: This was the go home show before tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules PPV. As of this writing there are six matches scheduled for the show. The following are my predictions for who will walk out the victors: First, Liv Morgan will defeat Carmella in what will mostly likely be the pre-show match. Second, Becky Lynch will defeat Bianca Belair to retain the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship. I just do not see Lynch losing the title so soon. Third, Damian Priest will defeat Sheamus and Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE United States Championship. Neither Hardy nor Sheamus seem to be the guy to end Priest’s reign, especially after The Archer of Infamy just won it last month at WWE SummerSlam.
Fourth, Charlotte Flair will defeat Alexa Bliss to retain the WWE Raw Women’s Championship. While Bliss would make an interesting champion with her current gimmick, having Charlotte have yet another short title reign would just further sully her championship legacy. This has not stopped WWE in the past though, so who knows? Fifth, The Usos will defeat The Street Profits to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships. While The Street Profits could pull out an upset, I just do not see The Usos losing the titles anytime soon as having all three men in The Bloodline holding gold makes the faction appear more dangerous. The day The Usos lose the belts is likely the day the rift between Roman and his cousins reopens.
Finally, in the main event, as much as it hurts to say this, Reigns will defeat “The Demon” Finn Balor to retain the WWE Universal Championship. While I think it is a mistake to have The Demon lose, I highly doubt The Head of the Table will lose the title before his clash with Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel next month.
Overall, this was a good episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the highlights being Belair attacking Lynch, Nakamura vs. Crews, Naomi’s continued conflict with Sonya Deville, and the main event.
That’s it for this week’s Spandex and Suplexes. Thank you all once again for helping me reach 100 issues. I am looking forward to tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules. 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.
