WWE Elimination Chamber 2018 Review

Elimination Chamber 2018 was the final PPV for WWE's RAW brand before WrestleMania XXXIV as the final pieces of the puzzle were slotted into place for the Show of Shows. The show was main evented by the first seven person Elimination Chamber match as John Cena, The Miz, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman and Elias battled it out to see who would challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. But how did it all go down in Las Vegas? Lets take a look! 

Commentary - Corey Graves, Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman
Kick-Off Panel - Renee Young, Booker T, Peter Rosenberg and David Otunga 
Ring Announcer - JoJo
Interviewers - Charly Caruso and Mike Rome
Theme Music - M.O.M. by Will Roush 

WWE Universal Championship #1 Contendership // Elimination Chamber // Roman Reigns def. John Cena, The Miz, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman and Elias

Before the match - The Miz cut a promo about entering #1 and how he's used to being #1 and stuff - Highlights from RAW's gauntlet match - Seth Rollins was interviewed claiming that "All that matter is beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania" - Paul Heyman joined the Kick-Off and pushed the idea that the winner would face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and announced that Lesnar would be on RAW the next night - Braun Strowman cut a promo, mostly focused on Lesnar, calling the Universal Champion a "Beastie Boy", I guess Strowman was fighting for his right to party with Lesnar in the Chamber match - Roman Reigns was interviewed and cut a good promo mimicking Paul Heyman's "this isn't a prediction, this is a spoiler" line

Roman Reigns won the longest Elimination Chamber match in history, to book his spot against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania, by lastly eliminating Braun Strowman following a superman punch and two spears. This was a match that for better or worse was completely dominated by Strowman as he eliminated The Miz, Elias, John Cena, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins with his running powerslam finish. Honestly, I wasn't mad for this as once Strowman had come in and started picking up eliminations it was pretty clear the direction that we were heading. The crowd were mad into Strowman however as he ploughed through everyone, so maybe it came off better within the arena where you can get swept up in Strowman's dominance and power, but as a viewer at home, I almost found myself switching off after a few eliminations. With five eliminations (surely the only reason that this match was made to feature seven men, instead of the usual six) Strowman broke the record for most eliminations, passing the previous record of three, set jointly by the holy trinity of wrestling, Goldberg (2003), The Undertaker (2008) and...Carlito (2006).

I think the main problem I had with Strowman's dominance was the once the pattern became painfully clear, there was very little done to make it feel like we might be deviating for the path. Yes, Strowman took a tonne of offence, including pretty much everyone's finishing move, but not at any point was there a convincing near fall on the Monster Among Men. He felt untouchable in the match, which isn't a surprise considering his previous booking, but in order for the chamber match to remain interesting in this period, I think we could've done with a few moments where Braun looked vulnerable to elimination. The closest we came was on a variant of The Shield powerbomb with Reigns and Cena as the based as Balor and Rollins provided the extra momentum, with all four piling on for the pin. Once you'd seen Strowman kick out of four men stacking his legs on top of his head, it became extremely difficult to buy that a single man could put him away with a simple Attitude Adjustment or Coup de Grace. 

Whilst I would've liked to have seen a little more variation on the eliminations, there's no doubt that this method resulted in the biggest pop of the match when Strowman appeared about to putting a stop to Roman Reigns' comeback as he got the Big Dog up for the move and the crowd went mad. Obviously, Reigns escaped and went on to pick up the win, but having seen five other men fall to the running powerslam, the crowd believed for a split second that if Strowman had nailed the move he'd be heading to WrestleMania. The whole finishing sequence actually was a lot of fun, bringing the energy that had made the Strowman vs. Reigns feud in 2017 one of the year's highlights as Reigns looked to dodge the North Carolinian and hit his big offence at any opportunity. The over-the-top rope suicide dive looked lovely using the Chambers raised floor and chain link effectively, before being followed up Strowman send himself through a pod with real force, setting up for the aforementioned finish. The booing wasn't any near as loud as it has been for Reigns in previous years and there was a decent sized pop for Roman winning. 

Whilst the finish was solid, it was the action at the start of the match that ended up being the highlight of the clash, as The Miz, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor kicked things off with some very good action. Rollins had nice sequences with both opponents in this early stage and whilst I would've liked to have seen Rollins positioned in a similar spot to how he was used in Monday's Gauntlet match, the crispness and pace made this a very enjoyable start. I'm not sure why Jonathan Coachman was criticising the pace on commentary because I couldn't see anything wrong with it, whilst the threesome connected well for a nice series of schoolboy near falls. Introducing John Cena into the mix, allowed for a nice moment as he chatted shit with Rollins, before another brief sequence of action between the two rivals. For me, the match began losing some of its sting once Reigns entered the match, as his dominance of all four men by the time Strowman entered the Chamber slowed the pace down and removed some of the excitement that had been prevalent when no one had the upperhand for all that long. 

For the longest Chamber match in history (just under a minute longer than the original Survivor Series 2002 contest), the match had a surprising lack of highspots involving the chamber structure. Strowman bieling The Miz off the top of a pod onto everyone bar Elias below looked brilliant and whilst Rollins hitting a frog splash off the pod onto Strowman looked a little contrived and was signposted by the Monster moving awkwardly into position following a Reigns samoan drop on the outside, the spot itself was still spectacular. However, there wasn't a whole lot of anything else here. Balor used the chain-link to deliver stomps to Cena at one point, but I couldn't work out why in kayfabe he wouldn't go for a Coup de Grace using the chain link, which would've have been the most creative spot in the match had it taken place. Overall, I think that was the main problem this match ended up having, with everyone but Reigns, Strowman and Cena ending up feeling up like bodies to tell other people's stories and severe lack of creativity when it came to the Elimination Chamber itself.

After the match - Braun Strowman continued his assault on Roman Reigns, hitting a pair of powerslams before throwing Reigns through one of the pods - John Cena appeared on RAW Talk in a sublime interview, showing real emotion as the lines between reality and wrestling were blurred heavily, with the interview concluding with Cena hinting at a heel turn - Reigns also appeared on RAW Talk, but unfortunately let himself down by not selling the effects of the Chamber and Strowman's post-match attack and instead cracking jokes.

Elimination Chamber // RAW Women's Championship // Alexa Bliss def. Sasha Banks, Mickie James, Bayley, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville 

Before the match - Paige joined the Kick-Off panel for a dull interview that included lots of repetition as the panel kept asking similar questions - Bayley and Sasha Banks shared some interview time, before Mickie James interrupted to tell them they didn't know anything about her relationship with Alexa Bliss, in a promo that was much better than it sounds written down like that 

Alexa Bliss held on to her RAW Women's Championship, last eliminating Sasha Banks with an elevated DDT, in what was the match of the night. This was mostly down to the strength of the storytelling throughout the match, mostly around the relationship between Sasha Banks and Bayley. Beginning with Bayley fighting against Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, both members of Absolution, for five minutes before Banks entered the match, through the pair aiding each other in eliminations as Bayley stopped Deville breaking up the Banks Statement that eliminated Rose and the two combined to send Mickie James out of the match, before culminating with Banks sending Bayley crashing off the top of a pod, this was compelling and fascinating all at the same time. Whilst many had expected Banks to turn on Bayley, because of how strongly they worked together earlier in the match, it still ended up feeling like a shock when it happened. Bayley eventually being eliminated by a Bliss roll-up after hitting a mid-rope Bayley to Belly on Banks was a great moment of "neary was" with Bayley able to get an element of revenge before having it ripped away from her. This is how the Hugger should have been booked on RAW months ago! My only criticism with the bout's narrative was how weak the two Absolution lasses ended up coming off, being eliminated first and second, despite also having the opportunity to double-team Bayley for a significant amount of time.

Even if, like the men's, the match wasn't packed with spectacular moments, there was enough to keep me happy, helped tremendously by a number of very creative moments using the structure and the size of the competitors to the bouts advantage. Mickie James' Lou Thesz press off the pod to eliminate Deville and the stunning Twist Bliss to a standing Banks stand out as the most memorable highspots, but the best use of the chamber was actually much more simple and character based. This occurred after Bayley had pinned James and Bliss realised that it was down to her and the two supposed best friends, whilst stilling locked inside her pod. Bayley and Banks hunting down Bliss as the champ at first tried to lock herself in her pod and attempted to climb the structure to avoid the pair was lovely stuff, with Bliss' character performance always having been the strongest part of her game. Any risk that the champ could've come across as the babyface, when she eventually pulled out the victory was cut down when Bliss cut a promo on the crowd after the match, telling them they'd never live out any of their dreams in a wonderfully hyperbolic moment. 

The finish of the match worked in a number of twist and turns, as Banks and Bliss worked a well-structured sequence of action, that could've done with having a little more pace behind it. In fact, on that note, Banks looked a step or two of pace throughout most of the match, whether it was the surroundings of the chamber throwing her off or just an off day, I'm not sure, but had she been on point throughout the match would've been taken up a notch or two. The aforementioned Twisted Bliss off the pod spot was followed by Banks rolling through into the Banks Statement, a spot that would've been superb had Banks rolled straight into the submission hold off the dive (similar to someone rolling through a diving crossbody into a pin) but Bliss was left weirdly attempting a pin on the outside, before Banks eventually appeared to no-sell a move that had hit and flip into the submission. The crowd was still up for it, however, given Banks a loud reaction when she was able to manoeuvre Bliss into the ring, before Bliss escaped, was able to smash Banks' face off a pod, before hitting an elevated DDT for the win. With a little more finesse and better timing this would've been a brilliant conclusion to the match, but even then it still ended up being an exciting ending between the two most over women in the contest.

Ronda Rousey signed her RAW contract

Before the segment - Ronda Rousey was shown entering the building - RAW General Manager Kurt Angle was shown entering Rousey's dressing room

Ronda Rousey was back in WWE, this time to sign her RAW contract in a segment that concluded with Triple H going through a table and RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon slapping the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Man, this was a weird segment. I'm not even quite sure where to begin, because it was such a Jekyl and Hyde type affair. Basically, anything before Kurt Angle began stirring the pot with Rousey, telling her that McMahon had called her a bitch in private, was trash and everything afterwards was good theatre-style WWE. Rousey's promo felt like she'd never had a mic in her hand before and even felt like the crowd could turn on her if she was allowed to speak for much longer, but Angel's mischievous meddling was a joy to watch, especially when you knew it was leading to Rousey kicking someone's arse. Rousey putting Trips for a table was an intriguing piece of female on male violence, which has been bleeding into WWE over the last year, whilst McMahon's slap looked rough, with Rousey's selling of the moment as McMahon escaped doing a good job of making a scrap between the pair seem more desirable than it did before the segment. Overall, the segment did its job of setting up the issue between all four before an inevitable and heavily rumoured WrestleMania match, but also could have done with being, at least, five minutes shorter and with a whole lot less of Rousey awkwardly talking into the mic. 

After the segment - Stephanie McMahon appeared on RAW Talk, pushing that there would be consequences on the following night's RAW and that she expected an apology from Kurt Angle

Asuka def. Nia Jax // Pinfall

Asuka's WWE undefeated streak grew to 13-0 as Nia Jax joined Alicia Fox, Emma and Dana Brooke on the list of women who the Empress of Tomorrow has beaten twice since moving to the main roster. Under regular circumstances, this was a good match, using the size of the competitors well and featuring a couple of fun highspots. However, with the matches stipulation that if Jax won she'd earn herself a Women's title shot at WrestleMania, the match did a poor job of making me believe Jax was going to win, with the Irresistible Force having a severe lack of convincing near falls, whilst Asuka's various submission didn't lift the drama as a tapout resulted in nothing actually changing. Jax saved the majority of her intensity for after the clash, which meant we didn't really see the most out of Asuka. Whilst the match did feature some cool action like Jax attempting a Bonsai Drop and Asuka's funky victory roll that sealed the win, I felt like the match lacked the physicality it needed to fully satisfy and therefore the match never fully engaged the audience.

After the match - Nia Jax attacked Asuka, hitting a pair of samoan drops before charging Asuka through the barricade, in an attack way too similar to what Braun Strowman would do to Roman Reigns later in the night.

Matt Hardy def. Bray Wyatt // Pinfall

Before the match - Matt Hardy cut a mad promo about something.

Matt Hardy seemingly bought his never-ending feud with Bray Wyatt to a close, pinning the Eater of World's clean with a Twist of Fate in a flat match. After the opening, which saw Wyatt appear and Hardy disappear at the same time, the bout failed to entertain, losing the crowd early on, relying on a number of repetitive tropes and being fought at a super slow pace. Considering the match went under ten minutes, it would be weird to suggest it should have been shorter, but it should've been shorter. A more impactful five minute bout, could have done a much better job at keeping the crowd involved than this drawn out match that was mostly Hardy attempting to hit the Twist of Fate a bunch of times. It wasn't a terrible match by any stretch of the imagination, but considering this feud has been rumbling since the end of November and still doesn't feel like its developed, it needed something different here than a regular wrestling match. WWE continues to show a misunderstanding of the Broken/Woken gimmick, that began with their take on the Final Deletion with the Wyatt Family and The New Day in July 2016. It's going to need a massive effort to rescue this at this point.

RAW Tag Team Championship // Cesaro & Sheamus (C) def. Apollo & Titus O'Neil // Pinfall

Before the match - We found out that Titus O'Neil took a load of kids to see Black Panther, because he's a well nice guy.

Apollo & Titus O'Neil of Titus Worldwide unsuccessfully challenged Cesaro & Sheamus for the RAW Tag Team title with Cesaro picking up the pin on Apollo following a White Noise and Springboard elbow drop combination. On paper, this match had potential, but was poorly put together in practice, as Apollo spent too long as the face in peril, killing the crowd, before a weak O'Neil hot tag did even more damage. For me, we needed to see more of Apollo's athleticism early on, but there was very little in the way of face shine and with Titus Worldwide only being thrown into the title picture on Monday, the audience had no reason to care about this match or anyone involved. A near fall off the Clash of Titus was solid, but O'Neil struggling to work with what should have been a straightforward transition hurt what was the best moment of the match. O'Neil works as Apollo's manager, but their act as a tag team is far from polished with Titus clearly the weaker of the pair in almost all areas. Where Cesaro & Sheamus slot into WrestleMania I'm not entirely sure right now, but the possibilities of a multi-team mosh seems high once again.

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson def. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel // Pinfall

The other tag bout on the show saw Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson get back to winning ways with a convincing victory over Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel in a sound opening match. Certainly nothing special happened here, but the basics of tag team wrestling were all on display, lifted by a big spot that saw Dallas push Anderson off the top rope to the floor following a blind tag. A couple of neat sequences thrown into this as well, like Axel attempting to cut off an Anderson hot tag, only to get clattered with a Sick Kick and a decent distraction nearfall for The Miztourage with Axel coming close with big jumping knee strike. The crowd weren't massively into it, because they had no reason to be, but the four guys managed to come out, put on a watchable match and not outstay their welcome. 

After the match - An interview with Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, The Revival, was cut off before the pair had a chance to say anything interesting.

Also on the show 

- Kurt Angle was interviewed by the Kick-Off panel about a variety of topics and somehow managed to say nothing at all.

ATPW Scale Rating // 5.31 out of 10

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale 

WWE Mixed Match Challenge Review // 6th February 2018

The first round of Mixed Match Challenge continued in Kansas City, Missouri this week, as RAW's Goldust & Mandy Rose faced of with SmackDown's Naomi & Jimmy Uso. But how did it all go down? Let's have a look.

Mixed Match Challenge First Round Match // Naomi & Jimmy Uso def. Goldust & Mandy Rose // Pinfall

Naomi & Jimmy Uso became the first SmackDown tandem to make it through to the Quarter Finals of Mixed Match Challenge, as they picked up a victory over Goldust & Mandy Rose, after Goldust received the Rear View from Naomi and a Superfly Splash from Uso. Whilst hardly a wrestling classic, I found myself thoroughly enjoying this easy watch of a match, that pushed the comedy elements of the character, with Uso in particular getting a chance for creative, clearly enjoying himself in there with the veteran of laughs, Goldust. This was helped by a crowd who were happy to play along with the jokes, mostly regarding Goldust being unable to keep up with Jimmy. The wrestling that there was solid stuff and featured a fun sequence where both teams hit signature moves in tandem and a solid near fall for Goldie off a sloppy Final Cut. The highlight of the match was Rose hiding behind the Bizarre One on the outside to avoid Naomi, only for the former SmackDown Women's Champion to slingshot right over Goldust's head and flatten Rose anyway. The most off-putting part of the presentation was having Michael Cole tell us what Rusev and Lana were saying in the Facebook comments section on the feed, because surely the point is that if you're interested in what they're saying you'll be reading the comments. The Bulgarian Brute and the Ravishing Russian actually came out after the match, claiming to be the strongest husband and wife team and getting the crowd to sing a cute little song ahead of their First Round match with Bayley & Elias next week. Naomi & Uso will return to face Alexa Bliss & Braun Strowman in the Quarter Finals in four weeks. 

Also this week...

- Elias and Bayley cut a promo on next week's match with Elias not letting Bayley sing along and also refusing a hug.

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.5/10

Written by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale) 

RAW 1278 Review // The Miz vs. Roman Reigns // Intercontinental Championship

It was the first RAW after Survivor Series and we where still in the Toyata Center in Houston, Texas on 20th November. The show heavily featured The Shield as they appeared on an episode of Miz TV, resulting in Roman Reigns getting a shot at The Miz's Intercontinental Championship in the main event, whilst Dean Ambrose also had a match against Sheamus. We also saw the return of Paige, as she interrupted a RAW Women's Championship #1 Contenders match, alongside NXT performers Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose, as well as some of the fallout from the Survivor Series main event as Kurt Angle, Jason Jordan and Braun Strowman confronted Triple H, resulting a match between Jordan and Strowman happening later in the show. But was it any good? Lets take a look! 

 The Shield wreaked havoc on Miz TV

Dean Ambrose def. Sheamus // 9:01

Intercontinental Championship // Roman Reigns def. The Miz (C) via pinfall // 12:54

The Shield were all over the show this week, beginning with an appearance on Miz TV, that had originally been announced as solo appearance from Roman Reigns. Miz drifted past his loss to Baron Corbin the night earlier, before The Shield arrived and things got interesting. The two parties did job, playing around with the lively pro-Miz portion of the audience, having a load of fun along the way, even if the lights did go off in the middle! I get a weird satisfaction anytime Miz loses his head and starts ranting and raving at people and there was plenty of that on display here as he went on a madcap tirade asking The Shield to say "thank you" for the part The A-Lister played in the group getting back together. The crowd bought into it and Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins joked around, bouncing off each other and looking natural in their interactions as they took the piss-out of Miz for losing at Survivor Series. When Reigns said he felt left out when Rollins talked about he and Dean Ambrose (who mostly wandered around in the background, presumably because he's the Lunatic Fringe) getting a RAW Tag Team title shot, Rollins suggested Reigns have a chance at The Miz's championship, leading to The Miztourage taking a beat and a main event IC title match being made.

A good television bout in the second chapter of the Shield's story on this episode. Dean Ambrose and Sheamus worked a physical contest in their tenth TV singles match, based around a number of power moves from The Celtic Warrior. Some work was done on Ambrose's elbow, although despite the commentary team mentioning it a few times and The Lunatic Fringe selling well, it didn't seem to be a massive focus of the in-ring action. What was a focus was the power of Sheamus, as he lobbed around Ambrose with a series of release verticle suplexes, as well as a cool moment when The Great White went straight from a stretch muffler into a sitout powerbomb. Ambrose's scrappy comeback, after Sheamus went into the corner post was fun, but the match peaked once Seth Rollins and Cesaro started to interact at ringside. This produced a couple of distraction near falls, as well as a brilliant moment of Rollins flying through the ring and hitting The Swiss Superman with a suicide dive on the other side, seconds before Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Sheamus to pick up the clean win. The match used it's time well, built towards its finish and also included a really good highspot near fall for Sheamus off an avalanche rolling senton.

As Kurt Angle tried to check on Jason Jordan's injured leg, The Miz was unsuccessful in his attempt to get Angle to cancel his match with Roman Reigns...

After no title matches on the main show the night before it was a good idea to stick one on this episode and perhaps a brighter one to take the belt of The Miz, following a poorly booked loss to Baron Corbin. Considering that loss, the creative for the contest did a stellar job of making Miz look like a threat to Reigns. Without The Miztourage or Maryse at ringside it could have easily felt like Reigns was going to coast to a quick victory, yet we saw The A-Lister constantly ducking to the floor in the early goings, before eventually managing to block a Superman Punch coming off the steel steps and hit snap DDT on the floor and from then on wards Miz became a threat to the Big Dog, able to escape Samoan drops and superman punches. Amongst a couple of really well-done chains of action, the threat level was raised when Cesaro & Sheamus came to ringside and Miz got a believable near fall off a Skull Crushing Finale following the distraction. The ending with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose out to counter the threat and Reigns nailing a gorgeous spear on the champion had bags of energy and ended the show on a high note, getting a good pop from a crowd who had initially been split for the pair. A solid main event, that opened a few interesting avenues for The Shield and their rivals, especially with no RAW PPV scheduled in December.

Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville attacked Mickie James, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alicia Fox

Before we talk about Paige's return, I wanted to discuss the dud of a segment that preceded her return. RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss was out to complain about fans patronising her following a loss to SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair the night earlier. It was alright work from Bliss, but it was clear she had very little direction or idea where this promo was supposed to go. Mickie James, then Bayley, then Sasha Banks and finally Alicia Fox came out to say they thought they deserved a title shot. The problem was none of them did. James had lost two consecutive title bouts in October, hadn't won since and didn't even quality for the RAW Women's team at Survivor Series, Bayley was the first RAW Woman eliminated at Survivor Series and had only won one non-tag team match since her last title shot in September, Banks probably had the best case, with two wins over Fox since the September five-way and a stellar tag team record, but had also submitted to Natalya the night earlier and Fox had one win since May. Kurt Angle coming out and making a four-way because the four women had came out was daft, because of Asuka's performance at Survivor Series. I understand wanting to hold off her win, but at least give her a reason for not going after Bliss' title. This was a ham-fisted attempt to get bodies in the ring for the upcoming attack, but they could have just as easily done that without this segment.

The Fatal Four-way didn't last all that until Paige interrupted, making her first WWE appearance since, to a massive pop. Paige commanded the crowd with ease, before Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville hit the ring to cause the Four-way to go to a no-contest.

After the match, Paige, Deville and Rose lay waist to Bayley, Banks and James, concluding with a Rampaige to Bayley in an interesting development to RAW's Women's division. Backstage, Alexa Bliss interrupted Renee Young trying to interview Paige, Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose, before the trio battered the RAW Women's Champion, leaving her lying on the floor.

Kurt Angle, Jason Jordan and Braun Strowman all confronted Triple H // 5:55 

Braun Strowman def. Jason Jordan via Disqualification // 1:45

Following the contentious conclusion to Survivor Series, the show began with the fallout from the main event, with Stephanie McMahon gloating over the RAW victory and bringing out her husband, Triple H. The segment kept a great pace with Kurt Angle, Jason Jordan and Braun Strowman all flying down the ramp to get in the face of The Game, with Angle in particular doing a brilliant job of selling his anger after Triple H hit him with a Pedigree on Sunday. Whether you enjoyed that finish or not, this was Angle's best acting performance since returning to WWE as he looked genuinely pissed off with his 2000-02 rival. He stormed to the ring, got up in The Cerebral Assassins face and looked fucking furious, like Triple H had told him that milk was a bad choice. Jordan coming out was okay, it made sense after the Pedigree he took last week, and the crowd was actually into him challenging Triple H, but it was Braun Strowman's arrival, moments after the D-Generation X founder had said he wasn't afraid of anyone in the locker room that created the real moment. A tense stare-down, with Triple H exiting the ring was a lovely piece of business, with the crowd desperate to see Strowman go off on one and lob the COO all over the ring. Where this is heading I have no idea, but I'm interested to fine out. The segment closed with Stephanie McMahon booking a match between Strowman and Jordan later on.

Jason Jordan tried to get out of his match with Braun Strowman, telling his Dad that he was really hurt, but then got weirdly pumped up about the prospect when Angle couldn't stop the match... Braun Strowman told Charly Caruso he was glad that Jason Jordan had said he wasn't afraid of him, because that makes him different from everyone else, including Triple H... Jason Jordan went to Matt Hardy for some advice about his mater later, with Hardy telling him "some nights it's just not your night" HELPFUL...

The Strowman vs. Jordan match didn't last long, as it appeared Jordan was ready to bail after less than two minutes, holding onto his injured knee and with Strowman looking the other way, Kane attacked the Monster Among Men with a steel chair.

Kane continued to attack Strowman after the match, driving a steel chair between Strowman's throat and the ring steps, leaving the Monster Amongst Men gasping for air...

Akira Tozawa, Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali def. The 'Zo Train // 4:13 

I had a few issues with the segment that lead to this week's only Cruiserweight match and very little of that has to do with the performances of the Cruiserweight. Firstly, Enzo Amore doing his usual schtick isn't working. It was great when he had a sore throat and would get his 'Zo Train to help out, because it actually go heat, however right now the crowd is happy to join in and it caps the reactions that the actual babyfaces of the division are able to get. Secondly, if all of the 'Zo Train are here, then why on earth didn't they book an Elimination Tag on the Kick-Off show for Survivor Series? It would've showcased ten different performers from the division and surely been a much more exciting affair than the crowd sitting in silence to watch an adequate Amore vs. Kalisto title match. Thirdly, if they didn't want to do that, why weren't some or all of the 'Zo Train not at ringside to enhance Amore's gimmick and give him a cheaper than cheap victory? Rich Swann even mentioned "Without your boys you're nothing but a catchphrase and a T-Shirt!" which made Swann look like a goon, because Amore had clearly retained his title on his own 24 hours previously! Drew Gulak was the one shining light throughout the whole thing, he's a babe.

The tag match was solid multi-man fare with a nice spot involving interference and distraction from Amore allowing The Zo-Train to take control and an action packed hot tag from Cedric Alexander, that would conclude with a Neuralyzer to Dar and Lumbar Check to Nese, before Ali picked up the pin on Dar with the 054 splash. It wasn't much more than filler, but it would've improved the quality of the Kick-Off show had it replaced the Kalisto vs. Enzo Amore match on the show.

Samoa Joe def. Finn Balor [Prince Devitt] via referee stoppage // 8:34 

A good opener, but weirdly thrown away here on television, with a clean finish to boot and no follow up. This quality of the action was a step down from the match the pair had in Manchester two weeks ago, being mostly Joe dominating his smaller opponent. The Samoan Submission controlled, about 80% of the match, reversing slingblades into overhead belly to belly suplexes, hitting suicide dives and more or less rag-dolling Prince Devitt all over the ring. The action was always crisp and impactful, but lacked a little something of the energy and fire that I enjoyed in their Manchester bout. It was, of course, better to see a decisive finish, instead of the previous double countout, but I was surprised to see Balor lose so clearly. He looked good in his final fire up, but Booker T threw him under the bus on commentary for not making it to the top rope quick enough and this took away a little from Joe eventually dragging him off the top and locking in a Coquina Clutch for the win. I'd suspected Balor might've been a future opponent for Brock Lesnar before WrestleMania, based on this match that appears to no longer be the case.

Matt Hardy attacked Elias [Elias Samson]

Elias mocked the crowd and attempted to sing about Matt Hardy, but was quickly interrupted by his subject. The two brawled a little, before Elias escaped a Twist of Fate and left...

Asuka [Kana] def. Dana Brooke via pinfall // 2:35 

Dana Brooke had a split-screen promo ahead of her match with Asuka, claiming that she'd watched the Asuka Collection on the WWE Network and had found some holes in her opponent's game....hmmm, yeah, ok hen. 

Dana Brooke wasn't ready for Asuka, 5-0. 

Also

Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows shilled various merch for WWEShop, as part of the Countdown to Black Friday.

Roman Reigns won the Intercontinental Championship, Paige returned alongside the debuting Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose, Kane assaulted Braun Strowman. In terms of creating moments this show did a very good job. There was also quite a few good to very good matches for a television product, with the main event, Ambrose vs. Sheamus and Balor vs. Joe (to some extent) all standing out. However, some of the booking showed a lack of thought and at times, direction. Specifically, Asuka's positioning in the Women's division and the mindless segment that lead to the four-way and to a lesser degree the baffling use of the Cruiserweight division. There was a few developments that I'm interested to see play out, such as where Samoa Joe and Finn Balor are heading next and also I feel like Jason Jordan's story is beginning to head somewhere productive (hopefully!). My match of the night was the Intercontinental title change as it had some drama to it and was one of the better finishes we've seen on RAW this year.

Review by James Marston

TV Review: WWE NXT #209 - Liv Morgan, Nikki Glenncross & Carmella v Daria Berenato, Mandy Rose & Alexa Bliss

Just three days before Takeover: Brooklyn II, NXT was all about the build for that show, however there was still a Six Woman Tag Team bout and Hideo Itami in action, but was it any good? 

The main event this week was a six woman tag team bout used to introduce three new characters to the roster as Smackdown Live's Carmella teamed with Liv Morgan and Nikki Glenncross [Nikki Storm] to defeat another Smackdown Live superstar Alexa Bliss and Tough Enough alumni Mandy Rose and Daria Berenato. Considering the relative inexperience of a number of the competitors, this was a much more enjoyable contest than I was expecting with all six women handling themselves well and putting a decent six person tag. All three of the new comers showed what they had to offer with ICW's Glenncross clearly the most accomplished newbie in the ring, but Berenato and Rose both have something different to offer what is becoming a diverse women's division again in NXT. A unique way to bleed new faces into the roster, whilst surrounding them with popular performers like Carmella and Bliss. 

Hideo Itami continued his re-build with a victory over another Cruiserweight Classic alumni in the form of Mustafa Ali. Brief as it was, I was impressed by Ali once again as he added extra pieces to his performance that most enhancement talent wouldn't usually do, bringing some character development with a cocky opening section. He also pulled out some nifty moves like a through the ropes forward roll neckbreaker situation that got my attention. The crowd continues to warm back up towards Itami and his final flurry of offence, finishing with the Busaiku Knee will go a good way to earn back that approval. Itami has clearly been eased back into television, hopefully following Takeover: Brooklyn II we'll get to see him opposite some bigger names in NXT and get given a proper storyline to get involved in.

Best of the Rest

• An interestingly produced video package, looking at Takeover: Brooklyn II matches, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa v The Revival, No Way Jose v Austin Aries and Bobby Roode v Andrade Almas, including interviews, various pictures of New York City and music from Of Mice and Men aired
• The show concluded with a sick interview by Byron Saxton involving NXT Champion Samoa Joe and #1 Contender Shinsuke Nakamura in where it felt like there was legitimate tension between the two.
• The Women's Title match from Takeover: Brooklyn II recieved it's own promo package, which managed to convey the story of contest very well.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.25/10 

Two decent matches this week, that both did their jobs well, either re-building up recently injured talents or introducing a number of new faces at the same time. Of course, the majority of the show was used to build for the supercard and when you only have one hour a week, that's definitely the best way to go about. It was cool to see a number of matches for the show promoted at the same time and if the peak of the show with Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura didn't have you convinced that Takeover: Brooklyn II was a must-see show, then nothing will.

All content - James Marston