WWE Monday Night RAW 1284 Review // 1st January 2018 // Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe

It's Two Thousand and Eighteen, lads. New Year's Day brought us the first Monday Night RAW of the year and WWE put together an intriguing card for the American Airlines Center in Miami. After Roman Reigns got disqualified in an Intercontinental Championship match with Samoa Joe on Christmas Day, this week saw Reigns put the belt on the line once again in the main event, with the caveat being that if the Big Dog was disqualified he'd forfeit his title. Newly-crowned RAW Tag Team Champion Jason Jordan battled former champ Cesaro and the undefeated Asuka collided with RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss in a fascinatingly poised non-title clash, whilst General Manager Kurt Angle, Kane, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins and "Woken" Matt Hardy also made appearances. 

Did we learn anything about the direction of WWE's product for the upcoming trip round the Sun? Let's take a look, ATPDubbers. 

Intercontinental Championship // Roman Reigns (C) def. Samoa Joe // Pinfall 

This week's main event received some heavy build across the opening two hours, with a lengthy hype package (especially for a TV bout), as well as three backstage segments. The hype vid was your regular look at the history of the feud, focusing on Joe's attack on Reign's Shield partner Dean Ambrose, as well as the DQ finish to their encounter last week. I thought the backstage stuff was done well, with the two interviews having some real impact and punch behind them. Reigns looked confident and assured on the microphone (something he seems to have gotten much more comfortable with since the John Cena feud last September), but Joe's promo was utter fire. Joe spitting his words out with a throw back intensity and general bad-assery was just perfect, the kind of thing that makes you wanna see two big lads throw each other around. The line about turning Dean Ambrose into a "stay-at-home husband" whilst being interviewed by Ambrose's real-life wife, Renee Young, got a gorgeous reaction from Miami, with Young selling the comment just right too. Joe has been almost untouchable on the microphone recently. 

The title match was an enjoyable heavyweight collision between two opponents who have become increasingly familiar with each other over the last 11 months. Joe's intense and fiery beatdown from the bell gave the match a real sense of urgency that helped it hold it's sizeable television time and also featured as a driving force for the bout's main narrative. That being that if Reigns was disqualified then he'd lose the title. This stipulation has been used many a time over the years and can often come across as a little lame, with a handful of worn-out spots. Luckily, I didn't get that feeling here, as Joe just seemed determined to rile up the champion as much as possible, playing on the emotional reaction we saw from Roman last week. The only moment that felt a little laboured was Reigns clattering into the referee after a push from Joe, as Reigns pleading with the ref not to disqualify him, and all that went with it, was a bit too pantomimey for my tastes. That being said, it did help create some needed drama down the stretch and the crowd seemed to go for it. 

The highlight of the match was Joe locking in the Coquina Clutch in the middle of a fire-up from Reigns, because it got an amazing reaction from the Miami audience. At that point it felt like the crowd were super ready to see Joe take the Intercontinental title and I'm sure it would've got an even bigger reaction had he managed to grab the title from Reigns. However, after Reigns slipped out of the move and won a few minutes later with a spear, it seems like we're well on the road to another WrestleMania title challenge for the Big Dog (and surely a FOURTH main event in a row), as Joe was only one of two men Reigns hadn't  been able to best this year (The other being Kevin Owens if you were wondering). Where does this leave Joe on the Road to WrestleMania? There's the obvious Dean Ambrose collision on the horizon, whenever he's back, I suppose. 

Jason Jordan def. Cesaro // Pinfall

This match would come about in a frankly confusing opening segment. It began with Kurt Angle announcing the rules for the Women's Royal Rumble match (They're the same as the Men's) and then concluded with Angle booking Jason Jordan vs. Cesaro. Why on earth weren't ANY women involved in the announcement of the rules? This was perhaps a worse move than having Stephanie McMahon the star of the original match announcement...BECAUSE THERE WERE NO WOMEN INVOLVED AND THEN SOME MEN INTERRUPTED THE ANNOUNCEMENT! It's not hard guys. The rest of the segment was super wordy and mostly focused on Cesaro and Sheamus accusing Angle of "favourtism" towards Jordan  and then Jordan looking like a dork and getting booed. Surely, the match that followed up between Jordan and Cesaro would pick things up a notch? 

Actually, yeah, it did. Whilst the crowd weren't particularly paying attention, The Swiss Superman and Chad Gable's former pal wrestled a lovely television match, with a good story that played out nicely across it's ten minutes or so on-screen. The idea that Seth Rollins wasn't really into helping out his fellow Tag Team Champion at ringside, whilst Sheamus' constant interference on the outside allowed Cesaro to control the majority of the match was made clear early on. Whilst Rollins could've been more involved in lifting the crowd, his presence served the storyline well. Now, let's talk about Jason Jordan's selling...because it was sublime here. Cesaro worked the left leg after a distraction aided chop block and from that moment onwards the injury was kept firmly in view as Jordan hobbled through the match, struggled to hit certain moves and even had to use a one-legged bridge after a Northern Lights suplex. It's a shame that Jordan was lumbered with the gimmick of being Kurt Angle's son, because without it he actually has real potential as a babyface. Bringing the story full-circle, Rollins finally came to Jordan's aid, taking out Sheamus at ringside, giving Jordan the chance to hit his as yet unnamed belly-to-back suplex dropped into an elevated neckbreaker finish and only for JJ to completely ignore The Kingslayer after the match!  

Asuka def. Alexa Bliss // Submission

Whilst the women didn't get the chance to be involved in the announcement of the rules for their Royal Rumble match, Asuka and Alexa Bliss were involved in one of the feature bouts of the evening, getting a good deal of time. Completing a hat-trick of good upper card matches, this was another contest with a great story, that played into the strengths of the performers and made Asuka look like a boss without doing a massive deal of harm to Bliss or the RAW Women's Championship in the process. We'd seen earlier in the show that Bliss was doing anything she could to get out of the match or to find some kind of advantage with Kurt Angle and then Nia Jax refusing to offer their help (Jax was taking some soup to Enzo Amore in hospital, because why the fuck wouldn't she be?), so Bliss stalling repeatedly and then clawing her way into the contest, using a modified bow and arrow on the ringpost made perfect sense. It was a shame that Asuka's comeback featured some of the worst looking dropkicks I've ever seen. I'm not quite sure what was wrong with them, but Bliss seemed to be taking the move in a way that I've never seen it taken before and it took a bit of wind out of the sails for me. Of course, the Empress of Tomorrow would get the win with an armbar, but Bliss looked credible in defeat, lasting longer than anyone has on RAW. But what exactly happens next? If Asuka doesn't automatically get a title shot, then there needs to be a damn good reason why found over the three weeks moving towards the Royal Rumble. 

Finn Balor, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson def. Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel & Elias // Pinfall

For the first time since April 2014 in Tokyo, Finn Balor tagged with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and whilst the match was a straight squash, that didn't stop it being a cool moment, that popped the smarks amongst us good and proper. Gallows and Anderson looked reinvigorated as babyfaces, with Anderson even pulling out a slingshot dive to the floor in the closing stages. They've now got the opportunity to really run with their "Nerds" catchphrase for a little while, before an inevitable contest with The Shield. It was a shame that before we got to the match we had a piss-poor concert segment with Elias and The Miztourage. I thought the idea of Elias was that he's actually not that bad at playing his guitar and singing and that, but he just says dickhead-ish things about wherever he is and looks like a hipster twat. This weird Auld Lang Syne parody with cow bells and those bells that come on sticks veered more into the Jillian Hall territory. This is surely more likely to cause people to switch over, rather than give a shit about seeing them get beaten up.

Kane attacked Brock Lesnar 

I was pretty indifferent about the show-closing segment. I'm pretty indifferent about the match it's promoting. Paul Heyman's promo about Lesnar being able to beat everyone in the Royal Rumble in one go was a little odd, but mostly Heyman's usual intensity and vigour was there, so it ended up decent. Kane coming out and just chokeslamming Lesnar was a decent interaction, I suppose. Lesnar sitting up and laughing directly afterwards was a fun call back to THAT WrestleMania match with The Undertaker, who we all know is Kane's brother, so that was decent. Then they had a bit of a scrap and some lower card lads came out to stop it going too far and someone doing the other a mischief, which whilst a little confusing, was in it's own way...decent. To be quite honest, I'm still trying to work out what Kane's doing in a World (Universal) title match in 2018. 

Bray Wyatt def. Apollo Crews // Pinfall

This match made me smile for the sole reason that it was the longest match that Apollo Crews has EVER had since moving to the main roster in April 2016. I mean, it was only just over ten minutes (with some taken up by an ad break), but we got to see Crews actually use some of the offence that makes him stand out, so that's a start right? For me, this competitive match did much more for Wyatt than a 2 or three minute squash would've done, as we were allowed to see him take a bit of a beating, as an impressive 17 stone bloke pulled out Standing Shooting Stars and moonsaults off the apron, only to almost brush it off in the conclusion, rebuffing a spin-out powerbomb and nailing a snap Sister Abigail to seal the victory. I could've done without the Dana Brooke falling off the apron spot though, because it did absolutely nothing for the match or anyone involved. I'm not sure what was dafter about the post-match antics, Matt Hardy turning up on the screen and then the image of him multiplying in the same space or Wyatt acting like he was scared of the editorial wizard in the production booth. This was certainly the weakest part of the "Woken" angle so far. 

Goldust & Cedric Alexander def. Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari

Because Enzo Amore ended up in hospital with the flu, we didn't get to see Cedric Alexander get his advertised Cruiserweight Championship match...instead we got Goldust. Google says Goldust in 260 lbs and who am I to argue with Google. Goldust is 260 lbs. I understand the logic behind putting the character in there with a Cruiserweight division that has struggled to grab the audience (mostly down to awkward and inconsistent booking), as Goldust is a well-loved veteran, whose name may encourage a few extra clicks on the YouTube video. But I'm not exactly sure how this helps anyone in the long-term (or even beyond Wednesday afternoon tbqh). I don't remember Goldie even taking any offence here. He got the hot tag after a minute or so and then Alexander pinned Gulak with a Lumbar Check, after some admittedly cool interplay between Goldust and Alexander as partners. I guess, there's the element of Alexander getting a rub off of tagging with Goldust and being endorsed by a future Hall of Famer, but on the flip side two of the three 205 Live competitors to appear on the show ended up looking like complete chumps. 

Braun Strowman def. Rhyno // Pinfall

This was a magnificent moment. ICYMI - Braun Strowman just kept powerslamming Rhyno and Heath Slater. There was a match, but it's inconsequential when put up against what followed with all the powerslams and that. Strowman did some slamming, his music would play, either Slater or Rhyno would move a toe and then Strowman would slam them again. The crowd was hot as shit for it, I was chuckling my little titties off and my Dad was looking on confused as he tried to take the lights off our plastic Christmas tree. 

Also this week...Whilst a jazzy Auld Lang Syne played in the background, we heard from Bayley then Sasha Banks and then Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville of Absolution on why they're gonna win the Women's Royal Rumble...There was a look at DX Invasion of WCW from April 1998 (because some people hadn't heard about that yet)... We learnt The Miz will be returning next week on RAW... Booker T potentially died when trying to discuss the Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble... 

Finally... 

All in all I thought this was a pretty good way to start the year for the red brand. Yeah, there was some baffling moments like the opening segment, whatever Matt Hardy was supposed to be doing on the tron and Goldust rocking up in the Cruiserweight division. But if you haven't realised you aren't going to like everything on a three hour RAW yet then you're gonna be a pretty miserable person. The three uppercard matches delivered and all told dynamic and different stories, plus we got Finn Balor tagging with Gallows & Anderson, a decent length Apollo Crews match and Braun Strowman powerslamming Heath Slater and Rhyno to death. That's a solid enough haul to keep me happy for this week.

RAW 1282 Review // Cesaro & Samoa Joe & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose & Jason Jordan

The penultimate RAW of 2017 brought us another Shield heavy episode, even if Roman Reigns was absent and weirdly not even mentioned on the show. The main event would feature Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose being joined by Jason Jordan to face rivals Cesaro, Samoa Joe and Sheamus, after the prior had demanded a match with Joe following Joe's attack on both Rollins and Jordan after the show's opening contest (originally scheduled as Rollins vs. Joe). The Cruiserweight's also got a big spotlight as Drew Gulak and Cedric Alexander clashed in the finals of the #1 Contender's tournament that's been going on for the last few episodes, whilst Stephanie McMahon returned to interrupt a division-wide brawl between the Women's roster with a big announcement regarding Royal Rumble. 

But was it any good? Let's take a frickin' look.

Seth Rollins def. Jason Jordan // Pinfall

then...

Cesaro & Samoa Joe & Sheamus def. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose & Jason Jordan // Pinfall

This saga began with Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan arguing over who should be facing Samoa Joe and then played out across over half an hour of screen time. If the opening segment was awkward and riddled with terrible dialogue, I was begging for it to return by a few minutes into the Rollins vs. Jordan match that came next. Suffering from Jordan not quite being a heel, a general apathy from the live audience and an uncharacteristically lethargic performance from Rollins, the first five to ten minutes of this match bored me to tears. You know I love my some storytelling and there was a degree of that here as Jordan focused on Rollins back to control the match...but he did so by hitting the same two moves (most shoulder charges into the corner). The crowd got restless with the plod of the contest, chanting "This is boring" and appeared to boo when both wrestler got in the ring at nine on a double countout spot. The highlight of the match came when Joe finally made his presence known, bringing some much need fire to the contest, before taking a snug superkick from Seth. Rollins won with the King's Landing, before Joe retaliate the early attack, before twatting Jordan for good measure on the way out. I can only imagine that this was for making The Samoan Submission Machine sit through such a dreary match.

Following this Kurt Angle booked the main event, with Rollins, Jordan and Dean Ambrose all wanting to fight Samoa Joe and The Bar seemingly with fuck all else to do that night. This was a much improved effort from the opener, with a trope-busting finish that opens up a number of possibilities for future storylines. The body of the match was the heel trio working over Rollins and whilst again I wasn't particularly wowed by Rollins performance and selling, there were a number of well-crafted hope spots, with Ambrose did a marvellous job of keeping the crowd invested from the apron. The sheer number of times it appeared like a hot tag was imminent as the momentum swung to Rollins was what bought real life to the contest, with the Kingslayer putting on a good sequence with Sheamus in particular. I'm trying to give Jordan some credit for something, but his short spell as face in peril at the beginning was worst part of the bout, with very little energy and he didn't really do much else. 

The finish was a fascinating piece of booking, as Rollins hit a suicide dive onto Cesaro and Joe, with Ambrose caught in the crossfire. It seemed like a pretty regular spot as the match picked up the pace, but then the referee began checking on the Lunatic Fringe, replays showed Ambrose grabbing his arm after Rollins connected and Sheamus nailed a Brogue Kick outta nowhere to pin Rollins. It felt like a bold booking decision with it seeming more like an angle than a legit injury (at least one caused by the move), especially after the lengthy face in peril sequence. There was an element of disappointment at not seeing the resulting hot tag, but that was mostly replaced with intrigue at what WWE's plan was. It felt like they were planting seeds for an Ambrose heel turn, which is what I've been hoping for ever since the Shield reunion storyline began. Later on, a violent backstage segment seemed to write Ambrose off television for a while as Cesaro, Joe and Sheamus jumped Rollins and Ambrose in the trainer's room, with Joe pushing a heavy looking production box onto Dean's already injured arm. 

Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contender's Tournament Final // Cedric Alexander def. Drew Gulak // Pinfall

The best action on the show was found in the Cruiserweight division as Cedric Alexander and Drew Gulak put together a lovely match to conclude the tournament to a find Enzo Amore's next opponent. The bout had a similar story to that of the Rollins vs. Jordan, but a much better job with it, with big spots, credible selling and variety. The spot where both men tumbled to the floor stuck in a verticle position is always a hit with me and the fact it was used to build a story around a back injury for Alexander gets a double thumbs up from me. Gulak worked over the injury with numerous holds, whilst we also got to see that Alexander could potentially struggle to hit some of his offence. Within the constraints of the TV time the two did a stellar job of telling that story, whilst also putting on some lovely pro wrestling sequences along the way, making the most of contrasting styles. The sequence following a fire-up from Alexander was the highlight, with the two going back and forth, before Alexander nailed a running spanish fly for a good pop. Unfortunately the finish came across a little flat and forced, as we saw Amore leave the commentary table on his phone, inadvertently distracting Gulak and allowing Alexander to pick up the win with a Lumbar Check.

Around the match, there was a fair deal of storyline advancement, mostly involving the relationship between Gulak, Amore and Nia Jax. Amore's pre-match promo about Star Wars was a thing, but Gulak again stole the moment by comparing himself to Jar Jar Binks for a nice reaction. I'm unsure what to make of Amore's stretch on commentary as he had a severe case of verbal diarrhoea and just babbled utter nonsense all over the match. It stopped the commentary team from telling the story of the bout as effectively as they could have and had very little to do with anything at all. It was incredibly annoying, but arguably still entertaining. As a reviewer who is going to continue watching no matter what, it's hard to say whether annoying bable would've been enough for someone else, especially a casual to change the channel, but I certainly think Amore both as a performer and a character continues to walk a very thin line in that regard. We finished on a brilliant backstage segment where Gulak cock-blocked Amore with Jax, hamming it up to fuck as he apologised profusely to Enzo for losing the match. The Gulak/Amore relationship has produced some of the most entertaining television for the purple ropes and I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing how this story plays out and if WWE is able to give it a satisfying conclusion over the next few months. 

Stephanie McMahon announced the first ever Women's Royal Rumble Match 

Who would have suspected that a segment that began with an Elias Christmastime would conclude with Stephanie McMahon announcing the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match for 28th January? Well, it bloody happened, mate. McMahon returned amidst a roster-wide brawl after the match between Absolution and the team of Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Bayley ended in DQ win for the protagonists. The announcement is significant, of course, and there's argument on both sides for the Women's Royal Rumble, but having McMahon play such a pivotal role in it's announcement, whilst the division was presented as an almost faceless bunch of women, didn't sit well with me. The promo McMahon cut was fine, the usual motivational chatter about what the women have done in WWE for the last few years, but it felt unfair to make McMahon the star, whilst the everyone else was reduced to supporting cast, all happy for the opportunity. Credit to WWE for doing a couple of out of the box things though, having Sasha Banks and Mickie James interrupt the sing along produced a fun moment, with Banks and James looking more like stars than they both have for a while, whilst some of Michael Cole's quips on commentary got a chuckle from this cynical reviewer. 

Finn Balor def. The Miztourage // Disqualification

then...

Finn Balor & Hideo Itami def. The Miztourage // Pinfall 

Another moment where the booking team had seemingly switched their coffee brand this week, the debut of Hideo Itami came out of left-field and was a nice little surprise. Obviously, it would've been better if it hadn't been trailed for 205 Live for the last few weeks, but I'm not sure anyone was expecting him to turn up in a match with Finn Balor, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. I'm not quite how the handicap match that lead into Itami's debut was, as it went for way too long and I went to make a bowl of Tomato soup. (It was lovely, thanks for asking) The disqualification seemed like an odd move, but I popped for Itami's music and him storming the ring to help out the man who debuted on NXT by helping him out with The Ascension was lovely touch for long term fans. The tag match was also probably longer than it needed to be, but the stretch with Balor and Itami kicking ass was big fun and showcased the former GHC Heavyweight Champion wonderfully. The GTS to Axel was the cherry on top. Itami's appearance here and the fact that 205 Live house show tickets are not flying out, has me wondering if Vince is considering Balor to the brand as well...it's not a move I would be completely against, if Vinny hasn't seen the potential of Balor as a main eventer.

Brock Lesnar's Royal Rumble challengers revealed 

Basically, this segment revealed what most had worked out already. Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman and Kane at Royal Rumble. They may as well have said that Kane would be taking the fall in the match whilst they were at it. The angle was a mixed bag all in all, with Kane cutting a terrible promo and relying on cheaply referencing The Undertaker, Braun Strowman looking a little weird in the face and then Lesnar struggling to F5 the Devil's Favourite Demon. I say mixed bag, but what I really meant was this segment was a bit shit. The highlight came from Kurt Angle announcing the match as soon as Lesnar got in the ring and then quickly saying his "It's true" catchphrase and bailing from the ring. Oh and Kane sat up after an F5...oooooooh.

Asuka def. Alicia Fox // Submission

Asuka went to 8-0 on RAW, in her longest match since beating Emma on the RAW after TLC. Foxy got a nice little bit of offence in, including her Northern Lights suplex that I'm a mark for, before succumbing to a cross armbreaker in shy of four minutes. The presentation of Asuka since that initial week has been much closer to the mark, lets hope WWE can continue to build the aura and mystique around the Empress of Tomorrow.

Matt Hardy presented the battlefield for "The Great War"

DELIGHTFUL! Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy dazzled in their promos this week, benefiting from the two being placed in separate segments, rather than sliced up together like last week's. Wyatt's promo to camera was dark and mesmerising, whilst Hardy's daft "Woken" antics, including playing chess with a goldfish he believes to be Napoleon, felt so far removed from anything else WWE is doing. Holy shit, is WWE going to get this feud right? 

The Revival def. Heath Slater & Rhyno // Pinfall

After being off TV since July, The Revival are back and ran through Rhyno & Heath Slater, picking up the victory with the Shatter Machine. We later saw Kurt Angle tell Rhyno & Slater that they needed to sort their shit out or he'd fire them. 

This week's great moment in WWE history was Chris Jericho's WWE debut from RAW is WAR 324. (Originally aired 9th August 1999 from Chicago, Illinois), whilst a clip from this week's Total Divas saw The Miz make his wife Maryse eat some meat for some reason.

Finally... 

Almost every segment this week felt like WWE was trying to do something creatively different. It didn't always pay off and in fact it probably flopped more often than not, but I'd much rather see creative that is distinct and appears to have effort behind it than the same old tired segments and patterns. The Ambrose injury angle, the interplay between Amore/Jax/Gulak, Elias' interaction with Banks, James and Bayley, Itami's debut and the magical things going on with Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt were all good examples of this. Gulak vs. Alexander was the best match on the show by some way and with a little more time could've been a stand-out bout for the Cruisers, whilst unfortunately on the flip side Rollins vs. Jordan ended up being a snorefest.

I was surprised to see not a whole lot promoted for next week's Christmas Day episode, which considering WWE has made the decision to air the show live for the first time is a little baffling. I was expecting WWE to put together almost a B PPV for the event with no RAW PPV this month, but it seems the company has decided to stick with announcing John Cena and hoping that will be enough for the event not to bomb.

RAW 1279 Review // Roman Reigns vs. Elias // Intercontinental Championship

The past month on RAW...

RAW 1275 Review // The Miz vs. Matt Hardy // Intercontinental Championship
RAW 1276 Review // Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro & Sheamus // RAW Tag Team Championship
RAW 1277 Review // The Shield vs. The Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus
Survivor Series 2017 Review // Raw vs. SmackDown 
RAW 1278 Review // The Miz vs. Roman Reigns // Intercontinental Championship

With Survivor Series firmly in the rear view mirror and with nine weeks until the Royal Rumble, it seems we're in for an interesting two months on RAW. The 27th November episode came to us from Knoxville, Tennesee and was main-evented by Roman Reigns' first Intercontinental title defence against Elias, with Reigns being moved into a new feud with Samoa Joe post-match. There was also a curious angle that saw Kane in action against Jason Jordan and then Finn Balor, before Braun Strowman turned up for some revenge, whilst Seth Rollins clashed with RAW Tag Team Champion Cesaro, with both men's partners absent from ringside. But was RAW 1279 any good? Lets take a look!

Elias stepped up to Roman Reigns

then...

Intercontinental Championship // Roman Reigns def. Elias [Elias Samson] // Pinfall

With The Miz written off TV to do a film, Roman Reigns was shifted into a feud with Samoa Joe, but not before he'd spent a big portion of the episode opposite Elias. The opening segment of the show set the tone for the interaction, with Reigns cutting a run of the mill promo, before being interrupted by The Miztourage, who introduced Elias. Not a whole lot else actually happened. Considering Reigns had issued an open challenge on social media, having it answered by Elias was a let down. The Drifter has done some good character work in the mid-card, but it's hard to pick out a match of his that has come anywhere near exciting me. Had the challenge not been issued a week in advance it wouldn't have been as bad, but allowing the fans (and other roster members) to get interested in who could step out to face Reigns and to then provide Elias as the answer seemed like a misstep. The highlight of the segment was The Miztourage joining up with Elias as the trio has potential to entertain, whilst also opening up a programme when The Miz is ready to return.

Before the main event (coming at the top of the third hour) could get underway, Elias was allowed to shine as he did an extended concert alongside Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. This was the best part of the one-night story with Elias controlling the crowd with ease. The Drifter has a good sense of when to bring the crowd up and when to settle them down, threatening to stop at multiple points, only to continue with his sweet tunes, much to Knoxville's displeasure. Dallas and Axel playing the harmonica was a bizarre twist, but meant the concert could continue way past what we usually see from a solo Elias, resulting in a decent sized "We Want Roman" chant. This segment provided even more evidence that an Elias, Axel and Dallas trio could work extremely well as a mid-card act and under other circumstances do well from an Intercontinental Championship run.

Unfortunately the match couldn't follow the concert, not helped by some strange booking. With the crowd chanting "We Want Roman" by the end of the prior segment, it would've made sense to have Reigns come straight out of the gates with a big face shine, yet instead we got five of the dullest minutes of wrestling in recent memory. Wear down holds, general beat down stuff and a few slow and clunky moments littered the opening exchanges and struggled to grab the audience or hold my attention. The best moments came from the interference from Axel and Dallas as the pair bought something mildly interesting to match, popped the crowd and then Axel got speared out of his boots on the floor after a nice bit of build. There was also a handful of decent near falls for Elias with the Miztourage being used well to increase the threat to Reigns' title run, as the Drifer came close with a diving elbow drop and a wicked spinning sitout powerbomb. Eventually, Reigns picked up the win in fairly convincing fashion with a spear. Post-match, Reigns was assaulted on the ramp by Samoa Joe in an intense angle. The two have clash three times already on RAW this year, but a full blown feud could prove fruitful as the show bides time between now and the Road to WrestleMania.

Kane def. Jason Jordan // Countout 

then...

Finn Balor [Prince Devitt] def. Kane // Disqualification

Well, this was a strange close to the show. Kane vs. Jason Jordan was supposed to be our final match, but it didn't last long with Jordan getting thrown over the top rope and selling his knee, getting counted out. There wasn't much to the match at all and it seemed like just another way of furthering the story that Jordan is trying to look tough, whilst simultaneously pussying out at any sign of things not going his way. After Kane murdered Jordan, Finn Balor came roaring out to let us know that Vince McMahon really doesn't see anything in him. Balor actually got some decent offence in on Kane, but after a shotgun dropkick sent the Big Red Machine into the barricade, the former WWE Champion came back with a chair to cause the DQ. Kane smacked Balor about a bit with the chair, in a grim metaphor for Balor's current trajectory, before Braun Strowman came out to make the save. It was a needlessly complicated piece of booking, that whilst aiding Jordan's story somewhat, did very little for Balor. It's clear that the company has cooled on him as a top level guy, but feeding him to Kane (who will inevitably be fed to Strowman) seemed unnecessary with such a deep roster.

The show would conclude with Strowman dishing out a beating to Kane, as a receipt for last week. Whilst The Monster Amongst Men lobbing people around and wielding a chair will always be fun to a certain level, there was also Kane escaping through the crowd whilst gasping for air. This was after Strowman drove the chair into the steel steps with Kane's throat at the other end and then repeated the act. Obviously, this was supposed to be a reply, after Kane did the same to Strowman last week, but became an uncomfortable watch, going on way past what was necessary. Perhaps in the middle of the show it would've been, at the very least, not quite as jarring, but having the newly babyface Strowman ram a steel chair repeatedly into another man's throat, even as a revenge attack was a strange way to end the show. Having the Devil's Favourite Demon stagger away through the crowd, gasping for breath has to be one of weakest ending's to an episode of RAW in the last few years. Surely, the running powerslam on the steps was a good enough ending? 

Seth Rollins def. Cesaro [Claudio Castagnoli] // Pinfall 

The best match on the show, pretty much saved the messy upper card as Seth Rollins and Cesaro put on a great television opener. After a handful of TV matches over the last two years, this still felt like a fresh pairing and with a little extra time they seemed to really get their teeth in this, with a series of creative highspots. The fameasser on the apron from Rollins, as well as Cesaro slamming Seth into the post, during the break, stand out in particular. However, the match's driving forces was the amazing selling on display from both men and how that was woven into the story, creating added drama at points. Simple things like Rollins selling a backbreaker by not being able to hit the Falcon Arrow, and then selling an eye-poke by blindly swinging in the corner made all the difference, whilst Cesaro also did some nice grit-your-teeth style work, getting over the physicality of the contest. The Swiss Superman got a couple of good near falls against the two time WWE Champion, including the Kingslayer spending sometime in the Sharpshooter, before a smooth sequence resulted in Rollins nailing the King's Landing and falling into the cover. Post-match, Rollins told Charly Caruso that The Shield was still a unit, comically talking about Dean Ambrose being on honeymoon, before announcing he and Ambrose would be cashing in their rematch clause for the RAW Tag Team Championship next week in Los Angeles.

Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contendership Tournament Semi-Final // Rich Swann def. Akira Tozawa and Noam Dar and Ariya Daivari // Pinfall 

After Kurt Angle admitted he'd let the Cruiserweight division got off the rails, claiming he didn't even know what The 'Zo Train was despite it dominating 205 Live for months, the RAW General Manager booked a tournament to crown a number one contender, with the first semi-final happening this week. Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa, Noam Dar and Ariya Daivari put on a four-way sprint, that featured lots of enjoyable action, even if the crowd was a little flat. There could have been more storytelling with Dar and Daivari both in the 'Zo Train, but as a showcase for the four's in-ring talent this was a good starting point for anyone looking to jump into 205 Live. The Swann vs. Tozawa section was some of the best straight-up wrestling on the show. The pair have lots of history in Dragon Gate and DGUSA, but this was the first time they'd been on opposite sides in WWE and it was brilliant to watch. Dar would also put in a great showing down the stretch as he desperately clawed to get the win anyway possible, connecting well with both Swann and Tozawa, getting a decent bit of heat, before eventually taking the pin after a Phoenix Splash as Swann advance to the final on 1281.

Bray Wyatt def. Matt Hardy // Pinfall 

For an eight minute portion of the show, Bray Wyatt going over Matt Hardy featured a lot of talking points. The match itself was a short and straightforward victory for Wyatt, as he weathered a Hardy storm, kicking out of a Side Effect, before winning with Sister Abigail. However, the stuff that book-ended the match was much more noteworthy. We began with a wild promo from Wyatt, as he spoke about Thanksgiving and then proceeded to shout "You're all dead" four or five times. I'm not quite sure what it was supposed to be, but it was the first Wyatt promo in a long while that has felt different and engaging. It's difficult to ignore being told that you and everyone else is in fact dead, by laughing 285lb man. Post-match, things were all about Matt Hardy as WWE finally prepared to pull the trigger on "Broken" Matt. It had been referenced that Hardy's attack on Elias last week had seen a change in the former United States Champion, which to be honest I hadn't clocked, but now made perfect sense. Hardy sat in the corner, screaming a few times, before doing the signature "Delete" gesture that we haven't seen for a little while. A "Broken" Matt feud with Wyatt has bags of potential if WWE can keep more to the Final Deletion style than they did with the House of Horrors, whilst the return of Jeff Hardy in 2018 opens doors to other potential stories

Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville [Daria Berenato] laid out Sasha Banks

After the surprising return and debut last week, Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville couldn't match things this time round with an oddly booked segment. Originally supposed to be a six man tag with Mickie James and Bayley tagging with Sasha Banks, when neither came out, Paige later brought up footage of the pair nursing injuries backstage. This lead to an overly wordy segment, including Mandy Rose seemingly not knowing how to walk, in which Paige explained the reasons behind attacking the roster last week. Basically, it was the same kind of thing we've heard time and time again from performers after time off, moaning that they were forgotten about while injured etc. Paige is strong on the mic, but giving time to Deville and Rose seemed like a poor choice, especially having them do it after walking to the ring to surround Banks. Deville struggled with dealing with the "What?" chants, whilst Rose positioning herself on the hard-cam side of the apron resulted in some awkward camera angles. The beatdown followed the same pattern as last week's, with Banks taking Bed of Roses from Rose, a jumping roundhouse kick from Deville and a Rampaige from Paige. Oh, the trio is also called Absolution now and after a lengthy explanation, I still have no idea why.

Samoa Joe def. Titus O'Neil // Submission

Quick squash that was mostly strikes, before Joe used a separation by the referee to lock in  the Coquina Clutch for the submission victory. After the match, Apollo Crews tried to stand up to Joe, but ended up caught in the Coquina Clutch as well.

Asuka [Kana] def. Dana Brooke // Submission

An in-vision promo from Dana Brooke called Asuka a "slow-starter" before The Empress of Tomorrow made Brooke tap out to a cross-armbreaker in under five seconds in a laugh-out loud moment. After the match it was teased that Asuka had some involvement with Absolution when the group hit the ring, but didn't attack.

Finally... 

Not a great RAW this week, with a number of poor booking decisions that left performers exposed, but also featured a couple of good to very good TV bouts. Roman Reigns vs. Elias was highlighted by the involvement of The Miztourage, but the match itself was poorly put together, whilst Kane's matches with Jason Jordan and Finn Balor seemed unnecessary and Braun Strowman's attack on the Big Red Machine's throat was a shitty way to conclude. This left Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro as the only top segment to deliver, with the pair having a cracking opening bout, that the rest of the show struggled to follow. Asuka destroying Dana Brooke in seconds, the Cruiserweight four-way and the potential for "Broken" Matt in WWE gave the undercard a boost, but the new Absolution faction lost some of the edge they had last week in an ill-advised promo, in lieu of the advertised trios match. 

There's still no idea what the show is going to do to keep things interesting before the Royal Rumble, but we've got Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to look forward to next week, as well as the live episode on Christmas Day for 1283 and the 25th anniversary special as the go-home for the Rumble on 22nd January for 1287.

Survivor Series 2017 Review // RAW vs. SmackDown

It had been repeatedly hammered home that this was that Survivor Series was the one night of the year when RAW and SmackDown went head to head and that's exactly what Houston, Texas received on 19th November. The show had Triple H, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Braun Strowman tagging up for RAW against SmackDown's John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Shane McMahon & Bobby Roode in elimination tag action, RAW's The Shield facing The New Day representing SmackDown, another elimination tag action as Sasha Banks, Bayley, Asuka, Alica Fox & Nia Jax from RAW faced off with Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Tamina & Carmella of SmackDown and RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss squared off with SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair. But was it any good? Let's take a look!

Elimination // RAW (Triple H, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor [Prince Devitt] & Braun Strowman) def. SmackDown (John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Shane McMahon & Bobby Roode) via pinfall // 33:21

Stephanie McMahon and Daniel Bryan had a little chat backstage about the RAW vs. SmackDown Men's match and it was just quite a cute situation. Jason Jordan spoke to Charly Caruso, saying he was ready to go with RAW needed him later tonight.

Holy moly, there's a lot to talk about here. Let's begin by talking about some of the combination that the match threw out, as creative got it pretty much spot on, in terms of who people were interested in seeing clash together. We got a little bit of Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Balor, Triple H vs. Bobby Roode and Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode all before the first elimination. Those ten minutes or so were a joy to watch because the crowd was hot for pretty much every pairing, the pairings were amongst some of the ones I was most looking forward to seeing and they all played out pretty much step for step perfectly. Triple H and Roode was a favourite for it's sports-entertainment factor, playing on the similarities in the way the two perform, but Balor and Nakamura had the best wrestling sequence. We later also got John Cena in their with Samoa Joe and then Kurt Angle (for a massive pop) before Finn Balor and Randy Orton rounded out the pairings I was looking forward to with a lovely back and forth. 

Let's delve further into the booking, as as much as the pairings can bring excitement and fill the bout out, it's the eliminations and their timing that the bout lives and dies on. Nakamura going out first was a little disappointing, but he looked better here than in any of his other PPV outings. He was shown outwitting both Angle and Triple H, with only his over-exuberance in knocking Braun Strowman off the apron being his eventual downfall. The same can be said for Roode, who out wrestled Triple H and gave a good fight against the unstoppable Strowman. Joe argued with teammate Balor before taking two Attitude Adjustments, Cena took a pair of Angle slams, Balor looked great when called upon, played a hand in Cena's elimination and only fell to an RKO outta nowhere and Orton was caught distracted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn getting involved with Shane McMahon and also fell to the matches star, Strowman. It was mildly annoying to see Strowman as the only regular performer in the stretch, but he gets a huge rub from being left in the ring with Angle, Triple H and McMahon, whilst those three were preserved for a big WrestleMania match next year. It would've been nice for a regular roster member to get a pin on one of those part-timers and having Angle pin Cena was a little counterproductive, but everyone was protected in one way or another, which makes up for that a little bit.

To conclude, I should talk about the storyline elements of the match, including it's finish. Firstly, we had Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens turning up to jump Shane McMahon, moments after Balor had been eliminated. They'd quickly get run off by McMahon with a steel chair, with Orton subsequently being eliminated. This is a good thing to build intrigue for SmackDown and had been hinted to earlier on, but I'm not sure where it can be taken beyond another match between McMahon and Owens and the two best friends moaning every single week on television, which will get old quickly. The finish ended up becoming much more of an sports-entertainment angle than anything, which different people will have different tolerances for. Myself, I can give or take it. Triple H saved opponent and brother-in-law McMahon after a lengthy period inside an Ankle lock from Angle, nailed Angle with a Pedigree, had McMahon pin the Olympic Gold medallist and then hit a Pedigree on McMahon to take the win. Having those three involved in a main event finish in 2017 doesn't sit particularly well with, but neither does it make angry or take away my enjoyment massively. The commentary team did a good job of explaining the potential motives behind The Game's actions, whilst Strowman staring a whole in Hunter for pretty much the duration was pretty much enough to justify the slightly convoluted conclusion.

After the match, Braun Strowman warned Triple H that if he ever crossed him again he would never play the Game again, meaning that when The Game tried to attack the Monster Among Men from behind, he ended up taking two Running Powerslams to close the show.

The Shield def. The New Day via pinfall // 21:32 

The Shield and The New Day warmed up backstage towards the end of the Kick-Off show as we found out that that match would open the main show. The Newy Day got some mic-time, talking about dogs, Bob Barker and brotherhood.

Well, this was barrel loads of fun. The two teams opened the show with loads of energy from the off, beginning by telling a story of New Day being technically superior whilst The Shield had the power advantage as Kofi Kingston and Dean Ambrose, Xavier Woods and Seth Rollins and finally, Roman Reigns and Big E paired up. The match felt like it always had the potential to break down, with a couple of sequences placed at interesting times during the match, mixing up the traditional tag team layout and remaining entertaining throughout. After a short stint for Woods, Ambrose worked the face in peril role, which is something he excels in, but in amongst that you had Rollins and Reigns jumping Woods and Kingston on the outside, as well as the big spot of Big E's spear through the ropes. So, the things we've become used to in tag team matches were pretty much all present (including a lightning hot tag from Rollins), it was hard to know exactly what would come next or when the next moment would take place, making for great viewing. 

Honestly, it stands testament to the two teams, their work over the last few years and their work in this match, that by the end, after watching them go at it for over twenty minutes, I wanted more. Perhaps that was because it was the opening match and had it came in the middle of the card I would've been a bit more fatigued by the show, in which case that's a credit to the booking staff for sticking this on as the opener. I feel like for all the wild brawling, the match could've done with a few extra convincing near falls to just raise the drama down the stretch. The King's Landing and Dirty Deeds on Kingston with a late save by Woods, as a double Midnight Hour to Ambrose and Rollins where Reigns made the save by hitting a spear on Big E were the two that stand out, but I would've liked to have seen a few more. The logical moment to fit one in would've been when The Shield set-up for the Triple Powerbomb on Woods, after Big E and Kingston were thrown into the barricades, as E recovering to stop the move took a little momentum away from the match, when E recovering to break up the fall would've resulted in a memorable moment and also justified The Shield using an avalanche version of the move to get the eventual win. That's a minor issue with a match that I enjoyed tremendously and the bout should be commended for standing out amongst the five other tag team matches on the card.

Elimination // RAW (Sasha Banks, Bayley, Asuka [Kana], Alicia Fox & Nia Jax) def. SmackDown (Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Tamina & Carmella) via submission // 18:26 

Backstage, Becky Lynch rallied the SmackDown Women's Team with everyone throwing out some of their achievements and Lana hinting that Tamina would be able to take out RAW's Nia Jax. Stephanie McMahon fired up the RAW Women's Team, going along the line and giving individual advice to each woman, in a cute segment. 

Just as men's match was booked around Braun Strowman, the theme for the Women's bout was "Nobody is ready for Asuka". Of course, the conclusion where Asuka was able to battle off both Tamina and Natalya, ending up getting two submissions in the process, was the main way Asuka was put over as an unstoppable force. The crowd was hot for her scrap, getting behind her, even if it was slightly obvious how things were going to go down, because Asuka's badassery is undeniable. There was a number of other ways that fed into building the Empress of Tomorrow though. Tamina's dominance, eliminating Bayley and coming off the better of Nia Jax (with the help of Naomi) would work to Asuka's advantage when Tamina tapped out quickly to an armbar. The same when Natalya tapped out Sasha Banks with the Sharpshooter, only for Asuka to escape the hold relatively easily and lock in a submission of her own moments later. Basically, anytime anyone got into it with Asuka, they got flattened. How this will effect the division as a whole, especially on RAW, in 2018 is yet to be seen, but it's only a matter of time before Asuka has gold around her waist. 

The rest of the match and it's structure was a little hit and miss. The early eliminations of Becky Lynch and Bayley felt like a mistake, with the two being amongst the strongest and most popular workers in the match. There was combinations that I was looking forward to seeing both women that didn't happen because neither was around past the five minute mark. Then you had Carmella, who did very little until her elimination. The strangest moment of the match saw Naomi pin Alicia Fox and then weirdly lock in a submission, which lead to Banks eliminating Naomi with a Banks Statement. It was a confusing moment, that didn't come off well and only achieved to make Naomi look a bit dim. There was however a number of good wrestling sequences peppered throughout the match, including a surprisingly good showdown between Jax and Tamina, a slick sequence with Naomi and Fox and a personal favourite encounter with Banks and Natalya. The biggest compliment I can give the match is that it didn't as long as it was, never outstaying it's welcome and had enough variety within it to remain interesting.

Charlotte Flair [Charlotte] def. Alexa Bliss via submission // 15:45 

Alexa Bliss joined the Kick-Off panel for an interview, with things quickly developing into a split-screen conversation with Charlotte Flair. It was a good idea to give the pair sometime to interact after no build-up for their match, but the content was a little weird, including a strange moment when Flair told Bliss that she hoped that Bliss beat her, for reasons that were never made clear. 

Similar to the Women's elimination bout, there were elements of this match that worked well and elements that either didn't work as well or could've worked better. The overall story of the bout was a strong one, with idea that Charlotte Flair was the more powerful of the two coming to the forefront from the very beginning as see got the better of a back and forth strike sequence, followed up by the idea that Bliss was potentially smarter and willing to do more as she hit an arm wringer of the apron in the first highspot of the match. This was perhaps best seen in a good near fall, where Bliss was able to evade a stalking Flair and hit a Snap DDT. We'd also see Bliss attempting to work over Flair's ribs and stomach, which was fine and they had a couple of decent spots to showcase this, but the thread was criminally underused in terms of storytelling. The focus had very little effect on Flair and whilst Charlotte sold well at times, we could've seen in the injury play into near falls, Flair struggle a little more to bridge in the Figure Eight, which only would've made her look stronger when she eventually managed to pull out the victory! 

The two mostly worked well together, a personal favourite moment was Flair blocking a tornado DDT and hitting an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle, there was also a number of instances of sloppiness that hurt the overall picture. Bliss's mid-rope version of Insault to Injury was a cool idea, but then Bliss completely missed the second part of the move. There was a debacle when Bliss initially went for a Code Red as well, when it appeared like the two attempted to cover by going in a different direction for a moment, only to reattempt the move a little bit later. Considering we'd seen Kalisto hit the move on the Kick-Off show and hit it much better with Enzo Amore, this was a risky move that didn't really need to be included. Flair blocking a DDT by the grabbing the ropes also stands out, because the crowd completely no sold the moment, possibly because the pair didn't make it very clear what was actually going on. The final third of the bout showed what the two can do together and featured some much better wrestling than we'd seen in the middle section. Bliss has a habit of wrestling above her ability and making mistakes, which seemed to be the case here, had the two stuck to something more simple and focused on fleshing out the story they'd developed, then this good match could've been taken up a few notches. 

Brock Lesnar def. AJ Styles via pinfall // 15:18

Kayla Braxton asked AJ Styles what his strategy was for later on, with Styles saying he wasn't going to tell her, but said he'd use his fear to his advantage, before Jinder Mahal turned up and smiled at him. Paul Heyman was interviewed by Charly Caruso, saying that AJ Styles was "Phenomenal" but that he was in for a fight tonight.

AJ Styles provided the opponent for what would be Brock Lesnar's best singles match in two years, as the two lived up to the hype and created a great match that played to the strengths of both characters. Styles has had another incredible year, continuing to prove he's the best in-ring performer in WWE and this was another example of his abilities. He spent most of the match taking a hell of a beating, selling that beating and fighting from underneath. Styles selling and bumping in the first two thirds of the match was superb, as the bout had a similar vibe to Lesnar's match with John Cena at SummerSlam 2014, but Styles bought a certain extra believability as was chucked around the ring. The moment where Styles took his third or fourth German suplex and then bambied his way back to his feet, only to fall back down immediately, was a great example of this. 

The bout did a fantastic job of placing Styles as the underdog, but creating opportunities for him that the crowd could buy into, helped by the lighting quick offence of the bouts protagonist, whilst his selling, showing he was hurt but fighting anyway, made it easy to get behind "The Phenomenal One". AJ was also helped by Lesnar's willingness to sell for him, especially when caught in the calf crusher. He went above and beyond what you'd expect to see from someone like Lesnar, screaming in agony whilst in the hold, as well as hobbling around for the rest of the match. The Beast is clever enough to know that he looks more impressive for winning on one leg, whilst that also helps Styles look valiant in defeat, causing an injury to a man who has breezed past opponents like Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman already this year. Styles' other moment came from a Phenomenal Forearm near fall, when Paul Heyman was the one selling the potential danger to his client at ringside. When the two went exchanged holds, which wasn't often, it was done well with a good speed and accuracy, I would've liked to have seen a little bit more of that in the match's final stretch and another five minutes would've raised things up a notch had that been the case.

The Usos def. Cesaro [Claudio Castagnoli] & Sheamus via pinfall // 15:55

A bright tag team bout that matched it's promise and delivered big as the two best tag team in WWE collided. Similar to The Shield vs. The New Day, there were elements of the traditional tag team match structure, but these ideas were played upon and messed with to create a number of different situations. The one moment that stands out from the early part of the match was Jey Uso's hot tag, in which he initially had all the momentum against Cesaro, only for The Swiss Superman to dodge a hip attack and hit a European uppercut, seemingly cutting the hot tag off early, until moments later he got back body dropped into the opposite corner and Jey hit the initially intended hip attack. Uso could've just hit the hip attack straight away and it would've been perfectly fine as part of the hot tag, but the momentum switch and the struggle for Jey meant that when the move was eventually hit it meant a lot more than it would have otherwise.    

The second half of the match featured a number of well-worked near falls and clever highspots. Calling back to last year's Survivor Series, where the two teams were the remaining four in an Elimination match, was a lovely touch, with the teams reenacting the finish their as a near fall. Added detail along the way like Cesaro dropping his mouth guard out of his mouth to distract the referee made me smile and it's that attention to detail and ability to conjure original ideas that has helped these teams develop the reputations that they have. A wild sequence with Jey fighting against both Bar members before succumbing to an assisted White Noise and a superb Tower of Power are also worth mentioning here. The conclusion with The Usos absolutely dominant after Cesaro sacrificed himself, by throwing himself in front of a pair of superkicks meant for Sheamus, before the twins nailed multiple kicks to Sheamus anyway and picked up the win with a Superfly Splash after a tope tag, was full of energy and a moment that Jimmy and Jey fully deserved after the year they've had. That tope tag right at the end was one of the coolest things on the entire show! They've come along way since the "When I say Uce, you say Oh" days, that's for sure.

Baron Corbin def. The Miz via pinfall // 9:25 

The Miz was in the Social Media Lounge with Charly Caruso answered some of the most asinine questions that have ever been asked. Bless him, he tried to make this entertaining, but it ended up just being ridiculously dull as the questions were almost all exactly the same and focused on the RAW vs. SmackDown feud which is the least interesting thing about the show.

Man insults a man's pregnant wife, then beats up that man and his friends in front of said pregnant wife. That's pretty much the story we had on our hands here as WWE struggled to work out how to effectively deal with a heel vs. heel scenario. Corbin and Miz actually did a good job with what they had to do, working a couple of nice sequences and bringing in some psychology as Miz began working the leg to set up for the Figure Four, with Corbin selling well and then got called back to later on when Miz kicked the leg away to set up for a snap DDT. Corbin taking out the constantly interfering Miztourage was an entertaining watch and the match in general made Corbin look like a bit of a beast, but in terms of the story that had been told heading into the match I'm not sure it was the right move here. How does Miz get revenge for his wife after this? We already know he's not the traditional tough guy, but losing so convincingly here pretty much castrated him and after an incredible year left him with very little to do going forward.

Renee Young interviewed Baron Corbin after the match, with Corbin actually doing alright as he talked about shutting the fans mouths, talking with a little bit of character. 

Kevin Owens [Kevin Steen] & Sami Zayn [El Generico] def. Breezango via pinfall // 7:07 

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn got to chat a bit about how pissed off they at being on the pre-show and having to face Breezango and stuff, as well as calling SmackDown an unsafe working environment. Breezango interrupted talking about fashion felons and generally being their usual entertaining selves to lead into their match.

The best match on the pre-show was it's main event and even then this was a cookie cutter tag team match. Considering the match was thrown together on the day, the four guys did a decent job with what they were given, putting on an enjoyable contest, working well in their roles and generally being good at their jobs. Breezango's act seemed particularly fresh, but that's not surprising considering they've only had one match on television since Money in the Bank in June! Fandango's hot tag was a reminder of his in-ring talents, as he fired back with a missile dropkick and tornado DDT and hopefully this performance means that we get to see more of the Fashion Police on SmackDown, outside of their on and off vignettes. The finish was well-done, with the commentary team pushing the guardian angel idea Owens and Zayn have used in promos as Owens saved Zayn from a Last Dance from Fandango, before a Pop-up Powerbomb sealed the victory for OwenZayn as they remain undefeated in WWE. 

Elias [Elias Samson] def. Matt Hardy via pinfall // 7:50 

Elias treated us to a song about how shit Houston is, which seemed to really annoy Booker T on commentary. 

The first match from the Kick-Off show as Matt Hardy once again was asked to perform in front of a building that if I was generous I would say was half-full, in a repeat from SummerSlam. Two of my notes on this match were "some things happen". That's because there was literally no reason to care about this what so ever. The match was thrown together the day of the show when WWE realised they had announced a two hour kick-off show but had only booked one match for it. Elias' double underhook shoulderbreaker and Hardy hitting a side effect on the apron were the two things that made me take notice. I also thought it was curious to have Elias go over Hardy, when the Drifter has been putting over Jason Jordan consistently since October and the fact that every match on the Kick-Off show saw heel come out on top.

Cruiserweight Championship // Enzo Amore def. Kalisto via pinfall // 7:23 

Enzo Amore had pre-match promo about beef and cake and chicken.

This was maybe a tad bit better than their clash at TLC last month, but still nowhere near the level of matches we were getting during Neville's run as champion. There was some good stuff, some okay stuff and a messy finish, but through all of that the crowd could not have cared any less if they had tried. They popped every now and again, for moves like the Code Red from Kalisto, but from the moment Enzo took control there might as well have been no one there. The fact that the match took place when the crowd was still filing into the building didn't help, but I don't think it would've made much difference if all had been present and correct. From Enzo's pre-match promo it seemed like most of the Houston crowd was still behind Amore and therefore when he began working heel and controlling it just didn't work. Maybe now is the time for Enzo to stop doing his crowd-pleasing catchphrases.

Also

There was a weird advert of Kay Jewellers with Bayley helping WWE fan Steven choose a ring to propose to his girlfriend, Valerie, inside an empty arena. 

Whilst the Kick-Off show was a big waste of time, Survivor Series 2017 was the first longer WWE PPV that managed to make it's time count. The main event wasn't a great match and featured questionable booking in the final stages, focusing too much on part-time workers, but simultaneously did a good job of elevating Braun Strowman further in the eyes of the casual and also featured some stronger moments and had a tired crowd popping time after time for the connections in the ring. The Shield vs. The New Day, Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles and The Usos vs. Cesaro & Sheamus were all top drawer contests, diverse and entertaining in their own way. The rest of the main card was solid, with Asuka's performance in the Women's tag, at the top end and the odd booking of Corbin vs. Miz at the other, but there was nothing on the main card that was boring or poorly performed. Overall, this was good PPV across the board, although you're overall enjoyment of the event will depend on your tolerance for how the main event was constructed.


Review by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)