Blu-Ray Review: WWE Survivor Series 2015 (The B.O.D. vs. Wyatt Family)

WWE Survivor Series 2015 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now in the UK. You can order here at WWEDVD.co.uk and all other reputable Home Video stockists. Broadcast live on PPV (and on the WWE Network) from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia USA on 22nd November 2015. The show features The Brothers of Destruction clashing with The Wyatt Family's Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper in the main event. The Blu-Ray edition includes nine other matches featuring the likes of Dean Ambrose, The New Day, The Lucha Dragons, King Barrett, Charlotte, Paige, Sheamus, The Usos, Roman Reigns and Ryback in prominent bouts. Commentary is provided by John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Michael Cole, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Byron Saxton, Booker T & Rich Brennan.

survivor series 2015 blu-ray match card

Match 1 – WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final – Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio w/Zeb Colter

Match 2 – WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final – Dean Ambrose vs. WWE Intercontinental Championship Kevin Owens

Match 3 – Traditional Survivor Series Elimination – Ryback, The Lucha Dragons & The Usos vs. Mr. Money in the Bank Sheamus, 2015 King of the Ring King Barrett & WWE Tag Team The New Day

Match 4 – WWE Diva's Championship – Paige vs. Charlotte ©

Match 5 – Singles – Tyler Breeze w/Summer Rae vs. Dolph Ziggler

Match 6 – Tag Team – The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper) w/Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan vs. The Brothers of Destruction

Match 7 – WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final – Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose 

Match 8 – WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Roman Reigns © vs. Money in the Bank Contract Holder Sheamus

Match 9 – Five on Five Traditional Survivor Series Elimination – The Miz, Bo Dallas, Stardust & The Ascension vs. “The Man That Gravity Forgot” Neville, The Dudley Boyz, Titus O'Neil & Goldust

Match 10 – Tag Team – WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio w/Zeb Colter vs. Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns

main feature

Survivor Series 2015 kicks off with a solid bout between Roman Reigns and Alberto Del Rio, as the pair battle it out in the Semi-Final of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament. At times it feels like ADR is simply going through the motions, however it is some competent selling from Reigns that manages to drive the clash. A second semi-final bout between Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose is probably of a similar quality, with Owens standing out as the star of the bout as he works hard to lift a initially flat crowd. Despite an excellent finishing stretch, there are still portions of the match that one would expect to have been a lot tighter from workers of this calibre.

The only Traditional Five on Five Elimination contest on the bout begins brightly with King Barrett and Sheamus bringing a different energy to The New Day's pre-match promo. However, the clash with Ryback, The Lucha Dragons and The Usos suffers from some bizarre booking, an off-beat pace and a crowd that doesn't seem to be interested at all. That being said, there are some nice spots peppered throughout the contest. 

The first title match see's Charlotte defending the WWE Diva's Championship in a scrappy fight with Paige, who was in the middle of another ill-advised heel turn. Whilst there are some nice ideas on display, the contest never really comes together, which isn't helped by a flat finish. Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze then run through some decent sequences of action, but a lack of time, character-depth and crowd interaction hurt what feels like another throwaway match.

The main event of the evening has The Undertaker and Kane teaming up once more, as The Brothers of Destruction, as part of the celebration of 25 years of The Undertaker, an idea that dominates the presentation of the bout. Opposite Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family, there are a lot of cool moment that play well off the different characters signature move and mannerisms. The crowd being so into the action makes the match a lot more watchable than perhaps it would've been otherwise. 

To close the show, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are back to compete over the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, in what is a good, little match, which it's difficult not to feel disappointing by. The crowd continue to give a korma reaction to action, but they do wake up for the big post-match angle. 

special features 

From Survivor Series 2016 Kick-Off, there's another Traditional Five on Five Elimination bout, with The Miz, Bo Dallas, Stardust & The Ascension taking on Neville, The Dudley Boyz, Titus O'Neil and Goldust in a very meh kind of match. The wrestling throughout is all completely fine, but with no real drive and a lack of quality booking there's no real reason to check this one out. 

Onto the Blu-Ray exclusives and we start with a fun, back and forth between The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt on the mic from Monday Night RAW #1173, that build towards the PPV well. From the same show there's a contract signing between Charlotte and Paige for their bout, which features some strong mic from Charlotte and an enjoyable ringside brawl. An edition of Miz TV from Thursday Night Smackdown #848 with appearances from the four semi-finalists in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament is highlighted by a comedic appearance from R-Truth. The set rounds off with a fairly straight-forward tag bout from the same show, with Kevin Owens teaming with Alberto Del Rio against Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.

finally...
blu-ray rating - 5.02

A distinctly average show here. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament provides the best action across the disc, but with the four performers involved I think many would expect a lot better quality. The Brothers of Destruction make for a fun main event, but one that ultimately lacks substance. The special features are also a bit of a downer, for not including any of the prelimary tournament matches. A miss opportunity to include the likes of Cesaro vs. Reigns, Owens vs. Neville or Ambrose vs. Ziggler, all of which could have boosted the quality of the content on the disc.

Opinion: WWE Future Endeavoured - King Barrett, Damien Sandow, El Torito, Alex Riley, Santino Marella, Zeb Colter, Hornswoggle & Cameron

WWE has released El Torito, Alex Riley, Zeb Colter, Hornswoggle, Cameron from their contracts. Here's the low down on their WWE careers and just why WWE might have decided to let them go.

king barrett 

Formerly known as Stu Sanders, Stu Bennett, Lawrence Knight, Wade Barrett and Bad News Barrett throughout his time under contract for WWE, Barrett joined WWE in October 2007. Having debuted for developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling in dark match against Ace Steel that same month, Barrett would move to Florida Championship Wrestling in April 2008, teaming with Drew McIntyre on his debut in a losing effort against The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colon (Primo/Diego) & Eric Perez (Eric Escobar)). He held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship with Paul Burchill and the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice with McIntyre as part of The Empire. A main roster debut came in April 2008 in a loss to Funaki in a dark match for Friday Night Smackdown, but a full TV debut wouldn't come until March 2010, where he defeated Daniel Bryan on the 2nd episode of the original NXT. Despite main-eventing PPV's like SummerSlam, Night of Champions, Bragging Rights, Survivor Series, TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs as part of the major storyline involving The Nexus in 2010, Barrett was never able to capture the main strap during this time and found himself shuffled down the card for the remainder of his career. 

A couple of injuries hampered his progress, although he did win the WWE Intercontinental Championship on five occasions, with his most recent run ending in March of last year. He also won the 2015 King of the Ring, defeating Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth and Neville in his run to the crown. He was part of a number of memorable matches, including Money in the Bank ladder matches in 2011 and 2013, an Elimination Chamber in 2011, the 14 man Tag Team Elimination match from SummerSlam 2011, the Seven-Way Ladder match from WrestleMania 31 and a singles match with John Cena at Hell in a Cell 2010. 

Managing just two WrestleMania matches (XXVII & 31) in his six years on the main roster, Barrett's final WWE match came on this years post-WrestleMania Monday Night RAW in April, where he teamed with Sheamus as The League of Nations in a failed attempt to take the WWE Tag Team Championships from The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston. Across his time with WWE he teamed up with his League of Nations' partner Sheamus and Nexus and Corre buddies Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel most regularly, whilst spending most of his time opposite Randy Orton, Sheamus and Kofi Kingston.

Reason For Release - According to a Twitter post, Barrett had decided not to re-sign with the company and requested an early release from his contract. I guess that Barrett had had enough of repeatedly hitting the glass ceiling and being unable to break it.

Future - There's plenty of options for Barrett right now. The British Indy scene is bristling with talent and the most the popular it's been in years and Barrett would be a big draw across the country, with a trip to join pal Drew Galloway in ICW possible. Galloway's other main haunt right now, TNA, would also offer plenty of opportunity for growth for Barrett as it has provided Galloway and other WWE talent in the past. If he fancies some travelling he could be a good fit for NJPW's current product and help to beef up their roster that WWE has picked apart in recent months. He's said he'll return to the ring after a short break.

damien sandow

Formerly known as Damien Mizdow, Macho Mandow and Idol Stevens during his most recent run with the company, Sandow had previously been employed between 2002-2007 using Aaron Stevens, The Easter Bunny and The Idol as names. Re-signing with WWE in July 2010, Sandow spent time in Florida Championship Wrestling, debuting in a six man tag team bout alongside Jackson Andrews & Ryan O'Reilly (Konnor) and losing to Devin Allen, Rhys Ali & Wes Brisco on a August live event, before going on to capture the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Titus O'Neil from Marcus Owens and Xavier Woods in 2010 and the FCW 15 Championship from Seth Rollins in 2011. 

Sandow lost to Tyson Kidd on his re-debut on a Smackdown House Show in December 2011, before returning to television in May 2012 with a victory over Yoshi Tatsu on Friday Night Smackdown. He infamously failed to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on John Cena during an October 2013 episode of Monday Night RAW. The peak of his time with the company was arguably his time spent as The Miz's "stunt double", Damien Mizdow, when the pair captured the WWE Tag Team Championship from Goldust & Stardust in a Fatal Four-Way match that also included Los Matadores & The Usos. Despite, the popularity of Mizdow the title reign only lasted just under a month. 

Sandow counts amongst his most memorable bouts the 2012 & 2013 Money in the Bank Ladder matches, a six man tag bout alongside Antonio Cesaro & Jack Swagger against Cody Rhodes, Goldust & John Cena from Friday Night Smackdown in 2013, a ten man tag team Elimination bout from Survivor Series 2012 and the 2013 Royal Rumble match. Regular tag team partners included Cody Rhodes as part of Team Rhodes Scholars, Curtis Axel and The Miz, whilst Brodus Clay, Heath Slater & Jimmy Uso were Sandow's most frequent opponents. His final WWE match will air on tomorrow's Main Event, where he faces former FCW Tag Team partner, Titus O'Neil.

Reason For Release - Clearly, WWE didn't see a whole lot in Sandow and refused to feature him regularly on their main television shows, despite him getting loud reactions whenever he did appear. Sandow was clearly unsettled and wanted to make the most of his popularity by heading elsewhere.

Future - Similar to Barrett, I could see Sandow turning up in a lot of places. His strong mic-work and character will see him well on pretty much any wrestling television show. I expect a tour of the Indys first though to make the most of autograph signings, merchandise and what have you. 

el torito

Signed with WWE since April 2013, El Torito debuted for the company as the sidekick to a repackaged Epico & Primo, Los Matadores, with his first match coming a month later. Having previously wrestled for CMLL and AAA in Mexico, but was mainly kept at ringside for Fernando and Diego. His only in-ring PPV appearance came in the 2014 Royal Rumble match, but he did also spend time opposite Hornswoggle, Heath Slater & Titus O'Neil, whilst teaming with Diego, Fernando and Sin Cara. His final WWE bout came in January, teaming with Kalisto to defeat Los Matadores at a WWE Live event in Monroe, Louisiana.  

Reason For Release - Los Matadores reverted back to Epico and Primo with vignettes currently aired for their return. What else can you do with a tiny bull? 

Future - Most likely a return to Mexico, probably with AAA. I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn up in a future series of Lucha Underground either, back under his original name, Mascarita Dorada.

alex riley

Alex Riley had also been signed since 2007, but didn't make his debut on the main roster until 2010. During his run in developmental he held the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship, but failed to capture any gold in WWE. His most highly regarded matches included a Tornado Tag Team match with Rey Mysterio against The Miz & Jack Swagger from Monday Night #RAW #944 and a Fatal Four-Way over the WWE United States Championship at Night of Champions 2011, that also featured Swagger, Dolph Ziggler & John Morrison. He spent a while teaming with Mason Ryan, The Miz and Primo whilst regularly squaring off with the likes of Michael McGillicutty, Primo and David Otunga. 


Reason For Release - Riley hadn't been seen on WWE's main block of programming since way back in April 2013 and stopped touring with the main roster in January 2015. Apart from an appearance in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the Kick-Off show for WrestleMania 31, Riley has been down in NXT. He tried his hand on commentary and then got back in the ring, he clearly didn't do enough during this run to impress anyone in WWE management. His last match was against Shinsuke Nakamura at a recent NXT TV taping, that will air later this year.

Future - If Riley's still got his heart in the wrestling biz after a turbulent couple of years with WWE, then I'm sure TNA would be interested in giving him a run. Personally, I don't think Riley has the talent to be a major star for the company, in the same way that Ethan Carter III had and has really lost any name value that he might have had a few years ago, but hey, this is TNA we're talking about, he wrestled for WWE that's good enough for them!

santino marella 

Arguably the most decorated of those released today, Marella had been signed with WWE since 2005. Originally in developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, after making his OVW against Mo Sexton under the name Boris Alexiev, Marella won the OVW Television Championship twice before debuting on the main-roster in a Friday Night Smackdown dark match against Jamie Noble in January 2007. Going on to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice, as well as the WWE United States Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship (alongside Vladimir Kozlov), Marella had a fairly fruitful WWE career, up until a neck injury forced him into retirement in July 2014. His final bout for the 'E came at house show in Portland, Maine in June 2014, where he teamed with Emma to defeat Fandango & Layla. Following retirement he appeared in two films for WWE, as well as making occasional appearances on WWE television. His best remembered matches were probably his appearances in multi-man matches like the 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Royal Rumble's, an Elimination Chamber and Money in the Bank Ladder match in 2012. His most regular opponents were Jack Swagger, David Otunga and Cody Rhodes, whilst he frequently teamed with Vladimir Kozlov, Carlito & Beth Phoenix. 

Reason For Release - As stated above he'd been officially retired since the summer of 2014, so it was only a matter of time with the company running out of projects for him to do. 

Future - He will most likely continue to run Battle Arts Academy in Mississauga, Ontario. With him being done with wrestling, I wouldn't expect to see him appear for any other major promotion, but could definitely see him being popular at autograph signings and conventions.

zeb colter

Zeb Colter had been with the company since 2013, in his latest run, having previously worked with the company between 1994-1997. Returning on a February 2013 edition of Friday Night Smackdown, Colter was portrayed mostly as a xenophobe with strong beliefs on immigration and quickly became one of the companies most controversial characters since the Attitude Era. Having once held the WWC Universal Championship, Colter was mostly utilised as a manager for the likes of Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro and most recently, Alberto Del Rio. He had a brief in-ring run on television during April 2013, facing Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez and Big E. Langston and tagging with Swagger. His final appearance for WWE came on the 7th December 2015 episode of Monday Night RAW when his Mex-America gimmick with Del Rio came to an abrupt end.

Reason For Release - After the Mex-America gimmick bombed, WWE creative have been unable to find a role for Zeb Colter. After a lengthy period off television as they tried to come up with a new role for him in the first place, it's obviously been decided that Colter is surplus to requirements.

Future - Whilst he may decide to seek work in the creative department elsewhere, I'd expect to see Colter join the Legends convention circuit in North America and potentially a trip to the UK also.

hornswoggle

Formerly known as The Little Bastard, Hornswoggle had been with the company since 2007 and held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on one occasion, wrestling at both Royal Rumble and Survivor Series and featuring in major storylines like becoming Vince McMahon's illegitimate son after his "real" Dad, Finlay, had faked a DNA test. He teamed frequently with Heath Slater, Finlay and Titus O'Neil and took on the likes of El Torito, Diego & Fernando most regularly. His final match for the company came in August 2015, where he defeated Heath Slater in a dark match before the taping of Main Event.

Reason For Release - Hornswoggle was suspended for 30 days for violating WWE's wellness policy back in September 2015 and hasn't been seen in the company since that point. I guess creative had just run out of ways to take the piss out of small people. 

Future - Umm. Honestly, I don't have a clue.

cameron

Also known as Cameron Lynn during her WWE career, Cameron signed with the company in April 2011, having been the first competitor to be eliminated from the Tough Enough reality show, after infamously claiming her favourite match of all-time was Melina vs. Alicia Fox. First heading to Florida Championship Wrestling, she teamed with Naomi in her debut to defeat Caylee Turner & Kaitlyn at a September 2011 TV taping. It didn't take long for her to make her main roster debut, as she appeared as Brodus Clay's valet, alongside Cameron, on a January 2012 episode of Monday Night RAW, with the pair being collectively known as The Funkadactyls. However, Cameron wouldn't make her in-ring debut on WWE TV until December 2012, appearing in a Santa's Little Helper Battle Royal on the Pre-Show for TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, that would be won by Naomi. Her most-notable achievement with the company was starring as a regular on the season one to three of reality series Total Divas.

She spent most of her in-ring time taking on Emma, Naomi and Natalya, whilst also teaming with Naomi as the aforementioned Funkadactyls, Summer Rae and former idol, Alicia Fox! Her final match with WWE came in March 2016, where she teamed with Team B.A.D. (Naomi & Tamina) to lose to Alicia Fox, Paige and Sasha Banks on a WWE Live Road to WrestleMania event in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Reason For Release - Cameron was sent back down to NXT in October 2015 and spent four months performing on TV tapings and house shows for the brand. Despite returning to touring with the main roster in February and March this year, she hadn't shown enough improvement to warrant her place on the roster, alongside talented new additions Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch. 

Future - Anything but wrestling please. Girl bye.

Rightio, all that's left to do now is wish all of these guys and girl the very best in whatever they choose to do outside WWE! Thanks for entertaining us over your time with the company, or at least trying to!

TV REVIEW: WWE Monday Night RAW #1171

Following a good episode of Monday Night RAW last week, WWE looked to build towards Survivor Series this week. With a traditional Survivor Series Elimination match with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Ryback and The Usos taking on Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and The New Day, The Wyatt Family revealing more about their attacks on The Undertaker and Kane, a Fatal 4Way between Paige, Becky Lynch, Brie Bella and Sasha Banks to determine the Number One Contender to Charlotte's Diva's Championship and more, could WWE improve on last week's 5.56 on the ATPW Scale? Let's find out...

For me, the opening segment was solid, in that it confirmed a match for the upcoming Survivor Series PPV (Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship), as well as the main event for this evening (Team Rollins vs. Team Reigns in a Traditional 5v5 Survivor Series Elimination Match) . Roman Reigns opening promo however, didn't get things off to a great start. Part of that is to do with Reigns' performance, which was admittedly wooden at points and unnatural in it's delivery, but the content was also weak, feeling repetitive and losing my attention pretty quickly. Luckily, once Seth Rollins interrupted, the energy lifted and the WWE World Heavyweight Champions words put Reigns over as a much more believable challenge than Reigns had managed to do earlier. The Juggernaut comes across as much more threatening and charismatic when he has someone to bounce off, WWE need to stop putting him in situations where he is out there on his own as it only extenuates his weaknesses on the mic. 

Match 1 - Singles
Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler

A sweet opening contest for TV, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens worked well together here. Owens focusing on The Show Off's left knee from the bell (with Michael Cole doing a stellar job of getting over that Tyler Breeze had injured the knee previously) gave the match a clear narrative throughout. Ziggler may be one of the best in the company when fighting from underneath, his scrappy fighting back and whilst selling the injury, worked into Kevin Owens style well. The handful of hope spots that were thrown Ziggler's way were well placed, his massive DDT being the highlight. The crowd could have been into this a little bit more than they were, especially considering Owens and Ziggler are usually two favourites with certain portions of the fans. Tyler Breeze's involvement at ringside was focused on a little bit too much for my liking at times, but having him involved in the finish, allowed Kevin Owens to gain momentum whilst allowing the feud between Breeze and Ziggler to continue to gain traction. 

Winner - Kevin Owens via Pinfall (Pop-Up Powerbomb)

Fast-Forward... Breeze and Ziggler's post-match back and forth continued to make Breeze look like a threat to the Show-Off, there's a lot of potential for this feud going forward... To build to the Surivor Series match, some highlight's packages from past matches aired, the first from the original PPV, with a Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan going over The Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, Danny Davis, Ron Bass and Harley Race...Seth Rollins recruiting Kevin Owens for his team backstage was a fun little segment, with talk of a WrestleMania main event between the two being mouthwatering for sure...A replay last week's six Diva tag team match between PCB and Team Bella was shown, mainly to show Paige's attack of her former team mates, Becky Lynch and Charlotte....I found Becky Lynch and Renee Young's relationship to be adorable in a backstage interview, Brie Bella was less believable....

Match 2 - Singles
The Miz vs. Cesaro

This wasn't a terrible contest, but for me it was the least enjoyable of the show this week. Whilst The Miz did allow Cesaro to look like a beast, there were moments that I found myself being pulled out of the action. Miz' chinlock on Cesaro looked ridiculous, with both men for some reason going really over-the-top in their performances. Maybe that's what WWE wants from the "Swiss Superman" as they seem to be positioning him for a feud with Stardust, who was in crowd with The Ascension. I guess they're playing of the "Superman" moniker. At least Cesaro seems to be getting a bit of momentum again, as he managed to pick up the victory with a Cesaro Swing transitioned in a Sharpshooter. Here's hoping the Stardust feud is just a springboard for the former United States Champion.

Winner - Cesaro via Submission (Sharpshooter)

Fast-Forward... The "Thank You" to the fans that aired was bizarre to say the least and anytime WWE mentions "Brock Lesnar Guy" is going to piss me off anyway...

Bray Wyatt explaining what exactly he and his Family had done to The Undertaker and Kane was a strange one. If you missed it, Wyatt let us know that he'd taken their souls and now had their powers. The Eater of World's emotive language "the rotting carcas of the Undertaker"..."scorched body of Kane" was great, it kept me hooked to the screen. His use of language is different to everyone else in the WWE and that makes him incredibly watchable. It was a shame that when he began to use his new powers, proclaiming it was "well within my power to take your world and burn it straight to hell", that all the happened was he "made" some pyro go off on the entrance ramp. If you had the power to destroy the world, why would you even bother wrestling? Things went a little too far into the supernatural to sit inside the WWE product for me.



Fast Forward... As The Lucha Dragons, King Barrett and Sheamus made their way to the ring, a Lucha Dragons slick promo package aired, which was curious addition...

Match 3 - Tag Team 
Sheamus & King Barrett vs. The Lucha Dragons

As TV tag team bouts go, this was pretty damn good. The two teams gelled well together, as WWE seems to be going forward with Barrett and Sheamus as a duo. The pace of the Lucha Dragons made for a smashing contrast with the brawling stylings of Sheamus and Barrett, which gave the bout a lovely flow. I was literally expecting this to be a four or five minutes squash for Barrett and Sheamus, but as the match continued and continued I found myself getting more and more into the action, with all four men performing very well. The fact that the more experience team managed to pick up the victory, with Kalisto pinning Barrett off a Salida del Sol, made me very happy indeed. Hopefully there's more to come out of these two teams, as this bout felt like to top of the ice berg for the four. 

Winners - The Lucha Dragons via pinfall (Kalisto on Barrett (Salida del Sol)

Fast-Forward....The Lucha Dragons were allowed to celebrate their victory with no shenanigans, let's see where WWE is heading with this team...Jack Swagger's relationship with Zeb Colter was quickly swept under the carpet in a backstage segment, here's hoping WWE don't go for another Swagger/Del Rio feud...Colter's little cart with a Mex-America flag on board is different, at least...Alberto Del Rio squashing R-Truth was a sloppy mess of a bout...The next Survivor Series highlight was Team Smackdown (Batista, Rey Mysterio, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Bobby Lashley & Randy Orton) going over Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Kane, Big Show, Carlito & Chris Masters) from 2005...In another fun backstage segment The New Day joined Team Rollins for the main event, whilst we also got the return of Xavier Woods, all is well with the world again...Jo-Jo chased down Sasha Banks to talk about the upcoming Diva's Four Way, with Banks grabbing the opportunity to display her character with both hands...As Becky Lynch, Sasha, Brie Bella and Paige made their way to the ring, we got another recap of the goings on from last week...

Match 5 - Diva's Championship Number One Contenders Fatal Fourway
Paige vs. Team Bella Member, Brie Bella vs. Team B.A.D. member, Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch

Before the main event, this was the longest match of the show, going nearly fifteen minutes. With a solid structure, all four performers put in an effort to keep my attention for the entire contest with a lot of different stories playing out throughout the match. We had Paige's character developmental as she stayed on the outside of the bout taking her chances, as well as Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks putting on a fine technical display, before Becky mixed it up with some pleasing brawling on the outside with Paige. Whilst her performance wasn't bad, Brie Bella looked a little out of place with the other three, and whilst she had some heat early doors it was thrown away when she did the "Yes" kicks off her husband, Daniel Bryan. After some nice near falls for Becky and Sasha, it was Paige he walked out victorious after hitting a Ram-Paige on Becky in a satisfying finish. Part of me wishes WWE had given Sasha the win here, and had two women's singles matches on PPV with Paige and Becky getting another shot at each other, but maybe that was just wishing for a little too much.

Winner - Paige via pinfall (on Becky (Rampaige))

Fast Forward...`I didn't think much of Paige's victory promo, it was generic and forced as she called everyone losers...The final Survivor Series flashback of the evening looked at 2014, when Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan & Ryback) defeated Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev & Luke Harper)...Whilst the content of Charlotte's interview with Renee Young was fine, the delivery could have done with some work...

Before the main event could get under-way, we still needed to find out who would be on Roman Reigns' team. I thought the idea of keeping Reigns' partners under wraps and knowing Rollins team heading in was a clever one, as it begged fans to tune in for the main event to find out who would be on the teams. It kept a thread of unpredictability that we'd seen work so well for John Cena's Open Challenges over the past six months. The Usos return was a nice surprise, that will bring even more depth to WWE's growing tag division and whilst Dean Ambrose involvement was a little predictable, that's only because it made perfect sense due his on-screen closeness with the Juggernaut. I sighed when Ryback came out however, he certainly the least inspiring choice on that team, especially after he lost his feud with Kevin Owens at Hell in a Cell. 

Match 6 - Traditional Survivor Series Ten Man Elimination Tag Team
Team Reigns (Dean Ambrose, Ryback, The Usos & Roman Reigns) vs. Team Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens & WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day)

I can't remember a Survivor Series Elimination bout airing on RAW, I might be wrong though. This provided a unique setting to further the feud between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, whilst allowing eight other guys the opportunity to shine and produce new feuds, that can never be a bad thing! The early part of the match showcased The Usos well, with their new red and blue attires being a good way of telling the twins apart! With the duo quickly eliminating Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston off Frog Splashes, whilst Jey being dominated by the heels early doors was sound psychology in his first match back from injury. Whilst the twins were the first two members of Team Reigns to get eliminated (Jey off a Big Ending from Big E and Jimmy off a Pop-Up Powerbomb from Owens), they looked excellent upon their return and having eliminated two New Day members they're surely next in line for a tag title shot straight away. 

With the match going over half an hour, the pacing was even more important than usual, especially with the show having to go to two commercial breaks during the match. Roman Reigns spent plenty of time in the ring, perhaps as a way to continue to get him over as a contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. He took a beating from both Rollins and Owens at various points, selling his injuries well on the outside, after we got treated to a hot tag from Ryback. I was especially impressed with Rollins leading into this hot-tag as whilst the crowd was chanting for Dean Ambrose, The Architecht made sure Ambrose couldn't be tagged in by knocking him off the apron, therefore instead of the crowd being disappointed when Reigns tagged Ryback (instead of Ambrose) the crowd could only see The Big Guy on the apron and began to chant "Feed Me More" quality stuff.

The crowd was super into this one, especially as the field was wittled down to two on two, with Ambrose and Reigns ending up opposite Rollins and Owens. The villainous duo worked so well together, with their character work being spot on in this section, with Rollins only continuing to shine after Owens had succumbed to the Dirty Deeds of Dean Ambrose (Side note - An Ambrose vs. Owens feud of the IC Title would be brilliant!) Whilst I'd be criticising this finishes if it occurred on PPV, having Rollins try to run away from Ambrose and Reigns made perfect sense both for the character and as a build for PPV. The World Heavyweight Champion levelling his challengers with a Steel Chair to get the disqualified and hand Team Reigns the win was sound booking. It made me want to see more and that's exactly what a television product should be doing.

Winners - Team Reigns 

Order of Elimination

1. Xavier Woods (by Jey Uso)
2. Kofi Kingston (by Jimmy Uso)

3. Jey Uso (by Big E)

4. Jimmy Uso (by Kevin Owens)
5. Big E (by Ryback)

6. Ryback (by Seth Rollins)

7. Kevin Owens (by Dean Ambrose)

8. Seth Rollins (Disqualified)

Fast-Forward...A little back and forth between Rollins and Reigns, with Reigns managing to catch the Champion with a Superman Punch was the icing on the cake of a strong TV main event...

Finally....

ATPW Scale Rating: 6.39/10 - VERY GOOD TV

A big improvement on last week's show, which was still a good episode of Monday Night RAW in it's own right. The main event took up 30 minutes of air time and was a delight to watch, great action, enjoyable story-telling and the potential for some interesting new feuds to develop, whilst furthering the issues between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns and simultaneously promoting their match at Survivor Series and any potential Traditional Elimination bouts that might occur on the PPV. The tag team match pitting The Lucha Dragon against King Barrett and Sheamus, Kevin Owens contest with Dolph Ziggler and the opening segment were all enjoyable also.

Cesaro and The Miz's encounter was the weakest (decent length) bout of the evening, but even that had it's plus points ie. Cesaro looking great. Everything else that had a good length to it was somewhere in between, which for Bray Wyatt's funky firework show was little disappointing considering it got a good deal of promotion before airing.

After a good week last week and a very good week this week, here's hoping that WWE can continue to build momentum over the next two week's heading toward Survivor Series on the 22nd November.

DVD Review: WWE Beast in the East

WWE Beast in the East is out on DVD now in the UK. Broadcast live on on the WWE Network from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on 4th July 2015. The show features John Cena and Dolph Ziggler facing Kane and King Barrett as the main event. There's also six other matches featuring the likes of Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Neville and Brock Lesnar in action. The WWE Divas and NXT Championships are also up for grabs. The disc includes over twenty minutes of special features, including two further matches, with Cesaro in action. Michael Cole and Byron Saxton provide the commentary.

Chris Jericho and Neville kick-off the action, with a rare broadcast match for Jericho, that works as superb opener. Jericho and Neville connect quickly in the ring to provide a pure wrestling contest, to provide flawless action, that is buoyed by a lively Tokyo crowd. Unfortunately a Diva's Champion triple threat with Nikki Bella defending against Paige and Tamina can't keep up the quality and quickly becomes a sloppy, botch-fest. 


After Brock Lesnar squash Kofi Kingston, the before match pageantry of Finn Balor and Kevin Owens' NXT Championship collision is a nice touch and get's over the importance of the match for anyone who might not follow the NXT Brand. The bout is typical of the action found on the NXT Takeover event, with Owens and Balor going full pace in a superb bout that has the Tokyo crowd hooked from start to finish. The match of the show for me, Owens put on a terrific character performance as well, adding to the conclusion of the contest. The post-match celebration and numerous replays are highlighted by an appearance from WWE Hall of Famer and 6 time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami.

Prior to the main event, Michael Cole does a decent job of putting over the four performers various storylines, although this only stand to highlight just how random this combination of guys is at this point in time. John Cena and Dolph Ziggler teaming to take on Kane and King Barrett is heavily hurt by a feeling of anti-climax, after the emotional contest between Balor and Owens that went on before it. However, the action is all decent and the lengthy contest gets a strong reaction from the live crowd, who are heavily into Cena and Ziggler as a babyface tandem. 

Special Features

In the sleeper contest of the entire disc, Cesaro and Los Matadores' Diego put on a fun outing, with some nice spots and plenty of involvement from Fernando and El Torito throughout the bout. Lucha Dragons and The New Day's Big E and Xavier Woods also have a decent tag team clash, with Kalisto and Big E impressing.

Finally...

DVD Rating - 6.29/10


This was a top quality event and for anyone who has decided against signing up to the WWE Network then this should be the top of your list of DVD releases (especially considering that it's not being released in the USA). Balor vs. Owens won our July Match of the Month poll, whilst Jericho and Neville also featured in the top three. Even if the rest of the card is sketchy, the opportunity to see Brock Lesnar and a different style of main event, as well as two exclusive bouts, make this more than worth your hard-earned cash. Even if that's just to piss of the Americans.

Amazon and Amazon Market Place are currently offering the best price at £11.99, but the disc can also be purchased online from WWEDVD, Hive, Base, Zavvi, ebay.co.uk and Blackwells.