NXT Takeover: WarGames & WWE Survivor Series 2017 Review

NXT Takeover: WarGames

Houston, TX
Toyota Center
11/18/17

At first this Takeover was supposed to just be named after the location where it was emanating from, but to everyone's surprise that would soon change as it was announced during the NXT tv taping that for the first time in 17 years (although WWE rounded that up to 20 years) we are getting the return of the WarGames match. I am so excited for this and I'm glad they finally brought the match into the WWE thanks to Mr Paul Levesque. I was a bit bummed that they changed the rules for the match (and decided not to have a roof on the cage) and made the match way more confusing than it needs to be, but at least we're finally getting the match. I really have liked the build up for the match with all three teams just causing chaos week after week and in kayfabe Regal having no other choice but to bring this match back in order to control them and let them finally settle their business with each other once and for all. These nine men should put on a great match with lots of crazy spots. 

With all the craziness and excitement over the WarGames match the NXT Champion Drew McIntyre has felt like a bit of an afterthought for me personally, but his opponent for this Takeover event Andrade Cien Almas has been pretty impressive lately with great matches against both Johnny Gargano and Roderick Strong. One thing that has really helped Almas the last couple of months is the addition of his new manager and mouthpiece Zelina Vega, I don't know how or why it took WWE so long to bring Thea Trinidad into WWE, but thank God they did because she is so good on the mic and has been such a benefit to help Almas get on track to where he needs to be. This feud has been ok, but it has centered more around Drew and Zelina rather than Drew and Andrade as she has done all the talking for Almas and all Drew has wanted was for Almas to challenge him face to face. This match will be good, but if I had to put the matches in order in terms of excitement going in this would be next to last. 

For the first time since April 1, 2016 we will have an NXT Women's Champion other than Asuka as the vacant championship is on the line in a fatal 4 way match as Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, Ember Moon, & Kairi Sane battle it out to become the new NXT Women's Champion. This has the potential to be a really great match as all four of these ladies can go in the ring. I want to like Ember Moon as she is really good in the ring and had a great match with Asuka at Takeover Brooklyn, but there is something about her that just isn't clicking with me and that keeps me from being completely on the Ember Moon bandwagon. Kairi Sane is really great in the ring and was so much fun to watch during the Mae Young Classic, I'm sure many NXT and WWE fans will compare her to Asuka, but really the only thing her and Asuka have in common is that they're Japanese. Kairi Sane's offense is more varied and she is more of an underdog rather than an unstoppable ass kicker like Asuka. I have been a huge fan of Nikki Cross ever since she debuted with SaNity as she plays her character so well both in and out of the ring, there is not one moment when she isn't in character. I would be so excited for her to get the win here as she absolutely deserves it. At first I wasn't the biggest fan of the Iconic Duo as I saw them as nothing but a rip off of The Beautiful People or LayCool, but I have to say over the last few months they have won me over and I would be absolutely fine with a Peyton win and have her hold the title until Jan or the Takeover on WrestleMania weekend. I'm really excited for this match and hope these four women steal the show.

If someone had told me that a match between Aleister Black and The Velveteen Dream would have such a  great buildup as this match has I would say they were crazier than Alicia Fox. This build up has been awesome and has made Velveteen Dream look like a serious threat rather than a comedy act who is just ripping of Prince. Velveteen is the first to make Aleister looks even the least bit vulnerable when he had him tied in the ropes and repeatedly slapped him across the face wanting Aleister to say his name. Unfortunately for Velveteen the mind games he has been playing most likely won't pay off as I see Aleister putting him away with a Black Mass. 

The last match on the card feels like it was just thrown on so we could have five matches as it will be the monster Lars Sullivan taking on Kassius Ohno. I see this match being somewhat quick as Lars will shake off some elbow shots from Ohno and then make quick work of him before putting him away with the Freak Accident. 

Overall this seems like the making of another great NXT Takeover card and I can't wait to see if it lives up to all of the other Takeovers and if it will make such an impression that Survivor Series will have a hard time following it on Sunday night.

Lars Sullivan def Kassius Ohno via Pinfall

This match was pretty much exactly what I said it would be as Ohno gave Sullivan all of his best strikes and Sullivan either shook them off or got right back up from them. Ohno did have a bit of a comeback when Sullivan missed a diving headbutt, but it wasn't enough to keep him down as Sullivan counters a discus elbow into the Freak Accident for the win. Rating: **1/4

Aleister Black def The Velveteen Dream via Pinfall

Before the bell even rings Velveteen Dream has created a memorable moment for this show as he took a page out of the legendary Rick Rude's book and had pictures of both himself and Aleister Black air brushed on his tights, but even this wasn't enough to make Aleister lose focus. Before the match starts the crowd is chanting for Velveteen and tells Aleister that they know his name and that Aleister will be saying his name.

This match was the perfect combination of a great athletic contest and sports entertainment at it's best. There were so many call backs to things that happened leading up to this match that unless you watch NXT tv weekly you can't really appreciate. There was a spot where Aleister faked a dive to the outside on Velveteen and instead hit a springboard back flip into a seated position. When Velveteen gets back in the ring he keeps trying to get Aleister's attention (he even does the Rick Rude hip swivel) and wants Aleister to look at him but no matter where he stands Aleister keeps looking the other way, that is until Velveteen sits cross legged right in front of Aleister which stuns Aleister for a second, but he isn't going to let Velveteen win this battle of the mind games so he decides to do the crawl (camera totally missed most of this) that Velveteen does to show that he can play mind games with the best of them. We then get a call back where Velveteen tied Aleister in the ropes and wanted him to say his name, but this time Aleister answers with a knee to the head. Velveteen pulls out this awesome looking complete shot DDT looking move that should definitely be his new finisher as this looked wicked good.

I liked the finish of the match where Velveteen goes up for the elbow, but he takes too long and as he jumps Aleister gets his boot up and this sends Velveteen into the ropes where this time he is the one tied up and eats a boot to the face, but is able to retaliate with a superkick which only causes Aleister to rebound with a jumping spinning knee and then once Velveteen gets to his feet after that Aleister hits him with Black Mass to get the win. I wasn't sure if this match could live up to the build it had, but it definitely did as this was an awesome match. After the match Aleister is sitting beside Velveteen who is still groggy and finally says his name which gets a small smile out of Velveteen. If there was still any question as to why Patrick Clark should've won Tough Enough this match put those questions to rest as this was a fantastic performance and I hope to see him on every Takeover show from now on. Rating: ****

Ember Moon def Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, & Kairi Sane via Pinfall (NXT Women's Championship - Fatal 4 Way Match)

I really like Nikki Cross's remixed SAnity music. I don't like Kairi Sane's new music as I feel the music she had during the Mae Young Classic suited her much better, but I think they want the crowd to start singing along with it like they do with Nakamura's theme and that's why they changed it. While I found the moment between Billie Kay and Peyton Royce at the top of the ramp touching it didn't make any sense, why would Billie not come to the ring with her and increase Peyton's chances of winning the match since it was no disqualification, did I miss a segment on NXT where Regal told them that Billie was banned from ringside?

As excited as I was for this match I have to say that both the outcome and the match itself were pretty disappointing. Don't get me wrong it was a good match, but there was nothing that made me really jump out of my seat in excitement. I really felt this was the match where you could use both rings to do some cool spots, but they didn't and that's a bit of a shame. I also feel the finish came a bit out of nowhere and the whole match needed a bit more time. Ember was the last person who I thought would or should win this as I feel her time had already passed and if she was going to win the title she should have won it from Asuka during their feud, this was a missed opportunity for a strong heel in Peyton to get the belt and have either Nikki or Kairi chase the title until either the Takeover at Rumble or the Takeover at WrestleMania. It really sucks that the two women who are so committed to their characters can't be awarded with a title win, but the woman who is presented as dark and mysterious yet comes out smiling and happy is made the champion. This was just all around disappointing for me.

I did enjoy at the end where Asuka was the one who presented Ember with the title instead of Regal and at least for that short little moment with them both in the ring I felt good inside about Ember winning, but that feeling didn't last long. Rating: ***

Andrade Cien Almas w/ Zelina Vega def Drew McIntyre (c) via Pinfall (NXT Championship)

I enjoyed this match a lot more than I thought I would going into it, both men put on a great performance and really got me invested. I was rooting for Drew going into the match as he is the baby face, but mid way through between the crowd's love for him (especially the si se puede chants) and everything that Zelina was doing at ringside I started rooting for Almas and was hoping he would pull out a win and to pretty much everyone's surprise he actually did. I can't sing the praises of Zelina Vega enough as she brought a lot to this match and without her this match probably wouldn't have been quite as fun to watch. I loved the spot where Zelina tries for the hurricanrana off the apron, but Drew catches her and just casually puts her back up on the apron. Drew hits a pop up Celtic Cross which I didn't even know was a possible thing to do. I liked when Drew had Almas up in the power bomb position on the outside and just the slightest distraction by Zelina allowed Almas to counter into a hurricanrana sending Drew into the ring post. I was on the edge of my seat for the near fall after Zelina hit the face plant rana and then Almas followed up with the hammerlock DDT as I actually thought he was going to win the match there. That final hammerlock DDT that Almas hit when Drew was draped over the rope was sick looking and it turns out that it caused Drew to tear his bicep which could possibly keep him out of action until WrestleMania time.

I was totally shocked that Almas won as I thought it was clear as day that Drew would retain. I remember seeing Almas at a house show against Nakamura last year and it was a great match and I said that Almas was going to be a star and then he debuts on tv and comes out looking like a male stripper and doesn't do anything special to make people care about him and I was thinking I was wrong about him, but now since he has aligned with Zelina I'm justified in calling him a star as he has been putting on great matches and has given people a reason to care about him. I'm interested to see where they go from here as I would imagine if the plan was to have Almas win all along then the January Takeover match would be a rematch between these two, but with Drew injured that takes that out of the equation. With a heel champion you could put him against Aleister Black or Roderick Strong, or you could turn him baby face and have him feud with Undisputed Era. Rating: ***1/2

The Undisputed Era def The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong & SAnity via Pinfall (WarGames Match)

I liked the choice of using air raid sirens as the cage lowers instead of the usual cage lowering music. I liked how Adam Cole didn't want to share the same ring with Eric Young when he entered the cage as he wanted all the attention on himself. It's stupid enough to have AOP come out with those dumb net things on their head, but to make Roddy have to fit in and do it as well was just terrible. WWE has to get a discount on both shark cages and tactical vests as both have been used a lot.

This will most likely be the most polarizing match of the weekend among wrestling fans as some will absolutely love it while others will hate that it wasn't more like the classic WarGames matches. I fall in the middle as there were aspects about the match that I enjoyed and some I didn't. I'm glad they made a rule at the last minute where if someone escaped the cage their team would forfeit as that made sure everyone stayed in the cage since it didn't have a roof on it.

I didn't really start getting into this match until AOP entered as that was when everything picked up and started to get fun. I'm surprised O'Reilly wasn't injured as Adam Cole landed right on his head when Akam tossed Cole from one ring into the other one. The spot where AOP had two guys in a tree of woe and then used the other two guys to ram into them was a cool spot. One thing that got lost because of all the chaos that happened after it was when Killian Dain swallowed the key to the cage door. I liked the twist on the Super Collider where they both had a guy up in each ring and as they hit the move they squash Dain who is standing in the middle of the two rings. I usually don't like the tower of doom spots these days as they have become such an overdone trope, but I like how they did two simultaneous ones in each ring and in the end Cole is the one who wasn't harmed in the move.

I think Cole climbed to the top off the cage a bit too soon as he was up there for a long time before the spot came where he was superplexed off the cage by Roddy. That German suplex through the tables by Wolfe looked awesome, but unfortunately it looks like Wolfe was busted open the hard way. We got to see just how athletic Dain is as he hits a coast to coast on O'Reilly and I hope that Shane doesn't do that move at Survivor Series as it would take away how cool it was to see a bigger guy like Dain do that move. The finish comes when Eric Young grabs a chair and looks to use it, but before he can get to his feet Cole hits a superkick into the chair and picks up the win for The Undisputed Era.

This match was a lot of fun and had a ton of cool spots. I won't say this is the greatest WarGames match ever nor will I say it's the worst, but it was definitely a 2017 WWE style WarGames match which is much different than the ones we are used to. One thing I liked about this match that always bugged me about the older WarGames was the fact that the match lasted quite a while after the last person entered the match instead of ending five minutes after the last person entered the match. Also the ending didn't feel like it came out of nowhere like I feel a lot of the ones back in the day did. Everyone in the match was able to shine and get their shit in. The only real negative I have on the match is maybe it lasted a bit too long and could've shaved off 5 or 6 minutes. Rating: ***3/4

Overall this was another great Takeover, but I won't say it was the best ever as there were some things that I didn't like mainly having to do with the women's match. Show Grade: B

WWE Survivor Series 2017

Houston, TX

Toyota Center
11/19/17

I don't think there has ever been a crazier and more predictable month heading into a PPV as there was so much stuff happening on the tv shows going into this that it would take forever to explain so since I'm sure WWE will explain it with video packages over and over again I'm not going to bother as the review for the actual show will be long enough.

Kick Off Match #1
Elias def Matt Hardy via Pinfall

If the eight matches scheduled for this six hour show wasn't enough it was announced a few hours before the show this match as well as another match that I will get to later were added to the Kick Off show. While Survivor Series is the only time of the year when Smackdown and Raw go head to head that doesn't pertain to the Kick Off show as all three of these matches were guys from the same brand fighting each other. I still think the better solution was to add another 10 man elimination tag match.  Before I get to reviewing this match I have to mention there was a segment on the Kick Off show where Alexa Bliss and Charlotte cut a promo back and forth on each other and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Charlotte was getting the best of Alexa in this as Alexa was speechless and had no comebacks for anything Charlotte was saying to her. 

This was a pretty basic match with the story being Elias working over the arm and shoulder of Hardy, this included hitting a double underhook shoulder breaker. Hardy makes a comeback hitting a side effect on the apron, but he is only working with one arm at this point. Hardy tries for the Twist of Fate, but grabs Elias with the injured arm and is unable to hit it which allows Elias to shove Hardy into the turnbuckle shoulder first and hit the Drift Away for the win. Nice opener, but nothing too special. Rating: *3/4

Kick Off Match #2
Enzo Amore (c) def Kalisto via Pinfall (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)

Poor Kalisto if the fact that the fans couldn't care less about him wasn't enough the poor guy botched his entrance as he didn't get enough height on his trampoline bounce and kind of drapes over the top rope and has to flip himself over into the ring lol. 

This was another match that was good, but nothing too spectacular and I found myself losing interest in it at times. Kalisto did hit a beautiful springboard code red which for me was the highlight of the match. There isn't anything else I really have to say about this match. Rating: **

Kick Off Match #3
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def Breezango via Pinfall
Before the match KO and Sami Zayn cut a promo on Breezango as well as venting their frustrations with Shane McMahon.

This was pretty much your typical tag match with KO and Zayn working over Breeze and taking control for most of the match. Breeze finally gets the hot tag to Fandango and he comes in a house of fire until he goes up top and is distracted by KO which causes him to miss the Last Dance diving leg drop and this allows KO to hit the pop up powerbomb for the win. Rating: **

Match #1
The Shield def The New Day via Pinfall

I liked the New Day's promo where they talk about how The Shield talk about brotherhood, but come WrestleMania season they would have no problem turning on each other where as The New Day are a true brotherhood who stick together no matter what.

As good as The Shield are I think The New Day are even better as they are able to make all of their matches different and in every one of their matches you see something new, for a team to still be able to do that after being together as long as they have (three years is eternity for a team in WWE) is quite the accomplishment. I liked how when Dean was getting worked over in the corner by New Day instead of waiting on Dean to get out of the corner The Shield drop off the apron and go over to New Day's corner and attack them so Dean can get a breather. There was a spot where Xavier was trying to superplex Dean off the top, but it gets blocked and Dean throws Xavier off the top and instead of going up and trying to hit it again Xavier instead tags in Big E to see if he can do a better job and just a little moment like this makes New Day great.

We get a cool triple team spot where Big E snake eyes Dean and at the same time Xavier and Kofi hit him with kicks to the head. We get a new twist to the spot where Xavier lifts Big E on his shoulders where before Xavier drops Big E on Dean we get Kofi coming off the top and leapfrogging over Big E and landing on Dean and then Big E splashes Dean from atop Xavier's shoulders. Big E then puts both Dean and Seth over his shoulder and we get a double Midnight Hour and I actually thought for a second that New Day would pick up a win, but it was broken up by Roman spearing Big E and they both land on top of the pin. There is a point where all six men get to their feet and we have a stare down and then we get a brawl between all six men. For the finish both Dean and Seth hit their finishers on Xavier and Big E on the outside and Roman spears Kofi. We then get a super triple powerbomb which I can't recall if we have ever seen that before as it was a great way to finish the match.

This was a really fun match especially thanks to New Day who as I said before are always innovating. The Shield were good as well but it feels like we see a lot of the same stuff from them in all of their matches, but with that said great job by all 6 men and this match lived up to what I thought it would be. Rating: ****1/4

Match #2

Team Raw (Alicia Fox, Asuka, Bayley, Nia Jax, & Sasha Banks)
def
Team Smackdown (Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya, & Tamina)
Soul Survivor: Asuka

Before this match we get a backstage segment with Stephanie giving the Raw Women's team a pep talk and on the scale of Stephanie cringe worthy promos this one was somewhat tolerable as she didn't really cut anyone's lady balls off during this. I didn't like that Nia was back to overdoing it with the makeup as I liked the more natural look she came out with a  few weeks ago. I don't know what kind of hat that Alicia Fox had on, but it rivals anything you would see at the Kentucky Derby. I also have to say that while I don't mind the brand warfare thing I wish they didn't think that we're so dumb that we can't remember what show people are on that they have to wear their brand shirt throughout the match. 

We start the match out with the two captains and Alicia telling Becky to play nice when Alicia is the one who is being the aggressor which is something only Fox could pull off. While these two are going at it I swear Natalya (oh yes by the way Natalya was the big mystery fifth member that they had to wait several days to tell us about) has a mic on her as you can hear her over the rest of the SD women in that nails on the chalk board cringe worthy voice of hers. 

Becky was the first to be eliminated within the first few minutes as she was rolled up by Bayley who had made a blind tag which Becky wasn't aware of, so the ultimate baby face for the Raw team earns an elimination by using somewhat heel tactics. Bayley is eliminated next as she fights out of the corner of SD she turns around into a superkick from Carmella and is then hit with a Superfly Splash from Tamina. That means within a few minutes of each other 2/3 of the Horsewomen in this match have been eliminated. 

We then get the highly anticipated battle of the Samoans as Tamina and Nia trade headbutts and then Nia rolls over Tamina with a cannonball. Tamina fails to pick Nia up for the Samoan drop, but Nia does pick up Tamina until Lana gets on the apron and distracts her so Nia knocks her off before turning around into a couple of superkicks from Tamina which sends Nia to the outside. Naomi dives on top of Nia and then Tamina comes out and hits another superkick followed by a Superfly Splash off the steps and Nia is counted out thus Tamina surprisingly wins the battle of the Samoans.

Foxy comes in and starts yelling at Nia only to get rolled up by Naomi which is only a near fall this time. Naomi hits an enziguri in the corner on Foxy who is in a split position on the top rope. Naomi goes for the split legged moonsault, but you can tell immediately that Foxy is moving which she does. There is a spot where Naomi is suppose to transition a roll up into her submission hold, but Foxy doesn't get her shoulders up so the ref counts like it was a shoot and eliminates Alicia by pinfall instead of the submission which it was suppose to be. The whole pairing here of Alicia and Naomi looked really bad. Before Naomi can even get to her feet Sasha jumps in and locks in the Bank Statement to eliminate Naomi by submission.

Asuka comes in and kicks the shit out of Carmella and hits with a hip attack which only gets two and then Carmella makes a comeback and gets Asuka in the corner firing away with punches and Corey Graves says that Carmella's Staten Island is showing as she has an attitude right now. Carmella celebrates early by moon walking and mocking Sasha. Carmella slaps Asuka a couple of times which is not smart at all and Asuka responds with a knee to the face and then a nasty sounding kick that obviously knocks Carmella out so Asuka can pin her and eliminate her.

At this point we are down to Asuka and Sasha for Raw and Natalya and Tamina for Smackdown. Asuka and Sasha hit a double suplex on Natalya, then Sasha and Natalya trade slaps. Natalya hits a nice looking discus clothesline. Sasha locks in the Bank Statement, but Tamina breaks it up. Natalya sends Sasha face first into the middle turnbuckle before locking in the Sharpshooter which Sasha taps out to and Asuka is now in a 2 on 1 situation. 

Natalya and Tamina double team Asuka and hit her with a double suplex, Tamina goes up top and misses a splash and this allows Asuka to lock in a running arm bar to submit Tamina. Natalya comes in and tries to lock in the Sharpshooter, but Asuka counters and turns it into a kneebar which Natalya is able to kick her way out of. Natalya misses a discus clothesline and get kicked in the face by Asuka who then locks in the Asuka lock to get the win for Team Raw. 

Wow this match was something else and I don't mean that in a good way as I found this match to be very sloppy at times. This could and should have been a lot better, but for some reason these women elimination matches never live up to the expectations that I have. The elimination order was a bit strange, but I guess made sense in the end as those were the two that would be ok by being beaten by Asuka at the end. This is probably the longest I've seen Tamina in a match in her entire career in WWE. If they plan on continuing the Charlotte vs Natalya feud I hope they play on the fact that the whole time Natalya didn't think Charlotte was good enough to be on Team Smackdown, but in the end Natalya lost the match for her team while Charlotte ended up getting Smackdown a win later in the night. Rating: **3/4

Match #3
Baron Corbin (WWE US Champion) vs The Miz (WWE IC Champion) via Pinfall

As The Miz makes his way to the ring we are surprised to see that Maryse is in attendance and it looks like she has had some of her beautiful blonde hair cut off.

The match prior to this didn't meet my expectations, but this match definitely exceeded them as I really enjoyed this match. These two worked a match where it was non stop movement the whole time and no stopping for rest holds, which is always a great thing in a company who love when their heels use rest holds. I wasn't sure I wanted to see this match going into it, but after I would absolutely be down for another match between these two. There is a point when Corbin is beating up Miz on the outside and he goes up to Maryse and starts trash talking and we then see pissed off Miz as he jumps on Corbin and starts punching away at him. 

The Miztourage played a great roll in this match as well with Axel distracting the referee so Bo can chop block Corbin as he is standing on the apron and for a brief moment for the first time in his career I didn't see Bo as this goofy comedy guy. Eventually Corbin gets sick of the Miztourage interfering and takes both of them out. There was a nice counter by Miz as he flips through the End of Days and hits a kick to the leg and then a basement DDT all in one flawless motion, it looked really good. The finish comes out of nowhere as Miz hits two corner dropkicks and goes for a third, but Corbin catches him in the End of Days for the win. It's always a great thing when you don't see the finish coming as it keeps things exciting.  After the match Corbin tells The Miz that his hand is going up and The Miz's mouth is going closed (it's supposed to be shut not closed, but good job anyway Corbin). I really enjoyed this match a lot. Rating: ***1/2

Match #4
The Usos (SD Tag Team Champions) def The Bar (Raw Tag Team Champions) via Pinfall

It looks like Sheamus has decided to frost the tips of his mohawk just because he wasn't crazy looking enough already.

If there is anyone who doesn't have The Usos as their tag team of the year they are out of their mind as they have been the MVPs of the WWE Tag Division this year and much like The New Day every single one of their matches are different which is why their feud against each other was so great. The Bar is probably the third best team this year behind The Usos and The New Day and I have to say that I have enjoyed Sheamus more as part of this tag team than I have anything else he's done in his entire career.

This match started out good, but it turns great mid way through as one of the Usos hits this back body drop on Cesaro and he has a bad landing in the corner to the point where I thought he may have a concussion as his head hits hard against the mat. The spot of the match is when Cesaro has Jey up in a powerbomb and is waiting for Sheamus to come off the top with a clothesline, but instead Jey fights back and grabs Sheamus from off the top rope while Cesaro still has him up and then he falls back into a Samoan drop. The Usos go to superkick Sheamus, but Cesaro just pushes him out of the way and takes the bullet for his team. They then hit Sheamus with several superkicks and he is down. Jey runs and flies over the top onto Cesaro and while in mid air he tags in Jimmy who comes off the top with a splash to get the win for The Usos. I absolutely loved this match and could watch Uso matches all day as they are so good at what they do and make wrestling so enjoyable. Rating: ****1/2

Match #5
Charlotte (SD Women's Champion) def Alexa Bliss (Raw Women's Champion) via Submission

We are one a roll here folks as this is the third great match in a row. I knew that a match between Charlotte and Alexa would've been better than a match between Natalya and Alexa, but even I didn't think it would be this good. These two put on one of the best women's matches this year. Everybody knows how good Charlotte is in the ring, but Alexa has improved so much in the last few months and her awesome character helps enhance any match she is in, in fact she much like Nikki Cross in that she is great at playing her character during matches with all the trash talk to both her opponent and to the referee as well as the great facial expressions. 

I will say that Alexa held her own in this match and it didn't feel like Charlotte was having to carry her through it. Alexa broke out a guillotine choke which was a nice addition to her arsenal that she should use more, especially against bigger opponents. I like that they let Alexa kick out of the Natural Selection as I thought Charlotte was going to win the match after hitting that. There was a cool spot where Alexa grabbed Charlotte and bent her back for her choke takedown thing she does, but she is talking so much trash that it allows Charlotte to grab her by the throat and stand back up straight and send her to the ropes where she can hit the spear. There was another cool spot where Charlotte goes to grab Alexa by the feet and slingshot her out of the corner, but Alexa lands on her feet and hits her awesome forearm and then is able to hit the DDT and this was when I thought Alexa would win, but Charlotte gets her feet on the ropes. The finish comes when Alexa goes for Twisted Bliss, but Charlotte gets her knees up and then hits Alexa with a big boot and locks in the Figure Eight and Alexa has to tap out. Great match and I would love to see this match again like at a WrestleMania. Rating: ****

Match #6
Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champion) def AJ Styles (WWE World Champion) via Pinfall

For the first portion of this match I was starting to get frustrated as I thought they were going to make this another match like the one against John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 where AJ wouldn't get in any offense, but once AJ finally started to come back it became an enjoyable match to watch. The one thing I did like during the Brock domination part was when he dragged AJ across the ring by his hair as it reminded me of some horror movie where the monster would kill someone and then drag them back to their home so they can cut them into little pieces. I love how AJ was fixing to dive onto Brock from the inside to the outside, but before he did it he dropped to one knee to sell the beating he had taken. 

The one thing I don't like about the current Brock Lesnar is no matter how good the match is and how many near falls his opponent gets you never believe the opponent is going to win because they have booked Brock so strong. I also don't like that Brock's control segments are so long as we got like 7 or 8 minute straight of AJ getting in zero offense and Brock destroying him, I prefer that matches are back and forth the entire time unless it's a squash match. Everything AJ did in this match was great, but I feel if Brock gave a bit more in his matches that this could've been even better. Rating: ****1/4

Match #7
Team Raw (Kurt Angle, Triple H, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, & Finn Balor)
def
Team Smackdown (Shane McMahon, John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, & Bobby Roode)

Soul Survivors: Triple H & Braun Strowman

First off Michael Cole STFU and quit calling him "Shin" it sounds stupid. Shane does the dumbest thing he can do to start the match and that's attack Braun from behind, but Braun taught him real quick as he throws Shane across the ring and Shane looks like he may have pissed himself. I really liked the exchange between Balor and Nakamura as well as the one between Triple H and Bobby Roode. I love that even though they had Nakamura be the first man eliminated they let him go on a tear hitting everyone with Kinshasas and even hitting some strikes that daze Strowman before he is eliminated by him. Roode is also quickly eliminated by Strowman right after.

We get some dissension on the red team as Joe and Strowman get in each others face and then Triple H and Angle shove each other and this allows team Smackdown to come in and all chaos has broken out. Cena and Orton are left in the ring with Strowman and the once bitter enemies team up on the monster, at first Strowman is able to fight them off  but they finally are able to knock him out of the ring. They try to suplex Strowman through the announce table, but they can't get him up so the other team Smackdown members help them and put Strowman through a table and I was sure this would lead to a count out elimination for Braun, but it wouldn't. Shane looks like he is going to dive on Strowman, but Joe cuts him off and suplexes Shane off the top and then tries to get him in the Coquina clutch, but Shane escapes and tags in Cena. Joe comes in and looks to take out Cena, but Balor tags himself in looking to hit the Coupe de Grace only for Joe to tag himself back in. Cena hits an AA on Joe and then one on Balor and then another one on Joe which eliminates Joe.

We get a rematch from Cena's first ever WWE match as he squares of with Kurt Angle. Cena looks to go for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Angle picks the ankle and puts Cena in the Angle lock only for him to get out of it and then is hit with an Angle Slam which Shane breaks up. Balor hits the Coupe de Grace on Cena and then Angle hits an Angle Slam to eliminate Cena. I'm not sure why they really needed Cena in this match as he didn't do that match and was somewhat of an afterthought by the end.

Balor comes in and knocks Shane off the apron and then hits him with a shotgun dropkick into the barricade, Balor hits a slingblade on Orton and then misses the Coupe de Grace and runs right into an RKO and Balor is eliminated.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn then come out and attack Shane, but both Shane and Orton fight them off. Strowman tags himself in and hits a powerslam on Orton and eliminates him.

Shane is the only man left on his team against Triple H, Kurt Angle, & Braun Strowman. Shane grabs a chair to try and even the odds, but the referee takes it away from him. Once Shane gets back in the ring Triple H tags himself in and Braun is not pleased at all, but before Triple H and Shane can make contact with each other Angle tags himself in and this leads to Angle and Triple H arguing with each other. Shane advantage of the argument and tries to roll up Angle, but he kicks out. Shane goes on the offense for a few minutes until he misses a clothesline and this allows Angle to hit the Angle Slam and then he locks on the Angle Lock, Shane fights as hard as he can to get to the ropes but Angle pulls him back into the middle of the ring. Triple H then gets in the ring and hits a Pedigree on Angle and lays Shane on top of him and Angle is eliminated.

Triple H acts like he has aligned with Shane as they stand next to each other and Braun looks on confused, out of nowhere Triple H hits the Pedigree on Shane to eliminate him and give Team Raw the win.

After the match Strowman is still confused as he stares at Triple H, but Triple H tries to play it off by raising Strowman's hand. Strowman grabs Triple H by the throat and backs him up into the corner and tells him not to ever cross him again or it will be the last game Triple H ever plays. Strowman goes to walk off and Triple H attacks him from behind and tries for a Pedigree, but Braun blocks that and hits Triple H with the power slam. Triple H looks like he is going to get up so Strowman hits him with another and Strowman stands tall to close the show.

This was a fun match, but I expected way more than what I got as I really enjoyed the booking of both the main event elimination tag matches from last year and in 2014, but this one just didn't do it for me. I'm not one to usually bash Triple H like most people do, but this match felt so much like the Triple H show as I'm sure he was in the ring for the most amount of time and then had the post match stuff with Braun which I didn't mind as it made Braun look strong. The finish where he Pedigrees Angle just to put Shane on top of him didn't really make sense especially if your going to end up beating Shane anyway, why not just let Angle make Shane tap and then attack Angle after the match it just made it feel like Triple H wanted the entire match to be about him. Rating: ***1/2 

Overall I really enjoyed this show and had four matches rated at four stars or above, pretty much all the right people won their matches. Show Grade: A

NXT Takeover: WarGames & WWE Survivor Series Match Rankings

15. Elias vs Matt Hardy
14. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Breezango
13. WWE Cruiserweight Championship
12. Lars Sullivan vs Kassius Ohno
11. Raw vs Smackdown Women's Elimination Tag Match
10. NXT Women's Championship
9. NXT Championship
8. Raw vs Smackdown Men's Elimination Tag Match
7. Baron Corbin vs The Miz
6. WarGames Match
5. The Velveteen Dream vs Aleister Black
4. Charlotte vs Alexa Bliss
3. Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles
2. The Shield vs The New Day
1. The Usos vs The Bar 

That's it for my final NXT and WWE PPV weekend I'll be back in a few weeks for the final PPV of the year which will be Smackdown's Clash of Champions. 

WWE TLC 2017 Review

WWE TLC 2017
Minneapolis, MN
Target Center
Brand: Raw

10/22/17

To say the build up to this PPV has been crazy would be an understatement as there hasn't been as much reshuffling of a WWE PPV card since Great American Bash 2006. While elevated liver enzymes caused the shakeup of that show it seems like either the mumps or viral meningitis was the cause of the craziness going into this show. It seems that Bo Dallas was the first to get it as he has been off tv for the past few weeks and just to be cautious WWE pulled both Bray Wyatt and Bray's current girlfriend JoJo from the road, but unfortunately it seems that Bray was also a victim of the same sickness that Bo has and will not make it to the show. In Bray's place WWE went and found what could be considered an upgrade as a replacement as it will now be AJ Styles facing off against Finn Balor at TLC. This is a first time match in WWE that sees two former leaders of the Bullet Club going against each other. It will be interesting to see if perhaps their fellow former Bullet Club members Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson have any involvement in this match. I'm not sure who I see winning this match now that AJ has replaced Bray, I could see them wanting to keep a Raw guy strong on a Raw only PPV, but at the same time AJ looks to be getting ready to start a feud with Jinder Mahal over the WWE Championship on Smackdown so it wouldn't make sense for him to get beat either. 

Leading up to this show we had the re-formation of The Shield and they were kicking every top Raw heel's ass. We were set to have a 4-on-3 handicap TLC match with the Shield going against The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, & Braun Strowman and then for some unknown reason and to the excitement of nobody Kane was added to the heel side to make it a 5-on-3. The match was really giving me vibes of the horrible Tower of Doom match back in WCW when Hogan and Savage went against every heel on the roster. Friday we were informed by WWE that Roman has come down with whatever sickness is going around WWE and won't be able to make TLC, WWE then had to find a replacement that would create the same amount of buzz around the match that Roman would, so instead of bringing over someone else from Smackdown or even calling someone up from NXT they decide that for the first time in over a decade the current Raw General Manager Kurt Angle will be making his WWE in ring return as the replacement third Shield member at TLC. I seriously have to question if we will in fact get Kurt Angle in the ring by the time this match happens as I could absolutely see WWE pulling a bait and switch and have Kurt get attacked in the back only for his "son" Jason Jordan to take his place. WWE have been very hesitant to clear Kurt to wrestle in the first place so I highly doubt they would want to risk a major injury by putting him in a TLC match. How and why can they clear Angle to wrestle, but not clear Daniel Bryan. I see the heels getting the win here setting up a match between Team Miz vs The Shield's team at Survivor Series.

Due to all of the upper mid card and main event guys being in the main event match the undercard for TLC will heavily feature both the cruiserweight and women's divisions. In the women's division we get Alexa Bliss defending her championship against the veteran Mickie James, I have actually enjoyed this feud (except for the segment where Mickie finds adult diapers and a walker in her dressing room) mainly because it has given Mickie something to do on the show and has allowed her to remind everyone that she can hang with the best when it comes to cutting promos as her comebacks to Alexa's insults have been pretty great. I know some people haven't liked this feud between Alexa and Mickie because they feel it's too much the same as the whole Piggy James thing that Mickie went through back before she left WWE in 2010, but I don't think this has been nowhere near as degrading as that. The whole Piggy James thing felt so mean spirited and Mickie never really got a chance to comeback at LayCool where as she has had both verbal and physical comebacks on Alexa after getting insulted by her. Perhaps it's because Alexa is better on the mic than either member of LayCool, but Alexa's insults about Mickie come off more comedic and more like Mickie is getting roasted rather than being bullied which was all that Piggy James was. In this feud Alexa does build up Mickie by saying that she is one of the greats that has had a great career, but it's just that her time is up and Mickie is coming from the fact that yeah she may be older than Alexa, but that means she's more experienced than Alexa. I predict Alexa comes out with the win that way Asuka is able to become the champion after beating a heel. 

This show will not only feature a potential return in Kurt Angle, but will also feature the Raw debut of Asuka as she will be going one on one with Emma. I'm so glad Emma has finally gotten time to shine on Raw for the last couple of months because she absolutely deserves it as she is the most underrated woman on the entire WWE roster, unfortunately I don't see her shining for too long in this match against Asuka nor should she as Asuka needs to come in and kick her head off immediately and get the win. The third women's match on the card takes place on the kick off show as Sasha Banks takes on Alicia Fox, neither of these ladies are doing much on Raw lately so there is no real interest in this match. I will pick Sasha over Alicia as she is the bigger name and her winning is a nice way to make the fans happy and excited to start the show. 

For the first time since the launch of the division last year the cruiserweights get two matches and a segment on a show which is probably being done so that WWE doesn't have anymore cruiserweights walking out of the company like Neville has recently and like Austin Aries did earlier this year. The cruiserweight championship is on the line as the newest member of the 205 Live roster Kalisto defends his championship against Enzo Amore. I thought at first that Kalisto would retain easily, but then I remembered they have started a feud with Enzo and Mustafa Ali, so I guess Enzo becomes champion again here so that Mustafa can eventually take it off of him in the future. The other cruiserweight match on the card is a tag match that sees Cedric Alexander teaming up with Rich Swann to take on Brian Kendrick and his new ally Jack Gallagher. I don't really care one way or the other about this match so I will just go with the babyface team.

Kick Off Match
Sasha Banks def Alicia Fox via Submission

This match was a lot more fun than I thought it would be for the sole reason that I can't help but smile and laugh when Alicia Fox is on my TV as she is so entertaining. If it were anyone else I would probably criticize them for all of the over the top acting, but Alicia does it in a way that keeps me compelled the entire time she is on screen. This was a really hard hitting match with Sasha taking a couple of nasty looking bumps from the inside to the outside of the ring. There was a point where Fox tried to pin Sasha outside of the ring and given that her character is bat shit crazy this actually works for her. Fox puts up a good effort as she hits two beautiful northern lights suplexes, but in the end Sasha locks in the Bank Statement and Fox has no choice but to tap out. This was one of the more exciting kick off matches and I wouldn't mind seeing these two go against each other again. Rating: **1/4

Match #1
Asuka def Emma via Submission

I have very mixed feelings on this match because on one hand I love that Emma got to shine more in this match than I thought she would as I'm a big Emma fan, but at the same time I hate that she got in so much offense as this match should have been a total showcase for Asuka to show the main roster crowd just how much of  bad ass she is and you can't do that with both participants sharing 50/50 control of the match. I have to say that every time Emma is in the ring she always has a way to make her moves look intense and vicious. I hope that since they did let Emma get in so much offense (instead of just getting squashed) this means they have plans to use her more and hopefully she gets in the title picture soon, I wouldn't be opposed to her being one of the survivors for the Raw women against the Smackdown women at Survivor Series. It's a bit of a shame that it took this long before Emma got her first singles match on a main roster PPV. This was a good hard hitting match that would have done a better job if Emma didn't get in quite as much offense. Rating: **1/2

Match #2
Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann def The Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher via Pinfall

This match was fun for the first few minutes with Cedric flying all over the place and then I kind of lost interest during the middle portion, but they brought me back with the finishing sequence. I liked how Swann broke the Captain's Hook that Kendrick had on Cedric by hitting a Phoenix Splash. I don't like that they changed Gallagher's music now that he is a heel, but him wrestling in a full suit is pretty impressive. This was an ok match, but nothing I will remember. Rating: **1/4

Match #3
Alexa Bliss (c) def Mickie James via Pinfall (Raw Women's Championship)

Earlier during the Kick Off show Mickie was in the social media lounge answering questions and I'm not sure exactly what it was about the way she answered the questions, but I found it a tad bit cringe worthy. One thing I didn't find cringe worthy however was Alexa's promo backstage before the match as she was great like she always is. If you know me you had to know how much I enjoyed her talking about how she doesn't know what a biscuit butt is, but she likes her butt and thinks it's cute. This got me wondering if Alexa has a biscuit butt then what would you call Mickie's butt because she has a nice one as well and furthermore given the red gear she was wearing tonight Emma's looked like a nice juicy tomato or apple, but I digress. I love how Mickie took blue jean pants and cut them off below the knee just so she can stitch on the flappy part at the bottom like the rest of her ring gear. 

I absolutely loved this match and it may be my favorite main roster women's match of the year and quite possibly my favorite match Alexa Bliss has had in her entire career. The fact that Mickie was the one that finally got the high quality match out of Alexa that I have been wanting to see makes me even happier that they brought her back into the WWE. I knew this match was going to be good, but it was even better than I expected. I loved the limb work that Alexa was doing on Mickie's arm and Mickie did a great job of selling it as I don't believe she used that arm at all in the later stages of the match. To add even more greatness into the match the hurt arm actually played into the finish of the match. I like how in all of Alexa's matches she finds a sneaky way to catch her opponent off guard for a second so she is able to quickly hit the DDT to finish them off. I loved the baby face fire that Mickie showed in this match, especially the rapid forearm shots to the face that she delivered to Alexa. I can't say enough great things about this match, bravo to both ladies for putting on a great match. Mickie cuts a promo after the match saying this isn't the last time they will see her competing for the Women's Championship. Rating: ***1/4

Match #4
Enzo Amore def Kalisto (c) via Pinfall (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)

According to Wikipedia this match was 8:45, but watching it felt a lot longer especially after the great women's match that I was still buzzing about. Tonight we learned that Enzo will find the time to run his mouth even when he almost has no voice at all. Enzo is doing a good job of embracing his role as a heel. I didn't think this match was anything special and it had a couple of botches which made the quality even worse. Enzo regains the Cruiserweight Championship after poking Kalisto in the eye and hitting the JawDonZo. Rating: **

Match #5
"The Demon" Finn Balor def AJ Styles via Pinfall

I first want to say that I hope Bray recovers soon from the viral infection that he has, with that being said I now have to say thank God we didn't have to sit through some stupid Sister Abigail vs The Demon bull shit and we got this fantastic match instead. The match started out a bit slow and I was wondering if it was gonna live up to everyone's expectations, then once they were finished with the initial feeling out process the pace picked up and we started to get the match that we always imagined we would get from these two. At the point in the match where Styles locked Balor in the Calf Crusher the match felt like it kicked into yet another gear and from that point on this match went from a good match to a great match. I don't think I've ever seen a spot like when they did the double down and then popped back up only to clothesline each other back down again. I also liked how both men were trying to hit the 1916 and kept reversing it until Balor was able to hit it. In the end Balor was able to pick up the win. In what should've been a really cool moment after the match Balor and AJ throw up the Bullet Club sign and Too Sweet each other, but it isn't that feel good moment like it should be as you know Vince only got them to do that to rub it in the faces of all the current Bullet Club members.  I couldn't ask for anything else from this match as it was a classic. Now that these two have had a match against each other I don't see any way that you don't have both of them on their brand's respective teams at Survivor Series, if it were me I would make them the captains. Rating: ****1/4

Match #6

Jason Jordan def Elias via Pinfall

This match came about when earlier in the night during the Kick Off show Jason was talking with his dad Kurt Angle about his big return match when Elias came in and asked Kurt if he could perform a song tonight and the whole time Jason is insulting him and was quite frankly being a complete jerk. Throughout the night during the show Elias was on stage trying to perform his song when Jason Jordan would come out and rudely interrupt him and for some odd reason started throwing vegetables at him. Jason was being a complete jerk to Elias the entire night so it was time for Jason to get what he had coming to him.  

Jordan looked really good in this match early on with some nice waist lock takedowns as well as catching Elias out of a leapfrog and powerslamming him down. Elias hits a nice flying knee to the back that Macho Man would be proud of. The finish comes when Jordan counters a suplex into a small package, but the count was screwed up as Elias had his shoulder off the mat, but the referee kept counting giving Jason the win. I think this was a shoot screw up by the referee because I don't see them needing to do a screwy finish like this just to have an excuse to continue this feud. This was a decent little match none the less. Rating; **1/2

Match #7
Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, & Kurt Angle def The Miz, The Bar, Braun Strowman, & Kane via Pinfall (5-on-3 Handicap TLC Match)

Was it just me or did everyone miss the news story that Vince Russo has been hired back in WWE, because this match was a Russo-rific overbooked dumpster fire. I will actually do play by play for this match to explain just how ridiculous this match was. It was suiting that a garbage truck was apart of this match as that was what most of this match was pure garbage. I have to mention that earlier in the night Ambrose and Rollins had given Angle one of the Sheild's vests and from there I was wondering if he would actually wear it in the match and if he would come out with The Shield or just come to the ring in a separate entrance. In my head him wearing the vest and coming out with The Shield seemed like a good idea, but in reality it wasn't as Angle doesn't make the Shield gear look cool and looking back I would've much preferred him coming out to his own music and wearing his singlet. 

The match started out OK with The Shield (for this review when I say Shield I'm including Angle) using chairs to try and even the playing field. Angle looked a bit out of place in the first few minutes of the match and didn't feel like the same Angle of old. I liked how The Shield quickly took The Miz & The Bar out of the equation early so they could put their full attention on trying to take out the two monsters even though them jumping off the ladder through the tables took them out of the match for a few minutes and allowed Kurt to get triple teamed. We do get a nice sequence with Angle hitting German suplexes on everyone that ran at him and at that point was when Kurt started feeling like the Kurt we all know and love. Angle has a mini WrestleMania 18 rematch with Kane until Braun comes in and takes Kurt to the outside where he would power slam him through a table. This would be enough to take Kurt out of the match for awhile. Jason Jordan sure is a crappy son to not even come out and check on his dad after he almost collapses in the aisle way. At this point the match has been OK and I haven't found anything to complain about, but just wait as we are in for a ride of twists and turns.

At this point we get a 5-on-2 beat down that feels like it lasts forever, during the beat down Kane accidentally hits Braun with a chair and that's the moment that would come back later on and send this match down the toilet. Kane and Braun start pushing each other until their teammates get in between them and all of this allows Ambrose and Rollins to try and make comeback, but it wouldn't last long as the team of 5 quickly gets back in control. A table is set up in the ring and The Bar try to hit a double high cross on Ambrose through it and it doesn't break, but have no fear as Braun picks Ambrose up and throws him through the table. Then if tables, ladders, chairs, and 5 men beating down 3 wasn't enough we then get The Miz calling for a garbage truck to enter the arena (TLC 2014 was tables, ladders, chairs, and stairs and now TLC 2017 is tables, ladders, chairs, and garbage trucks). 

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are then thrown into the garbage truck only to fight their way back out and dive off the truck onto all the heels except The Miz. Ambrose goes after Miz who is trying to crawl away and they set up a table looking to put Miz through it, but it's Kane to the rescue for a moment until Ambrose and Rollins get the better of him and try to suplex him through a table, but thankfully Kane is saved by Braun. Kane has a great way of thanking Braun for helping him out as he hits him from behind and then choke slams him through the stage and if that wasn't enough Kane stands there and looks to the sky for what feels like eternity and then he pulls the chain of chairs hanging at the entrance so that they all topple down on top of Braun (I was going to be so pissed if Braun didn't get back up from this). At this point we have spent like 6 or 7 minutes solely concentrated on Braun vs Kane and have completely forgotten about everyone else in the match. 

Ambrose and Rollins start beating up on Miz until Kane makes the save again and proceeds to choke slam both Rollins and Ambrose through a table. At this point The Bar are feeling like complete afterthoughts. Team Miz are once again trying to put Ambrose and Rollins in the garbage truck, but as they are doing this Braun makes his way back to his feet as Kane is totally confused (you can tell this by the way he cocks his head to the side like he is a puppy dog). Miz tries to plead with Braun to calm down, but Braun isn't having any of it as he is now attacking everyone on his team. Braun is now trying to put Kane in the garbage truck which is what should've happened, but instead all of Team Miz turn their attention completely away from their actual opponents and decide to beat the crap out of Braun and then they put him in the garbage truck and Miz tells the garbage truck driver to pull the lever so that Braun is closed up in the back of the truck leading us to believe Braun has been crushed to death. WTF why is Braun the one getting put in the trash truck, he should've destroyed Team Miz and put Kane in that truck and just walked off and that would've been what Ambrose and Rollins needed to get back into the match and make the numbers more even. Braun should be the one looking like a monster not the one looking like a chump getting put in a trash truck FFS. 

Team Miz roll Rollins back into the ring and proceed to triple team him until Ambrose is able to break up a pinfall attempt and then they triple team him for a few minutes. Just when it looks like Ambrose and Rollins have no chance, Angle's music hits and out he comes still in the tactical gear unfortunately as I was hoping he took that time backstage to change into his gear. Cesaro runs at Kurt and gets back dropped on the ramp for his troubles and then Sheamus gets hit with an Angle Slam on the ramp (I think that one was suppose to be through one of the tables at ringside, but Kurt wasn't far enough down the ramp for him to slam him through one). Cesaro runs at Kurt and this time he is able to hit an Angle Slam through a table. Kurt gets in the ring and tackles Miz only to be cut off by Kane who sets Angle up for a Tombstone, but Ambrose and Rollins are able to make the save and take Kane to the outside where they send him and themselves through the barricade. In the ring Miz sneaks up behind Kurt and hits the Skull Crushing Finale, but Kurt kicks out at 2. Miz goes for another Skull Crushing Finale, but Kurt rolls through and locks in the Angle lock. Miz is able to kick Kurt off which sends him tumbling outside. At this point Ambrose & Rollins have made it back to their feet and the Shield circle around the ring surrounding The Miz. Miz tries to get away, but is caught by Rollins who hits him with the ripcord knee and then Ambrose hits the Dirty Deeds followed by Angle hitting an Angle Slam. They finally decide to finish Miz off by picking him up and hitting the triple power bomb as Angle makes the cover to get the win for his team. 

I will say that I liked the beginning up until the accidental chair shot to Braun by Kane and then the end once they get past the whole garbage truck stuff, but there was a whole lot of shit in the middle that made this match way overbooked. Why did we need Kane turning on Braun other than needing a reason to have a feud between the two which nobody wants to see. I guess they turned Braun baby face by doing this, but I'm going to be so pissed if him and Roman become allies against Team Miz after this just because Braun is a good guy as that completely shits on the amazing year long feud they have had this year. First off Braun isn't going to work as a solid baby face as he is best served in the tweener role he is in. This match could and should have been 10-15 minutes shorter as it felt like there was a lot of wasted time where they just kind of stood around. While I did like the ending parts of the match for what they were I still feel like the heels should've have won as it was a f'n 5-on-3 match with the team of 5 having two giant monsters. I'm not sure where we go from here for The Shield as they have already overcome the heels, I guess they will team at Survivor Series as part of Team Raw. There was some good stuff in this match, but the bad stuff far outweighed it. I'm not sure the timetable on Roman's return, but if it were me I would have The Shield, Kurt Angle, & Braun Strowman (Braun would still have tension with Roman and would only be on the team so he can get his hands on Kane) take on The Miz, The Bar, Kane, & Samoa Joe at Survivor Series in a WarGames match, I mean why not use it since you already have it there from the night before for NXT.   Rating: **3/4

That's all for TLC overall we had one really great match, one really good match, and one overbooked dumpster fire of a match. Show Grade: C+

I'll be back in four weeks when I review the final two night NXT & WWE PPV combo weekend of the year as NXT will be featuring the WarGames match and WWE Survivor Series will have Raw and Smackdown going head to head for brand supremacy...as well as Brock Lesnar vs Jinder Mahal.

If you have any questions, comments, or criticisms you can check me out over on the twitter @MTW3589

TLC 2017 Match Ranking

8. WWE Cruiserweight Championship
7. Sasha Banks vs Alicia Fox 
6. Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann vs Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher 
5. Jason Jordan vs Elias 
4. Asuka vs Emma 
3. 5-on-3 Handicap TLC Match
2. Raw Women's Championship 
1. Finn Balor vs AJ Styles 

WWE No Mercy 2017 Review

No Mercy 2017

Los Angeles, CA

Staples Center

Brand: Raw

9/24/17

I never would have thought a few months ago that the Raw brand would be holding their own mini Wrestlemania in the month of September, but that is in fact what we're getting with this show or at least with the double main event. I have been enjoying Raw way more than Smackdown lately although that could be because I haven't been able to give Smackdown my full attention, but then I remember Jinder is the WWE champion & Natalya is the women's champion and I'm glad I haven't had to pay full attention to the blue brand. I'm really looking forward to this show, with two blockbuster main events and a solid undercard this could be the best brand specific show of the entire year.

I have enjoyed the war of words between John Cena and Roman Reigns, even though most of the things they have been saying about each other could very well be said about themselves. In this feud Cena has shown why he is one of the best to ever cut a promo as he has verbally tore Roman to shreds week after week. I had to lol at the line where Roman said that Cena has never had a great match for his entire career. I see Roman getting the win in this one as Cena really doesn't need it especially since he is leaving after this to go film another movie, the only way I do see Cena winning is if WWE know for sure that he will be back by Royal Rumble to do a rematch between the two of them. 

The feud over the WWE Universal Championship between Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman has been great, only for the fact that Braun Strowman is the greatest thing to ever happen to WWE in the last few years and in my eyes he can do no wrong. I unfortunately see Brock coming out of this still with the Universal Championship around his waist as Braun has dominated this feud getting the best of Brock every time they have been in segments together, but I will be happy if I'm wrong and they decide to put the title on Braun as he is the most over guy on Raw at this moment. If this isn't Braun's time to be the champ then I will say that sometime within the next year he will be the champion as it's pretty inevitable at this point. 

Once again we are getting a multi woman match for the Raw Women's Championship which is crazy as it seems like we can't get more than one month in a row without having a multi woman match on the PPV. This match was originally suppose to be a four way, but this past Monday we got the return of Bayley who would be added to the match. I feel that if Bayley had been healthy the entire time we would've never had Emma in this match which sucks because I'm tired of seeing the same four women face each other week after week. I was all for Emma getting a push into the title picture, but with the return of Bayley and the upcoming Raw debut of Asuka I feel she will get pushed right back down the card and most likely won't be seen as much on Raw. If WWE would realize that we can have more than one women's feud featured on a show then perhaps I could see better things happening for Emma in the future, I still would be down for an extended feud between Emma and Mickie James who is also hardly ever seen on Raw, it's amazing they have a talented vet like Mickie on the roster and they fail to utilize her like she deserves. I definitely see Alexa retaining here and setting it up for Asuka to beat her for the title and perhaps continue her undefeated streak she had in NXT on the red brand. 

I don't have much to say about the rest of the card as nothing too notable or exciting has happened with any of the other feuds. After the amazing promo The Miz cut on Enzo a few weeks ago I was hoping we would get Miz vs Enzo on the show, but instead we get Miz defending his Intercontinental Championship against Jason Jordan and Enzo challenging Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship. I predict that both of those championships will be retained at No Mercy. To round out the card we have Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defending their Raw Tag Team Championship against former champions Cesaro & Sheamus as well as Finn Balor facing off against Bray Wyatt in a "Man vs Man match" I predict Ambrose & Rollins will retain their titles and Balor will defeat Bray Wyatt. 

Kick Off Match
Elias def Apollo Crews w/ Titus O'Neil
This match was just average at best and I wish I could say that was only because it was a kick off match, but it's more due to it being an Elias match. I have yet to see anything special about Elias once the bell rings as he is just average at best in my opinion, my only interest in him comes from his pre match song. Apollo picked things up toward the end of this match, but it wasn't enough to make this match anything special. The finish comes when Apollo misses a top rope dive and is sent face first into the corner before he is hit with the Drift Away to give the Drifter the win. After the match Elias stomps on Apollo until Titus runs in to make the save. Rating: **

Match #1

The Miz (c) w/ The Miztourage def Jason Jordan (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
The story of this match was JJ trying to overcome the numbers disadvantage he was up against, every time he would get in control of the match Miz would roll to the outside where he could get help from the Miztourage. JJ did a good job of fighting off the Miztourage until the end where he was caught unexpectedly with a shot by Axel and then hit with the Skull Crushing Finale.  After the match JJ is interviewed by Renee Young where he says that The Miz sucks and he wants a rematch. This was an ok match, but not as good as I expected it to be as it felt like a match you could see on any episode of Raw. Rating: **1/4

Match #2

Finn Balor def Bray Wyatt
Finn decided to debut some new grey gear tonight including the jacket that was a couple of shades lighter than usual. I really thought we were getting a bait and switch with this match when Bray attacked Finn before the bell, but thankfully we didn't. Finn did a really good job selling the ribs throughout the match. I liked that Finn pulled a page out of the Finlay playbook using the ring skirt to his advantage before hitting a nice looking PK kick. One thing I didn't really like was Finn's over exaggerated facial expression when Bray popped up in his spider pose while Finn was climbing up to the top as I felt it was a bit too much. It was pretty cool how Finn hit the Coup De Grace to the back of the head of Bray as he was getting to his feet and that may have been a better way to end the match rather than just the normal Coup De Grace to a prone Bray. I liked how Bray hit the turnbuckles with force when he was hit with the running shotgun dropkicks.This match was way better than I expected it to be considering I couldn't care less about the feud. This match could be both men's best match they have had this year and one of my all time favorite Finn matches he has ever had as these two surprisingly work really well together. Rating: **3/4

Match #3
Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose (c) def Cesaro & Sheamus (Raw Tag Team Championship)

This was my match of the night as these four put on a great hard hitting match. The match starts out with The Bar working over Ambrose which includes Cesaro sending him into the steps with a big swing, this led to referee John Cone being oddly over aggressive toward Cesaro telling him to back off so he can check on Ambrose which is funny because Ambrose has been through way worse than being swung into the steps. I believe the Hardyz asked Ambrose to get revenge on Cesaro/Sheamus for knocking Jeff's teeth out earlier this year as Ambrose catapulted Cesaro into the ring post where he hit mouth first and started bleeding from the mouth as we would later see that Cesaro is missing some teeth. 

There was a cool spot where we got a call back to the match at SummerSlam as Sheamus/Cesaro have Ambrose in position for their assisted White Noise and this time instead of Rollins hitting a hurricanrana sending Cesaro crashing into Sheamus, we get Sheamus hitting White Noise on Ambrose and then Cesaro hits a powerbomb on Rollins off the middle rope where he would land on top of a laid out Ambrose, surprisingly this only got a 2 count. The finish comes when Sheamus goes for a Brogue Kick on Ambrose as Cesaro holds Rollins, but as Sheamus runs at him Ambrose fakes passing out so that he can roll up Sheamus when he bends down to pick him up, but Sheamus kicks out. Sheamus goes for another Brogue on Ambrose, but he ducks so Sheamus hits Cesaro instead. Rollins hits his ripcord knee and then Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds to retain their titles. 

This match was so freaking great and adds to the list of great tag title matches in WWE this year. I absolutely can't wait until The Revival is back for good and is apart of this great tag division as I can already imagine the great matches they could have with either of these teams. I have no complaints about this match as it was great from start to finish and I have to imagine we are getting a ladder match with these two teams at TLC. Rating: ***3/4

Match #4

Alexa Bliss (c) def Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, & Emma (Raw Women's Championship)

I thought Nia looked really good in this match as it took all four girls teaming up to take her down and even when they did that she didn't stay down for long. The powerbomb she took to the outside could have been much worse as she landed right on her neck. I liked that they didn't make Alexa look like the chicken shit scared heel in this match as she went right at Nia at times during this match instead of running away like she did during their match on Raw last week. I like how Nia used Alexa as a weapon to knock Sasha off the top rope before she hit a Samoan drop on both of them. I liked the callback they did with Bayley and Nia where Bayley gets Nia in the guillotine choke just like she did in their match way back in NXT and thankfully Cory Graves was on commentary to bring that up. We got a few minutes of Sasha vs Bayley as well as some more stiff shots between Alexa and Sasha. The finish was Nia coming in and running over everyone until she misses a charge into the corner and then Alexa shoves Bayley into Emma before hitting a DDT for the win. 

Multi person matches can either be really good or really bad and thankfully this was one falls in the really good column, in fact it was a bit surprising just how good this actually was. Most of the time in these matches there is one person who is left out and not involved in the match as much as they should be, but I can't say that for this match as it felt like all five women got equal time to shine and there were times in the match where you could buy any of the five coming out as the victor. This was a really fun match with some creative spots. It should be noted that during the kickoff show we found out that Asuka will be making her Raw debut at the next Raw PPV  TLC, so it looks like this may be the last big show where we see Alexa retaining her championship. Also during her Raw Talk segment Alexa did a lot of talking down to Mickie James, so I would expect that match to happen on Raw. Rating: ***

Match #5
Roman Reigns def John Cena
At the beginning of this match there was too much smiling for my liking and then on top of that we had Cena joking around acting like he was gonna walk out until Roman went after him showing that he wasn't in the mood for Cena's bull shit on this night and that part I did like. We then get the typical big time main event Cena match with both men hitting finishers and kicking out of them and then Roman kicks out of a super AA which leads to Cena clearing off the announce table and looking to AA Roman through it, but Roman counters and hits a nice spear off one announce table through another. We then get Roman kicking out of two more AAs and then hitting Cena with a Superman Punch and a Spear for the win.

I'm not sure what to think about this match as I feel like I should probably like it more than what I did, but it didn't give me the epic big fight feel that it needed to have. There wasn't anything that creative in the match that we haven't seen in all Cena matches, at this point Cena & Roman kicking out of multiple finishes isn't enough to really wow me,  It was a good match, but nowhere near what I felt it should have been. After the match Cena raises Roman's hand and whispers something to him. I will say Cena had a really good speech/promo on Raw Talk that for the first time felt real and genuine in my opinion so I recommend checking that out. Rating: ***1/2

Match #6
Enzo Amore def Neville (c) (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)

This was really great at the beginning as it consisted of Neville beating the crap out of Enzo for pretty much the entire time (except for when Neville got too cocky and decides to climb down from the top rope and hit a middle rope phoenix splash which Enzo moves out of the way of) and that is always a good thing. The finish was really bad as Enzo gets knocked out of the ring and sent over the barricade where he decides to grab the belt and bring it into the ring where he is chastised by the referee so he decides to give the belt to the referee and as the referee turns his back Enzo hits a low blow and rolls up Neville to become the new cruiserweight champion. 

Prior to this match the cruiserweight division was on life support, but I'm sad to report that after this match the cruiserweight division was pronounced dead as Enzo becoming champion caused the division to draw its very last breath. Seriously though I really hope that Neville or anyone else in the division wins the title on Raw or 205 Live this week as more than one night of Enzo as champ is too long. If I didn't hate Enzo enough after winning the title it got even worse when I watched Raw Talk where he was so damn annoying and rude as he constantly kept interrupting Renee and Jerry Lawler to make stupid jokes that only he found funny.  Rating: *1/4

Match #7
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman def Braun Strowman (WWE Universal Championship)

This match started out really good and exactly what I was expecting out of a Braun vs Brock match as they were hitting big moves on each other and Braun was throwing Brock around the ring like he was a sack of potatoes. After we get a few minutes of them hitting big moves on each other they start to slow down a bit and that's when the match starts becoming disappointing. The finish of the match sees Brock lock on the kimura to try and weaken the monster. Braun tries to make a few comebacks even hitting his powerslam, but is unable to make the cover due to the exhaustion and the arm being worked over. Brock is finally able to kick out of a powerslam and then hits the F5 out of nowhere after many failed attempts earlier in the match to retain the Universal Championship.

This match should have been structured just like the Brock vs Goldberg match from WrestleMania as the longer this match went on the more disappointing it got and then it ends very anticlimactically. If I had known this match was going to go the way it did then I would have much rather preferred Roman vs John Cena to end this show as it was a much better match. I have to wonder where Braun goes after this due to being pinned clean as a sheet for the first time, I hope this loss fuels him to become even more crazy and out of control in the next several months. Rating: **3/4

This show started out decent and then got really good mid way through, but unfortunately after the Cena vs Roman match the show took a nose dive with the cruiserweight match and the Universal Championship match. Show Rating: C-

No Mercy 2017 Match Rankings
8.  WWE Cruiserweight Championship
7. Elias vs Apollo Crews
6. WWE Intercontinental Championship
5. WWE Universal Championship
4. Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt
3. Raw Women's Championship
2. Roman Reigns vs John Cena
1. Raw Tag Team Championship

I hope you enjoy this review and will be back for my Hell in a Cell review in a couple of weeks. You can always feel free to comment on here or on my twitter @MTW3589.