WWE Monday Night RAW #1247 Review (Aired - 17th April 2017)

A week after the Superstar Shake-up and the sediment was beginning to settle on Monday Night RAW in the penultimate episode before Payback. This week's main event was a rematch of February colossal clash between Braun Strowman and The Big Show, whilst Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, The Miz, Cesaro and Samoa Joe were all featured across the three hours...but was it any good? 

Braun Strowman opened the show, popping the crowd with a list of things that he was proud of, which mainly included trying to kill Roman Reigns last week. The brief segment concluded with General Manager Kurt Angle booking Strowman v Reigns for Payback and The Monster Amongst Men being told to leave, despite a plea for more competition. 

Joe def. Jericho

A rematch from a March bout that ended in a Count Out, this week's opening contest bought two of the RAW brand's biggest names together for a solid opener that put Joe over strong, as he won clean with the Coquina Clutch, even after surviving a pinfall attempt. The two are strong enough that they could essentially walk through this contest and alongside a Colombus crowd that adored Jericho, that was enough to make this bout work. Two sequences that saw Jericho come close to victory stood out in particularly, firstly Y2J dodging a senton to hit a Lionsault for only the third time in history, before later being able to dodge an Enziguiri to earn a massive pop as he locked in the Walls of Jericho. Whilst the first part of the bout was pedestrian, the closing few minutes picked up, produced some sturdy near falls for the popular Jericho, before making Joe look like a world beater as he continues to run through the competition on RAW. The clean cut nature of the loss puts Jericho in an odd place heading into his United States Championship match with Kevin Owens at Payback, but that's more a symptom of the rushed nature of last week's shake up than anything else.

- Following the match, Joe cut a promo addressing Seth Rollins, who was on commentary, before The Kingslayer climbed onto the announce table to tell Joe that "Payback...is a bitch".

- Braun Strowman took out The Golden Truth as they were walking backstage, leading to Finlay, Joey Mercury and Adam Pearce running about in terror. 

- The lewd Mike Rome tried to interview Braun Strowman, who said he wasn't finished. 

- Gallows & Anderson issued an open challenge, because The Golden Truth were supposed to be their opponents, with Enzo & Cass answering the call. 

Gallows & Anderson def. Enzo & Cass 

Considering this was a thrown together match between two teams that have probably already faced off too many times over the last year, I found myself enjoying this standard issue tag bout. It wasn't anything special and didn't feature anything that would particularly stick in my memory if I hadn't been writing notes, but it filled it's screen time well and stuck to the performers strengths. Gallows & Anderson looked great, controlling Enzo and looking crafty in the finish, whilst both teams were over with the crowd, with Cass getting an especially big reaction when he tagged in for the hot tag. The finish was a cool departure from the norm, as Cass taking himself out by delivering a Cactus Big Boot that sent he and Gallows to the floor and with Enzo all alone, Anderson delivered a move that dropped the New Jersey native across the top turnbuckle for the victory. With The Revival out due to a Dash Wilder injury, it seems like the Tag division is getting a little jumbled up as WWE tries to work out it's next move. 

Ambrose appeared on "Miz TV" 

The Miz brought some of the fire and realism, that transformed him into a top star on SmackDown, to RAW as he wonderfully ripped into Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose during an episode of Miz TV. I get a feeling that some of the words coming out of Miz's mouth were a window onto how creative views Ambrose, as words like "wrassler" and "lazy and complacent" very well could have been coming from Vinny Mac himself (especially after some Dean's recent PPV efforts). The hometown audience for both men added some extra energy to proceeding, loudly supporting The Lunatic Fringe as he mocked Miz's maroon suit and reminded us how little he cares about images and other things. The closing moments saw both men attempt their finishers, before Miz escaped up the ramp with his wife, Maryse, in tow. The two have had a fair few matches on TV over the last three years, none of them have set the world a light, but I'm hopefully that with a little more fire behind them we may see the two put on something a little better when they next lock horns.

- Kalisto made his RAW return, by getting put in a dumpster by Braun Strowman, with The Big Show sort of making the save by shouting "Pick on someone your own size" like a big brother confronting a school bully. 

- Neville and Austin Aries came to ringside to watch the following match, for reasons that weren't quite clear. 

Perkins def. Gallagher 

After TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher had ripped it up on 205 Live last week, I was hopeful that this rematch would receive a more appreciative audience, with the Colombus audience being hot for most of the show. However, whilst Ohio State University was much more interested in what Perkins and Gallagher had to offer, the match wasn't a patch on what the pair had done last week. In part this was because the focus was more on Neville and Austin Aries sitting at ringside, instead of what was going on in the ring. Gallagher's Mary Poppins dive to the outside is always fun and Perkins continually rolling to the outside was a nice classic heel tactic, but with the Cruiserweight Champion and #1 Contender at ringside, it all had the feeling of treading water. Of course, that was the case, as after Perkins threw Gallagher into Aries things broke down, allowing Perkins to nick a Detonation Kick victory. Nothing particularly wrong with anything here, but after seeing the 205 Live match it was a little disappointing. 

- Titus O'Neil propositioned newcomer Apollo Crews, by rhyming things with his name, it was weird and I don't want to see either a match between the two or a team, but at least we got to see Crews chatting with Akira Tozawa beforehand. 

- Cesaro & Sheamus interrupted the makeshift Mike Rome's interview with The Hardy Boyz, although they are still all good pals. 

Bliss def. Banks, James, Jax to become #1 contender to RAW Women's Championship

A well-booked four way here, that opens up an interesting clash between Alexa Bliss and RAW Women's Champion Bayley soon, whilst putting off bigger money matches with Sasha Banks and Nia Jax. Nia was the star of the show here, as despite an alliance with Bliss that was teased last week being completely no sold, Jax walked through her competition, hitting big slams, surviving a guillotine choke from Banks and hitting the move that would win the match. Jax time will come, but I like that she's been held away from having one on one title match just yet. It'll make her a bigger star when the time comes, especially if handled correctly. Outside of the Jax dominance, thinks were a little hit and miss, as whilst Bliss and Banks had a very good sequence of reversals based around the Banks Statement, a sequence with Bliss and James was sloppy. It was perhaps surprising to see the respected veteran James stand out as the weakest link in the match, but against women five to twelve years her junior she just didn't seem with it. 

- The upset Charly Caruso spoke to the Big Show, who was still angry about Strowman's antics. 

- Curt Hawkins cut a promo describing how he made The Big Show into a star last week, before challenging someone to face him.

- Finn Balor defeated Curt Hawkins in just over thirty seconds. 

- The big Mike Rome spoke with Chris Jericho, with Y2J saying there was no shame in losing to Samoa Joe, before chatting about his US title match with Owens. Elias Samson drifted into the background and eventually ended up on the list in a pretty entertaining interview segment. 

- Bray Wyatt made an appearance in his smoky lair, cutting a promo about the upcoming House of Horrors Match with SmackDown's Randy Orton. Filled with weird imagery, including a bloke with antlers (Moose?), it still did very little to clue us in on what the match will actually be. 

- Emma purposefully put a stop to Dana Brooke's friendship with Alicia Fox, recalling Brooke's poor jokes about Fox getting covered in powder on last week's 205 Live. 

J. Hardy def. Cesaro

Jeff Hardy's first RAW singles match since beating Dolph Ziggler in an Extreme Rules match in March 2009, bought us a fun, first-time ever clash with Cesaro. The Swiss Superman controlling the contest from the ad-break, nailing running uppercuts on the outside and dodging Hardy's hope spot Swanton Bomb, was certainly the best thing for the match, as even with the popularity of Cesaro, he was always going to come off second best to a Columbus audience getting to see Hardy live for the first time in four years. In the last few minutes the action began to pick up, with Cesaro blocking a Twist of Fate with an uppercut and then hitting a springboard corkscrew uppercut moments after Jeff blocked a Swing attempt. There was the feeling that in a different context (and maybe a few years ago) the pair could have torn the house down together. The clean as a whistle finish, with a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb, felt a little peculiar, doing very little for Cesaro & Sheamus title challenge. Some interference from Sheamus or perhaps anything that would've suggest friction or even the shock value of having Cesaro defeat Hardy clean himself, could've really built some interest into the upcoming RAW Tag Team title match at Payback and therefore this bout feels like real missed opportunity.

- The physical Mike Rome bumped into Heath Slater & Rhyno backstage, before Braun Strowman walked past and Rhyno dropped his crackers.

Strowman v Show ends in No Contest.

They broke the freakin' ring! For only the third time in WWE history and for the first time since Mark Henry v Big Show at Vengeance in 2011, the ring collapsed after a superplex spot. Whilst the whole spot had been signposted from the beginning of the show, by WWE using their old ring with no screen around the apron and classic ringposts, the spot got a huge reaction from the crowd. As well as the big deal they made of "re-enforcing" the ring during the build to their last match. Chances are, seeing how the previous two breaks happened in Orlando in 2003 and San Antonio in 2011, that this was the first time almost all of the crowd had seen such a spot live and in the flesh. The rest of the match was similar to their February bout, starting slow with weird spots like arm drags, before shunting into a series of near falls. The crowd was hot throughout even through dated spots like the battle to do a powerslam, but were positively molten when Strowman jumped off the middle rope and into a Knockout Punch. The build towards the superplex was handled well, with both superstars ending up on the top rope at various points, only for one to thwart the danger. It's Strowman v Reigns at Payback, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get a Strowman v Show again next week with a gimmick of some kind. 

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.17/10 

Another solid edition of Monday Night RAW, which considering the storylines are still trying to find places to settle following the shake up is pretty commendable stuff. The shift to have longer matches and only one lengthy talking segment (that was arguably the shows highlight) is certainly a positive, with almost every match on the card, at least, matching my expectations. The show isn't currently missing out on having it's top champion missing, because there's strong storylines and popular characters pulling their weight and with Bray Wyatt v Randy Orton scheduled for Payback the big show shouldn't suffer either. The show's still not batting for six, as certain booking decision were a little questionable, but RAW's still not out. 

Review - James Marston 

Twitter - @ATPWrestling 

Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling 

Instagram - @ATPWrestling

TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #895 - AJ Styles v James Ellsworth + WWE Talking Smack #12 - Nikki Bella Interview

Two days removed from the No Mercy supercard, WWE's Smackdown brand was in San Jose, California with a card headlined by World Champion AJ Styles facing hand-picked opponent, James Ellsworth, with Dean Ambrose slotting in as the special guest referee. With Kane, Randy Orton, NEW Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt and a returning Luke Harper getting major spots, would Smackdown come out of swinging as the brand began it's journey towards Autumn's biggest event, Survivor Series? 

So, yeah, this week's main event saw World Champion AJ Styles pinned by lowly underdog job guy James Ellsworth. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this and it was quite possibly one of the hardest matches I've ever had to give a rating to. For a bit of context, Dean Ambrose played the role of special guest referee and, of course, gave Ellsworth every opportunity he could. This included various comedy spots, Ambrose tripping Styles and seemingly taking a phone call just as Ellsworth tapped to the Calf Crusher. Of course, after Styles had hit a Styles Clash (that would have broken Ellsworth's neck, had Styles not been able to shift his weight at the last moment), Ambrose refused to count the pin and went on to hit two Dirty Deeds to give a limp Ellsworth the win. I found it all mildly entertaining, but not all that funny and I'm not quite sure what it achieves in the long run. With six weeks of television to fill before Survivor Series, I can see why a side story was needed and I understand why Ellsworth was chosen for his cult stardom, but the whole shape of the match felt backwards and I'll go into a bit further down.

The semi-main was Luke Harper's return to action for the first time since March, tagging with Bray Wyatt for a victory over Randy Orton and Kane. I wasn't particularly enamoured with main bulk of the contest, which mainly consisted of Orton and Kane getting beats on, feeling like every piece of Wyatt Family offence was responded to with five or six things from the makeshift babyface team of former WrestleMania opponents. I'm not sure what was up with Kane because his offence was sloppy and he took a poor bump into the barricade. A sub-par performance from a guy who is usually reliable for this kind of spot. For all the awkwardness of the build to finish with Kane arguing with the ref, giving Harper a chance to slide in a hit a superkick on Orton, the actual finish was pretty damn cool. Moments after the superkick, Wyatt missed a running senton and with both men reaching for the tag, the lights went out, Wyatt's screen gimmick hit and when they came up, Harper was standing in Orton's corner and Kane had completely disappeared. It looked fantastic and was worked quickly enough that it got a good pop out of the crowd. Wyatt won the bout with a Sister Abigail on Orton. With Harper back there's potential to create some interesting stuff with Orton and Wyatt, parts of the match touched on how good it could be, hopefully it's those parts that are empathised going forward.   

So, I've explained the Styles v Ellsworth bout, but not quite how it came about. It all began with what was probably the strongest work of the show as Styles dazzled on the microphone with a powerful egotistical promo. He spoke about his victory at No Mercy, bragging about his beating John Cena and Dean Ambrose in the same night, glossed over the fact that he tapped out to both, as well as playing with the crowd, initially basking in a portion of cheers, before burning those cheering, by saying that they had to live through him. After a short interlude where Dean Ambrose claimed Styles was afraid to fight him, Styles announced his hand-picked opponent as James Ellsworth, who confusedly walked down the ramp, apparently unaware. The segment would conclude with General Manager Daniel Bryan making Ambrose the special guest referee. As mentioned above this didn't quite sit right with me as stacking the deck against a champion, having the Authority figure place a crooked referee in charge, almost makes Styles the match's babyface. 

The opener saw the new Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler get a victory over The Spirit Squad duo of Kenny (Dykstra) and Mikey (Mondo) in a Two-on-One Handicap match, that would hopefully put that story to bed. The match went too long for me, which might have been something to do with them airing it through the advert break. With The Miz on commentary, I would have bought more into the action had he been more involved in the action, giving the distractions that allowed Kenny and Mikey to take control. The bout plodding along for four or five minutes and I just couldn't buy into the Spirit Squad as threat. The double DDT spot by Ziggler was nice, but having the momentum switch back and give Kenny a near fall felt unnecessary at this point. The most interesting thing that came out of the match was Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno making the save for the victorious Ziggler, as Miz and Spirit Squad attempted to take him out post match. 

Before the bout, Dolph Ziggler opened the show with a hot crowd hanging on his every word. It was the right decision to start the show with the hottest storyline that the show had coming out of No Mercy and Ziggler took the moment and ran with it. He built his promo wonderfully, talking about his feelings before his retirement match and concluded with a passion declaration that he belonged in this ring. He also made the belt feel like a big part of what he had to say, constantly referencing what it meant to him and making sure to hold it aloft at every opportunity. The Miz and Maryse's interruption also featured some good content, with the highlight having to be the pair dressed entirely in black and supposedly being in a period of mourning for Miz's title loss. Whilst Ziggler and the crowd taking the piss out of Miz for seemingly crying on Sunday at first didn't sit right to me, Miz rallying out with a fiery speech, saying that he'd do absolutely anything to get the title back and leading into introducing the Spirit Squad for the aforementioned handicap match.

Best of the Rest 

• Naomi pinned Carmella after Nikki Bella caused a distraction at ringside, with Carmella eventually able to escape an attack from Bella by running through the crowd.

• Against the run of play, Jimmy Uso defeated Chad Gable - Commissioner Shane McMahon & General Manager Daniel Bryan challenged RAW's Commissioner Stephanie McMahon & General Manager Mick Foley to three matches for 20th November's Survivor Series supercard, all traditional Survivor Series elimination matches with one for male singles, one for female singles and one for tag teams – Before her match, Carmella attacked Nikki Bella backstage...

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 3.88/10

Show in a Sentence - Strong promos, ineffective matches and questionable stories.

Strongest Moment - Dolph Ziggler and The Miz opening the show

Weakest Moment - Dolph Ziggler v The Spirit Squad

Only a short episode of Talking Smack this week, but an interesting one for sure. Nikki Bella's interview was the headliner, but there was a lot going on elsewhere also. 

I found myself rather enjoying Renee Young and Daniel Bryan interviewing Nikki Bella, in a way that I perhaps didn't expect I would. This was mainly because Bella felt like she being real, rather than attempting to deliver a promo or play a character, whilst still remaining true to current storylines. This was helped by her chemistry with brother-in-law Bryan, which came across well as they joked and teased each other. A really good plug for the Total Bellas reality show. I would have liked to have seen Bella discuss her feud with Carmella a bit more, as well as sell the attack from Carmella earlier in the night, but perhaps that is asking too much? 

Best of the Rest 

• James Ellsworth's appearance was highlighted by Daniel Bryan announcing that Ellsworth had a World Championship match on next week's Smackdown Live - Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper appeared in the studio and both cut angry and creepy but low key promos 

Finally... 

Show in a Sentence - A nice way to round out the evening, with some brave experiments with different styles.

Words - James Marston

Smackdown Live Banner - Kai Stellar

Supercard Review: WWE No Mercy 2016 - John Cena v Dean Ambrose v AJ Styles (+ WWE No Mercy 2016 Kick-Off + WWE Talking Smack #11)

On 9th October, WWE's Smackdown brand presented the resurrection of No Mercy, as the event made it's return after an eight year hiatus. With matches likes Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle v Edge & Rey Mysterio and Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker's original Hell in a Cell bout from the 2002, as well as Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels' epic ladder match from 2008 in the event's history, how would this new edition shape up? 

In the main event, AJ Styles put the World Championship on the line against John Cena and Dean Ambrose, whilst Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton and Intercontinental Champion The Miz completed the top of the card. Would No Mercy 2016 be an event to remember? 

The main event of the show actually opened the show (in an attempt to secure viewers outside of the US Presidential debate), as AJ Styles retained the World Championship by pinning John Cena in a Triple Threat that also included Dean Ambrose. It felt very odd indeed to start with the biggest match for the biggest prize on the brand, but the crowd was hot for it and the trio kicking things off with a trade off of their finishing moves allowed it to settle into the slot quite well. The match flowed particularly well throughout, as the trio used the gimmick effectively to create a number of striking highspots and even incorporating it into simple moments like rest holds. A personal favourite moment was Ambrose trying to suplex Styles to the floor, which built seamlessly into Cena hitting a German suplex on the pair in the ring. A mental situation with all landing big strikes one after another later in the contest also stands out for it's fluency.

Where the match didn't quite come off for me was in the finish, or more accurately, finishes. The first of these saw Styles tap out with Ambrose had the Calf Crusher locked on and Cena had the F of the STF cinched in, leading to a confusing moment where the referee decided to continue the match. It was very Dusty. So very Dusty. The actual ending would see Styles level Cena with two chair shots, one to the stomach and one to the back, after Cena had hit an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment on Ambrose. After the big moment Cena's move (which is also steadily beginning to lose a little of it's shine due to overuse) a couple of chair shots felt a little anti-climactic. An exclamation point of a Styles Clash or just about anything else in Styles' arsenal would have done the moment justice, short of Styles being able to twat Cena in the face with his weapon (ooh). Obviously, this whole situation was born out of trying to keep Ambrose in the running for a title shot (He submitted Styles and didn't take the pinfall), whilst adding a further feather to Styles' "I Beat John Cena" cap and give The Cenation Leader a reason to continue the feud with Styles when he returns from whatever it is he's going off to do for a bit. When you consider they had about twenty different things they needed to do, fair play to those who put this match together for actually managing that without everything breaking down entirely.

The semi-main came midway through the show as Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz (seconded by Maryse) and won the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, saving his career and perhaps having it's best match in the process. This was a terrific bout, helped in part how involved the audience were with the storytelling as they seemed to react to every little movement, with the noise increasing towards the end. The career v title gimmick was mined for all it was worth. With Ziggler's WWE future up in the air (helped by some great build up work where Ziggler emphasised how he had other ventures set up should he lose) it appeared and sounded like every fan in the arena was unsure of how things were going to go, perhaps in way not seen since CM Punk walked out of Chicago with the WWE Championship in 2011. Both men threw so much into their performances, with Ziggler's selling obviously being a crux of the bout as he sold the leg following a Figure Four Leglock superbly. Miz more than held his weight as a vicious methodical heel, desperate to get rid of a rival and add a few more sweet McMahon dollars to his paycheck.

Miz's near falls seemed to be building and building only one way, a dramatic and emotional exit for Ziggler, and by the time Maryse beckoned down The Spirit Squad (Mikey (Mondo) & Kenny (Dykstra)) and their distraction allowed The Awesome One to nail his second Skull Crushing Finale (the first coming after Maryse sprayed perfume in The Show Off's eyes in a mimic of the conclusion of their Backlash encounter) it felt almost fitting that Ziggler's employment would perish in the same way it started. Perhaps only having Chavo Guerrero come out on a golf cart would have been able to top it for the Ouroboros vibe it created. But Ziggler kicked out. It felt magical. The man who no one could have given a fuck about in the SummerSlam World Championship match just two months prior was suddenly the man the Golden 1 Centre, Sacremento and the entire WWE Universe couldn't bare to see go. After that the finish was near perfect, as the referee chucked Maryse and Spirit Squad out of the arena and with Miz distracted Zig-Zag kicked him in his weird face and got the victory and was raising the Intercontinental Championship in the air before the sound of Sweet Chin Music had finished buzzing in the former champion's ears. This was the best match either man has ever had and also easily in the Top 10 matches WWE has produced this year.

A huge part of me wishes that Dolph Ziggler and The Miz were allowed to close out this show, as even with the return of Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt's victory over Randy Orton didn't quite cut the mustard in that role. The bout showed early promise with The Viper's RKO attempt blocked by Wyatt, who rolled to outside and began laughing. It got my attention early, but as soon as Orton did an exaggerated flat back bump off an uppercut, I was taken out of the action. Perhaps, Orton is still feeling the effects of the beatdown from Lesnar at SummerSlam, because for a man that was willing to take multiple legit elbow blows from The Beast Incarnate, he worked particularly safe on a number of the match bigger moments. Whilst being "safe" shouldn't be a criticism of a wrestler in this injury plagued era, being overly-so can effect a match and this was notable when Orton took a clumsy apron DDT spot and ended up falling nowhere the edge of the apron, taking away massively from what should have been a major near fall in a WWE ring. 

Despite that criticism, Orton and Wyatt did put on a good match. There was a decent story, that saw both men trying to nail their big moves as early and often as they could, which worked well into the finish when it seemed inevitable that The Apex Predator had Wyatt ready for the RKO following his elevated DDT. There was also some fine work on the outside with the steel ring steps being introduced mid-match by Wyatt, before in the closing moments he'd take a big bump onto them as he went for a running senton in a nice piece of symmetry. Overall, I thought the story they told was pretty good, it kept me entertained and I never felt bored or uninterested, because the action was mostly tight and Wyatt is such an interesting character. I just feel like there was a lack of passion or emotion in the contest, especially considering Wyatt had attacked Orton backstage on the previous Smackdown supercard, and for a feud that has been all about mind games and dramatic segmented narratives, there was a surprising lack of any of that sort of thing. Only the Luke Harper return at the conclusion of the show saved this from being a completely throw-away show closer.

Every inch of me has loved Heath Slater and Rhyno's ride up the tag team ranks and all the razzamatazz that has gone with it, a good few inches of me has enjoyed The Usos recent heel turn and all their general shenanigans and bastardery. Therefore when they came together again in a rematch of the Smackdown Tag Team title tournament final from 11th September, it took me to a happy, happy place. Whilst part of the shine of Slater's contract chase alongside title dreams was now absent, I felt like The Usos upped their game with Jey especially getting in some good heel work as he riffed on the "He's Got Kids" chants by reminding the crowd that he also has kids. Two kids, Jey, two kids, Slater's got seven wonderful children, don't be a dick Jey. No one cares about your kids, Jey. Okay, got a bit carried away there. Either way, this bout saw both teams begin to explore what they can do in their new roles more, with Slater getting to do a pretty damn sweet hot tag sequence and Jimmy & Jey scrapping away on the larger Rhyno. The finish could have been a little slicker with the Tequila Sunrise being a difficult move to manoeuvre out of, but The Man Beast continued the fairytale with a gorgeous Gore, so crack open the squirty cheese and move on!

Skipping forward to Talking Smack's headlining segment, the new Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler spoke to Renee Young, Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon and Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan. As with a lot of the work done on the show, the interview felt very real and raw for Ziggler, who put over the emotion of his win well, questioned McMahon and Bryan for not kayfabe putting the match on last and put over The Miz for his hard work, whilst also calling him a jerk to supposedly keep the feud running without completely blowing the kayfabe doors off the sports-entertainment van. Some of the best work done was in explaining the effects of the perfume spray from Maryse, with Zig-Zag doing a stellar job of describing how it was painful, why it was painful and how it impacted the rest of the match. It's that kind of stuff that will make a second, third or fourth viewing of that contest even more enjoyable. Well done Mr. Nemeth on a superb performance all evening.

Skipping back to the Kick-Off show, because I'm crazy motherlicker who don't play by no rules, American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan) and The Hype Brothers (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) bested The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) & The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch) in an Eight Man Tag Team bout that outshone it's stature as the depth of Smackdown's Tag Team division continued to be showcased. The contest worked smartly around the ad break, before heading into the more meaty second act as Ryder worked the face in peril role, whilst English, Konnor, Gotch and Viktor tried their best to keep The Long Island Iced Z from tagging out. All four heels did some strong work here, with some nice booking seeing Jordan left as the only team member left to tag. This negated the more logical tag from Ryder to Rawley who is arguably the least over of anyone involved. The finish came soon after as all eight men got their own moments in a busy breakdown, leading to Jordan pinning English after a Grand Amplitude that came almost out of nowhere, with a nice touch of Gable having fight off Gotch in the ropes. This was a great advert for anyone unsure about the show and the kind of thing WWE should be doing more often with the Kick-Off programme.

The higher profile of two female matches was a grudge contest that saw Nikki Bella go over Carmella. This match had some good sizzle but had apparently forgotten to actually put the steak in the pan. The storyline elements like Bella going straight after Carmella got me interested in where the two would go, with a pair of well-done slaps also helping to get over the distaste that the two had for each other, perhaps better than the Orton v Wyatt closer managed. However, after the opening slap-fest, when the two had to actually wrestle is where the match fell apart for me. There was a lot of sloppy hair pulling from Carmella, awkward hope spots for Bella, Carmella slapping on another wear down when they appeared to get lost, more clumsiness from the Princess of Staten Island on a rana and thrust kick, this was not good stuff at all. The last stretch with Carmella getting the Code of Silence locked in twice was a slight improvement, but Bella's TKO, now going by Rack Attack 2.0 is not a pretty move at all. I feel like Bella isn't a strong enough wrestler to carry the still green Carmella to a decent match. They've still got roles to play if positioned with stronger talents like Becky Lynch, but this one didn't help the women's cause.

Baron Corbin's victory over Jack Swagger was poorly received by the live crowd and received "Boring" and "Delete" chants from portions of the crowd, which has a lot to do with how the pair have been handled since the brand split and even more so on how Swagger has been treated for years. It's unreasonable to expect an audience to care about The Real American when he's only just turned up on Smackdown, had his repackage apparently sidelined, had only four singles matches on RAW or Smackdown in 2016, hasn't had a PPV singles match since December 2015, hadn't won a PPV singles match since February 2012! Therefore, Corbin and Swagger wrestled the wrong type of bout here. Corbin went after Swagger's hand after it got caught in the steel steps, which would have been a great story with an invested audience, it was sold well, it went on to effect a major moment when Swagger couldn't do the Patriot Lock (which should have been the finish, being able to do the move later on didn't make much sense), but it wasn't right. Here was the time to try to get the crowd on board! Do the Real American schtik, work out two or three big spots that will make the 7 minutes or so stand out and grab the crowd by the balls, but that wasn't to be. A good chunk of the blame has to go with whoever the agent or producer was for this one.  

Rounding off the evening, Alexa Bliss suffered a surprise loss to Naomi, after Becky Lynch was unable to defend the Smackdown Women's Championship against her #1 Contender, Bliss. This ended up being a six minute mess as Naomi and Bliss seemed to just throw a load of random stuff together, without particularly trying to have a clear and coherent contest. Naomi hit a decent split leg moonsault early on, but the move was completely out of place a few minutes in to, what I guess was supposed to be, the face-shine. Bliss sort of worked the arm a bit, Naomi sold the arm a bit, but it never felt like it was the driving story for the contest, despite being awkwardly involved in the finish. Bizarrely, Naomi hit a wicked spinning facebuster thing, but then fucked up her Rear View finish. Drop the Rear View, Naomi, it's red reels. The finish went from bad to worse as Naomi got a flash pin after shifting the weight whilst Bliss had an arm bar locked on. I struggle to understand the booking for this one, with Bliss rescheduled to face Lynch on a November episode of Smackdown in Glasgow, a win here would have solidified her at the top contender, Naomi winning unnecessarily muddies the situation.

Best of the Rest 

• On Talking Smack, Alexa Bliss was interviewed by Renee Young, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, as the Smackdown Women's Championship picture got even more muddied.

• On Kick-Off, Nikki Bella joined Renee Young, Booker T, Jerry “The King” Lawler and Lita for a short interview, that was mainly Lawler perving on Bella.

• Tom Phillips interviewed The Usos on Kick-Off – The Miz and Maryse interrupted Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan backstage prior to the Intercontinental Championship Match - Curt Hawkins announced he'd be having his “very first match” on the next Smackdown Live on Kick-Off - Bray Wyatt did some creepy singing in his rocking chair before his match.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating

No Mercy 2016 - 5.5/10
+ Kick-Off - 5.71/10
+Kick Off + Talking Smack - 5.73/10

Show in a Sentence - An higgeldy piggeldy card, propped up by one very good match and one great match with two career-best performances.

Match of the Night - Dolph Ziggler v The Miz 

Weakest Match of the Night - Naomi v Alexa Bliss

TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #894 - The Dolphumentary + Talking Smack #10 - Dolph Ziggler Interview

As the final episode before the No Mercy supercard on 9th October, the 894th Smackdown Live saw Dolph Ziggler take centre stage as Intercontinental Champion The Miz premiered a new "Dolphumentary" and Ziggler's buddies from the Spirit Squad, Kenny and Mikey returned. With a supercard just days away and the likes of World Champion AJ Styles, Women's Champion Becky Lynch, Dean Ambrose, Alexa Bliss and Jack Swagger all in major spots, this was going to great, right?

The heat on the Intercontinental Championship was turned up a notch as title holder, The Miz, presented a video package on No Mercy opponent Dolph Ziggler, that looked at some of the more infamous moments in The Show Off's career, before Ziggler fought off old pals from The Spirit Squad, Kenny [Dykstra] and Mikey [Mondo] in their WWE returns. I wasn't overly excited about Kenny and Mikey and the segment could have been just as effective without it, but it definitely gave the interaction a nice boost of nostalgia for the heady days of 2006. Whilst most of the coverage of this looked at the return, it was Ziggler and Miz would worked the hardest to keep stirring their feud up. Both worked when on the attack throwing verbal barbs, but it was when reacting to these barbs that the pair created their most effective work. Ziggler's frustration and aggression when Miz told him he'd be doing $5 autograph signings should he lose at No Mercy was the standout moment of an enjoyable scene. 

In a show that was full of talking, World Champion AJ Styles and #1 Contenders John Cena and Dean Ambrose closed the show, in what developed into Styles and Ambrose taking turns to take shots at Cena. There was a surprising amount of variety here as The Phenomenal One stuck to Cena's attempts at equaling Ric Flair's "World Championship record", whilst Ambrose went about questioning Cena's personality traits and his Hustle Loyalty Respect mantra. Both Styles and Ambrose brought strong performances to match the strong content, with the segment building nicely to Cena beginning the scrap without having to really say a word. The close of the show was a little paint by numbers, as all three men got a chance to hold the belt up, with Ambrose ending the show in control. There were ways of getting the supposed chaos of a triple threat match over without having to fall into the predictable and formulaic.

The adjoining episode of Talking Smack was headlined by an appearance from Dolph Ziggler, as he discussed his match with The Miz at No Mercy and added some depth to the tie. With Ziggler's career on the line on 9th October, this was another fact and fiction mixing effort from The Show Off, which long-time fans may have become a little numb towards over recent years. Ziggler definitely has knack at getting his pacing and passion just right, this was only interrupted by Renee Young appearing to want to steer Ziggler in a certain direction. The style worked for the audience that would be watching Talking Smack, as you'd expect these to more interested in insider terms and therefore I think that the upcoming bout has been given an extra layer of interest, as this was more a look at how Nicholas Nemeth feels about his current situation in the company, than it was a look at his issues with Miz. 

After Alexa Bliss and Nikki Bella's singles match had ended in a no contest, thanks to Carmella interference, Daniel Bryan pulled a Teddy Long and booked a tag match with Bella being joined by Women's Champion Becky Lynch. The tag bout, managed to carry two storylines well, but couldn't have been called anything more than basic. Taking up just over 4 minutes, Bella worked in the face in peril, which mainly involved rest holds from Carmella & Bliss. There wasn't a lot to get excited about, but the San Diego crowd seemed largely into it, which at least gave a bit of drive when watching at home. Lynch's hot tag was probably the best part, featuring crisp exploder suplexes in quick succession and the finish gave fuel for the two upcoming supercard bouts as Carmella and Bella brawled to the back, whilst Bliss pinning Lynch gives her even more momentum heading into her title challenge.

Round off the top part of the card, Baron Corbin suffered defeat to Jack Swagger in controversial fashion, as the referee called for the bell despite Corbin not appearing to tap whilst in the Patriot Lock. Despite the dodgy finish, I was surprised by the strength of this contest, as Corbin and Swagger put together some quality action. The story appeared to paint Swagger as the more powerful of the pair, getting the better of Corbin in the early stages, leading to Corbin having to resort to taking advantage of a rope break and then shoving Swagger into the barricade. This was well put across by the performers and managed to get Corbin a decent amount of heat, which was only added up when The Lone Wolf took his time during his beat down. The transition into the Patriot Lock, showed that perhaps with an extra five minutes and a real finish that Corbin and Swagger could do something good together. 

Best of the Rest 

• On Talking Smack, AJ Styles' interview with Renee Young and Daniel Bryan covered a variety of topics, with Styles handling the occasions well, adding to what he'd said at the close of Smackdown Live and ending with a passionate promo about defeating anyone Bryan or Shane McMahon put in front of him, because he's a winner.

• Bray Wyatt and Kane went through the motions, until Randy Orton appeared on the big screen upside down and Wyatt left to find out where he was, leading to multiple pre-taped backstage skits. 

• The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) went over The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch) in an awkward and cringey tag encounter, that also involved The Ascension standing about on the ramp and pointing a bit.

• Daniel Bryan introduced five female fund-raisers for Susan G. Kommen and presented them all with Women's Championship belts, in an emotionally charged in-ring event.

Finally....

ATPW Scale Rating - 

4.45/10 [Smackdown Live Only]

4.67/10 [+ Talking Smack]

The main storylines this week were well served as World and IC title stories carried the show, with two good segments. It was a shame that there was a distinct lack of wrestling as only Corbin v Swagger went longer than five minutes, which, of course, reflects on the rating. With this being the last chance to get people interested in the No Mercy supercard, I can understand wanting to hammer the main stories and make sure that each narrative is hammered home. Despite, a lack lustre showing for this episode, there was a lot of good groundwork laid for No Mercy to build upon.

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

Match of the Night - Jack Swagger v Baron Corbin

Non-Wrestling Segment of the Night - The Dolphumentary

TV Review: WWE Smackdown Live #891 - John Cena and Dean Ambrose Confront AJ Styles

As Smackdown headed out of Backlash, John Cena would return and, alongside former Champ Dean Ambrose, confront new World Champion AJ Styles. Would the blue brand be able to keep the momentum going after a hot supercard two days prior?

With AJ Styles beginning the show with his newly won World Championship belt around his waist, the opening segment would get heated quickly as John Cena made his return, Dean Ambrose interrupted and Commissioner Shane McMahon booked a main event for No Mercy on 9th October. This was a brilliant start to the evening with all four men being on great form on the microphone and a number of different stories being either developed or introduced. Styles berating the crowd, constantly saying "I told you so" about both beating Cena and winning the World title was just the right side of annoying, to the point where you want to see someone kick him hard in the shins. Styles calling himself the "Champ that Runs the Camp" is totally cringey, but works completely with his character. Having the popular McMahon admonish Styles for the way he won the title was a clear attempt at piling on the heat onto the group's #1 heel, but it was also still rather entertaining! 

The thing that caught the Philadelphia crowd's attention the most was the exchange between Cena and Ambrose as the pair pulled no punches, telling each other exactly how they felt. The Cenation Leader's initial interruption of a Lunatic Fringe rant was as fiery as we've seen Cena in a long time, as he ripped into Ambrose for complaining about losing to a low blow, whilst also getting a superb reaction for referencing Ambrose's appearance on the Stone Cold podcast. Ambrose's reply would attempt to match Cena's level, as he'd use phrases like "lazy part-timer" and accuse Cena of not being able to get it done in the ring anymore. It was great to see two babyfaces get their teeth into each other, as clearly the two characters wouldn't be the best of friends. They managed to combine the elements of reality with fiction well and if it continues this way during the build to the Triple Threat match then the next three weeks should be a real treat. 

The main event featured John Cena and Dean Ambrose teaming up against AJ Styles and The Miz in a decent TV scrap. Miz would continue his storyline with Daniel Bryan by attacking Bryan's chosen opponent for Styles, James Ellsworth [Big Time Wrestling's Jimmy Dream], on the entrance ramp to take his place in the match. This was a cool moment that saw Miz continue to up his aggression levels, as he screamed about being a main eventer. The contest would play out quite nicely with both duos making surprisingly strong partnerships, with the heels especially putting together good stuff when in control. There was plenty of referee distractions and underhanded tactics, as well as some nice double teaming. Both Ambrose and Cena would get hot tag sequences, with Cena's coming at the conclusion of the bout, which booked-ended Styles and Miz's slower paced team attacks. The finish was a nice twist on the Cenation Leader's usual comeback sequence, as Miz took the familiar bumps and as Styles interfered, Ambrose made the save, throwing the Phenomenal One to the outside and hitting a suicide dive, leaving Cena the space to nail an Attitude Adjustment and get the pin on the Intercontinental Champion. Whilst The Lunatic Fringe would hit Dirty Deeds on Cena to close the show and got a good deal of heat because of it, I would've liked to have seen more tension between them during the contest, especially considering the exchange they earlier to open the show. 

Alexa Bliss earned a Women's Championship match with Becky Lynch, thanks to defeating Naomi, Nikki Bella, Natalya and Carmella in a Fatal Five Way encounter. The contest didn't quite have the same depth as the Six Pack Challenge from Backlash, but there was still some good work on display. Bella and Carmella's feud continued with the pair scrapping from the beginning and there was two strong near falls. The majority of the contest flowed well, although I did feel that there were some sequences that came across as overly choreographed, especially when Naomi was rather obvious about making sure she was in the correct position. The finish, however, was put together astutely, with Carmella hitting Bella with a thrust kick as the latter seemed destined to get Bliss with a Rack Attack, however moments later it was Bliss who had the win after sending Carmella to the outside and stealing the pin on Nikki. The Women's division on Smackdown has been made to feel ultra competitive over the last few weeks, so I'm interested to see how the brand manages to handle keeping multiple storylines going without having all six girls involved at the same time.

A rather odd talking segment where Dolph Ziggler would challenge The Miz to a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship, concluded with Miz walking out through the crowd after an argument with General Manager Daniel Bryan. Ziggler is usually a slick talker, but on this occasion, after an early slip up, he struggled to find any connection with the crowd, which is something that his current rhetoric relies upon. Miz and his wife Maryse on the other hand have that connection in spades with both getting shit loads of heat, which only got hotter when Maryse interrupted Ziggler to speak for her husband. I'm not quite sure what to make of how things ended as after Bryan had initially agreed that Ziggler deserved a rematch, Miz refused saying he wouldn't renegotiate a contract until his demands were met. before walking out through the crowd. It definitely asked more questions than it answered and left me a little bemused if I'm honest! I guess, we'll just have to keep watching to see what is actually supposed to be going on. 

A unique contract signing took place as Heath Slater finally ceased to be the hottest free agent in WWE and signed with Smackdown following winning the Tag Team Championships with Rhyno at Backlash! Whilst the segment didn't quite have the same feel that the duo defeating The Usos the night before had had, it was still great to see one of the brighest acts in WWE today get more and more television time. Slater went over some old ground with his promo, but who cares at this point, the lad can talk about his kids all day long if he wants to and Rhyno can just look like he wants to beat the shit into anyone in the background. Having The Ascension come out to challenge for the belts was a bit of a lame conclusion to things and Konnor and Viktor didn't really make the most of their opportunity, screwing up their only big spot of the match. This was an abridged version of Rhyno and Slater's other matches across the last few weeks, with The Man Beast eventually getting the win with a Gore to Viktor. 

Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton's feud took on a different direction, when Erick Rowan would ambush The Apex Predator to bring a good segment to a close. Both Orton and Wyatt cut strong promos on each other, as The Apex Predator addressed Wyatt's attack on him at Backlash in the ring. Orton seems to be relishing this feud as it's allowed his character to become a little bit darker again, which produces much more interesting material, like him insinuating that Wyatt was afraid of fighting him and calling for his rival to "face his fear". The Eater of World's various supernatural gimmicks were used to the promo's benefit as Wyatt initially appeared on the screen, with a creepy speech telling Orton not to sleep, before appearing at ringside. This would build to Rowan's interference and his supposed re-alignment with Wyatt. As much as a cool moment as it was with the lights repeatedly going out, heading forward it feels like a bit of a backwards step for both Wyatt and Rowan. However if this means Luke Harper is returning soon for a brief reunion I think I'll get over it. 

Best of the Rest 

• The Usos defeated The Hype Bros in a swift rematch from Backlash.
• After Baron Corbin attacked Apollo Crews before their match, Jack Swagger would confront the Lone Wolf and went on to cut a promo saying he'd jumped to Smackdown and that no one "knew Jack".

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.96/10

This was a fairly decent episode of Smackdown Live, with a lot of strong storyline advancement throughout the show as the brand comes out of Backlash and turns it's attention towards No Mercy. The opening segment with Styles, Cena, Ambrose and McMahon was very good, with everyone involved putting in real effort, whilst Cena and Ambrose both brought some fire that will probably carry the story towards the show. Orton and Wyatt also put on good performances on the microphone as their story took a different twist. In the ring, the main event with Cena and Ambrose against Styles and Miz was a cracking tag bout, the Women's five way was exciting, yet brief. I'd have liked the show to feature more wrestling, as the only two matches on the show were short tag team contests. 

Heath Slater's contract signing didn't quite live up to expectations, struggling to find a punchline and then moving into a match with The Ascension, whilst the Ziggler and Miz confrontation didn't really work either, especially after The Show-Off has lost in two high profile matches! 

Having a lot of focus on the Cena, Ambrose and Styles storyline did this show well as almost everything that the three were doing together, whether that be on the microphone or inside the ring was entertaining to watch and because there was lots of it the show ends up a high score. There was some support from the Women and the Wyatt/Orton story, but overall the main event story pretty much carried this show. 

Supercard Review: WWE Backlash 2016 - AJ Styles v Dean Ambrose 2

Backlash 2016 had the somewhat unenviable task of re-introducing single branded "PPV" events to the WWE Universe after a ten year hiatus. With a main event like AJ Styles v Dean Ambrose and a supporting cast including Becky Lynch, Natalya, Kane, Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt, but notably without the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton and American Alpha in action, could the Smackdown Live crew pull a rabbit out of the hat?  

The main event would see Dean Ambrose's World Championship run come to an end after 84 days (the longest since Seth Rollins vacated the title in November 2015) as AJ Styles would win his first title in WWE in a slow burning 25 minute collision. I'm a big fan of a slow burner, the kind of match that you think isn't quite living up to expectations, but then a flurry of action in the final third with some cute call backs to earlier in the contest makes you wonder why you ever doubted two of the best wrestlers in the company. The one moment in particular that caught my attention was Styles managing to block a suicide dive in the earlier exchange by dropping The Lunatic Fringe throat first into the bottom rope, before Ambrose would be able to hit the move twenty or so minutes later in a satisfying bit of symtetry that would see the then World Champ finally kick into top gear and scrap with his challenger all over ringside. 

The match was packed with little pockets of story, that kept things varied and interesting, like Styles going after Ambrose's knee after driving it into the canvas in the corner of the ring. This was used to set-up a series of Calf Crusher attempts, including the first which was a well-worked spot that saw Ambrose's knee give out on a suplex attempt and Styles transition seamlessly into the hold. I'd have liked to have seen this continue to be a theme after the spot had been used, as it was a shame that it seemed to be dropped later in the match, as it could have made the closing sections even more interesting. However, they added an extra level of drama to the bout with both men selling those moments and the build up very well, whilst also playing into the two other on-going storylines the match had going. 

The bout was built around the basis that the veteran Georgia native was always one step ahead of the Champion, with a counter for almost all of Ambrose's offence, but was unable to put him away. This would become very clear in a sequence that would see Styles getting three near falls in quick succession, off a Ushigoroshi, a Rack Bomb and the Superman 450 splash. Personally, I think throwing in a move that Styles has regularly won matches with, like the Phenomenal Forearm, would have hammered the point home with a convincing near fall, but also could have ended up as a bit of overkill. All of this was building to the finish, as Styles took advantage of a ref bump, to kick Ambrose in the nuts (calling back to their testicle based antics on Smackdown Live over the last two weeks) before hitting an awkward Styles Clash for the win. It was supremely satisfying to see that narrative conclude in a logical way, that leaves the door open for a possible rematch at No Mercy next month and with the two perhaps holding back some of their top draw sequences, I've got a feeling that they could top this match next time out.

In what would become the show's semi-main event, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler battled over the Intercontinental Championship, in a match that far surpassed my expectations. That isn't to say that I don't think either Miz or Ziggler are talented or capable of having good matches, but it's not exactly the most inspiring fixture to see on the card, especially after Ziggler fumbled his big World title match at SummerSlam. However, the pair worked an especially clever match, chock-full of story and paced almost to perfection, that held my attention throughout it's admittedly lengthy 18 minute run-time. Ziggler and Miz have an odd chemistry within the ring, one that is perhaps a bit clinical, at times, there's an efficiency about it, without any real fire, however on this occasion that ended up suiting the setting and produced a very good match. 

The contest had my attention from the beginning, featuring some interesting amateur wrestling from Ziggler, as the commentary talked about his background and upcoming Hall of Fame induction at his University, before Miz would take advantage of a rope break to get the upperhand. It was sound psychology that played off the storyline going in, that Miz was a coward and Ziggler had something to prove. Then there were the touches from The A Lister as he mimicked General Manager Daniel Bryan, by pulling out a number of very un-Miz like submissions, as well as Bryan's signature corner drop kicks. I think this could have perhaps been expanded upon later in the match, as Miz's obsession with Bryan could have been used to create some convincing near falls. There were some strong close calls though for both men, like Miz locking in the Figure 4 Leg Lock after we'd seen The Show-Off struggling to hit a superkick, followed up a Superkick where Miz would manage to get his foot on the bottom rope. The finish was a satisfying one though, as we came back to Miz's cowardly ways as his wife, Maryse, sprayed perfume into the eyes of Ziggler and a Skull Crushing Finale allowed Miz to retain. If these lads are allowed a similar stage for a rematch then I'd look forward to it much more than I did for this match. 

Becky Lynch would become the brand's Women's Champion in a Six Pack Challenge, pinning Carmella last, after Nikki Bella, Natalya, Naomi and Alexa Bliss had already been eliminated. A little sloppiness aside, this was a cracking contest, that keep a number of storylines ticking over, whilst also making use of having six women in the ring, in what was a cleverly crafted encounter. The build towards the first elimination, gave each and every woman involved the opportunity to showcase themselves, with strong sequences between Naomi and Lynch, Bliss and Bella and Lynch and Bliss, as well as a sweet dives sequence and a tower of doom. Whilst the match seemed to be well thought out as it unfolded, I feel like the first woman eliminated was the one who impressed me the most here, as Bliss' performance throughout, whether that be trying to steal pin covers immediately after the Tower of Doom spot or scrapping with more experienced performers, she made the most of her time in the bout and looked great doing it. 

The pinfalls would come thick and fast after Bliss had left the match, with Natalya stealing an elimination on Naomi after a Bella forearm, Bella eliminated Natalya with a TKO and Carmella catching Bella off guard with a jackknife cover. It was the Bella and Carmella story that would be the most obvious story running throughout the bout, with their battles being strategically placed to get the best reaction. The showdown after Bella was eliminated could have been played a little better, but with it coming just before Lynch would tap out Carmella to win the bout, anything stronger would have effected the quality of The Irish LassKickers submission win. The match did a good job of raising the profile of talents like Carmella and Bliss, whilst placing Lynch right at the top of the women's division, which has shown it has a lot more potential than I'd previously given it credit for. 

As stories leaked earlier in the afternoon that Randy Orton had still not been cleared to compete after his TKO loss to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, it was clear that WWE would have to switch The Legend Killer out of his scheduled bout with Bray Wyatt on the PPV. It was a shame that WWE went down a fairly unimaginative route, having Wyatt assault Orton backstage before coming to the ring and celebrating a forfeit victory. It didn't really suit The Eater of World's gimmick and felt very weird seeing him involved in the backstage assault and even weirder seeing him basking in getting out of having a fight. With more than enough time to work out a creative decision on what to do with Orton (You'd have to think that a contingency plan should have been in place for if Orton hadn't been cleared by Sunday) I feel like the creative team should have been able to come up with a better angle than what was presented. 

Luckily, they managed to redeem themselves by actually giving us Wyatt match, that was another surprisingly good bout as he went up against Kane in an impromptu No Holds Barred bout. Wyatt and Kane really went at each other in satisfying big lads action, with the No DQ stip adding just what the bout needed to take it above what I can only imagine would have been a fairly dull contest otherwise. It wasn't the most violent display you'll ever see, but it was plenty of fun, that included a cracking running senton through the announce table spot from Wyatt. Apart from that spot it had a cool house show vibe about it  and considering the duo have had five or six Street Fight's opposite each other on the live event circuit this year, I'd guess that a lot of this match was going over what fans in Kalamazoo and Corpus Christi had got to witness earlier in 2016. Orton would manage to make it out for the finish, selling the knee that Wyatt had attacked like his life depended on it, before hitting an RKO that would gift The Big Red Machine the victory (following a Chokeslam of his own). It would be easy to moan about Wyatt putting Kane over, but the focus was all on the Wyatt and Orton feud which now has some extra fuel and hopefully the pair will get their bout in four week's at No Mercy in Sacramento, California. 

HEATH SLATER AND RHYNO WON THE TAG TEAM TITLES! Does anything else really matter in this world? It was Rhyno's first title victory in WWE since he defeated Tajiri at Unforgiven 2001 for the WCW United States title and Heath Slater's first win since teaming with Justin Gabriel, as part of The Corre, to beat John Cena and The Miz and win what is now the RAW Tag Team Championship on a February 2011 episode of Monday Night RAW! This is the Heath Slater who won ONE match out of 132 last year. The Heath Slater who hasn't won a PPV match since early 2011. Slater has managed to build on the connections he'd made consistently doing his best with whatever shite he was given [3MB and Social Outcasts] and whilst others have moaned, complained and been released, Heathy Baby just kept plugging away and ended up getting rewarded for his hard work. The free agent storyline has been one of the best things about wrestling in 2016. 

Okay, so that was me getting excited about the result, but that doesn't really matter if the match was a load of old shite, does it? However, it wasn't it was a good quality tag team bout that built well to it's finish and used the characters well to create a compelling bout. I've written barely any notes on this one, because I was so invested in the action, perhaps more than I've been in years for a WWE bout. The Usos were glorious as they turned up their heel meter up to cunt, doing dastardly things like suplexing Slater into the big ringpost. Slater put on a performance that made me like him even more, selling his beatdown wonderfully, whilst knowing his character and doing things like tagging himself back into the match moments after a Rhyno hot tag, because he was a man on a mission and that mission was to get Beulah a motherfucking double wide. And Rhyno, well Rhyno was just a bloody man beast and the moment when he dragged Slater into the cover after nailing a Gore on one of them Usos was pure wrestling perfection. HEATH SLATER AND RHYNO WON THE TAG TEAM TITLES!   

The Usos got to debut their new look and feel opposite The Hype Bros [Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder] in a match that was billed as a "Second Chance Challenge", after Jey & Jimmy had injured the previous Tag title Tournament finalists, American Alpha. This match outdid my expectations with the new gimmick for The Usos allowing Hype Bros to fit into the babyface role much better than previously, as Ryder scrambled against the cocksure Usos. In particular, the lengthier match allowed Rawley to shine, with a number of power spots, including running around the ring and nailing both Usos with a shoulder ram and sending them into the barricade. Plus Ryder was doing stupid moves like dropkicks off the apron and bumping like he wanted to cause himself somekind of bodily harm. The finish was especially busy, with Rawley ending up in same wall he pushed the Usos into and Ryder tapping out to an arm trap single leg Boston crab, cementing 2 time WWE Tag Team Champions as nasty heels and give them their match against Heath Slater and Rhyno. 

The Kick-Off match was a bonus bout between Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin as the pair put in a solid outing before the main show began. When they announced the bout in a cheesy backstage segment, I have to admit that I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to see a rematch from NXT Takeover: London but the lads actually managed to put on a good little match in their spot. The bout was structured well and told a strong story, as both were presented as strong and powerful, with Crews having the advantage on speed and Corbin being a bit more ring savvy. Repeating the spot where Corbin runs out and straight back into the ring was a cool moment and this managed to propel the contest into an exciting close sequence. The crowd seemed to get into the action as soon as the match came back from the ad-break, meaning that when Corbin managed to pick up the victory with End of Days it felt like both men had made some kind of gains in getting over with the audience. 

The show started with a segment that can only be described as a time-filler, as Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan headed out to the ring and ran down the card for the evening. It was clear that the show was going to struggle to fill the three hour time slot, but this was a bit silly. McMahon and Bryan are always going to pop a crowd and keep them interested, because of their undoubted popularity, which is a good way to get the crowd warmed up at the start of the show, I suppose. However, on the actual PPV it stinks of desperation to fill space on a rushed event! 

Best of the Rest 

• Rhyno and Heath Slater went in hard during an interview with Tom Phillips in the Social Media Lounge, pulling out a series of above ground pool based references.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating -  6.63/10 

(6.57 with Kick-Off show)

Backlash 2016 was a good wrestling show, that didn't feature a single match that I'd consider below a good rating and entertained me throughout the majority of it's two and half hour run time. The main event was clearly the match of the night, with AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose producing a great World title clash, that was a gratifying watch. Having the World title change hands on the first of these new supercard events, instantly lends them some prestige that they perhaps didn't have going into the show and will hopefully make them feel more must-see events. 

Outside the main event there were a number of sleeper bouts, that outperformed my expectations, such as Dolph Ziggler and The Miz's semi main over the Intercontinental Championship and the bonus match between Bray Wyatt and Kane. The Six Woman bout was also much better than I'd felt it would have been after the six woman tag they had together on this week's Smackdown Live. The Tag Team tournament offered a feel good moment with Rhyno and Heath Slater winning the belts, as well as the debut of a new exciting look and gimmick for The Usos. Had it not been for the filler at the beginning of the show, then Backlash 2016 would have gotten an even higher rating! 

This was a great start to the new run of shows, taking a decent card and producing a PPV verging on being very good, that will hopefully make fans think twice before deciding to skip one. 

All content - James Marston 

Poster Credit - World Wrestling Entertainment