Mid-South Wrestling 12-25-81

Merry Christmas! Let's watch some rasslin'! Boyd and Bill greet us, with Boyd in an amazing pink suit. Boyd hypes up Dusty and Andre coming in soon and Bill joins him on commentary. Jerry Novak and Ricky Ferrera face Mike George of latter-latter-latter day AWA fame and Carlos Zapata. Based on pure appearances, this looks like jobber team vs. Jobber team. Mike George is actually pushed, so he's the star here and his partner is just a last-second replacement for JYD. Mike gets double teamed and Bill tries to avoid burying Zapata and Zapata gets slammed on the floor and George has to go it alone and dropkicks away to win.

Clips show Precious Paul doing the Persian Club challenge from the Iron Sheik. Paul is unbelievably built and just him MOVING CLUBS is getting over huge and does 50 reps before either dancing or having a seizure. Sheiky does 103, so his money is safe. Paul does it this week and says he'll do 444. Paul gets to around 50 and Sheiky attacks him. He gets the camel clutch, but Paul escapes before eating a flag shot from Ak and more kicks. Good stuff. Paul Orndorff faces Brian Blair, who looks maybe 200 pounds while Orndorff has thick chest hair and a five o' clock shadow and looks like a young, spry 45 year old.

Watts says that since the club attack wasn't a match, Grizzly may not be able to fine him. Bob Roop stares on boringly while Blair locks on a headscissor and Paul escapes after a few minutes. Paul lands some awesome back elbows that have great snap to them before backdropping him with an arm lock.PAUL LANDS A HIGH KNEE. Paul goes for a figure four, but Blair kicks him into the ropes after a big Watts speech about how any given man can win a big match. So right away, even though things seem like a mis-match, they aren't because Blair is a game competitor and anyone can truly beat anyone. Blair avoids a suplex with one of his own by hanging on! BLAIR GETS A FIGURE FOUR, but Paul reverses it and locks it in. Well, Blair could escape if he just opts to MOVE HIS RIGHT LEG and stop clenching it. The bell rings due to the time limit - but it would've been cool to have him tap to the reversal. Blair didn't submit - but the referee ended the match on his physical behalf. Perfect - Paul won with the reversal, so it's an effective hold - but Blair didn't submit.

Ted DiBiase faces Mike Boyer next. Ted without a beard or a tan is bizarre even now. Bill compares the figure four to about half a dozen things in football. Ted powerslams him and wins with the figure four - so in one show, we've seen a single move effectively get two victories not due to finish repetition, but to GET THE HOLD OVER AS DEADLY and each win happened in a different way with different context. Bob Roop teams with Bob Orton Jr. to face Frank Monte and Mike Bono. Orton humps the air for a bit before winning with a piledriver - not much to this, but they looked strong.

I love the usage of showing finishes before the break. It takes maybe five seconds, but gets finishers and angles over quickly. Ed Wiskowski faces Tom Renesto Jr. Ed is just so damn sloppy, but I like Bill putting Ed over on a loss to Ted. Ed hits a sloppy atomic drop before splashing his neck from a seated position and a pendulum backbreaker ends it. Iron Sheik faces Tom Serano next, but it never gets started as Paul brawls with Sheiky until TV time expires. MSW remains a fun, easy hour of wrestling to watch at all times. You can skip a show for eons and instantly get caught up thanks to the presentation - which is something you can't even do today.

WWE Clash of Champions 2017

Show starts off with the US Title 3 way. Roode's random spinning around is odd. Baron slowly clubs away while they yammer on about how Roode wants to restore history to the US Title. Dolph gets 2 off a famouser. Holy Jesus did this slow to a death crawl with Baron dominating everything. Crowd seems unusually hot for Bobby Roode. DON'T THEY SEE HOW TALL BARON IS!? Tower of Doom to Roode. Roode avoids sweet chin music and hits a spinebuster. Dolph avoids the glorious DDT and hits a jumping DDT. Baron runs into the post and then darts into the ropes and goes to the floor - stop blindly charging. Roode hits the DDT on Dolph, but Baron pulls him out. End of Days to Roode while DOLPH HITS THE ZIG ZAG AND WINS IT. Has to be his first win of the year.

DBryan is being an asshole and Shane...looks completely ridiculous.  Baron Von Sad Tummy is angry. Aiden English sings about Rusev! Rusev Day is hugely over and gets a giant chant. 3 UNHINDERED JINDERS! Aiden is great. Usos are amazing with their street rap. Lots of cradles get 2 before a brawl. Assisted dive to the floor. USO DIVE AND THEN THE RUN-UP BELLY TO BELLY HITS. Kofi just floored Gable with Rich Swann's finish. Yeah I wouldn't expect him back ever. Lots of waiting around to do stuff. Gable locks on a cloverleaf, but eats a fireman carry spinebuster for 2. Accolade is on Gable. So logically, why isn't Woods just hitting him with the trombone since it's a four way and he won't get  his team DQed? Machka kick to E! ACCOLADE TO E, BUT GABLE GERMANS HIM! CHAOS THEORY TO E! Superkick party and the splash end it for the Usos.

Long promo for Nattie-Charlotte. EVERY LUMBERJACK GETS AN INTRO.  Lana and Carmella having the same kind of gear is A-okay. Liv looks like she's cosplaying as Mandy Rose here. Not a good look for her. Neckbreaker and a yakuza kick get 2 for Charlotte. Charlotte lands some sloppy offense in the corner. Naomi hits a springboard dive on the heel lumberjacks. None of this is a DQ or even a call by the ref to do anything. MORE RANDOM BRAWLING leads to a cash-in tease. So Carmella's plan, HER BEST CHANCE TO WIN, would logically be to do it with five billion people on the outside - brilliant! Moonsault to the floor means NOTHING in the story of the match within three seconds...so why do it? Nattie just posted her and made that the focus. Figure 8. Nattie going for an Aloha Arn on her back - that's now how that works! Charlotte retains. Thank God that's over. Holy Jesus is Nattie a terrible talker and she talks about carrying it for 10 years and leaves and cries. What the fuck ever.

The Singhs are interviewed.Tyler is legit wearing Torrie Wilson's gear. As did Billy Gunn when he was on his downswing in TNA. The INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCE TEAMS are introduced during Breezango's intro. Bludgeon brothers destroy them. THE FUTURE HOLDS MORE BLUDGEONING! THE END OF THE BEGINNING. THE BEGINNING OF THE END. KO and Sami are interviewed. So they're teasing a Danielson heel turn with their usual idea of subtle - so it'll be a swerve and Shane will turn on Bryan. Recap video time already - so it might be time for the tag match. Orton's hair is some kind of ridiculous.

We get every SD tag match main event ever. Knees up for the senton. Running frog splash from table to table through announce table. Shane berates Bryan for not counting 3 on KO and I was hoping for a KICK HIS FUCKING HEAD IN chant. Silly back and forth cradle counts...for some reason. Shane screws Sami on a count, so Bryan fast-counts Sami and gives them a win off a schoolboy. Jesus. This finish is getting more replays than the Zapruder film. And of course the overarching story is WHAT WILL THE MCMAHON DO TO SHOW THE WORKING CLASS HOW MUCH BETTER HE IS.

Jinder's prayer rug game is on-point. Dude needs some Clearasil tho, and to work on his arms. Tom says that Jinder injected himself...into the Styles-Brock match. After what feels like several hours of exciting RIB-BASED OFFENSE, including a bodyscissors, AJ just throws himself around to do something. AJ hits a springboard 450 and the Singhs save him. AJ kicks out of the khallas. Jinder goes for the Clash, but AJ locks on the calf crusher and Jinder taps. That was indeed a match. Corey says THIS IS A BATTLE WE WILL NOT SOON FORGET.

SNME 1-4-86

I'm quite a bit behind on Wayback Playbacks - but the SNME eps are always a blast. Hogan is making protein shakes on the beach or at a water park. Gene goes into convultions after having the shake. Piper AND THE OTHER BAD GUYS LOOK AT BABYFACES HAVE FUN IN THE POOL. We go to the Sundome which is very yellow and green and we get a PEACE MATCH between  Kirchner and Volkoff. JYD and Steamboat face Fuji and Muraco, while Steele faces Savage and Hogan faces Terry Funk. Jesse Ventura is out here in gear to team with Piper and Orton to face the hillbilies. Jesse says that he's the only announcer who is man enough to get into the ring. Heenan replaces Ventura tonight, and Heenan replaced Jesse in both the WWF and WCW as well. Gene interviews Piper and Orton in the aisle, and it looks great because the fans are so alive. The heels are out first and we see the hillbilly wedding being spoiled by the heels.

Hillbilly Jimmy, Uncle Elmer, and Cousin Luke are here. Jesse looks a bit out of shape here, but is still in shape. Elmber hits big club shots and we get some hilarious selling here from Jesse. A HEADLOCK SLOWS THINGS DOWN. Knee to the gut to Jim before Piper comes in to face Junior. Luke shakes his hand and clubs him before the heels hit a double elbow. Ventura clubs him and walks on him. Piper slaps away before Ace hits an elbow off the second rope. Hillbilly Jim gets a tag, but the ref misses it. A Piper fan goes crazy with everything he does and Elmer is in and clubs away. A bearhug is met with an eye rake. Piper slugs Jim and then the heels triple team him to the joy of an old guy in the crowd. The heels win with a Piper sleepr and Jesse meets with Bobby again.

Jimmy Hart was branded by JYD last time, so now they'll settle the score in a waterslide contest. Jimmy is in his 40s here and looks 25. JYD wins it and this offends Jesse and his speedo. Terry Funk says he wants to be in SI and we see clips of Funk hitting him with a branded iron and HOGAN LOSES BY COUNTOUT AND BRANDED. Hogan says he's bringing JYD with him to make sure Jimmy Hart isn't involved. Terry Funk quit due to non-stop matches with JYD. Hogan is in Superman blue and red. JYD forces Hart into a chair and we get a red, white and blue Hulkster graphic - that's a small thing, but tells you his character in literally a second.

Hogan vs. Funk was a big ratings-getter and we get a unique back and forth corner whip and a big corner lariat. A fan has a bedsheet with some shockingly-good graphics on it. Terry eats an Irish whip and goes chest-first in before being clotheslined over the top. Terry ducks down and we get another spot I haven't seen before - Hogan running on his back every time he inches closer to the ropes, Terry making it to the ropes and then falling on some chairs on the floor. Terry throws a chair in and Hogan sits on it. Terry chops away in the corner and then gets flipped in the corner. Terry mule kicks in the balls and Vince says he was aiming for the shins. Terry goes up top and Hogan shakes the ropes and this forces him to jump forward and crotch himself. AXE BOMBER and a big elbow hit. Hogan is shoved into the rope and Jimmy pulls the ankle, so Jimmy hides between JYD and Hogan under the ring. Terry chokes him with the tape and makes it look like a sleeper. Terry hits a piledriver for 2. Terry hits his punches, but Hogan Hulks up. Punches and a big back elbow lead to the boot. Terry gets 2 and thinks it's due to the ref tapping his back, but an axe bomber hits and ends it.

Terry throws a chair in the ring and puts his dukes up to the fans, who cower. TERRY FUNK DRAGS JIMMY OUT OF THE BUILDING. How awesome. Gene and Hogan are mid-ring and we get a promo. We get a video on Steele showing his face turn and TNT skits. Steele is in a very large speedo while Lou Albano is near him and there are some hot models nearby. Jesse and Savage are with Liz, who looks terrified and then Randy just tosses her in the water. Macho comes down in an incredible robe and Liz's dress matches. George touches Liz and Lou tells him to get away. Randy comes over and yells at Liz and threatens to slap her. And this was just their TV life...yeah that sure was a healthy life for her I'm sure.

Steele does his wacky mannerisms and a dude in a Hawaain shirt is doing them too! Savage is tossed over the top The SNME logo remains great even today and we get a lot of nothing that is great due to Savage. Steele punches and kicks him before a brawl on the floor. Savage uses Liz as a shield and Steele goes to see if she's okay. Surprisingly, Savage doesn't boot him - but does it mid-ring. Buckle is destroyed and Steele drapes his neck over the rope and Savage jumps 3/4 of the ring to hit an axehandle and win. Very impressive-looking finish - so it had that going for it.

Gene and Hogan are outside and Gene is dancing to music. We get a highlight reel of '85 and man was the Piper-Mr. T staredown incredible. We get an upskirt of Liz for Halloween. Hogan plays bass and hillbillies dance. Piper breaks a record over Albano to cause a riot and we see Piper vs. Orndorff. and the Dream Team win the titles. We get a shot of Vince and Jesse in a darkened area before Gene interviews Blassie and Volkoff. Sheiky's gear is still great today. We get a video of Corporal Kirschner doing skydiving and dressed like Rambo.

Nikolai sings and they get water thrown on them. Hopefully water. Kirschner gets the ROTC intro. We get a clean break from the evil Russian and the fans have figured out to put the banner against the seats. Long headlock because of course. Long takedown from Volkoff leads to BACK BRIDGE CRADLE for 2. Well, didn't see that coming. HE DOES A CARTWHEEL AND A SHOULDERBLOCK. This is more movement than I ever remember him having. Makes me want to watch some of his stuff in Mid-South. Big kneedrop ends it and wins for Nikolai. A woman is overjoyed at the win by the evil Russian. We get a silly spot where he goes to slam Sheiky while Volkoff goes to attack him, but Volkoff just has to stop it. We get clips of Muraco beating up and hanging Steamboat.

 

Muraco lounges around and teams with Fuji, oh joy and Fuji jokes aboiut eating dogs. Steamboat is in his gi and looks great. JYD says some stuff about being on the side of the kids and wanting to be a role model. Steamboat is in black trunks over red tights - which looks bizarre. JYD slams Don down and misses the headbutt. Fuji gets some stuff in before JYD hits some shitty armdrags. Eye poke brings Don back in who drops an elbow. Fuji hits a headbutt to the balls. Steamboat flails his arms around to somehow help him get a tag, and he hets a tag. Big chops and punches for everyone and lands Inoki's head kick. Steamboat gets the dive, but Fuji kicks him to beak it up. JYD comes in and headbutts Fuji to win. Wow was this sloppy and bad. We get tons of filler with Jesse and Vince.

House of Hardcore 12-2-17 - Blizzard Brawl

Guido beats Steve Cuttler in an okay-ish match. Guido still looks about the same as ever, shockingly. Jay Bradley's out in somehow more generic gear than his TNA days to face MVP. MVP looks better now than he did in TNA and has dyed his hair black again and lost some weight. They exchange slaps after some mat wrestling. MVP lands a yakuza kick on the barricade. Bradly eats one mid-ring, but avoids the playmaker, but eats a belly to belly. Bradley gets 2 off a bulldog. Mid-ring drive by kick ends it.

Nick Aldis comes down with Shane Douglas, whose "CUT THE DAMN MUSIC" promo doesn't work without actual music. Shane cuts a Local Sports Team promo instead of actually putting over Nick Aldis. So this was worth the ticket for him. Carlito has a re-recorded version of his theme and pretends to be blown up slapping hands. Between this and the HOF, he is so much funnier outside of WWE. Carlito paces around the ring to go after Shane, giving Aldis a chance to avoid damage. Ref tosses out Shane, but Aldis wins anyway.

Squad World Order video airs and Curt Stallion is out for the four way with  Connor Braxton, who uses a hoverboard in his matches and had a funny HOH comedy match with Striker a while back. Bull James is fat again and Arik Cannon is still around! We get some segway-related comedy. Bull is scared to ride, but gets punched around. SEGWAY SWING and Arik hits a neckbreaker on the ropes. James hits a cheesehead seated senton and wins it.

Willie Mack comes down to face Brian Cage, who is fucking gigantic. Cage hits a wacky pumphandle facebuster for 2. Mack hits a Samoan drop and a nip up into a moonsault for 2. Cage hits an F5 for 2.5. Cage for a rainmaker, but Mack hits an exploder out of that and no-sells it. Double-down off a lariat. Cage goes for a screwdriver, but Mack his Swann's kick and a stunner before frog splashing him to end it. The Squad is out with Junior Member Randy. They bury the Packers and make gay jokes. Randy gets a "who are you" chant.  Kenny cuts a Joel Gertner-esque promo and is awesome at that.  He's also great at hyping up Mikey, who comes off like a bigger star than anyone on Raw.

Al Snow, Swoggle, and Dave Hero are out - with Snow and Swoggle wrestling. Al Snow is still all jacked up, but he's shaved his goatee. We get a lot of stalling, and given that Snow is old and Swoggle is terrible, this is a good move. Snow holds up Head for a long time. Then Al does some cheerleading for Swoggle. Long criss cross. Jesus fuck this match. Al's arm gets pumhhandled, and this is only going to end one way. KENNY GETS HIS ARM PUMPHANDLED! Randy is great here. MIKEY KEEPS DOING IT until he sees his enemies and now he knows he's doomed. Okay, that almost redeemed this match. Faces bite the assholes of the heels. German to Mikey by Swoggle. Al eats a beating, but Swoggle comes in with a tag the ref doesn't see. SAMOAN DROP BY SWOGGLE! Snow gets a tag and the Snow plow gets 2. DAMMIT. END! Head hits and the tadpole splash ends it.

Abyss is out to face Tommy Dreamer in his own Bullet Club-style shirt. So that has to be the jump the shark moment for that. They stall. And brawl. And stall. and Brawl. and stall. Abyss goes down after THREE FLIP FLOP AND FLY ELBOWS. TNA walk and brawl special. Tommy gets crotched on the guardrail. The commentators talk about Tommy being an innovator and how he's always thinking of new things to do. Abyss goes for the earthquake splash and it goes the same way it always does for Abyss - with a chair to the balls. Abyss sends Tommy down and gets a ladder. Dreamer DDT gets 2. Tommy's hair is amazing and he gets a bag of tacks. Aldis distracts Tommy and he takes a black hole slam into the tacks to end it. Tommy says some stuff that can't be heard due to the mic. They play Tommy's music and he's pissed because he lost.

Lisa Marie Varon is out to face Candice Michelle in her final match. Victoria looks fine, while Candice has had a few too many surgeries on her face. Both are put over as legendary, so that term means even less than usual. Victoria's knee buckles off a backbreaker and she suckers everyone in by slapping Candice. Candice hits a variety of lariats. Candice avoids the widow's peak and hits a kneeling x-factor. She thanks Wisconson before hitting a sloppy tornado DDT and winning. Well, this was a perfect retirement match for her given how limited she was a decade ago. They hug and kiss. Candice thanks Lisa for helping her become who she is and talked about being in Hollywood at 18 and getting her big break thanks to WWE. She talks about being so excited about winning the women's title. She says that tonight marks the 15th anniversary of her mother's death and she thanks Tommy for giving her this platform to go out on. She talks about being a role model for her kids tonight and man was this great - it was a billion times better than the match itself.

Joey Mercury comes out with Shane and the Federal Director comes out and tells Shane that he now has a managerial license across the country. Austin Aries comes out in front of his hometown for the first time. I love the commentators burying Shane for his sneakers and suit jacket. Aries goes through the motions and tries to have a good match with Mercury, who can move - but can't really work anymore. Long reverse bearhug by Joey. Superman punch and pedigree hit. Suicide dive hits the heels. Steel chain from Shane KOs Aries, but Dreamer is the second ref and he stops short. RKO TO JOEY! Tree of woe to Shane and Joey and we get Aries and Dreamer doing double ECW dropkicks.450 hits and ends it.

Aries says he has a sequel promo - kidding, this place is packed.

Survivor Series 2017

"As Shawn Michaels put it, SURVIVOR SERIES IS THE ONE NIGHT A YEAR WHERE RAW AND SMACKDOWN GO HEAD TO HEAD IN COMPETITION!" So Shawn buries the verbiage and then gets that. Matt face Elias with maybe a few hundred folks in the building. Hammerlock on the apron leads to a Side Effect on the apron. Matt appears to be in agony with every step. Elias wins and JOINS THE FAVE FIVE! Kalisto comes out for his title match and gets stuck on the rope doing the reverse skin the cat. Well, it sucks to be Kalisto more than usual. Enzo has new realest champ boxer shirts and a wacky leopard-print robe and is just the best. He says he'll make beef stew outta Kalisto - even though he's chicken! Enzo retains and Kalisto is a goober.

Sami and KO come out for a pre-show match - quite the drop for KO. On the upside, THEY'RE FACING THE FASHION POLICE. Breezango are a great team, and Fandango is hilarious and calls Sami a paperboy. Sami and Kevins should make a citizens arrest of Breezango for all the littering with the tickets. Byron repeats the paperboy line and says "I'm just repeating what's already been said" - it's his life story. Pop-up powerbomb ends it - hooray for evil! A new generic brunette female human chats with AJ, who comes off like the man in this video package. 

YES! STEPH GETS PUT OVER STRONG IN THE SHOW-OPENING VIDEO AS GOD INTENDED. Oh yeah, JOHN CENA RETURNS TONIGHT. Wow has then not been hyped up in the slightest. Woods buries tumblr and says they'll show the world that they're the best. Kofi says the Shield is the hounds, but THEY GONNA GO BOB BARKER ON THEY ASSES! The BATTLE FOR BRAND SUPREMACY involves MANY MANY RECAP videos. Now we get all of the commentary teams on one show at all times. Jesus. Shield comes out to a big reaction. So Roman, of course, doesn't have to wrestle in the geek shirt.

Seth lariats Woods down.  Big buckle bomb by Seth leads to the jumping lariat by Roman for 2. Woods eats a Superman punch and Roman is back to being booed. SUPERKICK PARTY BY SETH! Double jump splash by New Day gets 2! DOUBLE MIDNIGHT HOUR! Reigns saves! Reigns hits a spear and then SUPER TRIPLE POWERBOMB! YES, HERE'S STEPH TO TIE THE TUBES OF THE FEMALE ROSTER! Steph demands NO MORE HUGS. Alicia has a new, more awesome hat.

TAMINA GETS NEW MUSIC. Still no reaction. Alicia and Becky start things off. Bayley schoolgirls Becky to eliminate her. Asuka is kicking the talent out of Tamina. Well, that didn't take long. Bayley tags herself in. TAMINA PINS BAYLEY. Ugh. Tamina and Nia are hyped up as family and "TWO WOMEN WHO HAVE NEVER MADE CONTACT BEFORE". They do mean guy spots and Tamina superkicks her to the floor where Naomi crossbodies her down before Tamina does it again and Nia is counted out. Naomi misses the moonsault and Alicia "hits" a Yakuza kick. Alicia counts three during a Naomi cradle, but then Naomi goes for the neckbar - so that was weird. Sasha cradles Naomi to beat her. Face full of stuff by Carmella. ASUKA GONNA KILL YOU! Kick of death takes her out. Sasha taps to the sharpshooter, leaving it 2 to 1 with Asuka against Nattie and Tamina. Armbar makes her tap. Bubba bomb into an Asuka lock ends it!

Steph and Bryan bicker a bit, she says Bryan putting Cena on his team was nepotism and he tells her that it's rich with HHH putting himself on Team Raw. Steph says that Raw left Shane in a pile of...pile. Okay. Baron's out and we get a German announcer recap. Miz gets fired up with Maryse in the crowd, so he's the face here. Axel's Raw-branded neck brace is tremendous. Cole hypes up Miz as the only man to be at every Survivor Series since 2011. WOW WHAT A STREAK. Cole hypes up WWE's social media stuff. Bo eats an End of Days and Miz gets 2 off a distraction cradle. End of Days pins Miz after the yes kicks. Well this sucked. Renee interviews Baron who says that his hand went up and Miz's mouth went shut.

Charlotte is the star of the Clash of Champions ad. Bayley goes ring shopping with a fan. The Bar comes out. Usos looking fly as fuck in the white gear. Sheamus and Cesaro showing Raw pride in the red and white is great. Usos cut a promo about BARS that is awesome. Usos are perfect babyfaces here. Love Cole saying that Sheamus is underrated after rattling off his WWE Accomplishments. "Think about The Brand, not The Universe!" - human beings talking as humans do. Nasty backdrop into the buckle by Cesaro gets 2. SAMOAN DROP SUPERKICK COMBO! CESARO SWING! SHARPSHOOTER! BROGUE TO JIMMY! JEY GETS TO THE ROPES! Damn - Cesaro sat down on that too. SPRINGBOARD SPIKE WHITE NOISE GETS 2. Cesaro goes for a doomsday device, but Jey hits a super Samoan drop off of it! SUPERKICK PARTY! USO CRAZY DIVE BONKS HIM INTO THE TABLE AND THE DIVE ENDS IT. USOS RULE.

Charlotte's out to face Alexa. Alexa dropkicks her into the steps in a nice spot. Charlotte goes for a slam, but Bliss gets a sorta-inverted DDT for 2. Code red and a rana get 2 for Bliss. Alexa gets a front choke, but Charlotte Batista bombs her for 2. Natural Selection gets 2. Alexa hits a punch and the snap DDT, but the ref has wide angle lenses for eyes and sees a foot on the rope. Charlotte gets a spear and a double-down. Alexa "eats" a boot that misses by a mile and the Figure 8 ends it. Brock vs. AJ BEFORE THE HHH MATCH. Of course. AJ comes out and we get a pre-taped Jinder promo about how he's rooting for AJ - so he's getting involved at the finish. Heyman does his great promo for Brock as THE ULTIMATE TITLE HOLDER.

Brock bullies AJ in the corner and Biels him! BELLY TO BELLY! GERMAN SENDS HIM INTO THE ROPE! AJ gets ragdolled over the top and damn is he a perfect foe for Brock. Giant lifting German! Giant running knee to the corner! He goes for it again, but eats the buckle and a dropkick to the knee and a DDT give AJ a brief bit of life. AJ goes for a tornado DDT, but Brock just flops down on his back and there goes that. He hits a kneeling Pele!  P1 FOREARM MEETS A FLIPOVER GERMAN! AJ backdrops him and Brock hits the apron. Brock's knee slams into the steps and mid-ring, AJ hits an enzuiguri. LIONSAULT HITS! SPRINGBOARD 450 GETS 2.5! CLASH INTO THE F5 INTO THE CALF CRUSHER! BROCK SMASHES HIS HEAD INTO THE MAT LIKE A BASKETBALL. Um, that's stupid. AJ pops him with a sick overhand forearm strike and the P1 FOREARM GETS 2.9! AJ takes the pad off and goes for another one, but THE F5 HITS AND ENDS IT. THIS RULED!

Kurt comes out with new blue and white stars MMA gloves and a ton of leg tape. Balor gets a lot out of the "first Universal Champion" moniker. HHH in Raw-inspired Sons of Anarchy biker gear is hilarious. Bobby Roode is main eventing a WWE main roster PPV. Well kinda. Sure beats facing Dolph Ziggler in the second match on a card. Corey calls Byron Phillps and Byron corrects him in one the funniest bits. Red and black is now blue and black for SD for Nakamura. Cena has neon green and purple. What the hell, did he get a rejected Naomi design or something? Byron talks about Cena "returning to SmackDown" despite him BEING ON SMACKDOWN since the last draft outside of the Reigns-Cena rivalry.

Shane jumps Braun from behind and gets beaten up before he tags out. Joe comes in to face Orton. Joe avoids an RKO, Orton avoids the choke. Balor in all-red kinda works. Orton tags in Nak. Cole says "HERE COMES SHIN!" Balor pushes him in the corner and 2 sweets his forehead to boos. HHH tags in to face Nakamura, and Cole says that HHH is responsible for him being in WWE. Booker says that HHH is going to teach this kid a lesson. Nakamura is like five years younger than HHH. HHH botches his facebuster.

HHH VS. ROODE! Cole makes sure to give all credit to HHH for Roode's success. HHH HITS THE SPINEBUSTER! HHH does the suck it bit and eats a spinebuster. Glorious DDT is countered into a pedigree into the DDT and then HHH throws him in the corner for a tag to Kurt. Suplex city to Roode. Double-down off a double lariat. Nakamura goes in and attacks Kurt. Nak is gone and Braun conquers Roode. HHH and Angle argue. Orton and Cena team up to send Braun outside. ALL OF TEAM SMACKDOWN HELPS CENA AND ORTON TO DOUBLE SUPLEX BRAUN THROUGH AN ANNOUNCE TABLE. Shane goes up to jump through him, but Joe hits a super belly to belly.

Cena and Joe go at it and Byron brings up their history in California. ST-Joe leads to Balor getting tagged in, Joe tagging himself in and eating an AA. AA to Balor and another AA pins Joe. Angle comes in and they play it up as Cena's first match in WWE. Mid-ring slugfest! Ankle lock and an ANGLE SLAM GETS 2 THANKS TO SHANE. BALOR DOUBLE STOMPS CENA! ANGLE SLAM BEATS CENA! Balor hits the shotgun  kick and goes for the double stomp, but Orton avoids and an RKO HITS AND ENDS IT FOR BALOR! HHH jumps Orton with a rabbit lariat. Cole talks about the history of HHH and Orton. Kurt goes up top for no go reason and gets crotched. KO and Sami jump Shane! Of course Shane makes his own one-man comeback against two men. He swings the chair a ton and KO preps for headshots, but eats back and gut ones. Braun powerslams Orton and takes him out.

HHH and Shane square off. Shane cradles Kurt for 2 and gets 2 off a Russian legsweep. Standing flying elbow gets 2 for Shane. Floatover DDT gets 2. Kurt rips the shirt and shows his new top-heavy singlet and gets the ankle lock. HHH comes in and pedigrees Angle. So it's the McMahons versus everyone and of course, the McMahons must win! And HHH pedigrees Shane to win it and make both men "sole survivors". Braun looks on angrily - HHH is gonna get quite a powerslamming and is probably facing Braun at Rumble, or at some non-WM show. BRAUN THROTTLES HIM and tells him he'll never play the game again if he crosses him again! HHH goes to cheapshot him - BUT EATS THE POWERSLAM. Okay, so in the end, youth actually won it sorta. Another powerslam and this will be the moment on the Braun WWE 24 doc in a few years that they point to as THE MOMENT for Braun Strowman.

NXT Takeover War Games

The pre-show features an awesome video on the War Games hype. Ellering beinig with AOP pays off wonderfully here with him talking about how hard the first one was. A historical war video package sets off the show. Mauro, Nigel, and Percy call the action. Kassius Ohno comes out in a great-looking blue and black getup. Lars Sullivan gets this new Kane-esque intro bathing him in red. Lars eats a corner elbow but FEELS NOTHING! Knocks him down off a huge shoulderblock! Another one off the apron sends Ohno down, and a giant lariat off a nip up makes Lars look even more like a monster. Lars nails him with a pop-up powerslam and goes up top and the diving headbutt misses. Rabbit elbows hit for Ohno before a cyclone kick gets 2. Lars eats some kicks and WANTS MORE! Sullivan eats a discus elbow, but he hits the Freak Accident to win it! This ruled!

Undisputed Era meets backstage and we get a recap of the Velveteen Dream vs. Black rivalry. Black's intro is candle-filled and perfect, while Velveteen is still missing something. Rude-esque tights for Velveteen tonight as they're airbrushed with he and his opponent on them. This match started with Black as the face, but Dream turned face throughout it due to the size difference and due to him really just being a likeable asshole. We get a great spot of the Indian style sit and then a faceoff. Dream puts him in the rope and demands he say his name, but Dream still can't get what he wants.

 Quebrada gets 2 for Black, but the CARTWHEEL DEATH VALLEY DRIVER GETS 2 AFTER HE EATS A KICK! This is an awesome showcase for Dream! Black hits a giant knee, but Dream HITS A SPIKE DDT FOR 2.9! This is being given a chance and fucking MAKING THE MOST OF IT. Velveteen Dream's gimmick isn't five stars, but this match sure as shit is. Purple Rainmaker is countered with a boot and he gets knocked into the Andre position he used on Black. BLACK ATTACKS, BUT EATS A SUPERKICK, AND THEN A KNEE STRIKE HITS! BLACK MASS ENDS IT! Holy shit this ruled! Black wins it and gives Dream what he wanted - he said his name!

 

Asuka, Balor, and Funaki are at ringside. Well, that's just odd. NXT women's title match is up. KAIRI HAS A REVAMPED THEME. BOO-URNS! Ember hits a weird headscissors takeover. Sloppy kicks and a neckbreaker get 2 for Peyton and then Kairi. Ember and Nikki hit a pair of huge telegraphed shots and then Ember takes her out with a powerbomb on the floor. Sane hits the big elbow on Royce, but covers Nikki and Ember makes a save for 2. DOUBLE ECLIPSE TO THE HEELS AND EMBER WINS IT! Asuka was the best - and now Ember is the Best of the Rest Champion. Asuka and Regal put Ember over as champion, with Asuka stealing the show with her body language.  Ember still feels like a Best of What's Left champion.

Joe and Owens are in the crowd and we get a Drew-Almas hype video. Zelina comes off so great in video packages - not so much in live promos though. Almas's theme is awesome! Drew comes down in a kilt, which looks cool. The theme is still not great though. Mauro just compared Drew to Super Mario Odyssey somehow. Almas steps to Drew before standing behind Vega. Ha! Almas gets 1 off a neckbreaker/Nightmare on Helms Street thing. Drew gets 2 off the celtic cross while a "3MB" chant hits. Rewind reana is met with an INVERTED ALABAMA SLAM! Drew goes up for a lariat, but eats a springing dropkick. Drew goes for a powerbomb on the post, but Zelina prevents it and ranas him into the post. A BIG MOONSAULT HITS AND GETS 2.5! Future Shock hits for 2, and a shotgun knee gets 2 for Almas. ZELINA HITS A SPIKE RANA! HAMMERLOCK DDT HITS FOR 2.9! Almas flips off the Claymore before Vega...sorta puts the foot on the rope but not really for 2. Claymore misses by nine miles. SPIKE HAMMERLOCK DDT ENDS IT! ALMAS WINS THE TITLE!

Mauo puts War Games over as the brainchild of Dusty Rhodes. Dustin and Arn are at ringside. The rules are recapped and it's a shame they have changed the time limits by letting two people in at once, but I guess it does streamline things. EY plays the role of Eaton to start things off - as it should. He can be the glue throughout it all. I like the shark cages being at the entranceway, even if it was a bit odd for guys to just agree to stand in those. Era guys mock Sanity in the cages. Adam Cole starts things off for his team.ADAM COLE BAYBAY would be so cool if they could've lined up those signs perfectly behind him.

Strong is in AOP cosplay gear. Okay, they need to nix this "one night partners do cosplay" deal. Strong starts things off and takes the vest off. Strong plays a face in peril and does this even more when the Era comes in after the first five minute period. Strong eats a ton more offense before AOP runs down! BIEL FROM RING 1 TO RING 2 TO COLE BAYBAY! AOP RUN WILD! SANITY RUNS IN. Wolfe brings in a billy club, so Daine brings in more weapons. Daine hits a big dive and gets 2. Damo hits a big Michinoku driver for 2 and then a Samoan drop/fallaway slam before Akam hits a giant powerslam for 2. FLYING ELBOW! DEATH VALLEY DRIVER ON AKAM FROM EY! RING TO RING SUPER COLLIDER!

DOUBLE TOWERS OF DOOM! And Cole stands on his perch!  Cole goes to leave, but AOP stops him and crotches him before setting up the table. DAINE GOES COAST TO COAST! Strong and Cole are up top and tease a superplex to a "please don't die" chant. SUPERPLEX TO THE PILE MID-RING! LAST CHAPTER ON THE MID-RING STEEL! Cole beats EY to win this craziness,