NXT Takeover: WarGames II
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center
11/17/18
Match #1
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center
11/17/18
Match #1
Matt Riddle def Kassius Ohno via Pinfall
Before we even got to our first scheduled match Matt Riddle came out and challenged Kassius Ohno to a match right then and said that he would knock Ohno out in both rings bro, it wouldn't take long for Ohno to come out and accept the challenge. Riddle would drop Ohno with a knee and pin him in less than ten seconds. This match was originally going to be on the show and then it was decided that it would be taped for next week's tv only for them to finally decide to put it on this show. This did what it needed to do but I would hope that we get an actual match that lasts longer than ten seconds in the future between these two. Rating: *
Before we even got to our first scheduled match Matt Riddle came out and challenged Kassius Ohno to a match right then and said that he would knock Ohno out in both rings bro, it wouldn't take long for Ohno to come out and accept the challenge. Riddle would drop Ohno with a knee and pin him in less than ten seconds. This match was originally going to be on the show and then it was decided that it would be taped for next week's tv only for them to finally decide to put it on this show. This did what it needed to do but I would hope that we get an actual match that lasts longer than ten seconds in the future between these two. Rating: *
Match #2
Shayna Baszler (c) def Kairi Sane (NXT Women's Championship - 2/3 Falls Match)
Fall #1: Shayna Baszler def Kairi Sane via Submission
Fall #2: Kairi Sane def Shayna Baszler via Pinfall
Fall #3: Shayna Baszler def Kairi Sane via Pinfall
This match started out good with Kairi going right at Shayna but it wouldn't take long before the Horsewomen got involved and attacked Kairi leading to Shayna locking in the Kirifuda Clutch to win the first fall by submission. Shayna would control the second fall at first by locking in another Kirifuda Clutch but this time Kairi was able to get to the ropes. Kairi would counter a suplex attempt into a nice spike DDT on the apron and then would dive out onto all three Horsewomen before hitting the Insane Elbow on Shayna to win the second fall. Kairi starts the final fall by hitting three interceptors and then a spinning back fist to take down Shayna. Shayna would stop Kairi from hitting the elbow again by joining her up on the top rope but Kairi would counter into a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Kairi would hit the Alabama Slam and this would be what caused The Horsewomen to interfere again, but this time Dakota Kai runs out to help even the odds only for them to double team her on the outside, which leads to Io Shirai running out and hitting a moonsault off the top to the floor taking out The Horsewomen and Dakota. Kairi goes up and hits the Insane Elbow but Shayna seamlessly counters into a crucifix to win the final fall.
This match could have been really good but it felt like the match was the secondary focus and setting up the feud between The Horsewomen and Kairi's team was the main focus. I do think Kairi looked really good in the match as I liked the fire and aggressiveness she showed against Shayna by taking the fight right to her. The strike exchange during the third fall was really good. I was really surprised this match only went 11 minutes but with a 2 1/2 hour show time and with the main event that lasts almost an hour, I guess they had to make it short. If they had been given more time they could have spaced out the Horsewomen interference spots more and had more storytelling between Kairi and Shayna but I think they did the best they could with the little time they were given for a 2/3 falls match. Rating: ***1/4
Fall #2: Kairi Sane def Shayna Baszler via Pinfall
Fall #3: Shayna Baszler def Kairi Sane via Pinfall
This match started out good with Kairi going right at Shayna but it wouldn't take long before the Horsewomen got involved and attacked Kairi leading to Shayna locking in the Kirifuda Clutch to win the first fall by submission. Shayna would control the second fall at first by locking in another Kirifuda Clutch but this time Kairi was able to get to the ropes. Kairi would counter a suplex attempt into a nice spike DDT on the apron and then would dive out onto all three Horsewomen before hitting the Insane Elbow on Shayna to win the second fall. Kairi starts the final fall by hitting three interceptors and then a spinning back fist to take down Shayna. Shayna would stop Kairi from hitting the elbow again by joining her up on the top rope but Kairi would counter into a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Kairi would hit the Alabama Slam and this would be what caused The Horsewomen to interfere again, but this time Dakota Kai runs out to help even the odds only for them to double team her on the outside, which leads to Io Shirai running out and hitting a moonsault off the top to the floor taking out The Horsewomen and Dakota. Kairi goes up and hits the Insane Elbow but Shayna seamlessly counters into a crucifix to win the final fall.
This match could have been really good but it felt like the match was the secondary focus and setting up the feud between The Horsewomen and Kairi's team was the main focus. I do think Kairi looked really good in the match as I liked the fire and aggressiveness she showed against Shayna by taking the fight right to her. The strike exchange during the third fall was really good. I was really surprised this match only went 11 minutes but with a 2 1/2 hour show time and with the main event that lasts almost an hour, I guess they had to make it short. If they had been given more time they could have spaced out the Horsewomen interference spots more and had more storytelling between Kairi and Shayna but I think they did the best they could with the little time they were given for a 2/3 falls match. Rating: ***1/4
Match #3
Aleister Black def Johnny Gargano via Pinfall
Aleister Black def Johnny Gargano via Pinfall
I like Gargano's Punisher inspired gear. I really enjoyed this match as it was hard-hitting and nonstop action from bell to bell, there were so many strikes in this match that they could've set a world record and that knee that Black hit Gargano with as he was diving through the ropes was awesome. I'm still torn on whether it was the right move to turn Gargano heel as he was so damn good as a babyface that it feels too soon to turn him, especially now that one of the top babyfaces on the main roster has also turned heel, but I will say he did a good job in his match as the overconfident heel that thinks he has the babyface figured out only to get his comeuppance by the end of the match. Some will complain about the melodramatic spots in the match but I liked them, especially the spot where Gargano showed signs of that sympathetic babyface as he wanted to be finished off only to use that as a way to try and pick up a quick win as that was some really good heel work. I loved the finish with Black hitting two Black Masses to knock Gargano the fuck out. I was surprised to see Black get the win here as I was expecting this feud to continue, although I guess it still can as the babyface winning the first match didn't stop the Gargano vs Ciampa feud from continuing. I enjoyed everything about this match and thought it was a great showing by both men. Rating: ****1/2
Match #4
Tommaso Ciampa (c) def The Velveteen Dream via Pinfall (NXT Championship)
Velveteen is dressed as Hollywood Hogan for this Takeover which is his second time dressing up as the Hulkster on a Takeover which makes me wonder if he is a fan or is he just trying to make a statement and poke at Hogan by being an African American man dressed in Hogan cosplay, whatever the reason may be it is pretty damn cool. I didn't think about it going into this match but this is a match between two guys who love getting in their opponent's heads and they played into that in the beginning moments of the match with Ciampa getting the headband of Dream only for Velveteen to one-up him by grabbing the title. Dream was pulling out some Randy Savage moves like the running jump over the top rope while hanging your opponent's neck on the top rope as well as the axehandles off the top while dressed as Hogan.
Dream is finally able to hit his Hogan sequence of punches, big boot, and then hits three leg drops which was really cool. The suplex that sent them both crashing to the floor looked great. We actually got the referee catching Ciampa pulling the tights on a roll-up which was nice to see as the referee being that aware is a rare occurrence. The spot where Ciampa throws something at Mauro felt a bit too much but at the same time perfectly fit Ciampa's bastard heel character. I liked the finish with Velveteen missing the Rainmaker Elbow and landing on the exposed floor and then Ciampa taking advantage of having two rings (which is hardly ever done in the non-WarGames matches on the card) by hitting the draping DDT on the metal part in the middle for the win.
I wasn't sure how the styles of these two were going to work together and whether they could get a good match out of each other or not but I can happily say that they did and I enjoyed all of it. Velveteen is such a star and although we may have to very sadly face the fact that we will never get a black WWE champion (or at least not until Vince dies) if there should be a number one candidate for who that person should be it's absolutely Velveteen Dream (with Big E as a close runner-up) as he is so damn good at everything he does. Ciampa continues to be the out of his mind crazy bastard heel that we all love to hate who tries to give his opponents kayfabe concussions. I can't say anything bad about this match as it was great in every way. Rating: ****1/4
Tommaso Ciampa (c) def The Velveteen Dream via Pinfall (NXT Championship)
Velveteen is dressed as Hollywood Hogan for this Takeover which is his second time dressing up as the Hulkster on a Takeover which makes me wonder if he is a fan or is he just trying to make a statement and poke at Hogan by being an African American man dressed in Hogan cosplay, whatever the reason may be it is pretty damn cool. I didn't think about it going into this match but this is a match between two guys who love getting in their opponent's heads and they played into that in the beginning moments of the match with Ciampa getting the headband of Dream only for Velveteen to one-up him by grabbing the title. Dream was pulling out some Randy Savage moves like the running jump over the top rope while hanging your opponent's neck on the top rope as well as the axehandles off the top while dressed as Hogan.
Dream is finally able to hit his Hogan sequence of punches, big boot, and then hits three leg drops which was really cool. The suplex that sent them both crashing to the floor looked great. We actually got the referee catching Ciampa pulling the tights on a roll-up which was nice to see as the referee being that aware is a rare occurrence. The spot where Ciampa throws something at Mauro felt a bit too much but at the same time perfectly fit Ciampa's bastard heel character. I liked the finish with Velveteen missing the Rainmaker Elbow and landing on the exposed floor and then Ciampa taking advantage of having two rings (which is hardly ever done in the non-WarGames matches on the card) by hitting the draping DDT on the metal part in the middle for the win.
I wasn't sure how the styles of these two were going to work together and whether they could get a good match out of each other or not but I can happily say that they did and I enjoyed all of it. Velveteen is such a star and although we may have to very sadly face the fact that we will never get a black WWE champion (or at least not until Vince dies) if there should be a number one candidate for who that person should be it's absolutely Velveteen Dream (with Big E as a close runner-up) as he is so damn good at everything he does. Ciampa continues to be the out of his mind crazy bastard heel that we all love to hate who tries to give his opponents kayfabe concussions. I can't say anything bad about this match as it was great in every way. Rating: ****1/4
Match #5
Ricochet, Pete Dunne, & The War Raiders def The Undisputed Era via Pinfall (WarGames Match)
Get ready for a long one ladies and gentlemen. I still can't figure out why we need the shark cages to keep the non-participating members of the match in, either keep them in the back or have them at ringside like in the old WarGames these shark cages just come off as tacky. Not sure if would've started the match out with Ricochet as I feel Dunne would've been a better way to start and then have Ricochet as last so he can be the final babyface that's on fire flying around taking out everyone, perhaps even entering the cage via jumping off the top. I may have said this last year but I hate the fact that the announcers harp on the fact that WarGames doesn't really begin until all eight men are in the ring because if that's so then what did we sit and watch for the past twenty minutes, I would compare it to waiting to eat your popcorn after you've done watched 3/4 of a movie why would they say the match is just beginning when in fact it's actually closer to ending once everyone enters the ring. The first five minutes with Cole and Ricochet were good but then it felt like we were just having to wait until all eight men were in as nothing much really happened, I feel like three minutes was a minute too long between entrants and they would've been just as fine going with two minutes.
At least they did find a way to work in a spot with the shark cages so they weren't completely useless. Why does the Undisputed Era have their own branded chairs? I really wish they would introduce the weapons throughout the match instead of having to wait for the last guy to get them all as it completely halts the momentum of the final babyface entrant who is supposed to run in and be a house of fire, now he has to stop grab some weapons including tables which are awkward to get into the cage and then about five minutes later he can finally enter the cage. I did like Dunne stepping on the hand of Roddy when he tried to stop him from entering the cage. Dunne looked strong fighting off all the members of the UE by himself. I felt bad for O'Reilly trying to wrap the chain around Dunne's ankle as it was not wanting to cooperate.
They need to make a change to the escape rule as it should only be if you voluntarily leave then your team loses, but if you are pushed out by your opponents the match can continue as that would've been dumb for Ricochet's team to lose because he was pushed off. I have been getting a bit tired of the tower of doom spot as it's done so frequently these days in multi-person matches but this one was well done and Ray Rowe's selling of it was both awesome and hilarious as he laid on his side with his arm in the air for what seemed like forever before slowly going down on his stomach. The double moonsault off the top was crazy and if your not able to have blood in these matches like in the old days then you have to do stuff like this and bringing in weapons to make the match entertaining. I feel the stare off after that move was unnecessary that far into the match. I liked the finishing sequence between Dunne and Cole with Ricochet finishing things off with a 450 splash. It was a nice touch they had both Ricochet & Dunne pin Cole as it plays up they still have business with each other and that Cole should no longer be a contender for either of their titles. I liked this match a lot more on the second watch but still think it went too long and could've shaved off ten minutes and gave some of those minutes to the women's match earlier in the night. Overall there were some parts of the match I liked and some I didn't care for but I will say the positives outweighed the negatives and we still got a great match. Rating: ****1/4
At least they did find a way to work in a spot with the shark cages so they weren't completely useless. Why does the Undisputed Era have their own branded chairs? I really wish they would introduce the weapons throughout the match instead of having to wait for the last guy to get them all as it completely halts the momentum of the final babyface entrant who is supposed to run in and be a house of fire, now he has to stop grab some weapons including tables which are awkward to get into the cage and then about five minutes later he can finally enter the cage. I did like Dunne stepping on the hand of Roddy when he tried to stop him from entering the cage. Dunne looked strong fighting off all the members of the UE by himself. I felt bad for O'Reilly trying to wrap the chain around Dunne's ankle as it was not wanting to cooperate.
They need to make a change to the escape rule as it should only be if you voluntarily leave then your team loses, but if you are pushed out by your opponents the match can continue as that would've been dumb for Ricochet's team to lose because he was pushed off. I have been getting a bit tired of the tower of doom spot as it's done so frequently these days in multi-person matches but this one was well done and Ray Rowe's selling of it was both awesome and hilarious as he laid on his side with his arm in the air for what seemed like forever before slowly going down on his stomach. The double moonsault off the top was crazy and if your not able to have blood in these matches like in the old days then you have to do stuff like this and bringing in weapons to make the match entertaining. I feel the stare off after that move was unnecessary that far into the match. I liked the finishing sequence between Dunne and Cole with Ricochet finishing things off with a 450 splash. It was a nice touch they had both Ricochet & Dunne pin Cole as it plays up they still have business with each other and that Cole should no longer be a contender for either of their titles. I liked this match a lot more on the second watch but still think it went too long and could've shaved off ten minutes and gave some of those minutes to the women's match earlier in the night. Overall there were some parts of the match I liked and some I didn't care for but I will say the positives outweighed the negatives and we still got a great match. Rating: ****1/4
The streak continues for NXT as once again they put on a great show with three matches over four stars, I wish the women's match had been better but it told the story it needed to tell going forward to advance that feud and the addition of the Riddle vs Ohno squash at the beginning of the show was fun. Show Rating: A
WWE Survivor Series 2018
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center
11/18/18
Kick Off Match
Team SmackDown def Team Raw - Soul Survivors: The Usos
The Revival def The Colons via Pinfall
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def The B-Team via Pinfall
Bobby Roode & Chad Gable def SAnitY via Pinfall
New Day def The Ascension via Pinfall
Lucha House Party def Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via Pinfall
The Usos def Lucha House Party via Pinfall
New Day def Bobby Roode & Chad Gable via Pinfall
The Revival def New Day via Pinfall
The Usos def The Revival via Pinfall
We kick things off with the 10 team elimination tag match and this match got better the longer it went on and as more teams were eliminated as the first portion of the match was pretty sloppy. It looked like Kalisto may have tweaked his knee in the first few minutes and this led to Woods screaming at Epico to sweep the leg which was funny. Kalisto tries to continue on but a few minutes later he tweaks it again and this leads to him pulling out of the match and Gran Metalik taking his place, thank God Lucha House Party has three members or else the entire team would've been eliminated. The Colons are eliminated soon after this by The Revival with a Shatter Machine. The B-Team get eliminated soon after when Karl Anderson rolls him up. The next team to be eliminated is SAnitY by Bobby Roode after he and Gable hit their neckbreaker/moonsault combo finisher, poor SAnitY debuted on the main roster a few months ago and haven't been seen in a month and are then eliminated way earlier than they should've been and never got much time to shine in the match. Remember a month or so ago when Konnor looked to be getting a singles push...Pepperidge Farm remembers lol. The Ascension is eliminated by Big E when he hits a splash off of Woods' shoulders.
We are now down to Roode & Gable. Lucha House Party, & The Revival for Raw and New Day, Anderson & Gallows, & The Usos for SmackDown. Dorado tries to headscissor Anderson out of the ring and it looks terrible as he lands on his head and rolls out of the ring. Anderson & Gallows are eliminated after Metalik hits a springboard swanton onto Anderson. The Usos and Lucha House Party have some spots together and just as I was thinking these two would be a good matchup in an actual feud Jey hits a mistimed popup Samoan drop on Dorado to eliminate Lucha House Party. Once the match got down to the final two teams on each side the match really picked up. Gable hit an explorer on Big E followed by a Chaos Theory and neckbreaker combo. All hell has broken loose as people are diving to the outside and then Gable German suplexes Jimmy off the top rope onto everyone at ringside in a really cool spot. Gable & Roode are eliminated next when Roode gets hit with the Up Up Down Down by New Day. Xavier goes for his diving elbow off the top rope when he is hit in mid-air with the Shatter Machine and eliminated. The finish comes when The Usos hits a series of superkicks and then hits the splash on Dawson for the win.
This match started out shaky and a bit clunky but once the teams that were in the match as fodder were eliminated the match really started to pick up and I think had they made this six teams (Roode/Gable, Revival, & Lucha House Party vs New Day, Usos, & SAnitY) instead of ten and gave those six teams the same amount of time we could've got a really great match, but what we got was a bad match that somehow in the middle turned into a decent match and by the end was a really good match. Rating: **3/4
I can't believe they actually let the Cruiserweights on the main show but congratulations to them. I feel the biggest victim of WWE's over saturated weekly content is 205 as I know for myself by the time I watch three hours of Raw, two hours of SmackDown, an hour of NXT, and another two hours of NXT UK I have had my fill of current WWE product for the week and I just can't get around to watching 205 which is a shame as I know they have been putting on some great matches and have been busting their asses every week, so even though I don't get around to watching I want to give them props for their hard work.
This match was really good and I'm glad to see that they were given some time and they capitalized on every minute they were given. The fans weren't much into this match at first but as it went on they started coming around and oohed and aahed at the big spots. The two bumps Ali took where he was on the top rope and pushed off to the floor and then was tossed from inside the ring to the outside both looked really good. I thought for a second the cruiserweights were gonna get the announce table breaking spot but instead, Ali just hit Murphy with a Spanish Fly off of it. The knee strike Murphy caught Ali in mid-air with was great as well. I am happy to see Murphy's reign continue but I have to wonder when Ali's time will finally come, at the rate we're going before he gets the title he will end up turning heel as that seems to be the trend as of late with all the genuine babyfaces. This was a fun match and hopefully, the cruiserweights can get more title matches on the main card instead of being regulated to the kickoff show as they are definitely main card worthy. Rating: ***3/4
Drew McIntyre def Samoa Joe via Pinfall
Rey Mysterio def Finn Balor via Pinfall
Shane McMahon def Dolph Ziggler via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def Jeff Hardy via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def Rey Mysterio via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def The Miz via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def Shane McMahon via Pinfall
I like how as Braun was making his way to the ring Baron was applauding him as he was taking the role of captain seriously and was gonna put his beef with Braun aside for the time being and was applauding since he knew Braun being on their team gave them a massive advantage over SmackDown. Before the match we see the first of many conflicts within the Raw team as Strowman and McIntyre argue about who should start the match. Once Samoa Joe was eliminated in the first minute I had a feeling that SmackDown was doomed as he was their only hope of taking out Braun Strowman, just like in the women's match I hope Joe's booking in this match was a product of injury and not just because they see him as expendable, as he should've been a focal point of the match given the size of Raw's team.
There is more turmoil within the Raw team when Drew tags himself in as Braun had just entered the ring and this leads to the two getting into a brawl which takes Raw's focus off their opponents and SmackDown use that as their advantage as everyone is in the ring brawling. Team SmackDown team up on Strowman and Shane puts him through an announce table with the elbow drop. For a third time, McIntyre would cause disruption in his team as he refuses to tag in Balor so Balor tags himself in and kicks McIntyre in the head. We get a fun exchange between Balor and Mysterio before Balor is eliminated after Mysterio hits a 619 and a springboard splash. Mysterio has a nice counter to the delayed vertical suplex by Lashley as he kicks him in the head and drops him with a DDT. I was laughing my ass off when Miz told Shane to go up for the Coast to Coast right after he had just gotten back up on the apron from the elbow drop earlier in the match and then after it eliminates Ziggler, Miz tells him to go up yet again to hit Lashley with one, but Strowman clubs him out of mid-air.
Strowman tags in and it's pretty much a done deal as he eliminates Mysterio & Hardy back to back. Miz tries to kill Shane again as he pushes him in front of an oncoming train in the form of Braun Strowman. Strowman chases Miz down and gets him in the ring to eliminate him with a tilt-a-whirl Powerslam. It's down to Shane against Strowman, Lashley, & McIntyre but Strowman finishes him off quickly with a T-Rex dropkick and powerslam.
This match made SmackDown look like complete scrubs as they couldn't even beat a Raw team that was arguing the entire time. I didn't feel there was as much storytelling in this match as there was in the women's match and the action was good but nothing too spectacular. I'm glad that Braun got the most eliminations and that McIntyre was one of the survivors. I would prefer if Shane wasn't in the match but got entertainment out of Miz trying to take him out without being obvious that he was trying to take him out. I thought both Balor and Mysterio got some time to shine for their respective teams while Ziggler and Joe felt like complete afterthoughts. By the end of the night, SmackDown would only get the one win from the kickoff show which wasn't even recognized on the win counter and it's still obvious that Vince is buyest of Raw over SmackDown. Rating: ***
This show was a mixed bag, the last two matches and the cruiserweight match were really good, but the rest of the card could be skipped. If the fans didn't care about the brand warfare before this show they care even less now with SmackDown only winning the kickoff match and looking like complete chumps in the men's elimination tag match. The biggest highlight of the show that everyone was talking about was the Charlotte vs Ronda match as well as The Certified Idiot and Bonafide Jackass, Enzo Amore trying to crash the show before being escorted out by security Show Rating: C-
NXT WarGames II & WWE Survivor Series 2018 Match Rankings
13. Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno
12. AOP vs The Bar
11. 10 Team Elimination Tag Match
10. 10 Man Elimination Tag Match
9. NXT Women's Championship
8. 10 Woman Tag Match
7. Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura
6. WWE Cruiserweight Championship
5. Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan
4. WarGames Match
3. Tomasso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream
2. Aleister Black vs Johnny Gargano
1. Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair
Sorry it took so long to get this review out as I have had a busy week but I used every bit of my free time I had to finish this thing so I hope you all enjoy it.
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center
11/18/18
Team SmackDown def Team Raw - Soul Survivors: The Usos
The Revival def The Colons via Pinfall
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def The B-Team via Pinfall
Bobby Roode & Chad Gable def SAnitY via Pinfall
New Day def The Ascension via Pinfall
Lucha House Party def Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via Pinfall
The Usos def Lucha House Party via Pinfall
New Day def Bobby Roode & Chad Gable via Pinfall
The Revival def New Day via Pinfall
The Usos def The Revival via Pinfall
We kick things off with the 10 team elimination tag match and this match got better the longer it went on and as more teams were eliminated as the first portion of the match was pretty sloppy. It looked like Kalisto may have tweaked his knee in the first few minutes and this led to Woods screaming at Epico to sweep the leg which was funny. Kalisto tries to continue on but a few minutes later he tweaks it again and this leads to him pulling out of the match and Gran Metalik taking his place, thank God Lucha House Party has three members or else the entire team would've been eliminated. The Colons are eliminated soon after this by The Revival with a Shatter Machine. The B-Team get eliminated soon after when Karl Anderson rolls him up. The next team to be eliminated is SAnitY by Bobby Roode after he and Gable hit their neckbreaker/moonsault combo finisher, poor SAnitY debuted on the main roster a few months ago and haven't been seen in a month and are then eliminated way earlier than they should've been and never got much time to shine in the match. Remember a month or so ago when Konnor looked to be getting a singles push...Pepperidge Farm remembers lol. The Ascension is eliminated by Big E when he hits a splash off of Woods' shoulders.
We are now down to Roode & Gable. Lucha House Party, & The Revival for Raw and New Day, Anderson & Gallows, & The Usos for SmackDown. Dorado tries to headscissor Anderson out of the ring and it looks terrible as he lands on his head and rolls out of the ring. Anderson & Gallows are eliminated after Metalik hits a springboard swanton onto Anderson. The Usos and Lucha House Party have some spots together and just as I was thinking these two would be a good matchup in an actual feud Jey hits a mistimed popup Samoan drop on Dorado to eliminate Lucha House Party. Once the match got down to the final two teams on each side the match really picked up. Gable hit an explorer on Big E followed by a Chaos Theory and neckbreaker combo. All hell has broken loose as people are diving to the outside and then Gable German suplexes Jimmy off the top rope onto everyone at ringside in a really cool spot. Gable & Roode are eliminated next when Roode gets hit with the Up Up Down Down by New Day. Xavier goes for his diving elbow off the top rope when he is hit in mid-air with the Shatter Machine and eliminated. The finish comes when The Usos hits a series of superkicks and then hits the splash on Dawson for the win.
This match started out shaky and a bit clunky but once the teams that were in the match as fodder were eliminated the match really started to pick up and I think had they made this six teams (Roode/Gable, Revival, & Lucha House Party vs New Day, Usos, & SAnitY) instead of ten and gave those six teams the same amount of time we could've got a really great match, but what we got was a bad match that somehow in the middle turned into a decent match and by the end was a really good match. Rating: **3/4
Match #1
Team Raw def Team Smackdown - Soul Survivor: Nia Jax
Tamina def Naomi via Pinfall
Carmella def Tamina via Pinfall
Mandy Rose def Mickie James via Pinfall
Bayley def Carmella via Pinfall
Sasha Banks def Mandy Rose via Pinfall
Bayley & Sonya Devilla eliminated via Double Countout
Asuka def Sasha Banks via Submission
Nia Jax def Asuka via Pinfall
There was a lot of stuff that happened on the kickoff show that shaped how the teams that were in the match came to be. Smackdown named Naomi as the official captain of the team and as the captain she brought in "God's Greatest Creation" Mandy Rose to be the fifth member of the team, meanwhile the Raw team was having to deal with turmoil within the team as Ruby Riott and Natalya got in a brawl that had to be broken up by the other weapon and as a result captain Alexa (who looked like a lion tamer at the circus with the coat she was wearing) threw them off the team and because she had no other choice she had to pick Bayley & Sasha as their replacements and they agreed but promised to get back at everyone who did them wrong on Raw the previous week.
Well so much for Naomi being a team captain as she was eliminated a little more than a minute into the match by Tamina of all people, I really hope this isn't a sign of how Naomi is going to be booked in the near future because that is going to suck as she is so talented, she didn't deserve to be eliminated that quickly. Thankfully the actual worst woman in the match was gone soon after as Tamina was pinned by Carmella with a schoolgirl roll-up and that led to Carmella taking a Dance Break!!! I have to say that over the past couple of months Carmella has become my SmackDown guilty pleasure as she always makes me smile and her pairing with R-Truth genuinely makes me laugh and I still say she has improved a lot and isn't as bad in the ring as most claim she is.
Nia enters the ring and suddenly the arena gets a lot warmer due to the massive amount of heat radiating off Nia as she was booed out of the building. They must have some big plans in the near future for Mandy Rose as they let her takedown Nia which come a few months ago would've never happened, but between this match and the battle royal at Evolution, she has gotten a lot of shine. There was a bit of tension between Bayley & Mickie when Bayley tags herself in only for Mickie to return the favor a few minutes later which ends up leading to her elimination as she is out after a knee strike by Sonya Deville, but Sonya wasn't aware Mandy had tagged back in and Mandy shoves Sonya off the cover so she could get the glory of pinning Mickie. Bayley then eliminates Carmella pretty soon with a Bayley to Belly. Sasha finally eliminates Mandy by locking her in the Bank Statement and after a great performance, Mandy has to tap out.
SmackDown is now down to Asuka & Sonya which would be a pretty badass team. Bayley and Sonya battle out to the floor which leads to them both being counted out and Sonya also got a nice shine in this match. With Mandy & Sonya getting to shine both here and at Evolution it must mean they have something planned for them in the near future, but I have to wonder about the other duo that is new to SmackDown which is the IIconics, they were the only women on SmackDown that weren't featured anywhere on this show and hope they aren't left in the dust as they are talented as well and their act is fairly over with the fans. With the elimination of Bayley & Sonya, we are down to Asuka for SmackDown and the team of Sasha & Nia for Raw.
The highlight of the entire match would come next as we got to see Asuka & Sasha got at it for a few minutes and by the time they were done I was begging for more and if there was some way to get there I would love to see that match happen at WrestleMania whether it's for the SmackDown Women's Championship or not. Nia decides to turn on Sasha by pushing her off the top right into an Asuka Lock for a submission to eliminate Sasha. Before Asuka could get to her feet from having the Asuka Lock locked in she was crushed with three leg drops from Nia and pinned for a three count to give Raw the win and declare Nia the sole survivor and thus turning up the heat on her even more.
I enjoyed this match and thought with the exception of having Naomi being eliminated criminally early that this match was booked perfectly and gave everyone time to shine and didn't leave anyone out and the ones that needed more shine got it. Having Nia win probably wasn't the popular choice given what happened with Becky and the popularity of Asuka, but if you want to maintain the heat on Nia for the eventual showdown with Becky then this was the absolute right choice. Rating: ***1/4
Team Raw def Team Smackdown - Soul Survivor: Nia Jax
Tamina def Naomi via Pinfall
Carmella def Tamina via Pinfall
Mandy Rose def Mickie James via Pinfall
Bayley def Carmella via Pinfall
Sasha Banks def Mandy Rose via Pinfall
Bayley & Sonya Devilla eliminated via Double Countout
Asuka def Sasha Banks via Submission
Nia Jax def Asuka via Pinfall
There was a lot of stuff that happened on the kickoff show that shaped how the teams that were in the match came to be. Smackdown named Naomi as the official captain of the team and as the captain she brought in "God's Greatest Creation" Mandy Rose to be the fifth member of the team, meanwhile the Raw team was having to deal with turmoil within the team as Ruby Riott and Natalya got in a brawl that had to be broken up by the other weapon and as a result captain Alexa (who looked like a lion tamer at the circus with the coat she was wearing) threw them off the team and because she had no other choice she had to pick Bayley & Sasha as their replacements and they agreed but promised to get back at everyone who did them wrong on Raw the previous week.
Well so much for Naomi being a team captain as she was eliminated a little more than a minute into the match by Tamina of all people, I really hope this isn't a sign of how Naomi is going to be booked in the near future because that is going to suck as she is so talented, she didn't deserve to be eliminated that quickly. Thankfully the actual worst woman in the match was gone soon after as Tamina was pinned by Carmella with a schoolgirl roll-up and that led to Carmella taking a Dance Break!!! I have to say that over the past couple of months Carmella has become my SmackDown guilty pleasure as she always makes me smile and her pairing with R-Truth genuinely makes me laugh and I still say she has improved a lot and isn't as bad in the ring as most claim she is.
Nia enters the ring and suddenly the arena gets a lot warmer due to the massive amount of heat radiating off Nia as she was booed out of the building. They must have some big plans in the near future for Mandy Rose as they let her takedown Nia which come a few months ago would've never happened, but between this match and the battle royal at Evolution, she has gotten a lot of shine. There was a bit of tension between Bayley & Mickie when Bayley tags herself in only for Mickie to return the favor a few minutes later which ends up leading to her elimination as she is out after a knee strike by Sonya Deville, but Sonya wasn't aware Mandy had tagged back in and Mandy shoves Sonya off the cover so she could get the glory of pinning Mickie. Bayley then eliminates Carmella pretty soon with a Bayley to Belly. Sasha finally eliminates Mandy by locking her in the Bank Statement and after a great performance, Mandy has to tap out.
SmackDown is now down to Asuka & Sonya which would be a pretty badass team. Bayley and Sonya battle out to the floor which leads to them both being counted out and Sonya also got a nice shine in this match. With Mandy & Sonya getting to shine both here and at Evolution it must mean they have something planned for them in the near future, but I have to wonder about the other duo that is new to SmackDown which is the IIconics, they were the only women on SmackDown that weren't featured anywhere on this show and hope they aren't left in the dust as they are talented as well and their act is fairly over with the fans. With the elimination of Bayley & Sonya, we are down to Asuka for SmackDown and the team of Sasha & Nia for Raw.
The highlight of the entire match would come next as we got to see Asuka & Sasha got at it for a few minutes and by the time they were done I was begging for more and if there was some way to get there I would love to see that match happen at WrestleMania whether it's for the SmackDown Women's Championship or not. Nia decides to turn on Sasha by pushing her off the top right into an Asuka Lock for a submission to eliminate Sasha. Before Asuka could get to her feet from having the Asuka Lock locked in she was crushed with three leg drops from Nia and pinned for a three count to give Raw the win and declare Nia the sole survivor and thus turning up the heat on her even more.
I enjoyed this match and thought with the exception of having Naomi being eliminated criminally early that this match was booked perfectly and gave everyone time to shine and didn't leave anyone out and the ones that needed more shine got it. Having Nia win probably wasn't the popular choice given what happened with Becky and the popularity of Asuka, but if you want to maintain the heat on Nia for the eventual showdown with Becky then this was the absolute right choice. Rating: ***1/4
Match #2
Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Champion) def Shinsuke Nakamura (US Champion) via Pinfall
This match gets the award for the worst dressed award as both men were wearing clothes that would make Breezango vomit, Rollins decided to bring the half and half shirt from last year with Raw on one side and his own shirt on the other, while Nakamura had this blue gear on that looked like either pajamas or nurse scrubs definitely some serious fashion faux pas going on with both men.
I'm honestly not sure what to say about this match because it was really good but at the same time nothing stood out about the match that really grabbed my attention, someone who was in the Place to Be Nation chat summed this match up perfectly it was better than the average Nakamura match but worse than an average Seth Rollins match. I liked the match but at the same time wasn't blown away, I know that's a weird review but it's all I can say about the match. Rating: ***1/2
This match gets the award for the worst dressed award as both men were wearing clothes that would make Breezango vomit, Rollins decided to bring the half and half shirt from last year with Raw on one side and his own shirt on the other, while Nakamura had this blue gear on that looked like either pajamas or nurse scrubs definitely some serious fashion faux pas going on with both men.
I'm honestly not sure what to say about this match because it was really good but at the same time nothing stood out about the match that really grabbed my attention, someone who was in the Place to Be Nation chat summed this match up perfectly it was better than the average Nakamura match but worse than an average Seth Rollins match. I liked the match but at the same time wasn't blown away, I know that's a weird review but it's all I can say about the match. Rating: ***1/2
Match #3
AOP (Raw Tag Team Champions) def The Bar (SD Tag Team Champions) via Pinfall
This match was pretty much what you would expect from these two teams which is a lot of brawling and power moves. Both teams have had way better matches as this was as simple and as cookie cutter, as you can get. What makes this match even worse is that nobody will remember anything about it except for the finish where Drake Maverick pisses himself after being caught by The Big Show and that would cause enough distraction to allow AOP to pick up the win. Poor Spud had to do some crazy stuff in TNA but at least they never stooped as low as making him piss himself, this finish has Vince McMahon's name written all over it as he thinks it's hysterical when someone shits or pisses themselves and to make it even better it's a person of small stature doing it. How is anyone on 205 Live supposed to take Drake seriously now as their General Manager after he was made to look like a complete idiot?
This was a below average and heatless match with a shitty finish that did nothing to help either team especially AOP. Rating: **
Match #4Buddy Murphy (c) def Mustafa Ali (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)AOP (Raw Tag Team Champions) def The Bar (SD Tag Team Champions) via Pinfall
This match was pretty much what you would expect from these two teams which is a lot of brawling and power moves. Both teams have had way better matches as this was as simple and as cookie cutter, as you can get. What makes this match even worse is that nobody will remember anything about it except for the finish where Drake Maverick pisses himself after being caught by The Big Show and that would cause enough distraction to allow AOP to pick up the win. Poor Spud had to do some crazy stuff in TNA but at least they never stooped as low as making him piss himself, this finish has Vince McMahon's name written all over it as he thinks it's hysterical when someone shits or pisses themselves and to make it even better it's a person of small stature doing it. How is anyone on 205 Live supposed to take Drake seriously now as their General Manager after he was made to look like a complete idiot?
This was a below average and heatless match with a shitty finish that did nothing to help either team especially AOP. Rating: **
I can't believe they actually let the Cruiserweights on the main show but congratulations to them. I feel the biggest victim of WWE's over saturated weekly content is 205 as I know for myself by the time I watch three hours of Raw, two hours of SmackDown, an hour of NXT, and another two hours of NXT UK I have had my fill of current WWE product for the week and I just can't get around to watching 205 which is a shame as I know they have been putting on some great matches and have been busting their asses every week, so even though I don't get around to watching I want to give them props for their hard work.
This match was really good and I'm glad to see that they were given some time and they capitalized on every minute they were given. The fans weren't much into this match at first but as it went on they started coming around and oohed and aahed at the big spots. The two bumps Ali took where he was on the top rope and pushed off to the floor and then was tossed from inside the ring to the outside both looked really good. I thought for a second the cruiserweights were gonna get the announce table breaking spot but instead, Ali just hit Murphy with a Spanish Fly off of it. The knee strike Murphy caught Ali in mid-air with was great as well. I am happy to see Murphy's reign continue but I have to wonder when Ali's time will finally come, at the rate we're going before he gets the title he will end up turning heel as that seems to be the trend as of late with all the genuine babyfaces. This was a fun match and hopefully, the cruiserweights can get more title matches on the main card instead of being regulated to the kickoff show as they are definitely main card worthy. Rating: ***3/4
Match #5
Team Raw def Team SmackDown - Soul Survivors: Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, & Drew McIntyreDrew McIntyre def Samoa Joe via Pinfall
Rey Mysterio def Finn Balor via Pinfall
Shane McMahon def Dolph Ziggler via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def Jeff Hardy via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def Rey Mysterio via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def The Miz via Pinfall
Braun Strowman def Shane McMahon via Pinfall
I like how as Braun was making his way to the ring Baron was applauding him as he was taking the role of captain seriously and was gonna put his beef with Braun aside for the time being and was applauding since he knew Braun being on their team gave them a massive advantage over SmackDown. Before the match we see the first of many conflicts within the Raw team as Strowman and McIntyre argue about who should start the match. Once Samoa Joe was eliminated in the first minute I had a feeling that SmackDown was doomed as he was their only hope of taking out Braun Strowman, just like in the women's match I hope Joe's booking in this match was a product of injury and not just because they see him as expendable, as he should've been a focal point of the match given the size of Raw's team.
There is more turmoil within the Raw team when Drew tags himself in as Braun had just entered the ring and this leads to the two getting into a brawl which takes Raw's focus off their opponents and SmackDown use that as their advantage as everyone is in the ring brawling. Team SmackDown team up on Strowman and Shane puts him through an announce table with the elbow drop. For a third time, McIntyre would cause disruption in his team as he refuses to tag in Balor so Balor tags himself in and kicks McIntyre in the head. We get a fun exchange between Balor and Mysterio before Balor is eliminated after Mysterio hits a 619 and a springboard splash. Mysterio has a nice counter to the delayed vertical suplex by Lashley as he kicks him in the head and drops him with a DDT. I was laughing my ass off when Miz told Shane to go up for the Coast to Coast right after he had just gotten back up on the apron from the elbow drop earlier in the match and then after it eliminates Ziggler, Miz tells him to go up yet again to hit Lashley with one, but Strowman clubs him out of mid-air.
Strowman tags in and it's pretty much a done deal as he eliminates Mysterio & Hardy back to back. Miz tries to kill Shane again as he pushes him in front of an oncoming train in the form of Braun Strowman. Strowman chases Miz down and gets him in the ring to eliminate him with a tilt-a-whirl Powerslam. It's down to Shane against Strowman, Lashley, & McIntyre but Strowman finishes him off quickly with a T-Rex dropkick and powerslam.
This match made SmackDown look like complete scrubs as they couldn't even beat a Raw team that was arguing the entire time. I didn't feel there was as much storytelling in this match as there was in the women's match and the action was good but nothing too spectacular. I'm glad that Braun got the most eliminations and that McIntyre was one of the survivors. I would prefer if Shane wasn't in the match but got entertainment out of Miz trying to take him out without being obvious that he was trying to take him out. I thought both Balor and Mysterio got some time to shine for their respective teams while Ziggler and Joe felt like complete afterthoughts. By the end of the night, SmackDown would only get the one win from the kickoff show which wasn't even recognized on the win counter and it's still obvious that Vince is buyest of Raw over SmackDown. Rating: ***
Match #6
Ronda Rousey (Raw Women's Champion) def Charlotte Flair via DQ
This match was just as great as we had hoped and imagined that it would be. I liked how they were feeling each other out in the beginning in the way that you would see fighters feeling each other out in a UFC fight. These two were not holding anything back as they were super aggressive with each other. It didn't take long before we got blood coming from the mouth of Ronda after she was hit with an elbow. I thought it was a nice touch how Ronda stayed sitting up on the top turnbuckle and reached down to drag Charlotte over so she could roll into an armbar that was a really neat way to get into the move. The spear that Charlotte hit on Ronda was one of the best she has ever hit and Ronda sold it very well. I like that she named her twisting Samoan drop the Piper's Pit. I knew the match most likely wasn't going to end with a clean finish as they didn' want either woman to lose clean, I was expecting a run in to end the match, but what we got was so much better and leaves a lot of questions going forward as Charlotte completely snaps and beats the living shit out of Ronda before "Pillmanizing" her with a chair. Everything about this was great and I have no problems with anything in the match, even Ronda's eye makeup worked this time. Rating: ****1/2
With what happened you would think it would lead to a Ronda vs Charlotte rematch but they are on separate shows and Ronda also still has a match with Nia in her near future. Does this make Charlotte a heel now which would make sense as Becky looks to have turned babyface, but yet shouldn't her and Becky be on the same page now that their feud is over and Becky gave her the spot to face Ronda? Are all the babyfaces going to go extinct in the WWE and everyone will be either a tweener or heel? It was interesting watching Ronda walk to the back as when she first got up she was looking around as if she (and I imagine WWE) wanted her to get a babyface reaction but as she makes her way up the ramp she talks some trash to a fan and then gives a mean look toward the crowd, so I wonder if they told her to react differently depending on how the crowd responds and when they started booing her she changed from looking hurt to looking like she was pissed at the fans. I'm not sure what is happening but I do know that at the end of the night the people were still chanting for Becky and despite Charlotte giving the crowd a cool moment, they haven't forgotten about the Stone Cold Lass Kicker and she will get her revenge on the biggest stage of them all WrestleMania.
Ronda Rousey (Raw Women's Champion) def Charlotte Flair via DQ
This match was just as great as we had hoped and imagined that it would be. I liked how they were feeling each other out in the beginning in the way that you would see fighters feeling each other out in a UFC fight. These two were not holding anything back as they were super aggressive with each other. It didn't take long before we got blood coming from the mouth of Ronda after she was hit with an elbow. I thought it was a nice touch how Ronda stayed sitting up on the top turnbuckle and reached down to drag Charlotte over so she could roll into an armbar that was a really neat way to get into the move. The spear that Charlotte hit on Ronda was one of the best she has ever hit and Ronda sold it very well. I like that she named her twisting Samoan drop the Piper's Pit. I knew the match most likely wasn't going to end with a clean finish as they didn' want either woman to lose clean, I was expecting a run in to end the match, but what we got was so much better and leaves a lot of questions going forward as Charlotte completely snaps and beats the living shit out of Ronda before "Pillmanizing" her with a chair. Everything about this was great and I have no problems with anything in the match, even Ronda's eye makeup worked this time. Rating: ****1/2
With what happened you would think it would lead to a Ronda vs Charlotte rematch but they are on separate shows and Ronda also still has a match with Nia in her near future. Does this make Charlotte a heel now which would make sense as Becky looks to have turned babyface, but yet shouldn't her and Becky be on the same page now that their feud is over and Becky gave her the spot to face Ronda? Are all the babyfaces going to go extinct in the WWE and everyone will be either a tweener or heel? It was interesting watching Ronda walk to the back as when she first got up she was looking around as if she (and I imagine WWE) wanted her to get a babyface reaction but as she makes her way up the ramp she talks some trash to a fan and then gives a mean look toward the crowd, so I wonder if they told her to react differently depending on how the crowd responds and when they started booing her she changed from looking hurt to looking like she was pissed at the fans. I'm not sure what is happening but I do know that at the end of the night the people were still chanting for Becky and despite Charlotte giving the crowd a cool moment, they haven't forgotten about the Stone Cold Lass Kicker and she will get her revenge on the biggest stage of them all WrestleMania.
Match #7
Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman (WWE Universal Champion) def Daniel Bryan (WWE Champion) via Pinfall
I loved how Bryan was in front of Lesnar as he was circling the ring during his entrance and then was mocking him as it showed that Bryan has gone a bit crazy and in this case, he is too crazy to know that he should fear Lesnar. Once the match got past the usual Lesnar suplex showcase which lasted for quite a while and Daniel Bryan actually made his comeback the match picked up and became quite good and I actually bought into the fact that Bryan might win the match and may even have made Lesnar tap out. This was one of Brock's better matches as of late and it went longer than most of his matches, but at the end of the day it was a Brock Lesnar match and because of that there is only so much praise I can give it as his style of matches have become tiresome for me as they are the exact same thing every time, but I'm giving this one much more praise than I usually would because it just so happens he was in there with someone who can get a good match out of a broomstick and was able to make a Brock Lesnar match better than it usually is. I liked how Bryan was looking at Brock after the match and smiling as it expressed that he may have lost but he is still happy because he let Lesnar know that he wasn't going to be beaten easily. Rating: ****Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman (WWE Universal Champion) def Daniel Bryan (WWE Champion) via Pinfall
This show was a mixed bag, the last two matches and the cruiserweight match were really good, but the rest of the card could be skipped. If the fans didn't care about the brand warfare before this show they care even less now with SmackDown only winning the kickoff match and looking like complete chumps in the men's elimination tag match. The biggest highlight of the show that everyone was talking about was the Charlotte vs Ronda match as well as The Certified Idiot and Bonafide Jackass, Enzo Amore trying to crash the show before being escorted out by security Show Rating: C-
NXT WarGames II & WWE Survivor Series 2018 Match Rankings
13. Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno
12. AOP vs The Bar
11. 10 Team Elimination Tag Match
10. 10 Man Elimination Tag Match
9. NXT Women's Championship
8. 10 Woman Tag Match
7. Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura
6. WWE Cruiserweight Championship
5. Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan
4. WarGames Match
3. Tomasso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream
2. Aleister Black vs Johnny Gargano
1. Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair
Sorry it took so long to get this review out as I have had a busy week but I used every bit of my free time I had to finish this thing so I hope you all enjoy it.
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