WWE Monday Night RAW Review // 12th February 2018

The penultimate RAW before Elimination Chamber featured a number of big matches as WWE loaded the show for the second week in a row. The main event saw Seth Rollins, Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt, Finn Balor and Apollo Crews fight it out for the final spot in 22nd February's Elimination Chamber bout, whilst we got a rematch of the WrestleMania XXVII main event with John Cena facing Intercontinetal Champion The Miz in a match where the loser would have to enter the Elimination Chamber first and a collision between best friend as Sasha Banks met Bayley one-on-one. But how did it all go down? Lets take a look! 

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match // Seth Rollins and Finn Balor def. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt and Apollo Crews // Double Pinfall

So Seth Rollins and Finn Balor both find themselves having qualified for what is going to be the first ever seven person Elimination Chamber match, after a rubbish ending to what had been a very good multi-man bout up to that point. So, Balor and Rollins ended up both pinning Bray Wyatt after a tower of doom spot that also involved Apollo Crews. Firstly, when have you ever, ever seen anyone take the pin off a tower of doom? Especially when they weren't even the top part of the tower? I can't remember such a thing ever happening, but admittedly I haven't seen all the wrestling matches in the history of wrestling matches. Even when you factor that two people were pinning Wyatt and therefore it would've been more difficult to kick out, how dumb does that make Rollins and Balor look? You're lying next to another competitor as you're getting the pin, but somehow believe it was you who won the match? Come on, lads. With a little extra thought I'm sure a better finish could have been configured, such as Balor and Rollins both hitting their finishers on different chaps and not realising the other was getting a pin at the same time. 

The finish was a shame, because as I said the rest of the match had featured some brilliant action. Perhaps, that's why the finish felt so weak and anti-climatic, as so much thought had been put into a number of intricate sequences, that the sheer lack of thought in the conclusion stood out like a sore thumb. The match began hot with lots of action, as we joined the contest in progress after the break, with Wyatt nailing Matt Hardy with a DDT onto the apron, before Crews hit a moonsault off the apron. From there it felt like the match didn't let up, with a real sense of urgency (even during replays you had Balor hitting shotgun dropkicks on the outside), with the bout peaking during a slick sequence that saw Hardy hit a Twist of Fate on Wyatt, with Balor breaking up the pin with a Coup de Grace, only for Rollins to catch Balor with the curb stomp for a superb near fall as Crews recovered to make the save. Whilst that was exciting, I think a personal highlight was the sequence between Rollins and Crews that followed, as it seemed like WWE was finally beginning to put some faith in Apollo as he got a good deal of time to show what he could do one on one with a top guy. He came into the bout looking like the odd one out, but hopefully the strength of his in-ring work here will be enough for a continued push at some point in 2018.

Of course, Rollins hadn't been originally announced as part of the match, but managed to get himself inserted into the main event after a segment with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle earlier in the show. The segment made headlines for Angle announcing that Ronda Rousey would sign her RAW contract as Elimination Chamber, but it was Rollins' performance that stole the segment for me. It feels like it's been a while since we've seen a real fiery Rollins on the microphone, a while since we've seen Rollins speak with a purpose and desperation, a style that brings out the most in The Kingslayer. Yes, his partnership with Jason Jordan (who was announced as being injured and missing WrestleMania) was entertaining at points and before that the feud the stuff with Dean Ambrose and feud with Cesaro & Sheamus has provided some great matches and moments, but this felt much more like the Rollins that invaded NXT Takeover in January 2017. "I don't want to be a part of RAW anymore...I want to BE RAW!" set the tone as Rollins asked to placed in the qualifying match as he wanted to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. Angle through the decision open to the public, like a modern day Davey Cameron, with the audience obviously loudly showing their approval for Rollins getting his opportunity. 

Loser enters Men's Elimination Chamber first // John Cena def. The Miz // Pinfall

For the first time in almost five and a half years, John Cena and The Miz went head to head on our TV screen, with Big Match John picking up the win with a middle rope Attitude Adjustment after a very good opening match, to make Miz the first entrant into the Elimination Chamber on 22nd February. For me, this may have been the best match out of the fourteen the two have had on TV and PPV together as they worked strong WWE main event style contest, that wouldn't have looked out of place on a PPV. The crowd was hot for both men and the two rewarded that with some hard work as they crafted a couple of rather lovely submission sequences, that perhaps one wouldn't expect for these two performers. The two near falls with Cena kicking out of a Skull Crushing Finale, before Miz escaped after an Attitude Adjustment, felt even sweeter because of the stature of the contest and by the end of the match it had become something much more than I think many people were expecting. After being caught going for a middle rope Skull Crushing Finale, Miz seemed to be crushed following the loss and sold that loss wonderfully on the ramp with some delightful facial expression with some great direction on the camera positioning helping to sell the moment as well.

The match came about from the show's first segment with The Miz interrupting Cena's opening monologue. Both bought energy to the segment that was aided by the San Jose crowd being well up for joining in, with a mixed reaction for both men, that gave the segment a real off-kilter type feel. It seems like WWE is putting some real effort into building the importance of the Elimination Chamber and showing how much it means to those who are taking part, with Cena spending a good deal of time putting over his desire to get a shot at the Universal Championship, even going as far as to say that he might not compete at the event if he doesn't win. There was also a thinly veiled reference to The Undertaker, which knowing Cena was slotted into the promo to add fuel to the rumour fire that the two are set to finally square off at the Grandest Stage of Them All this year. Miz brought the passion that's made him one of the most popular acts in the company to his promo, claiming he stacked up better than Cena against Brock Lesnar, before Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel attacked Cena and Kurt Angle made a match between the pair official.

Bayley def. Sasha Banks // Pinfall

This week's biggest women's segment featured Sasha Banks still looking for her first singles win since the end of October as she fell to Bayley after a mid-rope Bayley to Belly at the conclusion to a stellar contest. The first two thirds of the bout were particularly strong, beginning with some of the best back and forth chain wrestling that I've seen in WWE's women's division in quite some time, pushing the idea that the pair were best friends and this was a mere athletic exercise. Gone was the sloppy Bayley we saw against Asuka last week and in her place was the motivated Bayley of old, trading holds at pace with the Legit Boss. The bouts second act developed on this as Banks began to heel up just a little bit, showing hints of her criticically acclaimed NXT badass bitch character as she targeted Bayley's injured shoulder by wringing it across the top rope. There was great moment with Bayley escaping Banks' signature double knees in the corner, only to catch Banks on the injured shoulder and allow her friend to take control once again. Unfortunately, this was undone a little bit later in the match, when Bayley hit a stunner through the ropes using the injured shoulder, which she then didn't sell. As the tension built after the match, Nia Jax would wipe out both women, hitting a pair of Samoan drops, before revealing to Charly Caruso that this was meant as a message for Asuka (who would receive a "by the numbers" hype package later in the show) 

Roman Reigns def. Sheamus // Pinfall 

After I'd been dissapointed with Roman Reigns' reigniting his feud with Bray Wyatt for a singles match last week, the Big Dog revisiting his 2015/16 feud with Sheamus was a much more fruitful affair with the two putting on a wild contest that concluded with Reigns getting the pin with a spear that caught the RAW Tag Team Champion coming off the top rope. After a hectic opening, that included a rolling fireman's carry slam on the floor from Shamo, the match did lose its way slightly after the Celtic Warrior was in control, with the crowd drifting and beginning to chant "Rusev Day" ("We're so random" someone probably said to their mate), with Reigns locked in a weardown, but the pair soon recovered for a series of top-drawer near falls and momentum shifting sequences that had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. The two best examples of these were Reigns hitting a Superman Punch with perfect timing as Sheamus attempted a Brogue Kick and the Irishmen getting two convincing near falls one of another, first off a roll-up from a Cesaro distraction and then with a nasty knee strikes straight after. The finish continued the theme with some exciting back and forth, with Reigns fighting off Cesaro, Sheamus sent into the ringpost, before blocking a Drive-by with a clothesline that sent Reigns onto the apron, before Reigns hit a massive spear after Shamo attempted a dive off the top rope. 

Braun Strowman hit Elias with a double bass 

HOLY SHIT, BRAUN STROWMAN HIT ELIAS WITH A FUCKING DOUBLE BASS! A DOUBLE BASS! A. DOUBLE. BASS. This segment was fantastic and probably the best thing on a show packed with good TV matches. Both men were on real form with Elias introducing us to the Elimination Chamber Blues song, ripping on his opponents on 22nd February with a number of entertaining lines, whilst receiving a hell of a reaction from San Jose, moments after calling the city a shithole. The reveal that Strowman was sitting on the ramp, complete with introduction from JoJo, was utterly brilliant and then got even better when the Monster Amongst Men pulled out his instrument and then somehow Braun can actually sing. The whole segment was a series of "What the fuck is going on?" moments in the absolute best way, topped off by Strowman hitting Elias with a double bass. The tease that this would happen earlier on as Strowman left the instrument outside of the ring as he beat down the Drifter added to moment when it finally happened and got a monster reaction from San Jose. Both these men have developed into stars over the last twelve months and this may have been the best thing either has done to date.

Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville def. Mickie James & Alexa Bliss // Pinfall

A short and solid match saw Absolution's Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville get back to winning ways against Mickie James and RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss with a little help from their manager, Paige. We got to see some brief tandem offence from James & Bliss, after the RAW Women's Champion had attempted to reconcile the pair's differences in a backstage segment (Side note: Please stop using the phrase "biscuit butt"). However, the majority of the match was Rose & Deville working over James, as any potential hot tag from Bliss was cut off as the finish. It meant the match ended up feeling a little incomplete, but was actually done rather well, with Paige distracting Bliss on the apron just as James was readying for the tag, before Deville completed the job by pulling Alexa off the apron. Rose's Bed of Roses finish looks like it could still do some work or perhaps it's just James that can't take the move, but apart from that there was nothing to moan about here. Bliss would save James from another Absolution attack post-match, so it looks their storyline is going to continue until at least Elimination Chamber, therefore it will be interesting to see if WWE is deciding to turn Bliss babyface heading into WrestleMania.

Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder def. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson // Pinfall

Whilst the booking of the feud has been counter-productive, The Revival's victory over Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson was a fun tag encounter that appeared to cap of the rivalry between the two groups. After being called "nerds" in a pre-match promo, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder kicked off the match by attacking Gallows & Anderson on the ramp, giving the match some nice energy from before the bell even rang. This was followed up some lovely tag work from Dawson & Wilder as they target Gallows' knee, pulling down his knee pad and rolling up his tights and working a number of holds on the area. Anderson's hot tag has become a strong part of the Balor Club's babyface act and this week saw probably the best example of that, as after Gallows had limped to the corner, Anderson came flying out the gate with a series of strikes, including a tasty looking running knee in the corner. Eventually, Anderson was left fighting alone against The Revival in an energetic sequence which saw him eventually succumb to the numbers gave as he walked straight into a Shatter Machine to take the loss. I'm interested to see what The Revival do going forward, as with the RAW Tag Team belts currently around the waist of fellow heels Cesaro & Sheamus, the tag team division on the red brand feels like it's in a state of flux right now.

Also this week

- Ivory was announced as being apart of 2018 Hall of Fame class, seemingly because of her relationship with GLOW.

- The spotlight moment was AJ Styles winning the WWE Championship from Dean Ambrose at Backlash 2016.

- Alexa Bliss and Titus O'Neil discussed the Freedom Rides as part of Black History Month. 

ATPW Scale Rating // 6.30 out of 10

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE RAW Review // 5th February 2018

On 5th February 2018, WWE's RAW brand made it's return to Des Moines, Iowa after a three year absence and WWE presented what was a pretty stacked card on paper. You had the RAW Tag Team Championships on the line as Roman Reigns subbed for an injured Jason Jordan to join Seth Rollins in challenging Cesaro & Sheamus, with the stipulation that if Rollins & Reigns lost it would be Rollins last shot at the titles. You had John Cena, Braun Strowman and Elias battling over the chance to enter the Elimination Chamber last on 25th February. And you had Roman Reigns pulling double duty to renew his feud with Bray Wyatt with a spot in the Elimination Chamber on the line. But could the show deliver on its promise? Let's take a sweet-ass look at how it all went down!

RAW Tag Team Championship // Cesaro & Sheamus (C) def. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns // Disqualification

This week's main event was a solid RAW Tag Team title bout, that was heading into recommended match territory before Jason Jordan (who had been replaced by Roman Reigns after being unable to compete due to injury) interfered and gave Cesaro & Sheamus the disqualification victory. The bout featured good solid tag team foundation sort of stuff, with Reigns operating in the face in peril role, after Sheamus caught a Seth Rollins suicide dive into an Irish curse backbreaker. The crowd were super hot for Rollins to get in the ring from after the ad-break as Cesaro & Sheamus worked over the Big Dog, bringing in a couple of distractions and cut offs to get some heat and build towards the hot tag. Rollins hot tag is bloody brilliant at the moment, he's got a number of moves that are exciting to watch, like the blockbuster and slingblade, and also threw in a couple of suicide dives for good measure, the sequence was full of energy and performed with precision. The fact that this happened in his homestate of Iowa meant the crowd was rocking as well.

The finish was disappointing to see, because the match had began to feel like it was heading in the right direction. In fact, Jordan even coming to ringside (in his ring gear, like a twat), made me groan a little, but I'm pretty sure that was the aim or at least that's where Jordan's character has been heading for the last few months. We did get a lovely series of near falls off of Jordan's interference, with Jordan blocking Cesaro from capitalising on a poke to the eye leading to Rollins getting a two count off a tight small package. Whilst it meant we didn't get the great finishing stretch that I was hoping for, having Jordan cause the disqualification develops the storyline with him and Rollins further, with Rollins doing a sound job of selling his disappointment and frustration with the Illinoisan following the finish. A heated backstage confrontation with Rollins and Jordan being mediated by RAW General Manager Kurt Angle featured some good performances and concluded with Angle sending Jordan home to recover from his neck injury.

Last Entry in Elimination Chamber // Elias def. John Cena and Braun Strowman // Pinfall

The show-closer was relatively short, but did receive a good amount of build-up throughout the show. WWE continued their trend of using hand-held promos, with John Cena and Braun Strowman both getting some time to put themselves over and push the match. Cena's promo was the most interesting, with Strowman's amounting to pretty much "get these hands", as Big Match John, talked about the Road to WrestleMania whilst walking up and down a corridor. Because a road is a bit like a corridor, I suppose. There were highlights of Strowman murdering Kane last week and Elias beating up Cena on RAW 25 as well, before Elias hit the ring to sing us a song. More often than not I enjoy these little ditties and Elias' ramblings about town's being shitholes and the same was the case here. It's fun to see how much the crowd enjoys joining in where Elias allows and hearing the Drifter discuss his hatred of small towns was a blast as well. 

The match wasn't much, but was an easy watch nonetheless. The narrative felt a little blocky, but there was at least a logic to how things went down. Strowman was dominant, Elias and Cena combined to keep him out of the match, Cena and Elias wrestled for a bit, Strowman returned, Elias nicked a pin on Cena following a Strowman running powerslam. The most interesting section of the contest was Strowman taking a barrage of abuse from his two opponents, including a guitar shot from Elias and an Attitude Adjustment onto the steel steps from Cena. There was plenty of spirit at this point, with the crowd on-board, and it made complete sense that this would be happening. The rest of the match then struggled to keep up, Elias and Cena's section was rather dull, mostly consisting of a prolonged chin lock from Elias, with it feel like the two were simply wasting time before the Monster returned. Surely, Elias would want to put his opponent away as quickly as possible before Strowman recovered and would look for power moves rather than a weak looking weardown? After Elias had gotten the win, it was Strowman who ended the show tall, hitting a plethora of running powerslams on both of his fellow Elimination Chamber combatants. 

Elimination Chamber Qualifier // Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt // Pinfall

My main positive coming out of this match was that it started the show and the new back-to-back to-camera promo situation that WWE played before the two took to ring. At best I could describe the in-ring action as okay, because whilst I often found myself a little bored, there was also a handful of cool spots (even if these were recycled from their 2015 feud). I had enjoyed the pairs match at Battleground 2015 and thought their subsequent singles matches on TV were at least interesting, but this was often slow and plodding, lacked the thudding physicality of their previous outings and even verged into sloppy territory at points. The crowd seemed to be almost completely lost when both men spent a long time on the mat following a sloppy sitout powerbomb from Reigns, but suddenly began chanting "This is Awesome" after Reigns kicked out of Sister Abigail. If in doubt do a finisher kick-out. It's a shame to see someone kicking out of the move that was so heavily protected on SmackDown last year, especially when I still couldn't bring myself to imagine Wyatt going over Reigns. A spear got the win after Reigns escaped a second Sister Abigail attempt, before Matt Hardy ambushed Wyatt with a Twist of Fate after the match.

Asuka def. Bayley // Submission

This was a mixed bag of a bout, starting strong and finishing brightly, but with a flabby middle that saw Bayley seemingly losing her way slightly. The match structure was well thought out, with Bayley hitting some big moves early, knocking Asuka off the top and sending her into the barricade twice, to allow the Hugger to look like a threat to the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow, before after a period of Asuka dominance the two launched into a lovely finishing stretch, trading pinning combinations and submissions, before Bayley finally submitted to the cross-armbreaker. The main thing that held the match back was Bayley looking out of sorts at times, whether she'd taken a knock of simply wasn't on top of her game I don't know, but a lot of her offence looked sloppy and her feeding and timing both seemed out of sync with what was going on around her. Asuka is now 12-0 in singles competition since moving the main roster.

Elimination Chamber Qualifier // The Miz def. Apollo Crews // Pinfall

A short, but fun match, that's main success was in making Apollo Crews look like a genuine threat to The Miz, despite having not won a singles match on RAW since September. After The Miz had cut a rambling promo about constellations, claiming to have won the Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles and the potential of facing Brock Lesnar, the match was lively throughout and featured a number of very convincing near falls for the former Open the Twin Gate Champion. These included Crews pulling out his old indie finisher, the Uhaa Combination (standing moonsault, followed up by standing shooting star press) for a very late kick-out from the Intercontinental Champion, before also being able to counter the Skull Crushing Finale for an even later escape. The latter was so close that WWE decided to replay the pin in slow motion just to show that the referee had made the right call. I've got a lot of time for Crews and it's nice to see him getting more time to show off his skills, he certainly won't have been hurt by a loss to the Intercontinental Champion, especially with the finish involving Crews getting pushed balls-first onto the top rope! 

Finn Balor & Karl Anderson def. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder // Pinfall

The booking of The Revival at the moment bothers me. This week's match was announced to involve Finn Balor battling the team's Dash Wilder, only for the former NXT Tag Team Champions to challenge Balor and either Luke Gallows or Karl Anderson to a tag match instead, because they are "tag team specialists". Logic would then dictate that Wilder and Scott Dawson would find a way to win, they had prior knowledge of their plan to make it a tag bout and also Balor and Anderson hadn't tagged up as a duo since 2013 in Tokyo. Coming out claiming to be tag team specialists, only to lose to an unprepared tandem only serves to make The Revival look like utter losers. Maybe this was the plan, they've hardly been booked effectively since being called up. The match itself was technically fine, with a basic tag structure, featuring an Anderson hot tag and a Coup de Grace from Balor to Dawson for the win, but I couldn't get past the short-sighted booking.

Kurt Angle announced the Women's Elimination Chamber competitors

Kurt Angle seemed to channel from General Manager Mick Foley in this segment as he stumbled over his lines as he announced the participants for the Women's Elimination Chamber. At least Foley would've bought a bit of passion to proceedings, because, to be honest, it sounded like Angle both would've preferred to have been anywhere else and wasn't actually familiar with the talent he was announcing for the match. It's difficult to push the idea that women are being treated on the same level as the men, when one; a man is the only person present when the participants are revealed and two; the men's Elimination Chamber has had qualifying matches taking up three weeks of television time. RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss' interruption and promo had some good content, which she delivered with conviction, bringing up a number of the flaws with the Women's Evolution and the fact that Brock Lesnar wasn't having to defend his title at the event. If she's being switched face then the promo worked, if this was supposed to be a heel promo it felt a little bit like creative were taking a dig at the women, by having Bliss try to use the movement for her own personal gain. The EC match is Bliss defending her title against Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sonya Deville and Sasha Banks if you were wondering, with Asuka scheduled to face Nia Jax at the event as well. 

Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali def. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese // Pinfall

This match was simply here to get new 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick (formerly Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling) out on commentary to get over his character and discuss the ongoing tournament to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion (following Enzo Amore's firing for rape allegations). Maverick did a good job on comms, interacting well with the trio of Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman and Corey Graves, revealing that we could very well see a number of surprises amongst the 16 man field of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament. The match itself was solid filler stuff, a basic tag team match with nothing to play for. Alexander appeared to take a nasty fall on his shoulder after taking a clothesline from Gulak whilst sitting on the top rope, but seemed to be fine later in the bout. A pacy finishing sequence followed the hot tag with Gulak pulling out a wicked lariat on Ali, before Alexander entered the fray once more to seal the win with a Lumbar Check. Personally, I'm not sure why the competitors in tomorrow's tournament matches on 205 Live weren't in this one as a bout pitching opponents Hideo Itami and Roderick Strong against Lince Dorado and Kalisto would've had a little more intrigue and made it easier for commentary to discuss the tournament.  

Mickie James def. Sonya Deville // Pinfall

This match was mostly ugly looking strikes and mild awkwardness. Mickie James hammered Sonya Deville early on, including a shot that seemed to connect directly with Deville's nose, before Deville came flying back with some of her own later on. I love a strong-style clash, but this was more uncomfortable to watch than enjoyable. The little wrestling on display included a horrible looking snapmare attempt from James that seemed to take an absolute age to pull off. James would pull out her first singles win since August, catching Deville with a roll-up to conclude a poor match in just under four minutes. The post-match featured an interesting development as Alexa Bliss saved James from a beat-down from Deville and Absolution stablemates Paige and Mandy Rose. I'm imagining we're going to see Bliss looking to rekindle a partnership with James as an attempt to counter the potential partnerships of Deville & Rose and Sasha Banks & Bayley inside the Elimination Chamber at the end of the month.

Nia Jax def. Vanessa Floyd // Pinfall

A quick squash match for Nia Jax, winning with a leg drop after dominating Vanessa Floyd (seventeen year old Glory Pro trainee Savannah Stone). Post-match, Jax was interviewed and cut a promo on Asuka ahead of their match at Elimination Chamber, threatening to make the Empress of Tomorrow, the Empress of Yesterday in a horrible piece of scripting.  

ATPW Scale Rating // 4.20/10 

Review: WWE Smackdown Live #914 (21/02/2017)

On 21st February, WWE Smackdown emanated from the Citizen Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, USA for the fourth time. This episode focused on a Battle Royal to determine who would challenge Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33 after Royal Rumble winner, Randy Orton refused to face his Wyatt Family cohort at the Show of Shows. John Cena, AJ Styles, The Miz, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Kalisto and Mojo Rawley were the chosen ten for the main event, whilst Daniel Bryan, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch and Maryse were also featured heavily on the episode. In the build where The Shield had a Smackdown classic with Christian, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus in February 2014, how would the brand do this time around? Let's take a look. 

The episode kicked off with an emotional moment for WWE Smackdown Women's Champion Naomi, as she was forced to drop the title by General Manager Daniel Bryan, because of injury. It was odd to see WWE bring back the "30 day rule", but the segment itself was compelling, with the fact that the sympathetic Bryan had had to drop two titles due to injury only a few years ago adding depth to the moment. Whilst I'm not a massive Naomi fan, her promo when handing the title back was believable delivered and left a few doors open for her return later down the line. Bryan throwing together a match for the title after Alexa Bliss' interruption was a disappointment, as with so many episodes to fill between now and WrestleMania on 2nd April and a strong Women's division, it would have been much more satisfying to see them competing in a tournament for the title. Plus, Bliss' opponent Becky Lynch had suffered a loss to Mickie James last week, so it's debatable that she hadn't earned her place in the opening match for the vacant championship.

Match 1 

Alexa Bliss

def.

Becky Lynch

to win WWE Smackdown Women's Championship

A decent opener here, with a hot Ontario crowd getting behind Lynch from the start. The duo seem to have a good understanding in the ring and this resulted in some lovely technical wrestling to begin with the pair trading holds back and forth, in a slick sequence. I would've liked to have seen this match really break into the next gear, as whilst Lynch and Bliss have been feuding for a while they are yet to have a definitive, must-see match, that I am pretty sure they are capable of if allowed enough time and pushed hard enough. In the end we got a near fall off an Exploder suplex for Lynch, a little bit of submission based action, before Bliss nailed The Lass Kicker in the throat and grabbed a handful of tights to reclaim the belt she dropped at Elimination Chamber. I'm interested to see how Smackdown's plans heading into WrestleMania will have to be altered with Naomi absent and who from the division has to step up.

• Match 2 - American Alpha (Chad Gable, Jason Jordan) def. Breezango (Fandango, Tyler Breeze) (2:12) before The Usos (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso) cut a fiery promo in the crowd, signalling their title ambitions.

• The Black History Month vignette took a look at Jackie Robinson, the first African American player in Major League Baseball.

Match 3

Natalya

def. 

Nikki Bella

in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

(14:33)

Arguably, Nikki Bella and Natalya pulled out the best match of the show as they brawled all through the arena and didn't hold back in what a lively scrap. It was cool to see the women like Bella and Natalya, who have been with WWE for almost ten years, getting the opportunity to work a match-type that was almost exclusive to their male counterparts even two years ago. They easily could have rested on their laurels and walked through a match with a couple of weapons spots, but the two really went for it here, starting with kendo stick shots and building to an exciting backstage brawl that peaked with Natalya being shoved face first through a mirror. There's was always a sense that the pair absolutely detested each other, producing some very watchable television. The submission the pair used on the ramp emphasised their distaste for each other perfectly. The finish involved Maryse attacking Bella with a pole, after Bella had been pushed into her backstage, looked to be setting up the rumoured mixed tag match involved the pairs husbands, whilst also giving Natalya some momentum to head into whatever is next for the Queen of Black Harts. There could have been a more satisfying finish that rounded the feud off smoother, but on the whole I didn't have too many issues with the run-in. 

Match 4 

AJ Styles, Luke Harper 

def. 

John Cena, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews (Uhaa Nation), Kalisto, Mojo Rawley

in a WWE Championship #1 Contender's Battle Royal

(24:44)

So, the show concluded with AJ Styles and Luke Harper supposedly both ending up touching the floor at the same time, with Daniel Bryan then putting them in a singles match at #915. There were a couple of issues with how this was done for me, but there were also some positives. Because I'm a mardy bastard let's start with the negatives. The spot that saw both guys hit the floor was ridiculous over-complicated, as Harper attempted to essentially suplex Styles over the turnbuckle, leading to both men hitting the floor. The complicated and risky nature of the spot meant that clearly Styles' feet hit the floor before Harper's and therefore WWE didn't show any replays of the spot in between it happening and the end of the show. My other issue with it, was just how cheated the Ontario crowd was of having seen a #1 Contender for the biggest show of the year crowned, and they clearly weren't happy with that. However, with WWE have five more episode's of Smackdown Live to fill with content, so extended stories that could have been played out over a shorter timespan is almost necessary. It could produce more of a buzz and hopefully created stronger, storyline with increased depth. The next few week's will reveal all. 

The rest of the match took a while to get going, struggling to break out of your generic battle royal gubbins before the first advert break. On the opposite side of the break the majority of the eliminations were used to begin or further storylines, with Dolph Ziggler attacking both Kalisto and Apollo Crews with a chair after being dumped out by Crews, Baron Corbin planting Dean Ambrose with an End of Days on the floor after being eliminated by The Lunatic Fringe and The Miz returning to dump John Cena over the top rope after being eliminated by the 16 time World Champion. Despite a couple of nice sequences that took advantage of the bodies and talent pool in the ring, there was definitely a certain familiarity to the way each of those stories played out, which gave the match an overbearing repetitiveness. If the ending had been a product of creativity when something simple would have been just as effective, the bulk of the match lacked creativity, rarely venturing outside of it's comfort zone. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.5/10

Show in a Sentence - Some stuff overcooked, some stuff undercooked, not a lot in between.

Review - James Marston

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

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TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #890 - Alexa Bliss, Carmella & Natalya v Becky Lynch, Naomi & Nikki Bella

In the last Smackdown Live before Backlash, Alexa Bliss, Carmella & Natalya teamed up to take on Becky Lynch, Naomi & Nikki Bella, got a chance to main event the episode, but would the blue brand be able to head into it's first PPV in almost ten years with momentum?

The main event, featuring the six women who will compete to become the brand's Women's Champion on Sunday, was a mixed bag as Alexa Bliss, Carmella & Natalya picked up a victory over Becky Lynch, Naomi & Nikki Bella. For the most part, the action was well performed and well put together, with the heel team dominating Naomi and then Lynch, working well as trio. Natalya performed a couple of double team moves with either Bliss or Carmella with David Otunga explaining the situation well, talking about how Natalya was attempting to form bonds ahead of the six pack challenge. Teaming Natalya with Carmella and Bliss will definitely be a help to the lesser experienced women, as they continue to grow and learn as in-ring talent. Lynch works well in the face in peril role, getting a couple of flash pin attempts kept things interesting and the crowd involved, however, I feel saving her for the full on hot tag would have gotten a stronger reaction, than Lynch tagging in Bella. 

The main problem for this match was the one that will cast the most doubt over how good their six way on Sunday will be, as the breakdown segment was more than a little bit sloppy. There seemed to be an issue with timing, as some of the women were unable to keep up with the others, leading to either rushed spots or a lot of fumbling. There were some nice ideas though, like Bella taking Bliss' Insult to Injury [Standing Moonsault Double Knee Drop] in the melee, before Carmella would lock in Code of Silence [Modified Figure-Four Headscissor] for the submission victory, playing on Bella's previously injured neck, whilst also continuing to build the feud between Bella and Carmella. However, seeing as Sunday will call for a lot of similar action, it wasn't the greatest advert for the PPV clash. Hopefully the booking will be able to cover up the short comings of some of the performers, otherwise the bout might struggle to keep up any real pace. 

In this week's opening match Intercontinental Champion The Miz picked up a victory over his SummerSlam opponent Apollo Crews in a decent contest, that featured Miz's BackLash challenger, Dolph Ziggler, on commentary. Miz and Crews might not have the best wrestling chemistry as was seen in an awkward hope spot for Crews involving sunset flips, but what both men can offer was on clear display here, as The One Man Nation got to display his agility and Miz's own brand of crafty cowardice was there as well. These two elements made for an interesting match, that whilst it was nothing to get too excited about, was entertaining from start to finish. That finish would see Miz get into an argument with Ziggler at ringside, before Crews would enter the conversation and then found himself sent into The Show-Off and then the ringpost before finally succumbing to The Skull Crush Finale [Full Nelson Facebuster]. Maryse having to retrieve the Intercontinental title belt from Ziggler, whilst Miz stood on the outside put the exclamation point in place and left their feud poised nicely for a 11th September showdown.

The conclusion of the show would be the go-home segment for AJ Styles v World Champion Dean Ambrose on Sunday as the pair dual on the microphone, after quickly sending interviewer Charly Carusso packing. I felt like both men did a better job selling this feud across these eight minutes of television, than has been managed across the previous two weeks of television. There were some parts, like Ambrose handing Styles his old bowling trophy, which initially seemed goofy, but would pay off come the end of the segment, that made this back and forth an especially rewarding watch. Both men brought some fire to their performances, as they threw clever barbs at each other, with The Phenomenal One keeping the fire burning with John Cena, with Ambrose reminding Styles that he wasn't Cena and they wouldn't be having a wrestling match on Sunday night. It was intense and entertaining, with Ambrose's final rant getting the crowd pretty excited about the upcoming tangle between the pair. We'd have to be reminded of the terrible angle from last week where Ambrose rocked Styles on the top rope, when Styles gained a modicum of revenge with a kick to the balls, but the smashing of the bowling trophy (which Ambrose had offered as a consolation of sorts for the upcoming "loss") over his knee was a nice touch that bought the show to a satisfying conclusion.

It was a big night for the Women, as they not only got to main event the show, but also featured in the opening segment that saw General Manager Daniel Bryan initially introduce Becky Lynch, before Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Naomi and Nikki Bella would all get involved. This was the last opportunity to hear from the Women's division, I'm not sure that it delivered much at all. The initial promo from Lynch had fire and told a nice story of her trying to finally win a championship and live up to her potential, but Bryan awkwardly shilling Total Bellas in the middle of it hurt the flow and once Natalya had fully interrupted I felt like the segment struggled to find it's feet. The villainous trio of Natalya, Bliss and Carmella would end up bickering like school girls, before eventually looking to turn on Lynch and Naomi and Bella were out for the save. With the six woman tag only delivering in part, it was a shame that this segment didn't manage to sell the upcoming supercard all that well either.

The run of Heath Slater and Rhyno continued as they picked up a victory over The Hype Bros [Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder] to advance to the final of the Tag Team Championship tournament. This was a fun match with a very captive crowd. The Slater and Rhyno act has caught fire over the last few weeks and this meant that the crowd were hooked, ferociously awaiting the hot tag to Rhyno and essentially turning Rawley & Ryder heel. The pop when The Man-Beast finally got into the ring was ridiculous! The relationship between Slater & Rhyno continued to build with The War Machine once again having to rescue Slater from a precarious position, this time Ryder's Broski Boot, before getting the pinfall for the team with a Gore. The Hype Bros performed their roles well, in a match that had more going for it than just the Slater & Rhyno bromance, with Rawley seeming to fit better into the spoiler role than his partner. Will Slater & Rhyno be able to ride their momentum all the way to the Tag Titles on 11th September? Maybe, just, maybe. 

Also in the Semi-Finals of the Tag Team Championship Tournament, American Alpha [Chad Gable & Jason Jordan] went over The Usos [Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso] in what was more of an angle than it was a match. The bout lasted less than thirty seconds after American Alpha turned the tide on a pre-match attack, sent Uso #2 to the outside and pinned Uso #1 with Grand Amplitude. It was a surprisingly short bout, but the real talking came directly after the contest as The Usos turned heel for the first time since 2011, attacking Gable & Jordan post-match and specifically assaulting Gable's leg. They pulled out a series of nasty looking holds, that were delivered completely differently to how the duo have been portrayed over the last five years or so. It was a brilliant angle that has been building for sometime between the four and will make any potential re-match between the pair miles bigger than it was at this point in their careers. 

Best of the Rest 

• In a weird turn of events, Kane chokeslammed Fandango and then did a bit of Fandangoing, all of this happened after Fandango claimed that a middle-aged woman's hips lied. 

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.07/10

Smackdown Live #890 was an average show, on a brand that has struggled to find it's identity since the Draft. The Women's Division got a chance to shine with a main event and an opening segment, gifting the females a huge portion of the air time and unfortunately I don't feel like anyone stood up and made the time their own, whilst the division as a collective didn't manage to do that either. The match was okay, with a sloppy closing stretch, the interview segment had promise but again fell apart towards the end. As an advert to a match involving everyone in the division it wasn't great. 

The strongest part of the show was probably Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles who used what was a fairly limited time slot to push a PPV World title bout and made the most of it, building an interesting story for their bout and adding extra layers within it. Outside of that, Miz continued to build on his character, even if his feud with Dolph Ziggler doesn't excite me and the Tag Team tournament continued to be entertaining, without any standout efforts, as The Usos and American Alpha bout was used an angle for a future feud. 

This was an alright episode of Smackdown Live, which isn't really what you want to be saying heading into the brands first PPV in almost ten years! 

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #889 - Baron Corbin v Dean Ambrose

Aired - 30th August 2016

Just 12 days before BackLash 2016, World Champion Dean Ambrose was in action against Baron Corbin, but would that be enough to keep the excitement building for the 11th September supercard? 

This week's Smackdown Live main event was a decent enough clash, between World Champion Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin, but I'm unsure about what the show closing angle involving #1 Contender AJ Styles was attempting to achieve. The match was perfectly fine stuff, nothing to get too excited about, but a well structured encounter in which Corbin looked comfortable in his first Smackdown Live bout since the start of the month. He's put together some nice spots, like the rolling out and directly back into the ring to take control and has moves like Deep Six, that he pulled out moments after a tasty suicide dive from The Lunatic Fringe. In the role he had to do here, that a bruising heel challenge for the World Champion, there's no doubt that The Lone Wolf has improved from the performer we saw leave NXT in April. After Styles had caused the DQ, throwing Ambrose over the announce table was where things went slightly south for me. Ambrose would hit Dirty Deeds on Corbin and then thwart Styles' Phenomenal Forearm attempt, leaving The Phenomenal One crotched on the top ring rope. It just didn't click for me and Ambrose playing it for laughs, didn't make it easy to believe that Styles was a serious contender for the belt and whilst that obviously isn't a problem for die-hard pro wrestling fans, it very well could be for the audience that WWE is competing for.

The show's semi-main event was a solid tag team bout from the Women's division pitting Natalya and Alexa Bliss against Becky Lynch and Naomi, whilst a strong angle involving Carmella attacking Nikki Bella at the commentary table as the build towards the crowning of a new Women's Champion in an all-encompassing Six Pack Challenge on 11th September. The angle probably ended up overshadowing the bout, but with a fairly limited run time over an hour and a quarter each week, it makes sense to cram as much into the Women's division as possible in these early weeks to help to create a deep and rich sector. The contest was a strong, yet unspectacular tag bout, with all four women working well together and getting good reactions from the Dallas crowd. Natalya and Bliss seem to have good chemistry as duo, whilst that's also present in the worked between Natalya and Naomi, however the issues between Bliss and Lynch do come across as a little forced with their in-ring confrontations being the weakest action of another stellar bout. Bliss getting a second pinfall over Lynch, following the distraction of Carmella at ringside, seems to suggest we'll be seeing more of those two, so I'm hoping that we get to see them click heading out of BackLash.

As well as being involved in the show closing angle, AJ Styles would also be in action this week as he collided with an Apollo Crews who struggled for screen time since the brand split (despite earning an Intercontinental title shot at SummerSlam on the first Smackdown Live!). The match was decent fair but not in the range that many will know Styles and Crews could produce given the right opportunity. After a physical opening exchange, two spots in particular stood out in the 8 minute bout, a lovely moonsault off the apron by Crews as well as the former Dragon Gate catching a diving crossbody from the Phenomenal One and turning it into a Samoan drop. Outside of this the match was as smooth as you'd expect, but lacked the change of gear that would have picked it out as a must-see. The finish came off as a bit flat, coming directly after the samoan drop spot, with Styles pulling Crews across the ropes with a stunner, before hitting a Phenomenal Forearm to pick up the win. Crews v Styles was probably on the same level as Ambrose v Corbin in the main event, but I can't help feeling that putting the two bouts together and having a tag main event (Styles & Corbin v Ambrose & Crews) would have created a much more satisfying action. 

Rounding out the top of the card and arguably the best part of the show was Bray Wyatt's "Sermon for the Serpent", which addressed new rival, Randy Orton. I've always found The Eater of World's fascinating to listen to, because his character allows him to take a different tone and style with his promos than the majority of WWE's roster, he has the ability to pull something out of nothing, but it's when he has something to get his teeth into that he's at his best and that was on display here. He weaved the characters stories together well, discussing Orton's Viper gimmick, as well as the idea that he hears voices in his head, which all made for perfect fodder for Wyatt's cult leader character. To help the words, the segment was shot beautifully with the, now former, Wyatt Family leader sitting in his rocking chair with the cameras pointed upwards from the ring apron, creating an ominous look that got over Wyatt's size well. The closing moments where Orton would appear, and eventually attempt to fight Wyatt in the ring, were well timed and made sure that the moment The Viper got in the ring the crowd was buzzing to see the pair scrap, only for Wyatt to pull off his disappearing act for the second week in a row. With a match between the pair confirmed for 11th September, we won't have to wait long for one of the biggest first time matches (broadcast, at least) that WWE currently has. 

In the opening segment, Dolph Ziggler would end up substituting for Daniel Bryan in an angle that began on last week's Talking Smack ending up getting an Intercontinental Championship match with The Miz at BackLash for his troubles. As much as it didn't have the fire that the Bryan and Miz confrontation had and as much as it showed that neither guy had particularly progressed since 2008, I felt like both (as well as Maryse) put in positive performances, in a well structured exchange. Miz may have fluffed a couple of his line, but it came across as passion because he genuinely looked pissed off that people perceive him as a "soft-style" coward, whilst The Show-Off came through the curtain like he'd just downed a can of Monster and bought just as much passion as Miz did to proceedings. The fact that Miz ended up walking away, whilst Ziggler challenged him to a fight, and then had to "held back" by Maryse, played up the coward gimmick well and I'm interested to see where the feud goes next week heading into BackLash, because they'll have to be creative to keep it going. With the fact the pair have had at least two TV singles matches a year since 2012 (a massive six in 2014, four already in 2016 and a grand total of SEVENTEEN) will make it hard for the pair to produce something new, but I'm willing to wait and see what they can pull out.

The third Quarter Final in a tournament to crown new Tag Team Champions, saw The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) advance to the Semi-Finals over The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch) , in an unsatisfying contest. Giving the opening contest less than three minutes was never going to produce a tag classic and the clash ended up feeling a bit of an extended squash match. The main problem for me when watching this, is that the potential for a feud between the two teams is obvious, with The Vaudevillains being the old-school entertainers, whilst Hype Bros are an upbeat neon clad ball of caffeine. An opening exchange that saw Ryder hit a front dropkick through the 2nd and 3rd ropes on Gotch, leading to English to nail a sweet running neckbreaker onto the floor, showed that the potential wasn't just in the character juxtaposition, as well. It's seems odd to have three (currently) babyface teams advance to the semi-finals and weakens any potential championship feud that will definitely need heel teams like The Vaudevillains, Breezango or The Ascension. 

In a move away from the regular WWE production style, there was an intriguing segment in which Renee Young went to interview Heath Slater in the single-wide trailer that he calls his home. We'd meet Slater's wife Buelah and learn that the tag partner that the One Man Band acquired last week, 2 time ECW World Television Champion Rhyno, was already best friends with Slater. The undoubted star of the segment was The Man-Beast who has some wonderful comic timing and was given the funnier of the jokes involved in the skit. However I don't feel like the segment quite came together as it could have, with Slater lacking some of the charm he's had on previous appearances on RAW and Smackdown Live during the Free Agent angle. If these types of segments continue then I'm sure they'll become much more comfortable as WWE works out their particular style for them, and as a first attempt this was definitely watchable and contained a couple of funny moments, but it wasn't quite a home run either. 

Slater and Rhyno became the Kings of the undercard as they also took part in the Quarter Finals of the Tag title tourney, taking The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher). Yep, the Headbangers returned for their first WWE appearance since losing to the Dudley Boyz on an episode of Jakked in May 2000! Whilst barely longer than the Hype Bros v The Vaudevillains bout, I found this clash a much more enjoyable outing. Mosh & Thrasher looked surprisingly good, with Mosh pulling out a springboard crossbody to knock Slater off the apron as well as a brilliant Stage Dive [powerbomb and diving leg drop combination] for a false finish. The dynamic of Slater & Rhyno as a duo was presented well, with the former Nexus member struggling, before The Man-Beast dragged him over to their side of the ring for a tag and nailing a Gore for the win! As they go on to face The Hype Bros in the semi-finals, I'm hoping we get to see Beauty and the Man-Beast advance to the 11th September final as they present by far the most interesting story for that match against either American Alpha or The Usos. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.25/10

This was an episode that had a lot of good ideas, some which paid off like the Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton segment, some of which were disappointing but still entertaining like The Miz and Dolph Ziggler's altercation, some of which could have been improved upon with a little bit more though, like both Dean Ambrose v Baron Corbin and AJ Styles v Apollo Crews and some of which were brave and different like Renee Young's trip to Heath Slater's home. The strongest encounter was probably the under the radar Alexa Bliss & Natalya v Becky Lynch and Naomi clash that was aided by a strong angle between Nikki Bella and Carmella. 

While I have a number of thoughts about next week's go-home show for BackLash, I'm mostly hoping that the talented tag team division finally gets the chance to show-us what it can do, after a strong twelve man tag bout on the SummerSlam Kick-Off show. The two semi-finals have tonnes of promise with The Hype Bros taking on Heather Slater & Rhyno and a highly anticipated confrontation between American Alpha and The Usos, I'm just wishing that both bouts are allowed to live up to their potential to set up a Final that the audience can look forward to.

For those counting, this week puts RAW level with Smackdown Live at 3-3 in their week to week ATPW Scale Rating battle since the Draft.

Written content - James Marston
Banner Credit - Kai Stellar