PPV Review // WWE Evolution // Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella

On 28th October 2018, just over three week's removed from Super Show-Down, WWE presented it's first ever women's only PPV, Evolution, at the Nassau Colliseum in Uniondale, New York. Billed as a historic moment for women everywhere, the show was main evented by Ronda Rousey defending her RAW Women's Championship against Nikki Bella, whilst other top matches saw Charlotte Flair get a shot at Becky Lynch's SmackDown Women's Championship in a Last Women Standing match and an NXT Women's Championship match between champion Kairi Sane and challenger Shayna Baszler, whilst Sash Banks, Trish Stratus, Natalya, Mickie James and Kelly Kelly were all also in action. But was it any good? Lets take a look.

Trish Stratus & Lita returned for their first matches since the Royal Rumble in January, picking up the victory over Mickie James & Alicia Fox in a simple and fun opening match, that had more than a little nostalgia to help it through. Whilst both Stratus & Lita have performed on a number of occasions since their "retirement" matches, this was the longest either has spent in the ring since 2006, so it would be unfair to comment on some of the sequences being a little awkward, especially considering there was more than enough that worked. A handful of nice moments between Stratus and James, especially the build up to the top rope rana, made this more than worth it's spot on the card. James and Fox both worked hard to make their opponents look every inch of the stars that they possibly could, with some sound and solid heel work, helped by logical booking, whilst James in particular sold very well, in one of her best performances since her return. It's a shame that Alexa Bliss was out injured as her involvement would have upped the level of "moments" that could have taken place within the match and whilst Fox has a nice Northern Lights suplex, she felt more like someone there to make up the numbers and even ended up being out of position on breaking up a nearfall right at the end. What really made this match come together though was the crowd treating it as something special, getting behind Stratus & Lita and booing James & Fox, stuff like that makes all the difference for me as a viewer at home adding to each moment or spot the ladies went for. 

Dasha Fuentes interviewed The Bella Twins with Nikki possibly cutting her best promo of all time, heeling it up fantastically as she dedicated her match to Ronda Rousey's Mom.

The IIconis got some promo time before the battle royal, which was cute, they mocked the legends and putting themselves over. You can guess the first spot of the match. 

Nia Jax earned a shot at the RAW Women's Championship, by last eliminating Ember Moon, in an entertaining over-the-top rope battle royal. The majority of the legends included were used to put over the regular roster with that and the fact that almost every elimination felt like it's own moment, meant that there were a number of wrestlers who came out of the battle royal better off for having taken part. The IIconics got a lot of time before the match before their instant elimination, Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose eliminated Molly Holly, Kelly Kelly and Torrie Wilson before Rose turned on Deville, Carmella got to dance with Ivory before helping her new friend to eliminate Rose and Asuka worked a nice sequence to eliminate Ivory. The highlight for me had to be Ember Moon eliminating Asuka, because the crowd was hot for a showdown between the two former NXT rivals and Moon finally managed to get one over on the woman she could never take the NXT Women's title off. There was some awkardness though, as Lana ended up being out position for a spot involving Jax and Tamina, whilst Carmella and Moon ended up cocking up a tilt-a-whirl rana spot, which Michael Cole would describe as rather unique. The crowd seemed to be behind Moon winning the match when it came down to her and Jax, which is always a problem when going for a babyface final two, but if it leads to something more substantial down the two, who have been portrayed as friends on RAW, then this finish will be absolutely fine.

After the match, Jax was interviewed by Charly Caruso about whether she'd rather face Nikki Bella or Ronda Rousey for the title, with Jax wishing them both the best and telling them to enjoy the moment, because it won't last long. Short and simple and got a big pop, lovely stuff. 

Toni Storm won the 2018 Mae Young Classic in a ten minute sprint of a match with Io Shirai. The bout was choc-full of action from the beginning, kicking off with some technicality before launching into a series of big moves and reversals that didn't stop until Storm hit her second Storm Zero for the win. Obviously, with more time the pair could have worked some better storyline elements into things and created a match with more depth, but the brevity also made the match stand out on a card that was packed with big time singles matches in it's second half. The two have competed a number of times together in Stardom in Japan over the last two and half years and that was clear to see from the crispness of their action, the speed at which they moved and the number of risks they took for a couple of memorable spots. The work towards the German suplex on the apron from Storm and Shirai's beautiful moonsault to the outside stand out in particular, whilst Shirai's sunset flip was something else too. It was a shame we didn't get a few more convincing near falls for Shirai, which felt mostly down to the time the two had, but to pack ten minutes with such high quality, exciting pro wrestling is a testament to the talent of both women. Hopefully we see a lot more them both in NXT and NXT UK soon.

Bayley, Sasha Banks and Natalya picked up the win over Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan (collectively known as the Riott Squad) in a six woman tag that was put together well, but fell apart later on for a number of reasons. The first of these reasons was Sasha Banks seemingly being at least a half step of the pace for her hot tag, which did come after some lovely work from the Riott Squad and Bayley as the hugger in peril. There were a number of sequences that Banks had that just weren't up to scratch, that featured good ideas, but didn't pay off. With The Boss working the hot tag this obviously hurt the match, killing the pace and knocking timing off in other areas. The biggest problem came when Banks attempted what I think was supposed to be a tope con hilo and had to be saved by her opponents. The other issue for me was the spot that saw Bayley jumping on top of Banks to save her from a diving senton from Riott, which was just a stupid thing to do. Maybe if the timing had been better it would have looked like a heroic moment of friendship, but at the time it happened simply pushing Riott off the top rope or moving Banks out of the way made much better sense. There were some nice moments like Morgan breaking up a double sharpshooter from Natty on Riott and Logan, the bout was structured nicely for the spot on the card it had, which makes it even more frustrating that the bout didn't live up to it's potential had everything gone to plan. The Riott Squad losing another big match so soon after Super Show-Down probably means it's time to end the group and send Riott out on her own.

In the only title change of the night, Shayna Baszler won back the NXT Women's Championship from Kairi Sane in Evolution's second best match, using the Kirufuda clutch for submission victory. Whilst a notch down from their NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4 match, Baszler and Sane continued to show plenty of chemistry, with their two characters seemingly made to get the other over. The back and forth flurry at the start grabbed the crowd well with the brawling being some of the best work in the match as Sane looked to go toe to toe with the harder striker. Sane's diving crossbody to the floor, as well as Baszler getting lobbed over the barricade onto some NXT performers at ringside provided the match with some replayable moments later on and whilst the narrative wasn't as strong as their last encounter Baszler did some solid work targeting the arm that Sane sold well. The finish was perhaps a little overbooked with Baszler's Four Horsewomen pals Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir getting involved for a couple of spots on the road to Baszler being able to lock in the Kirafuda Clutch for a second time. This followed on from a call-back near fall as they repeated the finish from Brooklyn, that perhaps deserved a better reaction from the Nassau Coliseum. I'm looking forward to seeing where this feud goes next on NXT, how Sane goes about looking to regain the title and how the Duke & Shafir play into the story.

The match of the night came in the form of a Last Woman Standing match that saw Becky Lynch retain the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. This was easily in the Top 5 of it's type in WWE (maybe higher) for me, with Lynch and Flair producing a physical and compelling match-up with plenty of big spots and animosity. The crowd being almost completely behind Lynch throughout with Flair able to flip into a tweener role worked well, for a number of sequences, without diluting the edge that has made Lynch's "heel turn" so fun to begin with, including an early moment with Lynch going nuts with a kendo stick. There was some recycled tropes that from recent Last Man Standing matches, like Lynch burying Flair under a pile of chairs, but more often than not the action was creative with a general feeling of escalation for each highspot and near fall. Particular highlights for me included the nasty looking back suplex onto a chair from Flair, the Figure Eight using the ladder and the mad leg drop off a ladder through the announce table from Lynch. Flair's back suplex onto a chair. There were a couple of moments that didn't seem to go anyway, with the brawl in the crowd being a particular creative cul-de-sac, as well as the terrified look on Lynch's face when Flair escaped the rubble, which I'm sure looked good on paper but came across as particularly lame in execution. Often these types of matches can struggle to find a satisfying finish after packing in so much action, but I felt Flair and Lynch came up with big enough spot to conclude this one with Lynch powerbombing Charlotte off the apron through a table to retain her title. The move looked brutal and both women sold it well, whilst there was also a question about whether Flair could still make it back to her feet to keep the match going. Overall, I feel like this is the match that the PPV will be remember for amongst the majority of fans and both women should be proud of what is probably their best match since leaving NXT.

Whilst it probably would've had been better received in a different spot on the card, Ronda Rousey's victory over Nikki Bella, was a serviceable main event that did a stellar job of placing Rousey in an underdog role. The structure was simplistic but played to the strengths of the three characters involved, perhaps ironically using elements of the finish of Rousey's Four Horsewoman stablemate Shayna Baszler's NXT Championship match earlier in the night, as Brie Bella allowed Nikki to control the mid-section of the match following absolute domination from Rousey. It's easy to dislike the Bella Twins, especially one returning to main event a PPV, meaning there was lots of fun to be had in Rousey lobbing both of them about the place, including sending Brie over the announce table and perhaps into orbit. A couple of big spots gave the match a WWE main event feel, with  the double reverse kata-gurama, the aforementioned announce table spot and a sweet top rope transition into the armbar as the finish standing out, whilst Bella also got a strong near fall off an slightly awkward Rack Attack 2.0. Yes, it could have been longer, but another five minutes almost definitely would have exposed either Rousey or Bella, probably both. There's a strong argument to be made that Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch deserved to be the main event with the pair much more capable of closing the show, and personally I can see that this swap would have benefitted both matches, whilst also understanding WWE's decision to have Rousey (who is one of the biggest stars of any gender in the company right now) close their first ever women's only PPV as they make her focal point of the promotion. The fact that Rousey main evented the show could also provide fuel for the rumoured WrestleMania match between Rousey and Flair. 

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.94/10 

Show in a Sentence - A real triumph, that proved many doubters wrong, showcasing the depth and potential of the current female roster, whilst celebrating the stars of the past. 

Written by James Marston 

WWE Monday Night RAW Review // 27th August 2018 // Reigns & Strowman vs. Ziggler & McIntyre

This week's RAW was a weird one as WWE looked to build a number of big shows at the same time. We got a major surprise heel turn, a classic Intercontinental Championship match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, Trish Stratus making a surprise appearance to confront Elias in her hometown, as well as Baron Corbin's first week as Acting RAW General  Manager. But was it any good? Lets take a look!

The opening segment was as pretty paint by numbers situation, giving us both a main event for the next PPV, Hell in a Cell, as well as the evening, as Braun Strowman officially announced he'd be cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase against Universal Champion Roman

Reigns in San Antonio on 16^th September, before Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre challenged the Monster and the Big Dog to a match. The interaction between Reigns and Strowman was decent enough, the two clearly still have some chemistry from their surprise hit rivalry last year, whilst the Toronto crowd reacted well to a few well-placed verbal jabs. After Ziggler & McIntyre interrupted though the segment lost any of it's sting. The pair seemed to talk for a long time without actually saying anything, firstly complaining about Ziggler losing to Seth Rollins and then rambling on about wanting to face Reigns and Strowman for reasons that they didn't really make clear, all while getting little to no reaction from the crowd. Things weren't made better when Acting General Manager Baron Corbin came out and made all the confirmed matches official, taking his sweet time in doing so. I get what they're going for with Corbin, with him attempting to take credit for the work done by everyone else, but he's got so little charisma that he ended up sucking more air out of a segment that was already dying. The entire segment went about 15 minutes, felt like 25 and could've been done in 8 or 9.

No Disqualification Match – Acting RAW General Manager Baron Corbin def. Finn Balor via Pinfall

Under the section labelled “Feuds that have gone on way too long”, we have Baron Corbin and Finn Balor in their fourth singles match since the middle of July. This wasn't a feud that anyone was clamouring to see in the first place. The match itself was okay, some good back and forth in the later stages, once we got past an endless stretch of the same weardown hold from Corbin. It was clear to see that the two have been working together regularly from the couple of slick sequences they put together during the second half of the match, with some good variations on stuff like Corbin's Bossman clothesline spot. The highlight came from a slingblade on the outside from Balor that lead into the ad break, whilst a Tope con Hilo in the closing stages also looked great. The finish was used as a way to establish Corbin as Acting General Manager further, with the Lone Wolf causing a Disqualification with a steel chair, only to announce he'd forgotten to make announce that the bout was No DQ, following up with another chair shot and an End of Days for the win. You'd expect that this feud is finally done now, but with Balor unable to get the victory without the Demon it's hard to see where he goes next, especially if Corbin is staying as AGM for any amount of time.

Despite the match being six weeks away still, we got a package looking at Triple H vs. The Undertaker at Super Show-down with Ric Flair, Christian, Mick Foley, Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash discussing what we could see and who they thought would win.

We learned that Dana Brooke would be facing Sasha Banks next in her first RAW singles match since November 2017 in a backstage segment with Titus Worldwide crew. There seemed to be some tension teased between Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews, with Crews confused at O'Neil's optimism for Brooke's chances.

Singles Match – Sasha Banks (with Bayley) def. Dana Brooke (with Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews) via submission

In the first of a number of short matches on the show, Banks put Brooke away with the Banks Statement in two and a half minutes. For what it was, I found this relatively entertaining. Brooke going for a number of roll up attempts early made storyline sense, whilst the wrestler, who has consistently been towards the lower end of the female performers since debuting in 2015, actually didn't look awful here, hitting a nice looking enziguiri, pulling out some flippy type stuff, before going for her Samoan Driver finish and getting caught with a backstabber. I'm not quite sure what this match was for, with very little storyline development, but with Evolution not to far away it makes sense to give some depth to a couple of women at the far reaches of the division to fill out that card.

Backstage, there was an interaction between Dean Ambrose and Jinder Mahal that filled sometime and would eventually lead to a match in the third hour.

The first very good segment of the show was next as we got promos from Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, with the latter accepting an open challenge from the former. Rollins promo was alright, not offering much beyond crowd pandering, but effective enough to keep Toronto engaged and getting pops when necessary, before issuing the challenge. Owens on the other hand was on fire, full of anger at not having Sami Zayn by his side anymore, like Rollins had Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam, whilst also discussing how RAW hadn't been as much fun as he'd expecting. The Toronto crowd was super hot for their fellow Canadian, that is until he mentioned he's from Quebec and began speaking exclusively in French to a chorus of boos. It was timed to perfection with Owens spending enough time reeling in the crowd to get them to believe in his cause, only to turn on them just before the match began. Although with the skill and fire of the segment of his babyface promo it's curious that Owens has yet to be seen in this role regularly since his very first match with WWE at NXT Takeover: R Evolution back in December 2014.

Singles Match for Intercontinental Championship – Seth Rollins def. Kevin Owens via pinfall to retain

A superb television match here, with Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins putting on what was almost certainly their best singles match in WWE, and definitely the best match on the show. Part of why this match worked better for me than their series over the Universal Championship in Autumn 2016 was that Rollins has grown and grown as a babyface since that point, becoming arguably the best performer on the main roster since then, honing his moveset, whilst also making better use of his impeccable selling. That was on full display here as Owens targetting the Architect's shoulder, including a lovely senton onto the afflicted area. A couple of tremendous sequences in the middle of the bout with Rollins looking to hit either the Curb Stomp or the Ripcord Knee, only for Owens to block with an attack to the shoulder, would eventually string together into Owens locking in a Crossface and then modifying the submission to block Rollins arm reaching the rope, in a well-done dramatic moment was a personal highlight. Some back and forth series of reversals that would conclude with Owens hitting a Stunner as an answer to Rollins' Avadra Kedavra was brilliant in a completely different way, more reminiscent of their indy work than their early WWE series, as both men continued to show their versatility as in-ring performers. I would have liked to have seen Rollins' shoulder used further in the closing stages, as whilst Rollins still sold well the injury was put on the back burner in the final third, whilst playing very little role in the eventual finish. I think that with a little work on that this bout could've been pushed even further. However, it was super cool to see Owens pull out a double jump moonsault from his bag of tricks and, of course, missing the move would lead to Rollins retaining his belt at the first time of asking, collecting a W with a Curb Stomp to bring a stellar Intercontinental Championship match to an end.

Backstage, Braun Strowman handed his Money in the Bank briefcase to Baron Corbin, signalling that his cash-in at Hell in a Cell is now official.

There was an intriguing angle post-match as a frustrated Owens, who has struggled for victories since moving to RAW in April, sat in the ring, muttered the words “I quit” before slowly walking to the back. Like most, I'm very intrigued to see what happens next, which is the most important part of any weekly wrestling show.

Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre managed to improve on their promo from the opening segment in an interview with Renee Young. The pair bought a whole heap more energy to their performances, whilst also seeming to have a better idea of why they were challenging two of the most dominant performers on the RAW brand. This boiled down to the idea that Reigns' body wasn't ready to compete following gruelling matches with Brock Lesnar and Finn Balor last week, whilst Braun Strowman's mind wasn't ready to compete after two thwarted Money in the Bank cash-ins in the same time period.

Tag Team Match – The Revival def. RAW Tag Team Champions The B-Team via pinfall

The B-Team's undefeated streak finally came to an end at the hands of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder this week as The Revival went over Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas in a rematch from SummerSlam Kick-Off. This was a fairly basic tag match in structure, failing to get any real reaction out of the crowd. A lot of the action felt contrived and clunky, including a couple of roll-up spots that went on for way to long and killed an energy the match could have had. WWE seems to have no idea what made either team popular and even less of an idea about how it wants to present them to it's audience. Are the B-Team a comedy babyface act? Because there was very little in the way of shenanigan or attempted shenanigan from them here. This meant that the Revival's cutting off the ring schtick simply comes across as boring, because there's little to no promise of anything exciting or entertaining later on in the match. With The Revival's act, if the crowd aren't behind the face in peril then it falls flat. It's difficult to see how RAW's tag division can recover at the moment, as whilst there is some talent there, especially in Dawson & Wilder, the creative and attention to detail, both big and small, simply isn't there.

An entertaining segment saw Trish Stratus interrupt Elias, after The Drifter began ripping into Stratus' hometown of Toronto. Neither performer was without their slip-ups during their promos, but both has enough charisma to keep the crowd and the vocal talent to roll with their mistakes. There was a couple of really well-written lines in this with Elias making a reference to Torontonian Drake's song “Started from the Bottom”, whilst a pair of barbs from each wrestler later on in the promo got great pops from the crowd, even if it did feel like they were papering over that they had no legitimate chemistry. A Stratus slap closed the segment, with Ronda Rousey and Natalya's entrance for the next match being used as a way to swiftly move on from the fact that there wasn't any real ending in place.

Before, Natalya took on Alicia Fox, we got to here from Alexa Bliss, with the revelation that she was revoking or invoking or devoking perhaps, her rematch clause for Rousey's RAW Women's Championship at Hell in a Cell. Bliss also reintroduced Mickie James who hadn't been seen for quite a while, for a nice pop.

Singles Match – Natalya (with RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey & WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus) def. Alicia Fox (with Alexa Bliss & Mickie James) via submission.

A quick and simple win for Natalya in her home-country in her first match since her father, Jim Neidhart, passed away. Natty won with a Sharpshooter in a few minutes and whilst there was nothing of note in the bout, it's difficult to complain about WWE allowing for such a sentimentally sweet moment. This was made especially heart-warming/heart-breaking by Natty pointing to the sky and proclaiming the match was for her Dad afterwards. WWE doesn't always handle death well on it's television products, here's hoping that Jim Neidhart becomes an exception and makes a new rule.

Backstage, Natalya, Rousey and Stratus were met by the Bella Twins. Brie and Nikki talked awkwardly for a few seconds, before it was revealed they'd be returning to action on next week's show. Yay. (For fact fans, this will be their first TV match as a duo since the 17^th October 2015 edition of Main Event, where they went over Team B.A.D.'s Naomi and Tamina on a show that also included Stardust vs. Fandango and Ryback vs. Adam Rose!)

Another look at what various WWE alumni thinks about The Undertaker facing Triple H in Melbourne in October. This time we heard from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Booker T, The Big Show and Diamond Dallas Page, which was nice.

In a surprisingly entertaining segment, Baron Corbin informed Bobby Lashley that he had a match next, but that Corbin couldn't remember who he'd booked him against. I got a kick out of Lashley laughing it off, pretending to be pals with Corbin whilst slapping him on the shoulder. Corbin later informed Lashley that his match was a handicap match once the former Impact World Champion had got in the ring. I'm interested to see how long WWE pushes Corbin as the heel GM using his power irresponsibly and what the actual pay-off is, considering his boss is still the villainous RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon.

Two-on-One Handicap Match – Bobby Lashley def. The Ascension via pinfall

This was a thing. A rather stupid piece of booking, as Lashley going over two guys who haven't looked like a threat in years, but are also considered to have never been booked correctly since leaving NXT, isn't going to help him get over, whilst neither placing him in a feud with Baron Corbin. With the RAW tag team division a mess it's irresponsible to kill another team off in what was a pretty throwaway contest.

Singles Match – Dean Ambrose def. Jinder Mahal via pinfall

Completing a trifeca of short matches, Jinder Mahal's run at the top of the SmackDown brand seemed a distance memory as he lost cleanly to Dean Ambrose in under five minutes. Mahal had pretty much the whole match, controlling after a distraction from Sunil Singh, leading to dull and forgettable contest that offered very little in the way of entertainment. Ambrose's comebacks were repeatedly cut off by Mahal, the Lunatic Fringe reversed a Khallas attempt with a Dirty Deeds. Out of the three matches The Shield members had on the show, this was the weakest and ultimately most pointless, coming across as generic time-filler. I suppose Ambrose needed to be continued to be reintroduced to the audience and a quick win over a former World Champion is a solid way to do, but the delivery came off as lazy and unimaginative.

In the lockeroom, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns had a confrontation, although seemed to be on the same page before the main event.

Tag Team Match – WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns & “Mr. Monster in the Bank” Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre ended in a no contest

Less of a match and more of a set-up for a shock conclusion to the show, as Braun Strowman turned on Roman Reigns, appearing to side with Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre as the trio turned away both Dean Ambrose and Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, before inflicting further punishment on Reigns. The match was alright up until this point, as Reigns battled against Ziggler and McIntyre as the face-in-peril with McIntyre and Ziggler continuing to work well as a team and showing plenty of intensity and physicality throughout as they thwarted various Reigns comeback attempts. But I'm not sure how effective the angle was or if it was the right decision to turn Strowman at this point. The Toronto crowd didn't seem to know what to make of what was happening, especially at the start, when it was very unclear where the angle was heading, but even then the reaction from them didn't match what was going on in the ring, mostly because nobody wanted to see a Braun Strowman heel-turn just 10 months after he became a babyface. Following the Becky Lynch heel-turn at SummerSlam, this feels like another case of WWE being out-of-touch with what it's core audience wants to see and how it is connected with the performers in the ring.

There's intrigue from this reviewer in how this plays out next week and going forward and it has been a while since RAW ended with a genuinely surprising moment. There is also potential in a Strowman/Ziggler/McIntyre vs. The Shield match to main event RAW with variational singles match also having promise whilst also filling valuable minutes of content. Like any good episodic TV ending, I was left asking questions about how the relationships between the characters were effected and whether there was an full and proper alliance between the villainous trio or whether this was one-off or month-long partnership, but I was also left questioning whether the timing was right, whether the correct person had made the turn and how WWE's insistence of keeping Reigns as the babyface star of the show could negatively impact on not just Strowman, but on Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose also.

Finally...

As episodes of RAW go, this was high on big impact moments and talking points, but low on good quality content across the three hours, with some horrible booking seen throughout. Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins stole the show with their Intercontinental Championship match, whilst Owens' walk-out was probably the most interesting storyline development. Alongside this we had Braun Strowman's questionable heel turn and alignment with Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler, whilst we also got a surprise appearance from Hall of Famer Trish Stratus in a fun appearance with Elias. We also got a look at Baron Corbin in the role of Acting General Manager for the first time, something which feels like it could be fun in the short term, but could get tiresome if a pay-off doesn't come by Survivor Series at the very latest. A nice moment for Natalya and a surprisingly competent performance from Dana Brooke aside, the rest of the show was a mix between filler matches and dull matches with bad booking as WWE continued to struggled to know what to do with it's tag teams and Bobby Lashley.

Try to check out the gem of a match between Rollins and Owens in full, but I'm sure all of the moments worth seeing from the rest of the show are available on YouTube.

Review by James Marston

Our Favourite RAW Moments

What's this? A shameless cash-in article because it's RAW 25 tonight? Absolutely not. Shut up. Don't go away though, read these views. 

I thought I'd ask our writers and a few friends what they've enjoyed the most over the last twenty five years and this is the collection of those views. What a treat for you the reader. We've got a cavalcade of the great and the good when it comes to ATPW involved Craig Hermit, 

CRAIG HERMIT 

Twenty Five years people, that's a quarter of a century. That's how long RAW has been on that long?! So what is my favourite moment? I genuinely can't give you one because think about it. You as an individual has changed throughout that time.

Case in point, I remember being a child cheering watching the RAW episode when Mr Perfect sent Ric Flair away to WCW after a career ending match. I wouldn't be having the same reaction now. I remember watching the Stone Cold vs Mr McMahon feud every week with something else added on, now I'd be saying this is just drawn out. 

Kurt Angle feuding with Stone Cold was my highlight of the Invasion, "Milkomania!"

Then when the Trish Stratus feud with Lita reached new levels, they main evented the show. WWE had consistently fed fans that Women in the division were eye candy, but damnit that match, both women displayed exactly why they were role models to women that this was just the beginning and it's to WWE's discredit that fans never saw more of this and more development from their wrestlers until recently.

And Daniel Bryan, or should I say the Daniel Bryan movement, wow, think about it, highjacking The Authority's Championship speech and then in the run to Wrestlemania highjacking the show.

Closing with Paige, remembering her first Divas Title victory. It was incredible, not the match but the moment. Fans who'd seen her in NXT, Shimmer and UK knew how awesome she is and this moment seeing her seize the Title. Damn incredible.

So those are some of the moments I remember, oh The Shield breaking up too, there we go!


Think about your 25 years, can you sum it up in one moment? Much like RAW, you can't.

JOZEF RACZKA

Not everything great in WWE happened in the Attitude Era. I'm sure a lot of them did but as someone whose first Wrestlemania was Thirty, it would be disingenuous to write about something that really had no meaning to me. The first full episode of RAW I watched was June 2nd 2014, does that mean anything to you? It should, it's when Seth Rollins, the Architect of The Shield brought it all crashing down around him when he beat Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose with a chair. It was the beginning of my understanding of why you dumb nerds watch this shit and also of me becoming one of you.

But here's the thing, that's not even the death of friendship, I wanted to talk about today. Sure, we've had the end of The Shield, we've had The Miz & Damien Mizdow but in recent years, there's no contender for one moment that we're going to all look back on , maybe even 25 years from now and think 'well that was basically perfect'. I talk to you, of course, about Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens' Festival of Friendship. The Festival is a tribute to the rock-solid nature of Owens and Jericho when it comes to character relations, you see, anyone who's been watching the programming could have worked out that Owens was going to turn on Jericho but Jericho being so blinded to how one-sided the friendship is at that point makes it all the more heartbreaking. Yet it doesn't forget in making Jericho the hero of the story, that he's also a grand-stage narcissist who talks of himself as a gift and makes his entrance with a chorus of showgirls, it's a celebration of friendship but very much, it's a Chris Jericho event, nothing of the flash or pomp suggests Kevin Owens. Wrestling is just a media through which the story is performed, stories of superheroes and supervillains can stand alongside more nuanced tales of broken people refusing to see that they can't make someone change.

That's what we got here and with all the Craigslist magicians, reinterpretations of The Creation of Adam and surprise Gillberg returns you could ask for. This segment was great, as good as the pipebomb, as good as The Rock: This Is Your Life. All this and we learnt one of the most important lessons that wrestling has taught us in years: "It's art! You don't need pants!"

SEAN TAYLOR-RICHARDSON

When Nitro commentator Tony Schiavone joked about Mick Foley’s title win putting butts on seats, he not only hammered a nail in the WCW coffin, he also pointed viewers in the direction of Raw’s greatest ever moment. In front of a wild crowd, Mankind and The Rock engaged in a fiery brawl, aided and abetted by a rich cast of supporting characters: from the McMahons to D-X, this who’s who of the Attitude Era was capped off by the arrival of the never-hotter Stone Cold Steve Austin. As the glass shattered, the fans came unglued; more than happy to see a major star, this pop was reminiscent of a home crowd witnessing a last minute winner over the local rivals Moments later and Mankind was champion: for all of Schiavone’s sarcasm, this represented one of the most genuine feel good moments in WWF/E history.

ANDY SCOTLAND 

I think for me personally, my favourite moment from Raw would be the segment between Mike Tyson and Steve Austin from January 19th, 1998. Steve Austin had just come off his Royal Rumble win and was as popular as anyone had ever been. Vince McMahon was a proud as could be about having “The Baddest Man On The Planet” Mike Tyson on Monday Night Raw and you just knew that Austin was coming to spoil the whole thing. I can still remember the whole segment almost from memory. I was glued to the TV watching it. You could have offered me anything in the world but as a 10 year old, nothing else existed for those minutes. It made regular news around the world. That brawl between the two was probably up there with the best brawl ever on TV, not just WWE. Over 20 years later, people still put it in the top moments in WWE history and I can completely agree.

JAMES MARSTON 

When I asked myself to write my favourite RAW moment, it seems like a lot of our writers I struggled to find my moment. Not because of a lack of choice, but because of the abundance of choice. As much as we, the fans, like to bemoan the WWE, there's no doubt that Vince McMahon and his pals know how to create moments that stick in your mind for years and years. Part of that is how often WWE likes to replay it's classic moments...how often have you seen D-Generation X invade on WCW get an outing on RAW? But another part is the power behind the moments themselves in the first place. Whilst storylines might not always hit home or end how we'd like to see them end, the moments along the way are what keeps us coming back. 

I was a young fan during the tail end of the Attitude Era, but didn't have Sky, so my main exposure to WWF was Sunday Night Heat on Channel 4 and the handful of PPVs they showed. Whilst I've obviously seen the majority of the iconic moments from this period, it would be wrong to choose something from here as it just didn't have the same impact on me watching them years after the fact and often knowing what was going to happen. I began finding WWE back again in 2007, before learning how to connect with RAW online a few years later. Therefore the moments I've been most effected by mostly come from after 2010. I remember being baffled by Donald Trump buying RAW, thrilled by the Nexus invasion angle and saddened by Edge's retirement...but the first time I remember coming away thinking "Holy shit, what has just happened?" was CM Punk's Pipebomb promo. 

Coming after a fairly forgettable Tables Match between R-Truth and John Cena, from the moment Punk sat cross-legged on ramp, clad in a "Stone Cold" Steve Austin t-shirt, his energy came straight through the screen and made me take notice of what was about to happen. Pre this moment, Punk's 2011 had been hit and miss, placed as the leader of the New Nexus, over as fuck and picking up victories over John Cena, Rey Mysterio and John Morrison, but also losing ever match in his series with Randy Orton, there was no particular indication of what was about to come. That's probably what made the subsequent promo so special. 

It might have launched a series of worked shoots that didn't always work, but in that moment as Punk began to rile off his issues with WWE, Vince McMahon, John Lauranitis and the fans, it felt like a real shift was occurring. Winks and nods to things outside the company, mentioning New Japan, Ring of Honor and even Colt Cabana, at a time when WWE was much more cut off from the rest of the wrestling world than it is today, felt like nothing else that had happened on that show, that month, year or beyond. Punk bought attitude, a real visceral energy as he spat his lines at the audience, the camera and mentioned the death of Vince McMahon. Pulling back the curtain and airing petty grievances, all whilst John Cena, the Micky Mouse to WWE's Disney, lay prone in the ring, selling a table bump for what felt like an age. It propelled storylines for months and months to come, resulting in a lengthy WWE title run for Punk, the return of Paul Heyman and gave WWE a genuine buzz. Even if WWE essentially dropped the ball after Money in the Bank, this promo also gave us one of the greatest WWE matches of all-time. 

(All this nice stuff and we're still blocked by CM Punk on Twitter!) 

--- 

Enjoy RAW 25 tonight folks, lets hope it brings us many more fantastic moments to talk about!

Article by Craig Hermit, Jozef Rackza (@NotJozefRaczka), Sean Taylor-Richardson (@GrownManCenaFan), Andy Scotland (@WrestleRopes) and James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale) 

The Non-Fan Review // Women's Evolution

Two blokes who've had little time for professional wrestling...watch professional wrestling...then write about professional wrestling. That's pretty much the premise that we're building this series around. A slight change to format this month as our two non-fans watch two seperate matches along the same theme. This month it's women's wrestling under the spotlight as Nicholas Peat watched Lita & Trish Stratus tagging against Stacy Keibler & Torrie Wilson in a Bra and Panties match from WWF Invasion 22nd July 2001, before Andrew Williams checks in with Sasha Banks vs. Bayley over the NXT Women's Championship from WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn from 22nd August 2015. What will our intrepid graps newbies make of their respective matches and what will we learn about their opinions of Women in pro wrestling? Let's go.

Nicholas Peat on... Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Stacy Kiebler & Torrie Wilson from WWF Invasion

Do you know what the best thing is about James Marston, creator of Across The Pond Wrestling and all around top bloke?

It’s not his winning smile, impressive turn of phrase or how he promised to slip me a fiver if I began my review this way. (EDITOR’S NOTE: NO, I DIDN’T. HONEST.) It’s that after five sessions of having me, a red-blooded alpha male with a predisposition for womanly flesh, watch sweaty, muscular men run around and grapple, he’s kindly given me some female totty to watch. (On a side note, there was a girl with the surname Totty in my class in primary school. I think she lives in New Zealand now.)

Flashback to July 2001! The Nintendo GameCube was about to be released in most of the world, Ant & Dec hadn’t left SM:TV Live just yet and Wikipedia was just six months old.
But even more dramatic than all of these things was the first ever Bra & Panties Tag-Team Match Up™! So what does such a match entail, I hear you enquire? Well, it’s beautifully simple, the commentator informs us: strip you opponent down to her bra and knickers and you win.

Wrestling gets no better than this, surely?

It seems that this is a battle between two duos, each representing a different group: WWF (as it was called back that, before the panda-loving wildlife bagged the initials) and a group I don’t know called WCW.

In the traditional video introduction, we’re introduced to Stacy, an extremely lengthily legged blonde who likes posing in front of desk fans. She lets us know that “WCW women always come out on top.” She is my favourite, calling it now.

As if to draw contrast, we meet the WWF damsels: an extremely serious ginger bird called Lita (pronounced like “litre”) and a blonde wench who goes by Trish Stratus. We learn via flashback that Trish “planted a big old kiss on Lita’s boyfriend, Matt Hardy”. THE LITTLE TART! But that’s not all, Trish also kissed Matt’s brother, Jeff… which for some reason incenses Lita. Hmm.
Cut to two chaps, one who looks a lot like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo and the other with a bandana on his head like Axl Rose, who watch Trish and Lita cat fight on telly. At this point, in slink the WCW babes: Stacy and a similarly flaxon-haired chick, known as Torrie Wilson; the politely shake hands with the gentlemen. What a lovely first impression, these seem to be well brought up young ladies, I’d be thrilled to take them home to meet my mother… Actually, forget I said that, the doxies just smooched the boys and said “nice meeting ya!”

“What was that all about?” asks Shaggy, reasonably.
“I think those girls digs us,” opines Axl, bemusedly.
The WWF birds have been ruffled. It’s on now.

But hark, strange sounds in the air! “Hey, that’s Mick Foley’s music! What’s Mick Foley doing here?” demands the commentator. I’d be happier if someone explained who the her heck Mick Foley is. From context, he’s our special guest referee: a vision in tracksuit bottoms, a checked shirt over a Universal Studios t-shirt and Matthew Kelly beard.

Do they have to pass an entrance exam to be a referee?

Then the music softens, a WCW logo appears on the big screen and out skips Torrie Wilson in the girliest way imaginable; in her red “COWBOY” top, silver sci-fi trousers and white trainers, she plays with her hair and winks at audience members and I go slightly gooey inside.

Cut to Mick, who has the dirtiest smile I’ve ever seen on a man. Lucky sod. Torrie steps in (making sure to stick her arse out as much as possible), then starts chatting to Mick. We can’t tell what they’re saying but she just be good at telling jokes, from Mick’s chuckles.

Following with one hand on her hip (like she’s impersonating half a teapot) is Stacy Keibler, in a fetching red leather top/black trouser combo. No flirting or waving for this babe: she strides straight to the ring as fast as her maxi-legs will carry her, her arms swinging wildly as she does so, like she’s trying to keep balloons in the air. It’s at this point that the camera focuses upon a man holding a sign saying “WE WANT PANTIES”. I think he’s been directed to the wrong part of the shopping centre.

And now for out first WWF waif: out bounds Trish Stratus, short of fetlock but big on glittery blue leggings, with a black tank top to complete the image. Trish stops before going into the ring, leaving Stacy and Torrie to jump and dance in front of his eyeline so she can’t charm him. Cute.

(Here, the cameraman chooses another odd sign to show us. This one says “I WANT TO SEE PUPPIES”. I genuinely have no idea how anyone could mistake this wrestling arena for a pet shop.)

But when the camera comes away from the man searching for a doggy, Lita is already out and body-popping. Head-banging like a madwoman, she is wearing a white top and the most chav-tastic trousers I have ever seen; seriously, there’s a pocket on those blue leggings for every letter of the alphabet. Once she finally stops posing and joins Trish outside the ring, the WWF girls dive into the ring with perfect synchronicity… only for their WCW rivals to slap them away! This is fun.

DING DING DING! The WWF birds slam their foes down and start hitting them; while Torrie turns the tables and starts giving Trish a good whacking, Stacy rolls out of the ring. Mick tries to restrain Lita for some reason (I don’t think he needs much excuse) and Stacy runs off somewhere, maybe to ask George Clooney if she can borrow his Batman outfit; as the commentator mentions, “thongs are legal".

Wonderful cat-fighting ensues as Trish drags Torrie up by her hair, before Torrie breaks free by kicking Trish in the girl-goolies. A good exchange of slaps from them both, before they collide with each other, leaving Torrie the worse off. Poor lamb. Trish attempts to pull Torrie’s top off, but then Stacy appears from nowhere (just like Hong Kong Phooey) and drags Trish away from her comrade by her hair! It’s two against one now, with Lita just standing there and not helping; luckily, Trish is canny enough to knock both her assailants down single-handedly. I love a woman who takes initiative.

Trish tags Lita in (is that the system they’re using now?) and the WCW lasses just stand outside the ring, arguing the toss about who is going in. Lita has no time for such folly: she shoves Torrie off and drags Stacy in, tearing her top off to reveal a canary yellow bra. Yellow is nice.

Stacy, clutching at her breasts like she’s frightened they’re about to drop off, tries to do a runner! Managing to give Lita the slip, Stacy engages in what I call “Baywatch running” (i.e. running V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y, lest your bosoms pop out to say hello) with Lita in hot pursuit, only for the latter to end up trapped on the end of the ring like a beached porpoise. Seizing the moment, Torrie holds Lita’s legs down as Stacy tears off her top, revealing the titian-haired wench’s purple/green camouflage bra. Her knockers will certainly be well hidden when she goes hiding in the indigo forests of Swindon.

Lita, creatively, uses her own shirt as a garrotte to flip Stacy by her neck; fittingly, the cameraman chooses this moment to show us yet another sign held by a fan: “CAN I BUY YOU A FISH SANDWICH?” I’m beginning to think half the attendees are confused shoppers looking for the nearest Asda!

As the commentator explains: “Mick Foley is dong very little officiating in this match. I don’t blame him.” That makes two of us, son; Lita stands on a corner with the intention of punching on Stacy like a naughty little kitty - but the leggy blonde dodges, letting the WWF virago crash headfirst.

Stacy tags Torrie in as Lita tags in Trish; a few blows exchanged, then Torrie gets inventive: she stands on Trish’s hair and pulls the harridan up by her arms. HOW UTTERLY EVIL! Drunk off her clever idea, Torrie temporarily forgets how shirts work and tries to take Trish’s top off while still standing on her hair; this gives Trish to roly-poly out while successfully de-trousering her, revealing her tiny, white KNICKERS! Torrie is as SHOCKED as I am! But in the confusion, Trish’s shirt HAS ripped off, so each of the fighters has but one garment left.

In a moment of magical choreography, Trish drops down and acts as a stool so that Lita can jump into Torrie, giving the WWF birds a chance to tear her top off. Utterly astonished by the development, Torrie dashes off.

Where has Stacy been all this time? Well, she’s stopped clutching her norks as if they’re going to escape, so maybe she’s been having them screwed on tighter. Whatever the case, Trish drags the remaining WCW combatant into the ring, letting Lita backflip onto her. Realising their advantage, they both desperately tear the remaining clothing off of their foe; at this exact moment, the commentator decides to go through puberty: “I said it all along: you wanna be a winner, you take Stacy’s pants.”

…Indeed. So they tear them off (plus her trainers - though she’s still wearing her socks, so it’s not JUST her bra and panties…? Ah well, it seems to count) and Stacy seems utterly despondent about it. Poor love, I’d cheer you up, Stacy. I know lots of jokes too.

The victors walk off proudly leaving the referee to clean up. The commentator raises a valid point: “What is Mick Foley gonna do with the garments?”

…I have a couple of ideas but I daren’t say them on a family website.

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

I know what I want for my birthday now.

Andrew Williams on... Sasha Banks vs. Bayley from WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

I wasn't sure what to expect with women's wrestling. Are they just as tough and melodramatic as the men? Bayley's entrance suggests otherwise - the screens flash "Bayley!" as she dances into the arena, decked out in ribbons of gold and white and black.

Then Sasha emerges, in a car, flanked by four ripped bodyguards in black. She's wearing Venetian blinds for sunglasses and struts on with every bit as much sass and stage presence as the queeniest of the male wrestlers. She even has her bodyguards lift her into the ring. Maybe this isn't going to be so different after all.

Sasha parades around the ring, cradling her championship belt. Bayley is not impressed by all this showing off. She's here to take it from her.

And they're off! The bell rings and the two ladies... don't do much. They're just standing there. Then they start chatting. I don't know what Sasha is saying but Bayley doesn't like it - suddenly Sasha is slapped down and the two girls are rolling about on the floor and slapping each other around the head.

The referee bravely intervenes to separate them. Bayley immediately leaps back against her opponent on the mat, then starts bouncing off the ropes for another charge. Wham! Smack! She tries to pin Sasha down but the match isn't going to be quite that fast. Sasha pulls away.

I can already see one huge difference between the men and the women here. Male wrestling is all about strength - huge guys with big, heavy blows. Female wrestling is more about speed - this match is by far the fastest paced I've seen.

Bayley helps Sasha up, and then throws her towards the ropes - but Sasha twists away and Bayley takes the brunt of it. As she staggers away, Sasha presses her advantage, smashing Bayley's face into the corner post several times. "NOOO!" yells Bayley, grabbing the other girl and doing the same to her.

Bayley then picks her up, spins her upside down and hangs her over the post by her feet. She gives herself a good run-up and then SLAM into Sasha's stomach. Sasha falls in a heap. Bayley drags her into the middle of the ring by one foot, tries another pin... but Sasha kicks out with both feet and the referee breaks the hold. Not yet, Bayley.

The two girls separate, and then charge at each other. Bayley aims high, but Sasha ducks low and grabs her around the stomach. Now it's Sasha going for a pin and Bayley kicking out, but as they get up Sasha aims a savage kick to the stomach. Bayley winces.

Smug, Sasha takes Bayley's hand and hurls her into the corner again. She charges in after, but Bayley turns her shoulder into the charge and Sasha reels back. Bayley climbs the ropes and leaps into her, the two girls spinning over each other. Sasha rolls out of the ring, Bayley standing ready for more.

The referee orders her back into the ring. Sasha argues back at him. Bayley takes the opportunity to charge after her, sliding across the mat and landing both feet in her face. I approve. It's very bad form to argue with the referee.

Bayley slips out, picks up her opponent and throws her back under the ropes. She's out to win, and she's not putting up with all this nonsense. But as she climbs back in, Sasha aims a knee at her midriff. Evil! She then threads Bayley through the ropes in the corner so she can attack that exposed belly. But as Sasha prepares to leap down upon Bayley and snap her like a twig, Bayley slips out of the way. Foiled!

But it isn't over for Bayley. Sasha is mad now, and she aims a few punches to the head before grabbing Bayley's neck in an armlock and preparing to flip her into the ring. Bayley resists with a flurry of blows to Sasha's back, which is enough to force her down again. Sasha kicks out again, and Bayley falls gracelessly out of the ring.

Sasha struts around, mocking her opponent. Bayley gets back in the ring, but since she's instantly grabbed, pummelled, dropped to the ground and sat on, one wonders why she bothered. Sasha resorts to hair pulling before the referee breaks them up. (Hair pulling is largely absent from male wresting, perhaps because most of the men have no hair to pull.)

Sasha pulls Bayley back up by her hair, and slaps her in the back a few times. Sasha bounces off the ropes and slams her back into Bayley's. This fight has switched completely - Bayley was taking the lead early on, but now all the fight has been knocked out of her and Sasha has turned mean. Her next move as Bayley groggily sits back up is to bounce off the ropes, spin on the spot with a "Wooo!" and then slap her in the face. I'm not sure how that one's supposed to work.

Sasha goes to pin the lacklustre Bayley. But the other girl hasn't given up yet. She kicks out, and the hold is broken. But has she got any fight left in her?

Maybe so. She slowly rises up and aims a swift double handed punch to Sasha's chest. This is not very effective. Sasha retaliates with a kick that sends Bayley flying. She strolls slowly over, grabs Bayley's head and tries to twist. For several agonising seconds, Bayley struggles to avoid her head being twisted off her neck. "Come on, Bayley!" she yells. "You're a loser!"

It's the referee that breaks them up, under that cardinal rule of wrestling that says you can't bore the audience with one hold for the entire match. Sasha decides to try strangling Bayley with one of her own arms instead, and finds using both Bayley's arms at once is even better. Several more seconds pass.

Surely there's no way to get out of this? But Bayley tries. She slowly climbs to her feet... and then Sasha simply lets go, shoving her into the corner post. Bayley drops. Sasha argues with the referee again, planting a savage kick into Bayley's prone body as she does.

I have decided that I don't like Sasha.

The evil one picks Bayley back up and shoves her into the post again. Bayley is barely conscious at the moment, but she deflects a punch and shoves her tormentor away. Sasha slaps back. Bayley fights back, but it's a feeble effort. Once again Sasha hooks her feet into the ropes and prepares to break her opponent in half.

As before, it doesn't work. Bayley slips under her, catches her in midair and... fails to deliver. Sasha wriggles free and Bayley drops to the mat. Sasha is mad again. She really wants to do her special move, so she hooks Bayley back up again and decides to soften her up with a frenzy of blows to the stomach.

The referee tells her to do something else, so she lines Bayley up against the post, picks up her legs and hooks her not into the middle ropes but the very top ones. The commentators groan. Sasha climbs outside the ropes, ascends the post and drops onto that exposed stomach with both knees. Bayley falls in a heap. Sasha lands on her colourful feet.

Now it must be over! Sasha pins her opponent. The referee counts... and Bayley breaks the hold again! It's not over! Sasha looks like she can't believe it either. Bayley crawls into the corner while Sasha trash talks. ("You think you're better than me?" In many ways, yes...)

Bayley instantly wins my respect by booting Sasha in the chest. It sends her flying but, better still, it stops her talking. Sasha charges back and Bayley grabs her and throws her into the post. As Sasha returns, Bayley trips her up, falls on top of her and punches her repeatedly in the head while yelling a lot. Not all those punches seem to connect, but the yelling is consistent.

Sasha pulls free. Bayley picks her up, hurling her into the ropes, but Sasha bounces back and aims a savage kick that Bayley dodges. Bayley charges in, but more hair pulling results and Bayley falls out of the ring - but not without slamming Sasha into the mat on the way down. This entire paragraph takes less than ten seconds.

Bayley sprawls. Landed badly, perhaps. Sasha climbs out of the ring to press her advantage, sitting on her rival and pulling her arm at a rather awkward angle. This arm has a wrist brace on it - perhaps from a previous injury - and Sasha decides to go one better by removing the brace. This is very unsporting, but apparently legal.

Bayley is hurled back into the ring, then hurled back out of it. She lands on that damaged wrist. Sasha then takes that injured hand, leads Bayley over to the steps and smashes it down on them. As Bayley writhes on the floor, Sasha continues to yank on that hand and, when Bayley resists, she stomps down with one foot.

She's not done yet. Next she takes Bayley's injured hand, wedges it between steps and ring, and smashes the steps themselves. I'd buy this move a little more if it weren't for Bayley's overacting while trying to free her hand, which she manages without much difficulty when Sasha kicks out. I'm also pretty sure that kicking the steps like that is moving them away from the hand, not crushing it like the commentators seem to think.

Bayley may have a broken hand, but I doubt it. While Bayley rolls about on the floor and the referee checks on her, Sasha returns to the ring. But not for long - while Bayley gets to her feet, Sasha runs out of the ring, somersaults over the referee and lands squarely on Bayley's shoulders. Down they both go!

Sasha is up first, pulling Bayley up by the hair and throwing her back into the ring. She tries to pin, but Bayley kicks out again. How much more can she take?

Sasha pulls Bayley up and returns to her favourite mode of attack - trash talk. The only word I can make out is "loser". She slaps Bayley in the face, then leads her by the hand to the corner post, but as she climbs the post for some dastardly finishing move Bayley regains her senses and shoves. Sasha falls out of the ring at some height. Both roll about on their respective floors.

What's this? Sasha is being counted out! But as far as I can understand it, if she's counted out like this, she retains the title. She doesn't have to beat Bayley - she just needs Bayley to fail. But she doesn't want to just beat her opponent, especially on a technicality. She wants to humiliate her, and that's why she crawls back into the ring as the count reaches eight.

A slapfight ensues, both girls on their knees. Bayley seems to think nothing of using her "broken" hand to lay a punch or two. They continue to yell at each other and trade blows as both rise slowly to their feet. Then Bayley throws the other girl into the ropes and slams her down as she bounces back! And again! And again! Sasha just keeps bouncing back and slamming back down!

Bayley then lets out an Amazonian yell, charges headfirst into Sasha in the corner and rolls away. Sasha sprawls. Bayley then does... something, possibly a dance move, before charging into Sasha again. She pulls her out of the corner, tries a lift, tries again... and Sasha flips over her head and crashes down again. SMASH.

Bayley showboats, then goes for a bearhug. Sasha tries to return the favour, then aims a punch that only serves to spin her around. Bayley pins her against the ropes, rolls her right over, picks her up twice, then goes for a slam on the mat. Sasha reverses it, and Bayley goes down hard. She's pinned again, and this time there's no easy way out. She crawls desperately forward, Sasha hanging on with all her strength. We've seen this trick before - if the pinned wrestler can snag the bottom rope, their opponent has to let go. I still don't understand that one.

Sasha isn't having any of this, using a free foot to stomp down frantically at Bayley's outstretched (and injured) hand. But while she hooks that hand down with one leg, Bayley reaches out with the other hand and... yes! She's grabbed the rope! Both girls roll away.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Bayley has grabbed Sasha in a pin instead! How? What? She tries to pull back Sasha's head like a Pez dispenser, and the two spin slowly around as Sasha tries to grab a rope and Bayley turns her away. Then, finally, a foot snags that bottom rope - the hold is broken.

The two girls sprawl on the canvas. Do either of them have anything left? Bayley is up first, but as she goes to pick up her opponent Sasha lashes out with a foot and Bayley staggers back. This only makes Bayley angry. She charges back in, picks up Sasha's feet and, while Sasha hangs onto the ropes for dear life, she shakes her like a duvet cover. Sasha pulls away, but Bayley grabs her in a very unfriendly hug, hurling her into the mat and pinning her once more. The referee counts...

...and it's still not over! Sasha kicks out and the two separate. As both girls gasp for breath, the crowd chants out what I think is "This is awesome". I could be wrong.

Bayley picks up the struggling Sasha and hangs her on the ropes, then moves her to a sitting position on the top of the post. This is always a dangerous approach, Bayley. They have a nasty habit of springing to life while you're setting up your finishing move. You did it to her yourself a few minutes ago! However, it seems all Sasha can do as Bayley climbs up after her is flail a few weak punches at her back.

Bayley grabs her with both arms, but Sasha perks up a little more and, with a load of desperate flailing, manages to push Bayley away. Bayley is so annoyed at having her trick shot ruined that she runs up and punches her in the face. She tries again, mounting the ropes ready for a huge flip - and Sasha slaps her down! Bayley tumbles to the floor.

Sasha takes advantage of Bayley crawling towards her by leaping down from her perch and into Bayley's neck. She tries to pin the challenger, but Bayley suddenly convulses and the two girls flip over. Now Bayley is on top and Sasha underneath! Pounding the mat in frustration, Sasha crawls free.

As the match comes to what must at last be the endgame, Sasha gets to her feet. Bayley is still on the floor, her energy spent. Sasha picks her up and sits her on top of a corner post, facing out. There's an exchange of exhausted slaps between the two girls and Sasha is knocked away. Bayley tries to get into a better position, punching Sasha repeatedly as the champion moves in, and while she's dazed Bayley climbs around to sit on her shoulders. Then Bailey drops down, the two flip over and both land on the mat. SLAM!

Bayley gets up, flips her opponent once more and pins her to the mat. The referee counts and it's all over - Bayley has won! The new champion of the NXT! Hurrah!

But that belt is never going to go with her outfit.

Bayley's friends come in to celebrate with her. And then... so does Sasha! Four girls hugging, all friends again, all enmity apparently forgotten.

In summary...

This is the first female wrestling match I've seen, and if this is typical they certainly last a fair bit longer. It was much faster paced, but it was also a lot meaner - the boys just want to beat each other up, while the girls want to humiliate each other. The slapping, hair pulling and trash talk add a new dimension.

I've never been entirely convinced by the "acting" of the male wrestlers, but it kind of works. They're performing in a play of sorts, and their characters are quite broadly painted. The female wrestlers are better performers, but this actually makes it less convincing for me. I find it hard to buy the trash talk and the desire to bring each other down when the two girls are hugging and friendly again at the end of the match. But which is the lie, and which is the truth?

Next time...We challenge Andrew's theory that men's wrestling is "all about strength - huge guys with big, heavy blows" as we treat our Non-Fans to some Junior Heavyweight classics. 

Andrew watches...

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero in a WCW Cruiserweight title vs. Mask match from WCW Halloween Havoc from 26th October 1997...

Before Nicholas views... 

Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet from New Japan Pro Wrestling Best of the Super Junior XXIII - Day Six from 27th May 2015...

See you next time.

Article by Nicholas Peat (@NPChilla) & Andrew Williams (@adw_author)