WWE Payback 2020

 

Pre-show has a nothing match between the Riott Squad and the IIconics with the heels bullying Ruby and making Liv think Ruby hit her, but Liv tags in and comes to her senses and beats up the heels before a double-team Riott Kick ends it. Randy-Drew and Randy-Keith video packages air to get over Lee's agility.

Lashley is out to face Crews for the US Title. MVP cuts a promo on Crews and he says that Crews got lucky last week and now, he's got Lashley. MVP looks so much older with the shaved goatee. Tie-up and takedown for Lashley. Lashley hits an elevated flatliner over the top rope. Nice! Lashley runs Crews ribs-first into the post and he is just THE MAN. Lashley gets a fallaway slam and sends him into the corner, but Crews avoids a suplex. Dominator/Yokosuka cutter hits, but he sends him to the rope for 2.

Corner charge by Lashley leads to an enzuiguri and Crews gets a crossbody. Stinger splash in the corner by Crews, but Lashley avoids the toss powerbomb, but eats a spinebuster. Standing moonsault for 2. Lashley avoids the toss, but gets the full nelson, but Crews ducks down and gets a pair of Germans and a frog splash for 2. Lashley hits a Judas Effect and elevated spinebuster to set up the Full Lashley - he gets the hooks in and wins it! We get a post-match "photo op" with live shots being shown of it. Crews attacks after the match because he's a sore loser. 

Thank you Cole for reading THE EXACT SAME AD COPY YOU ALWAYS RECITE in the same way about the Thunderdome. Reigns heel turn recap. Kayla is backstage in a suit that matches her eye liner in front of Roman's locker room. Heyman asks her to ask a good question so he doesn't waste any of their time and Roman will sign the contract when he is ready. The effervescent Keith Lee. Tremendous! JBL talks to him about investing in hedge funds with only a million dollars down. Keith says he can't afford that. "Well thanks for the offer, JBL, but I'm too poor. BUT THANKS TO THE KIND AND GENEROUS MCMAHONS, I MAY ONE DAY ACCOMPLISH MY DREAMS!"

Miz and Big E's deal from Talking Smack is shown with Miz's unreal white and red outfit. Sheamus vs. Big E is up. I get some technical issues and things come back with Sheamus locking in a half-crab. Suicide spear meets a knee and the outside-in shoulder tackle. Sheamus hits an Alabama slam for 2. E revs up for the suicide spear and instead of Sheamus...just staying on the floor, he goes on the apron like an idiot. THE VIRTUAL WWE UNIVERSE fires up Big E! Sheamus gets a heel hook and a big pump knee gets 2. Brogue, but he catches him into a powerbomb and Big Endings him to win. This ruled!

A new interview girl named Alyse interviews the King of Bros as he says the King of Bros will take King Corbin's crown. She reads off this long-winded goofball tweet about Corbin burying his home life. MY GOD WE GET ACTING FROM SHAYNA AND NIA! Corbin jumps Riddle and the ref asks THE MMA FIGHTER if he can continue. Corbin is a GOLDEN GLOVES BOXING CHAMPION facing a former UFC fighter and Riddle's fighting from underneath because sure why not. CORBINLOCK into a Kimura by Riddle. RNC by Riddle and the fakeout lariat hits for Corbin.  TWO CORBINLOCKS!

Another fakeout lariat is met with a Cro Cop kick by Riddle. Deep Six hits for 2. Corbin gets the mount and eats elbows from a downed position. Floating bro ends it. "This is a massive upset!"
Why? ON WHAT PLANET IS THIS AN UPSET!? Backstage, Riddle says he's done with Corbin BUT CORBIN jumps him. This has only been on an hour!? Bayley and Sasha recap to set up the tag title match. Bayley and Sasha have matching red and black gear.

Ground abdominal stretch by Sasha to Shayna and the heels double team...something maybe a back breaker to Shayna. Nia misses a legdrop and is beached like a whale, so Bayley humps her leg like a dog for a "kneebar". Sure why not. Shayna comes in and gets the Yokosuka cutter and knee for 2. Shayna gets a kneebar/RNC combo because sure and that leads to SHAYNA AND NIA AS WACKY TAG CHAMPS THAT DON'T GET ALONG! Shayna cuts a promo-ish while Nia dances and yells.

Seth and Murphy face the Mysterios in a boring match. Dom wins with the 619 and frog splash after throwing Rey into a sunset bomb on Rollins on the floor. Braun and Bray start off with a billion finishers and hit big moves. Uranage mid-ring then another on the floor through the announce table. BRAY BONKS HIM WITH THE MALLET and Braun chugga chugga choo choos him off the stage. Bray superplexes Braun to break the ring, but THE BIG DOG comes down and signs the contract chair in tow. He wants an easy win but can't get it and is stumped...despite having a chair with him. Chairshots aplenty and a spear end it for Braun, so Bray is protected in defeat and Roman beats Braun for the billionth time. 

NJPW Summer Struggle in Jingo 8-29-20

It's time for New Japan's first Jingo Stadium show since August of '99, and it's a doozy. Double singles gold is on the line in the main event as Naito aims to reclaim his title from EVIL, while Suzuki and Shingo go to war for the NEVER Title. It's the first live show with English commentary and Kanemaru facing MASTER WATO! A FAN HAS A MASTER WATO SIGN and God bless them for it.

They botch a few things and Wato slips up on a victory roll and eats a kick to cover it up. Dreamcast kick gets 2 for Wato. Alley oop-ish thing hits but Kanemaru cradles him to win. Yano, Desperado, Sanada, and Okada are in for the KOPW first win. SKULL END to Okada off a tombstone attempt and Desperado frog splashes the pile. Blue thunder gets 2 on Okada and the Money Clip is locked on Desperado, but YANO LOW BLOWS OKADA AND SCHOOLBOYS HIM TO WIN! YANO PINS OKADA! DARN BUFFERING prevents either announcer from seeing the low blow.  Kevin's crew lets him know a low blow was used!

Suzuki and Shingo are out and I love Chris saying that if 2020 ended now, and many hope it will, Shingo stands out nicely in 2020. Suzuki and Shingo stand tall in front of each other. BILLION FOREARMS and Chris talks about Minoru losing the NEVER Title at Wrestle Kingdom and shaving his own head - which was tremendous. Shingo puts him against the post and chops and punches him a ton. NOW THERE'S A SPOT GUYS NEED TO STEAL! 

DRAPING ARMBAR and MINORU STALKS HIM. BIG CHOPS! Big forearms by Suzuki and a PK hits for 1! PUMPING BOMBER HITS FOR 2! Kneeling elbows and headbutts. SLEEPER AND THE GOTCH LIFT! He looks to the heavens and wins with the Gotch-style piledriver! Shock of shocks, but Suzuki is an all-time great.

Ishimori is out to face Takahashi, with Taiji in a Muta/beekeeper getup. Hiromu is PEAK HIROMU here. Taiji works on the shoulder, but Hiromu tears it off to show how tough he is. FALCON ARROW BY HIROMU, BUT TAIJI LANDS A POISON RANA! TOSSING GERMAN BY HIROMU! Wheelbarrow toss by Taiji is met with a flatliner by Hiromu! Omaplata crossface by Taiji! TIME BOMB HITS FOR 2! Gargano escape is on and that ends it!

Tanahashi is out HOPPING AROUND IN JOY FOR THE FANS! Chris talks about how Ibushi has led Tana to his old form again. Taiji fills the stadium without moving his lips. Heels work over Tana, but Ibushi saves. Golden Blade hits Taichi! ONE FOR ZSJ! Ibushi floors Taichi and TANA HOPS UP TOP FOR THE Aces High version of the High Fly Flow. Flow misses and Black Mephisto hits to give the heels the win! I like this - they made the heels look like the better team.

Naito is out to face EVIL and we get big moves, interference on both sides with Sanada hitting a TKO on Togo and EVERYONE BEATS UP GEDO! SNAP DESTINO GETS 2! Full-on Destino ends it and Kevin's Destino call is mangled by the internet. THANK GOD THE REIGN OF EVIL IS OVER after like 2 months. That experiment just didn't work in this presentation. 

AEW Thursday Night Dynamite 8-27-20

 

 

Ross talks about the fans being back to some degree and being distanced in masks...so of course we get guys in goofy AEW body paint. Jericho's out in a leopard-print jacket with the fans singing "Judas". Gauntlet is up with the Natural Nightmares facing off with the Bucks. QT avoids a superkick and tags out with Dustin darting all around with Matt and exchanging armdrags. They've got their talking points on the fans being in the building. That'll get old about 20 minutes in. YOUNG BUCKS chant breaks out and then Dustin legdrops the arm of Matt. Nick lands a pop-up dropkick off his brother to Dustin.

Texas Destroyer by Dustin! QT Special misses, but a superkick party hits QT and Dustin on the apron. More Bang is avoided and QT cradles Matt for 2. BTE Trigger takes QT out! Chuckie T is out with a Bud Bundy goatee. Trent lands a giant spear on the floor to Nick! Busaiku knee hits for 2! Nick lands an apron superkick to Trent and then A GERMAN ON THE APRON! Corkscrew cutter out of the corner by Nick.  REVOLVING DOOR NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEXES! BUT TRENT GETS A TORNADO DDT!

Matt sunset flips out of strong zero, BUT IT ONLY GETS 2! Nick's tornado kick is ducked and a DRAPING 450 GETS 2 ON TRENT! Hangman holds Nick's leg and MATT GETS CRADLED TO LOSE! PIP ad break with FTR against the Best Friends. They bumrush them and Dax works the knee over for a bit. Dax's style is so great live - but on TV in PIP...nah fam. MJF FAXED SOMETHING IN 2020!? Dax lucks Chucky in a trailer hitch and taps him out.

Darby is shown climbing a bridge and being crazy BY JUMPING OFF IT. He's in the casino battle royal with Archer. Archer beats up a young boy before facing Sean Maluta. Maluta Wahoo chops him, but Archer chucks him down with one. So if Archer is the #2 contender, why is he in the battle royal to get a shot? Big chokeslam, but he pulls him up. Blackout and the EBD claw ends it. Jericho sings horribly "BLACKOUT!"

Jake cuts a promo on the Casino Battle Royal and how 21 men think they can win - but only one man will win AND IT BETTER LANCE ARCHER. THE ONE LOSS HE HAS HAS COST THEM TIME! Team Taz comes out and Jake calls them the Flintstones. DARBY SKATEBOARDS DOWN! Jake tells Lance to leave it alone before he gets just totally winded. MJF comes out with a burberry walker and we get a Vince-Paul London reference with him saying Lee is laughing. I would change the lineup for the battle royal and do Archer vs. Cage and Starks vs. Darby - that's far better than those four guys in the battle royal. We get a Thunder Rosa hype video showing her taking down Jordynne Grace. Corgan talks about AEW giving her a worldwide stage now.

MJF and his walker aren't helping the cheap clownshow aspect of things. TNA-level no buys build for MJF vs. Moxley. Crowd's going nuts for Mox and Jericho puts him over as THE CHAMPION. Mox's top spot in the PWI 500 is put over and they tell Jericho's he's #3. They go over the move itself being banned - not just the name, so no HE DOES THE DEATH RIDER and not the Paradigm Shift.  MJF buries Mox's hairline and Mox tells him he'll get ther when he hits puberty. 

MJF tells the fans to shut up because he'll take Mox apart with every part of the ring with the precision of a brain surgeon. He says he won't let it become a brawl because Mox idolized the Sandman, New Jack, Zandig, and Onita. HOT GARBAGE. MJF needed a money promo for all this and well, he's delivering one. MJF insults Mox's wife and he gets up and the lawyer threatens to sue, so Mox calls him a dickwad. Mox says he'll agree - and now he'll just be creative and find new ways to hurt MJF. Mox signs and on September 5, he's a dead man. Mox tells him he's glad they read page 17 and Mox mocks the lawyer. MOX FACES THE LAWYER AND THE LAWYER DOESN'T WRESTLE, MJF DOESN'T GET HIS SHOT!

 

PNP talks shit and the new 4-man unit led by Kingston are out to face Pillman, Janella, Sonny Kiss, and GRIFF GARRISON! Gutwrench/sliding dropkick from Butcher and Blade. Jericho talks about Griff being like Steve Simpson. Way to bury the poor guy! Penta kicks Joey's ass and then basement superkicks him. Package piledriver on the apron for Joey and AIR PILLMAN HITS THE BLADE! Ropewalk into the driver by Penta ends it. Kingston announces that his group will be in the battle royal - giving him a big advantage. Brodie's destruction of Cody is shown.

Ross talks about Brodie Lee being the AEW World Champion. Close. Jericho points out Brodie having more momentum than anyone else. The Dark Order brings out a casket and lawnmowers and slick cars. SIX LAWNMOWERS to be exact. 10 gets out of the casket and he has a temporary American Nightmare tattoo on and they toss away his jacket and say they have taken out the Prince to usher in the era of MR. BRODIE LEE! Tony interviews MR. BRODIE LEE mid-ring.

Brodie says that in December, these men were laughed at while he was at home in prison. Now, he's here and he's the TNT Champion - and he gave him back his belt just like he said he would. They start a CODY SUCKS chant. Brodie nixes the open challenge - no more indy guys get a shot on his watch and Cody will never get it back. So now Cody is fighting for indy guys. Okay, the "you de-serve it!" chant popped me. He brings out Anna Jay and Alan marks out and Brodie bitch slaps him and tells them to pick that little shit up.

Dustin runs out and gets beaten up to possibly set up Brodie vs. Dustin at the PPV. SKY'S OUT! Maybe its Sky and Dustin vs. Uno and Grayson at the PPV? NOW CARDONA'S OUT! So I guess we'll get a giant multi-man tag either on TV or the PPV. The Bucks confront Page about being insecure and they wanted him to be a friend and Nick proved him right by being a jobber tonight. Matt calls him a drunk and throws a shot at him and Matt says they were clinging to this, but Page now has what he wants. He's out of the Elite...after already being out for months? Okay then. 

Swole's out to face Britt, Reba, and Ford. Reba's got new gear that looks fantastic. Britt says that if Swole can beat her team, she'll let Swole face her in any match she wants. Swole eats a badly-done Finlay roll by Ford, and Britt pokes her face with the crutch. Reba goes up top and falls BEFORE A SUPER RANA gets a delayed reaction. REBA GETS THE SECOND ROPE MOONSAULT FOR 2. Crutch miscue leads to Ford being pinned and Swole moonwalks Ford out of the ring. PNP vs. the Best Friends and Jericho faces Janela.

The Dark Order is out to offer Tay Conti a Dark Order membership because Anna enjoyed working with her in the tourney. I love Ross saying they should go to a mall and Jericho asking if malls exist. Dark Order vs. Cody's team is made and Sammy's out to face Matt Hardy in a table match. Sammy tosses him into the barricade, which falls over a bit. SIDE EFFECT ON THE APRON! Sammy is sliced up and Matt misses a Cactus elbow and goes through a table. 

CHAIR TWISTO! He gets a table with DELETED on it that reminds me of when TNA did one for Lashley and spelled his name as LASHLY! He goes up, but Sammy superplexes him through the table onto a chair to win it. Jericho and Orange brawl!