WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 & Fastlane 2017 Double Feature DVD Review

MORE HOME VIDEO REVIEWS, WE'RE ALMOST CAUGHT UP! 

From this point forward it looks like RAW and SmackDown exclusive PPV's are going to be released in double-disc sets, which is probably a good decision and offers more content for your money. The first one of these hit UK shelves at the start of the month and features the final stops for both brands on the Road to WrestleMania as SmackDown presents Elimination Chamber in Phoenix and Milwaukee hosts RAW's Fastlane. There's 18 matches across over six hours, including an Elimination Chamber featuring John Cena defending the WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, The Miz, Bray Wyatt and "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles, Heath Slater & Rhyno, Breezango, The Vaudevillains, The Usos and The Ascension chasing American Alpha's SmackDown Tag Team titles in a Tag Team Turmoil match, Roman Reigns clashing Braun Strowman, RAW Women's Champion Bayley looking to end Charlotte Flair's PPV streak, The Wyatt Family exploding as Randy Orton takes on Luke Harper and Neville putting the Cruiserweight title on the line against Jack Gallagher. Elsewhere, Cesaro, The Big Show, Universal Champion Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler are all in action. 

But is the first Double Feature worth your time? Let's take a look. 

Elimination Chamber 

Our SmackDown event begins with a solid wrestling match between Becky Lynch and Mickie James, with the string together some nice sequences in a technically sound bout. The finish, however, is uninspired and some of the commentary ends up hurting the wrestler's work, as it's at odds with what is actually happening in the ring. I'm still trying to work out why Dolph Ziggler faced Apollo Crews and Kalisto in a Handicap match and majority of the match is the competitors trying to make the best of a terrible situation. The Tag Team Turmoil match with Heath Slater & Rhyno, Breezango, The Vaudevillains, The Usos, American Alpha and The Ascension is lengthy in total, but no single match gets enough time to fully realise it's potential. As a whole, it's watchable stuff, especially once American Alpha get involved, whilst the popularity of Heath Slater and especially Rhyno helps to carry the first ten minutes or so. The ending comes across as a little forced, although the work from The Usos heading into it is probably the strongest action of the whole match. 

Nikki Bella vs. Natalya features some decent moments, but doesn't grab the crowd, with things not being helped by an inconclusive finish. It comes together after the match concludes, with a physical altercation that sells the dislike the have for each other. The best non-Chamber match of the night is a brutal clash between Luke Harper and Randy Orton as the two slow-build and manage to pull the initially wary crowd along for the ride. The two brawl all over the ringside area, trade big strikes inside the ring and bring things to a conclusion with an exciting exchange. Alexa Bliss defending the SmackDown Women's Championship against Naomi has some cool ideas in the early goings, but struggles towards the end of the match. 

The main event with Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, The Miz, Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles and John Cena inside the new-look, worker-friendly, Elimination Chamber for the WWE title is the best match across the two discs. The best Chamber matches for nine or ten years, the bout makes the most of it's six combatants, beginning with a continuation of one of the hottest feuds of the last year as Cena and Styles collided to kick things off. There's some big highspots spread throughout, including Cena bumping from halfway up the Chamber and a wicked super Tower of Doom spot with Ambrose, Wyatt and Styles. Everyone comes out looking better for having took part in the match with Corbin dominating and then destroying Ambrose post-elimination and The Miz looking like a dick with pretty much every move he makes. The final stretch of the contest matches it's start with lots of slick back and forth reversals and a number of potentially convincing near falls from the final three onwards.

Special Feature 

Curt Hawkins vs. Mojo Rawley from Elimination Chamber Kickoff is not a good match, basic and boring, at times sloppy and awkward with a lame finish to boot. 

Fastlane 

The RAW event opens with Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe in a dissapointing outing and that whilst there is nothing particularly wrong with it, it will disappoint most people aware of what the two can do together. Enzo & Cass challenging for Gallows & Anderson's RAW Tag Team titles is of a similar quality, keeping things simple and allowing the heels to look strong, after a hot promo from Enzo. Keeping with the theme, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax have a match that is very much alike to the opener and although the crowd is hot for when Banks locks her submission finish on Jax, the actual finish is rushed and leaves the bout lacking something special. The crowd is then utterly dead for a bonus match between Cesaro and Jinder Mahal and whilst there is some good selling work from the Swiss Superman, it's hard to argue with their apathy. Another bonus match see's The Big Show batter Rusev in a match that happens for reasons no one is quite sure of. 

After five matches of mediocre, at best, wrestling, Jack Gallagher challenging Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight title is a step up as the two dish out big strikes and moves, like Neville's wicked snap German suplex. Gallagher's gentleman underdog character really shines, especially in the closing moments and in front of a different crowd I get the feeling this bout would have felt even better. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman produces the best match of the night as the two have a big hoss war of a contest, lobbing each other around the ring and beyond. The finish brings their story to a satisfying conclusion for the time being, whilst also leaving the door open for the future. The RAW Women's Championship match with Bayley and Charlotte Flair makes a real pigs ear of it's conclusion, throwing away elements like Charlotte's PPV streak amidst a confusing heel/babyface dynamic. The earlier parts of the match are above average, but the two still don't hit the heights of their February match on RAW.  

The final bout of the evening is Goldberg challenging for Kevin Owens' WWE Universal title, although it's more of an extended skit than match. 

Special Feature 

Akira Tozawa and Rich Swann tagging against The Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar on Fastlane Kickoff provides a fun tag bout for the solo special feature, with the last few exchanges allowing the match to really come into it's own. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6/10 

Elimination Chamber offers the strongest action of the two shows, with the eponymous bout being the strongest across the two cards. The show however is dragged down by the length of the average Tag Team Turmoil bout, as well as the weak Ziggler v Crews & Kalisto match and Hawkins v Rawley special feature. Fastlane isn't as strong, featuring mostly average action and being hurt further by the random Mahal v Cesaro and Show v Rusev bouts, as well as the non-match between Goldberg and Owens. It does however feature two strong bouts, as Reigns v Strowman and Neville v Gallagher which are both worth a watch. 

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WWE SmackDown Live #921 Review (Aired - 11th April 2017)

SUPERSTAR SHAKE UP PART TWO! If you thought the shake up was over after RAW, then boy were you about to be shook like a ruddy basket of bread at a basket of bread shaking contest. It was time to find out who would be swinging for the blue team for, at least, a bit or maybe longer. But was it any good? 

SmackDown Live Got Shook Up With Owens and Zayn 

Similar to the Monday show, Tuesday night began with two big name acquisitions making their presence known, only this time some familiar blue boys turned up to the party as well as Baron Corbin and AJ Styles came out to interrupt Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn respectively. Opening the show with Owens, the current United States Champion, welcoming us to "The New Kevin Owens Show" before cutting a pro-Canada promo got thing off on the right foot. Personally, I was surprised just how much heat Owens promo got for saying he was from Canada, speaking some French and mentioning some kind of sport, but The Prizefighter cuts a watchable prom and if the live crowd is involved it only adds to the enjoyment at home.  Corbin, Zayn and Styles all had short promos of their own, but nothing particularly substantial other than they wanted a shot at the US title. Owens reaction to long-time rival Zayn joining him on his new show was probably the highlight of the whole thing for me. Things concluded with Daniel Bryan awkwardly explaining that the winner of Owens v Chris Jericho on the RAW exclusive PPV, Payback, would actually be on SmackDown full-time, whilst Corbin, Zayn and Styles would fight it out in the night's main event to determine the first guy to get a shot on SmackDown.

Randy Orton picked a DQ victory over Erick Rowan in brawly encounter, after Big Red twonked him with the steel steps. Bray Wyatt also appeared on the screen, despite being shook to RAW the previous evening, reminding Orton about their upcoming House of Horrors match on 30th April. 

The Usos def. American Alpha to retain SmackDown Tag Team Championships

An expectedly sound tag match here, that quickly broke down and finished with an superb flurry of action. Personally, I would've liked to have seen Jordan in the face in peril role for a longer time, as it seemed like as soon as The Usos had started to build a bit of heat with their cocky dickhead characters, they'd lost their man and were under attack. However, everything after the hot tag from Gable (which included a gorgeous moonsault) was great stuff, with the two teams switching momentum back and forth and the action coming quick and crisp. The quality of the work later on, such as the strong near fall as Gable got his knees up on an Uso splash, makes me wish that these two teams got more time to put together a match that could have been something special. It was a good match, but with time and with more crowd investment it could have been much better. The Shining Stars jumped Gable & Jordan post-match, with a slightly new denim based look, so perhaps they'll get more of an opportunity to showcase themselves on Tuesday nights, although considering that hadn't won on RAW since November it wouldn't take much.

Mojo Rawley squashed new blue boy Jinder Mahal, after Rawley's pal American Footballer Rob Gronkowski chucked a bear at "The Man Who Comes in Peace". 

A segment billed as Shane McMahon explaining the State of the Women's Division was really quite odd, as he had SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi, alongside Becky Lynch, Carmella (with James Ellsworth) and Natalya stand in the ring so he could introduce new signees Charlotte Flair and Tamina. The problem was that was it, there was no brawl, no indication that anyone would be feuding with anyone else, it was just Flair coming out on the ramp, looking around and then the show moved to something else.

Tye Dillinger continued to gain momentum, interrupting, a now solo, Aiden English and then pinning him in a matter of minutes.

Nakamura interrupted Ziggler

Another weird talking segment, that didn't quite come off as well as it could, but it does open up an interesting feud between Shinsuke Nakamura and Dolph Ziggler. The Show Off's promo had some nastiness behind it as he moaned about the newcomers riding on his coattails, but some of the content was a little weird. Such as claiming that next week's show won't be as exciting and the show after even less exciting and so on and so on, which seems like an odd way of getting the current viewers to keep tuning in next week. The reaction to Nakamura's interruption was probably the best thing about the whole situation as after ZigZag had claimed not to no who Nakamura was, Nakkers blocked a superkick and Ziggler looked scared. I'm not sure any of this sold a potential feud or upcoming match. These two have the potential to tear the house down, but if the writing in the build up is poor it won't get the attention it deserves.

Styles def. Corbin, Zayn to become #1 Contender to United States Championship

A killer main event here as the trio worked well together, used their in-ring strengths and character traits to drive a three way that had the potential to end up going any way. Corbin looked dominant, often coming out on top of two on one collisions, Styles looked like the workhorse that he is and Zayn played the battling underdog role brilliantly. The contest was at it's best when all three where interacting simultaneously or in quick succession, with a number of creative spots like Styles blocking Corbin's Big Bossman homage with a solid knee to the face from the apron and Zayn escaping from an attempted Doomsday Device variation with The Phenomenal One looking to hit a Phenomenal-er Forearm. The highlight however came in the last couple of minutes heading towards the finish and out of a couple of signature near falls, as the three exchanged running strikes in the corner and then in the centre of the ring. The change of gear was just what the match needed and lead wonderfully into the pendulum swinging finish, that saw Zayn knock Corbin off the apron with a Helluva Kick, only to walk straight into a match-winning Phenomenal Forearm from AJ. The only thing lacking for me was any really convincing near falls, but that's a minor complaint for a TV main event. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.3/10

This week's SmackDown was similar to this week's RAW, with the Superstar Shake-Up gimmick being used to keep things interesting, but also featuring a number of missed opportunities and rushed matches. The main event, arguably, kept the shows rating about average and made it a better show than RAW, being the best item on either of WWE's mainstream offerings this week. I'm looking forward to seeing how the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Charlotte Flair fit on the brand long term, although it's hard to get excited about the likes of Jinder Mahal, Lana and The Shining Stars.

Review - James Marston 

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Opinion: NXT Class of 2016 - Part 1 - Alexa Bliss, American Alpha, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin and Bayley

2016 will surely go down as one of the more memorable years in wrestling. So much happened that it’s easy to forget that certain awesome things actually occurred, and for every moment that sucked (here’s looking at you WrestleMania) there were moments like AJ Styles’ WWE debut and Wrestle Kingdom 10 and Goldberg crushing Lesnar and the Cruiserweight Classic and Will Ospreay winning Best of the Super Juniors and more and more and more.

So whilst I could talk forever about anything and everything that pro-wrestling had to offer last year, I am here today to focus on those called up from NXT to the main roster of WWE. Some have had success and some have had a much harsher reality check following their release from the nest of mother Regal and papa HHH. I’ll be giving each act a rating based on their performance since moving up and what they have achieved compared to what was expected of them before they transitioned away from the yellow brand. 

These are just my personal thoughts and feelings on each of them so take everything with a pinch of salt and feel free to roast me like a Christmas ham on Twitter should you disagree.

Alexa Bliss – Debuted 26th July

When Alexa debuted on the main roster I could not have possibly predicted that she would be the Smackdown women’s champion coming into 2017. With Becky Lynch, Natalya and Nikki Bella to compete with I feared she would get lost amongst the pack of wolves, biding her time until much later in her WWE career. 

But lo and behold the little minx has smashed it and is the proud holder of the Smackdown women’s title. Her matches have left a little to be desired as she is clearly still developing her in-ring skills but she can talk like the best of them and her promos against Becky Lynch have been a real highlight of Tuesday night programming. Plus, her expressions often breach the border into ridiculous, which I am a huge fan of, she goes from pleased to
furious in a matter of seconds just by shifting her face.

If she can refine her wrestling she could be the perfect package as it is so rare to find someone who can run their mouth so well, hopefully when the time comes to turn face she can be equally as damning on the mic and doesn’t lose her edge. Overall, an astronomically good main roster beginning for Bliss especially given the fact that she never held the NXT women’s championship, more power to her!

 Rating: A-

American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan) – Debuted 2nd August

Ending the year atop the Smackdown tag team tree is exactly what these boys deserved, they are simply wonderful wrestlers who ooze charisma and WWE are cashing in on them at just the right time. After a blistering set of matches The Revival they graduated to Tuesday night’s show as part of the draft, much like Alexa Bliss.

It was a slower start for them than many would have liked; they got chopped down by the Usos and were forced to build themselves back up, but their story of redemption has been wonderfully fulfilled. After coming close multiple times Jordan and Gable finally achieved their newest goal and claimed the Smackdown tag championships from the Wyatt Family after a tremendous 4-way match.

The emotional outpour from them after the contest replicated that of when they won their NXT straps, completing the full-circle of the story, and no matter which way you look at it, they won the titles after pinning a 12-time WWE champion in the shape of Randy Orton! That in itself is a testament to how strong this tag team is, and now that their foot is firmly on the accelerator I can’t see them hitting any troublesome obstacles soon as the pair look destined for stardom as a team and hopefully beyond as their quality between the ropes
continues to shine.

Rating: B+

Apollo Crews – Debuted 4th April

For every winner, there unfortunately has to be a loser, and since stepping up to the main roster, Apollo Crews has sadly been a loser. He was only in NXT for a short amount of time and whilst he is an athlete of the highest level, he still appears to be missing a character so it’s hard to blame fans for not being behind him; why should we care about him or than the fact he does cool moves? Hopefully they give him something more interesting to do than
be just another guy on Smackdown, the dude has talent.

It hasn’t all been bad for Crews as he first dominated the Social Outcasts on Raw, beat Sheamus at Money in the Bank and even got an IC title shot against Miz at Summerslam – the issue instead came from the fact that none of his matches were particularly special and following an awfully botched showing against Jericho, Crews fell way down the card and is now mainly working Curt Hawkins in dark matches. What a fall.


Hopefully the next 12 months will be much better for him, maybe he can turn heel and move up the card, maybe he can perform to the high level we hoped to see, whatever goes on though, please WWE give him a bloody character, he’s bland as dry toast right now. If not, a return to NXT might be a better move, so long as it doesn’t knock his already dented confidence even more. 

Rating: D-

Baron Corbin – Debuted 3rd April

Making his debut at Wrestlemania and winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal on the show was always going to give Baron Corbin a jumpstart to his main roster career and whilst things got a little wayward in the middle, he ended 2016 strongly as his continues to cement himself as Smackdown resident monster. 

After feuding with Dolph Ziggler for what felt like an eternity of subpar matches he broke away and really picked up a head of steam as he dominated Kalisto in a thoroughly enjoyable chairs match before getting his first world title opportunity on the final Smackdown of the year against Ziggler and AJ Styles. Going from developmental to a World title match in 12 months, that’s pretty damn impressive.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that Corbin will hold a singles belt in the coming year, maybe not a top belt, but a belt nonetheless. He could really benefit from a run with the IC or US championship in order to move up the card so that would be the best route of action for the metal-head. Keeps your eyes on him though, the big man is surely gearing up for another great annum, he’s earnt it after all, and who knows, maybe he will get on the SmackdownSurvivor Series team next year...

Rating: B

Bayley – Debuted 22nd August

Bayley first debuted as a surprise tag partner to Sasha Banks at Battleground as the twosome defeated Charlotte and Dana Brooke (we will get to her later); Bayley got a giant pop that night and got a similar one upon her official Raw debut after being introduced by Mick Foley. She was a readymade star in NXT and the audience treated her as such, hopefully it is a moment she, and her supporters, will cherish forever.

Unfortunately, that seems to have been the peak for her main roster so far as she was forced to take a firm backseat as Sasha and Charlotte competed in arguably the best WWE women’s feud of all time. Recently however she has advanced, and whilst her promos have been shoddy at best, her Survivor Series victory and wins over Charlotte in non-title matches has added fuel to her fire – almost like a reverse Alexa Bliss where her wrestling is far superior to her talking.

When Bayley eventually wins the belt I’m sure the roof will blow off whatever building they are fighting in; hopefully holding a championship belt around her waist can boost her confidence when on the mic too and allow her to kick her ‘rabbit in the headlights’ promos. She’s got a real strong future ahead of her for sure, I just hope WWE goes all the way with her as a top babyface.

Rating: C+

The second part of our look at the NXT Class of 2016, will be available from 6.30 GMT tomorrow and will feature Carmella, Corey Graves, Dana Brooke and Enzo & Cass. Part 3 will be uploaded at the same time on Friday, looking at Finn Balor, Mojo Rawley, Nia Jax, Sami Zayn and The Vaudevillains. 

Words - Thomas Brady
Images - Thomas Brady
Editor - James Marston 

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TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #888 - Dolph Ziggler v AJ Styles

Show Aired - 23rd August 2016

As Dolph Ziggler and AJ Styles battled to decide the main event of 11th September's Backlash supercard, how would the first Smackdown Live after SummerSlam shape-up?

In the main event of the episode, AJ Styles would face Dolph Ziggler, in a match that if Ziggler won he would earn a World Championship opportunity and join Styles in a Triple Threat match with Dean Ambrose on 11th September. I'll get into how this came about and if it was any good in a moment, but I'd like to talk about the match first, because I'm a backwards kinda dude. I'll start at the start though, which, to be honest, wasn't all that great. The Mohegan Sun Arena began split between the two, but after the first ad-break they were almost silent. This could have been down to the fact that Ziggler still hasn't been taken to as a main eventer by the audience again but for me, this was down to Styles and Ziggler failing to gel in the ring, there was a couple of occassions were simple looking moves looked odd and it all became a bit awkward to watch. I was worried that the bout would end up going to same way as Ziggler and Ambrose's SummerSlam bout, as there was no pace, no particular narrative to follow and no intensity or urgency behind the performances. 

Luckily, unlike Ziggler v Ambrose, this contest had a gear change and once that happened the pair looked much more comfortable with each other, everything suddenly became much crisper and the Uncasville crowd woke up, creating an exciting five or six minutes that was helped by the clever stipulation. The idea that Styles already had a title match and Ziggler was fighting to join him, meant it was much more conceivable that The Show Off could somehow pick up a victory, than if there was another set of circumstances. This meant that when Ziggler hit a Zig Zag after escaping a Styles Clash the crowd were convinced that the 36 year old former World Heavyweight Champion had got the win, leading to a brilliant reaction when The Phenomenal One got his shoulder off the mat. It would a Styles Clash that would break Ziggler's heart however, with The Lunatic Fringe doing a superb job of putting this over on commentary, before the show went off the air with a staredown between Champion and #1 Contender.

In the top match from the undercard, American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan) and Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) met in a splendid Quarter Final match in a tournament to crown the first Smackdown Tag Team Champions. The four lads took their ten minutes and ran with in a match that in my opinion managed to elevate the stock of both teams and add to the prestige of the Tag Team Championships before anyone has even won them. Smooth action, clever booking, great near falls for both sides, crisp reversals and a satisfying finish. A false finish were Fandango would thwart American Alpha going for a variation of the Doomsday Device, allowing to nail a victory roll on Jordan made it genuinely believable that Breezango might win the contest, which is credit to how everyone involved played the moment. American Alpha may have lifted the tag division since their debut, but Fandango and Breeze showed that they just needed the opportunity and despite losing to Grand Amplitude it was Breezango that got the most out of this one. 

The show began with Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan unveiling the new Tag Team Championship and Smackdown Women's Championship in front of the rosters of both divisions. The belts look much better than that of the Universal title, generally being the reverse of their RAW counterparts, with the Tag titles featuring blue leather and silver plates, instead of bronze. McMahon and Bryan also announced a Tournament for the Tag Team titles commencing on the show and concluding at Backlash, as well as a Six Package Challenge for the Women's Championship on the same event, which will include Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya & Nikki Bella. This was a busy segment though as Heath Slater interrupted in a humourous moment, that saw him added to the Tag title tournament, if he could find a partner, but only be offered a Smackdown Contract if he won the entire tournament. Dolph Ziggler attacked AJ Styles as The Phenomenal One was putting a case together for being #1 Contender to Dean Ambrose's World Championship. 

Perhaps surprisingly, Randy Orton made an appearance on the show, just two days after getting ten stitches in his head in the closing scenes of SummerSlam 2016, thanks to Brock Lesnar. With Lesnar nowhere to be seen on RAW, it felt like a long time to wait to get to see one half of the main event of the second biggest show of the year. It seemed like WWE wanted to quickly distance Orton from Lesnar, as he spent more time talking about Shane McMahon getting involved than he did about the man who made him piss blood out of his forehead. Things moved even more quickly when Bray Wyatt appeared and began to talk about Orton only being a man and himself being a God. It was Wyatt's usual cryptic mumbo jumbo, which is captivating but meant very little at this point. I did like that it looked like The Eater of Worlds was going to accept Orton's offer of a scrap, only for the lights to go out and disappear, as it made the crowd realise they wanted to see the fight and then took it away. I would seem like Orton v Wyatt will be one of the upper card bouts for the 11th September supercard.

So, I've talked about the Ziggler v Styles match, but I haven't talked about how it was booked. The Phenomenal One was on fire when given the opportunity to cut an in-ring promo, addressing his victory over John Cena on 21st August and continuing to add to his case for deserving a World title opportunity. He passive aggressively called The Show-Off jealous because of his win over Cena, coming across like a real jerk as he told the crowd "You don't have to be John Cena fans anymore, you can be AJ Styles fans" and generally droned on and on about being "The Face that Runs the Place". It was a great heel rant of a promo. I couldn't stop watching, but boy, did I want someone to stop him from talking. That's what a heel needs to be in 2016, someone entertaining enough that you don't want to change channel, but annoying enough that you want to see them get beats. The segment closed with Ziggler being held back by various WWE staff, including 3 time WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman, before Daniel Bryan would come out to book the show's main event. 

In the other Tag Team Championship tournanment Quarter Final, The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) would seal their place in the final four with a straight-forward victory over The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor). This was your regular run of the mill tag bout, with Konnor & Viktor dominating Jimmy, before a Jey hot tag would lead into the finish. A couple of back and forth flourishes in the last exchanges upped the quality, but it would still be Viktor who took the pinfall after a superkick from Jey and a Samoan Splash from Jimmy. It was a shame that John "Bradshaw" Layfield spent a good deal of time talking about fellow commentator David Otunga's wife, singer Jennifer Hudson, and The Miz, instead of talking about the importance of the contest.

The only women's match on the show was a rematch from Smackdown Live #886, as Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss got to an extra few minutes to showcase their ability, ahead both women competitor to become Women's Champion on 11th September. Whilst longer than their previous match, I feel the Lynch and Bliss deserved to be given more time, with the fact that the crowd were loudly behind The Lass Kicker showing that the audience wants to see more of her and her division. The wrestling was all done well and both ladies added little flourishes to their performances that will get people invested in them and make these short contests worth watching. Lynch would get the submission win after a sweet transition into the Disarmer, essentially getting her win back from two weeks ago. If Smackdown Live only has this much time for it's women on TV, they better make up for it when it comes to their own supercards.

Best of the Rest 

• In a shocking double turn, Carmella would attack Nikki Bella from behind as Bella was being interviewed by Renee Young, meaning that their match never got started.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.81/10 

Smackdown Live picked up some momentum heading out of SummerSlam and towards Backlash, adding three matches to that card and producing some quality wrestling along the way. Either Ziggler v Styles or American Alpha v Breezango was the match of the night and if pushed I'd probably give it to the tag match for being a more balanced affair. The build to the main event, featuring the great Styles promo was also up their for the best thing on the show. The opening segment and Orton's confrontation with Wyatt were both positive parts of the show as well. 

The only parts of the show that I'd considered below average were The Usos v The Ascension and Bliss v Lynch, even then they weren't bad matches, had some highlights and were well wrestled, if both had been afforded more time then you'd have to think that Smackdown Live would have had a better rating.

This was an above average show, that was close to getting a good rating on the scale. The strongest episode for three weeks and marginally better than this week's Monday Night RAW (3-2 Smackdown Live) almost everything on the show was of a good quality and had some thought behind it, with nothing bad to the shit on the picnic either. 

All content - James Marston 
Banner Credit - Kai Stellar

TV Review - WWE NXT #205 - Nia Jax v Bayley

After two weeks of very good - superb television, NXT presented a show with three big matches on it, in hopes of continuing it's fine run of form. With Nia Jax facing Bayley, American Alpha finally getting a match with The Authors of Pain and NXT Champion Samoa Joe in action against Rhyno, would this week's episode continue the show's strong run of form? 

A real shining moment for the women's division here, getting to main event such a strong card, as Bayley defeated Nia Jax in a match that built and built into a very good television bout. Having said that, the first portion of the match didn't do much for me at all, and it seemed like it took the wind out of the live crowd also. It was weirdly based around Jax being over-confident and putting on cocky pin-covers, whilst also constantly throwing Bayley outside of the ring. Jax would control the opening portion, until Bayley was able to throw her to the outside. I can kind of see where they were going story-wise, but it was just a little bit lame. It was a disappointment not to see Bayley's supposedly injured knee, the knee that Jax had injured herself, play into the story of the match. There wasn't even a hint of this and it felt like a missed opportunity. 

Okay, James, you said this was a good match, but all you've done is moaned so far. Well, erm, yes, but here's some positives. Following Jax being sent to the outside, the match kicked up a gear, shifting to an idea of Bayley attempting to knock Jax off her feet. This lead to the former Women's Champion getting to show a whole lot of babyface fire, as he layed it on thick with a series of knees on the apron and lovely crossbody that would finally take her opponent down. The crowd would finally come to life when Jax had a nearfall off a Jaxhammer and the expression of anger on her face was spot on, instantly igniting the crowd as they began to push for a Bayley win. The final moments would bring back the themes from the beginning with Jax deciding against hitting a normal leg drop for a diving one, confident she'd have enough time to move Bayley and hit the move, only to get hit with middle rope Bayley-to-Belly and lose the match. With Jax moving onto RAW from Monday, it certainly makes sense to have her put over Bayley clean on the way out, but it's a real shame that it's not Bayley getting the leg up to the main roster. 

The Authors of Pain (Gzim Selmani & Sunny Dhisa) would pick up an impressive victory over American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan) in a match that was surprisingly well-worked. I say surprisingly because no one really had any idea what Selmani and Dhisa could do in the ring, beyond a squash match from #200, but they looked more than competent in the ring, whilst Gable & Jordan allowed them to look like world beaters. A pre-match attack on the ramp fueled the match, as American Alpha were always fighting from underneath after fighting through the initial attack. Both of Authors of Pain took Gable and Jordan's series of suplexes very well, bumping crisply for their opponents, making them American Alpha look brilliant in the process. The finish was put together nicely with The A.O.P. able to take control on the outside, Jordan running into the steel steps, leaving Gable to fall to his rivals. I'm not a fan of the A.O.P's leg sweep, clothesline finish, as although it's done with a physicality it doesn't look as a devastating a move as the teams finish should be. With American Alpha drafted to Smackdown Live from next Tuesday, this may have been their last match for NXT, which would explain them doing such a convincing job here. 

The weakest of the heavily promoted contests was NXT Champion Samoa Joe beating Rhyno via submission, in a plodding bout. The crowd never seemed to pick up as Rhyno had only recently returned to the brand, and suddenly become a babyface and therefore didn't have a whole lot of supports from the fans in attention. That meant that the pedestrian pace was shown up even more, because the crowd had little to get excited about at all. It was however a strong and dominant match for Joe against a performer who will not be hurt by a loss but will provide extra legitimacy to "The Samoan Submission Machine" as Champion, in a similar way to how NXT bought Eric Young into job for Joe a few months a go. This was a good match for Joe's title reign, but not a good match to watch. 

Austin Aries' feud with No Way Jose would continue to gather steam as Jose would attack "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" after the former had squashed Patrick Clark. I'm interested to see where this feud is heading as we got a different side of Jose here, that I'd be interested to see how it could be worked into his fun loving, dancing gimmick situation he's got going on. The idea of Aries escaping through the crowd sold the beating nicely, as well as putting Aries over as a cowardly heel, which is a role he happens to excel in. This rivalry could end up helping both men in NXT, but only if it's done correctly and plays true to the two characters! 

Results 

Singles Match: NXT Champion Samoa Joe def. Rhyno in 6 minutes, 20 seconds 

Tag Team Match: The Authors of Pain - Gzim Selmani & Sunny Dhisa (with Paul Ellering) def. American Alpha - Chad Gable & Jason Jordan in 6 minutes, 34 seconds

Singles Match: Austin Aries def. Patrick Clark in 1 minute, 54 seconds 

Singles Match: Bayley def. Nia Jax in 13 minutes, 35 seconds

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.3/10

Certainly this episode didn't have anything as strong as American Alpha v The Revival or Shinsuke Nakamura v Finn Balor, but this was still a solid hour of wrestling with a lot of different things to be enjoyed throughout the card. The mixture of focus of NXT's three distinct division was done rather nicely and gave each match it's own feel. This was helped by wonderful performances from the likes of Bayley and American Alpha, who both showed their capable of taking on any opponent and making a good match, and in the case of Bayley facing the same opponent on multiple occasions and producing different ways of approaching each match. There was also the added bonus of no random squash matches this week, as whilst Aries smashed through Clark it was all a set up for the Jose angle. Therefore everything meant something and everything had a reason for the viewer to stick around, whilst simultaneously keeping a solid range of action.

A case of it not being the most memorable episode, but a number of competitors will have benefited from it existing and for the most part it was an easy watch. With WWE snapping up Finn Balor, Nia Jaxx, American Alpha, Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Mojo Rawley for it's separate brands drawing the draft on Tuesday, we could be seeing some big changes to the NXT landscape over the next few weeks and months.

Article by James Marston

TV Review: WWE NXT #203 - American Alpha v The Revival - 2/3 Falls (James Marston)

The first of two weeks of NXT with Takeover quality main events, kicked off with American Alpha challenging The Revival for the Tag Team Championships in a Two out of Three Falls match. It's been noted that I'm a big mark for Two out of Three Falls contests, so could Chad Gable, Jason Jordan, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, live up to my expectations? 

The Revival retaining their Tag Team Championships, coming from behind to win their Two out of Three Falls match with American Alpha, 2-1, was a superb main event, being a real example of what tag team wrestling can be when given the time and effort. What I enjoyed most about the contest was that the original fall felt like a regular match between the two teams. There was no flash pinfall early on or another gimmick that's been used time and time again in these types of matches, the contest just played out like a regular tag team match. The pacing of this first portion saw both teams jostling for control, with a American Alpha once again receiving an extended face shine, which played nicely into The Revival's period of control. 

This was the match that had me completely sold on The Revival as a duo. That isn't to say that I hadn't enjoyed the team previously, but this was the clash that made me see Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson as a special tag team. The pair worked so well together throughout the fight, cutting the ring and initially focusing on Jordan's leg (which would come back later in the match), before using every trick in the book to keep Gable in their corner. Both guys attitudes makes them easy to get wound up by, as they give very little away and go about their business in a fairly nonchalant manner, whilst at the same time making sure that whoever is waiting for the hot tag can up their game and get the crowd behind them. It's helped by the fact that pretty much everything The Revival do in the ring is crisp and tightly done, with very little wasted movement. 

The final stretch of the bout featured a lot of ideas that had been seen earlier in the contest, as well as all three falls. Everything revolved around Jordan's hot tag, as while a tremendous sequence of action would see Wilder tap to an Ankle Lock, it was Jordan's previously injured leg that would lead to him tapping to an Inverted Figure 4. Corey Graves did a world class job on commentary keep that story ticking over, although I wish Jordan had sold his injury a little bit more on his comeback. Lots of false finishes, Gable having to save Jordan from another Inverted Figure 4 and both teams just dodging their opponents double team finisher kept building the match's excitement levels as the crowd was whipped into a frenzy by the time The Revival nailed a Shatter Machine onto the apron on Gable for the win. The first must-see match on regular NXT TV for quite some time. 

The other notable match on the card was Bayley's victory over Alexa Bliss in a quality opener. A great piece of booking here, as after Bliss' victory over Carmella last week, this felt like the logical step up as the brand looks for a Number 1 Contender to Asuka's Women's Championship. The two character slotted together nicely, with both bringing something different to their game here. Bliss looked comfortable wrestling with the more accomplished Bayley, managing to keep up with the former Women's Champion, whilst Bayley unleashed a fiery comeback that showed her character frustration well. My only real complaint with the action was that Bliss wasn't going for her Twisted Bliss finisher when Bayley got her knees up to block en route to hitting Bayley to Belly, as this would have upped the drama of the contest. After the match, Bayley appeared to challenge Nia Jaxx to a future re-match. 

Elsewhere, Rhyno made his return to NXT as he interrupted a tag match between The Hype Bros and Blake & Murphy (yeah, they're back as a team, apparently) by managing to Gore three out of the four competitors. 

Finally

ATPW Scale Rating - 7.88/10 

The Two out of Three Falls match taking up a large portion of the show means that this week's NXT scores just under a "Superb" rating on the ATPW Scale. That's an amazing rating for a television show. This was indeed a great outing for the brand, with the main event being complemented by a strong women's opener between Bayley & Alexa Bliss. This is arguably the best edition of the show since Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn's Two out of Three Falls match took up the entire hour. 

With Finn Balor v Shinsuke Nakamura coming up next week, it looks like the good times may continue to roll for the yellow brand.