PPV Review: WWE Survivor Series 2015

4 weeks after Brock Lesnar went over The Undertaker at Hell in a Cell, it was time for the 29th addition of Survivor Series! After a tumultuous build-up that saw Seth Rollins have to surrender the WWE World Heavyweight Championships two weeks into the build for a match between he and Roman Reigns, this show featured the final three matches of a tournament to crown a new champion with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Alberto Del Rio and Kevin Owens battling for the belt across the show. With The Undertaker appearing alongside Kane to take on The Wyatt Family to celebrate his 25th year in the business, this show had to be great....didn't it?

Fast-Forward...Lilian Garcia sang the Star Spangled Banner, which apparently no one else sings along to...The opening package focused on The Undertaker's 25 year anniversary and upcoming tag bout with Kane against the Wyatt Family, as well as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament involving Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, Kevin Owens & Dean Ambrose, before closing with a nice twist on a clichéd saying “History is written by the Survivors”...During the entrances for the first match of the evening, Michael Cole made it absolutely clear that the whole WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament was about Roman Reigns, by only talking about Reigns' story heading into the show...

Match 1 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Semi-Final Tournament - Roman Reigns vs.United States Champion Alberto Del Rio with Zeb Colter

A strong opener between the two least popular remaining members of the tournament (Well least popular amongst the "cool" fans anyway). Whilst some of Reigns early offence was a little sloppy, the pair strung together some enjoyably slick sequences, with a simple and effective story. It was clear that Reigns was being put over as the stronger and more capable performer inside the ring, with Del Rio having to go to the outside to gain the upperhand, sending the Juggernaut into the ringpost, barricade and steel steps at various points. We also got the United States Champion working Reigns shoulder, riffing off the Reigns previous victory over Cesaro on Monday Night RAW. Reigns selling was good and we did get a superb submission sequence with Del Rio locking on the Cross Armbreaker, but I felt at time that opportunities to continue the work weren't taken, such as when "Mexico's Greatest Export" pulled Reigns throat across the top ring rope, when an attack to the arm would have made much more sense. There was clearly only ever going to one winner here, but the lively crowd made the near falls much more exciting. A much better outing for Del Rio than his bout with John Cena at Hell in a Cell and a contender for the match of the evening for me.

Winner - Roman Reigns via pinfall (Spear) in 14 minutes, 4 seconds

Fast-Forward...As Reigns celebrated his victory, Michael Cole continued his obsession with tournament brackets, how he'll cope when the tournament is over is yet to be seen...Whilst Jo Jo stood awkwardly about the backstage area with a microphone, Roman Reigns was interrupted by both Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens, with the Intercontinental Champion putting in the strongest showing on the microphone ...We didn't have to wait long for more Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens as the pair made their way to the ring for the 2nd Semi-Final in the title tournament...

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

The quality of action didn't drop for the 2nd bout of the evening, and whilst Ambrose and Owens didn't quite connect as well as many would have hoped for, they still put on a sound physical encounter. In comparison to the opener, the crowd were pretty subdued in the opening stages, perhaps because Owens and Ambrose are favourites amongst the livelier fans, therefore I was very impressed with the Intercontinental Champion who managed to bring the crowd onside with a couple of adlibed lines, that whilst they weren't particularly creative ("And that's why I'm the next champ") pulled the crowd into the action and allowed for a much more enjoyable second half of the bout. After a handful of exciting near falls, like Owens Fisherman's Buster off the top rope, Ambrose escaping two Pop-Up Powerbombs to hit Dirty Deeds 2 was a skillfully frenetic finish. The IC Champ being kept strong by clearly having the match won if he'd have hit his Pop-Up Powerbomb made me happy and the potential for a rematch over the belt with some added toys at TLC in three weeks is a mouth-watering prospect.

Winner - Dean Ambrose via pinfall (Dirty Deeds 2) in 11 minutes, 18 seconds

Fast-Forward...With Ambrose being afforded plenty of time to celebrate, Michael Cole was busy putting over the main event bout with Reigns, just in case anyone was thinking of changing the channel on PPV...A well-produced vignette on The Undertaker interspersed with clips from WWE Network show, Legends with JBL, airing reminded us once again that this was the 25 year of Taker in the biz, if it was anyone else it might have been a little bit of over-kill...

With a Survivor Series match advertised but no competitors announced it was a rather weird experience as Ryback, The Lucha Dragons, The Usos, The New Day, King Barrett and Sheamus headed down to the ring. TEN SURPRISE COMPETITORS! Of course, the New Day were given time on the microphone and with Barrett and Sheamus at their side, the trio were on fine form. Sleekly flicking between the various sports teams of Atlanta and their opponent, the trio got the crowd chanting "New Day Sucks" with ease. Barrett looked to be having absolute ball beside them, but I'm not sure why WWE opted to make Sheamus the butt of the joke with his awkward "Tonight we're going to get jiggy on these posers" line.

Match 3 - Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination - Ryback,  The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) & The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) vs. "Mr. Money in the Bank” Sheamus, “The 2015 King of the Ring” King Barrett & The New Day (Xavier Woods, Big E & Kofi Kingston)

The only Survivor Series bout on this year's main card, this wasn't a classic. That isn't to say it wasn't without it's moment, with the quad dive by The Usos and The Lucha Dragons and the extended Unicorn Stampede standing out as highlights of the earlier chunk of the bout. Whilst the eliminations of the contest were booked well (especially the first few) and kept a nice pace once they started to flow, the crowd had very little reason to care about this. They weren't into anything the babyfaces, and especially The Usos were doing and with Jey spending a lot of time as the Usos in peril, it was disappointing to see his hot tag to brother Jimmy get absolutely no reaction. But the effort just wasn't there to deserve.

I didn't like the booking for the finish however, as for me it went WAY too long. The New Day leaving after Big E was eliminated (to help him to the back) was a nice idea, but poorly executed with no announcement that they had been counted out made and the commentary team hinting that they would be back out. Having Sheamus as the only member of his team left opposite Jey Uso, Kalisto and Ryback was a strange decision and could have worked with we'd had seen Sheamus get quickly taken down after the distraction of New Day leaving but it just dragged on and on, without ever seemingly having anything but one outcome. No one gained anything from this, despite it being the longest contest of the evening.

Winners

Jey Uso, Kalisto & Ryback in 17 minutes, 33 seconds

Order of Elimination

King Barrett via pinfall (Sin Cara after Springboard Senton) in 7 minutes, 47 seconds

Jimmy Uso via pinfall (Xavier Woods after Double Stompp/Backbreaker Combo) in 9 minutes, 22 seconds

Sin Cara via pinfall (Sheamus after Brogue Kick) in 10 minutes, 43 seconds

Big E via pinfall (Jey Uso after Superfly Splash) in 11 minutes, 30 seconds

Sheamus via pinfall (Ryback after Shellshocked) in 17 minutes something

Fast-Forward...The promo package for the Divas Championship bout interestingly decided to omit Paige's comments about Reid Flair on last week's Monday Night RAW...Whilst the commentary team did allude to the controversial comments during the entrances of the pair, it was only mentioned how personal the feud had become, without the specifics...

Match 4 - Diva's Championship - Paige vs. Charlotte ©

The bout played out like a grudge match in the ring, but you wouldn't have thought it from the crowd, who decided pretty early on that they couldn't give a fuck about this. I thought the action here was of a high quality with both women throwing heavy strikes and taking some punishment on the outside, with Charlotte's Electric Chair drop onto the apron standing out. The only stuff that got the crowd anywhere near interested was anything involving Ric Flair, which has to be down to the way WWE has portrayed the Divas' Champion since her main roster debut. She may as well be announced as "Ric Flair's daughter" for all it's worth. Whilst the effort was put into the action, neither girl tried to get the crowd involved, beyond Paige's couple of "Woo's", even when given the opportunity to reply to the growing "We Want Sasha" chants. I enjoyed what I saw, but the fact that the crowd was silent throughout is something that needs to be addressed quickly. Hopefully that addressing isn't reverting back to the previous Divas style of the last five years.

Winner

Charlotte via Submission (Figure 8) in 14 minutes, 15 seconds *STILL CHAMPION*

Fast-Forward...The Kick-Off Panel (Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Booker T & Corey Graves) chatted about Charlotte vs. Paige a bit before, previewing the main event...Roman Reigns returned the favour to Dean Ambrose by interrupting his former Shield stablemate during an interview with Jo-Jo, which was oddly given a "Earlier Tonight" caption...Tyler Breeze's main roster debut was shown during the entrances for his match with Dolph Ziggler...

Match 5 - Singles - Tyler Breeze with Summer Rae vs. Dolph Ziggler

A decent bit of filler, but filler non the less. The feud got lost in the mix of the World Heavyweight Championship tournament, despite it being a real opportunity to intensify the feud and therefore the crowd couldn't have given a knat testes about what was going on. There was plenty of solid action, including a satisfying back and forth pinfall section, but there was just that little spark missing that could have made this a stand out match. Breeze picking up the clean win with Christian's old finish was a surprise as I expected to see him cheat to win, especially after Prince Pretty used a couple of heel antics to get the upperhand earlier on. It'll be interesting to see where Breeze springboards to from here, but isn't it sad to see how WWE wasted Ziggler's tremendous performance at last year's event, in what should have been the breakout moment for the Show-Off.

Winner

Tyler Breeze via pinfall (Unprettier) in 6 minutes, 43 seconds

Fast-Forward...More Undertaker fan-fare, as the package for The Brothers of Destructions clash with The Wyatt Family was up next...

The Undertaker's entrance was quite something, wasn't it? Especially for a show like Survivor Series, if it was Mania it wouldn't have been as big of a deal, but there was his funky logo on fire and other things on fire and lots of fire. Plus a sweet coffin screen situation that showed The Undertaker's past selves, well not past selves obviously it's the same bloke, but you get what I mean. Erick Rowan reminded us all that he's the member of the Family that we couldn't give a flying fuck about, when he ran into the ring and the WWE Universe let out a collective sigh, believing he'd be one of the two to take on B.O.D! Then the sigh of disappointment was replaced by one of relief as Rowan got double chokeslammed to fuck and Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt stepped up to the plate.

Match 6 - Tag Team - The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper & Bray Wyatt) with Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan vs.The Brothers of Destruction (Kane & The Undertaker)

This contest was a fun watch, with The Undertaker running through his greatest hits and Kane coming along for the ride. Playing to the strengths of everyone involved and with a crowd that was into everything that went on, this was one of the easiest watches of the show. Whilst I'd have liked to have seen Kane worked the "Demon in Peril" role just a little bit longer than he did, to really milk the moment for 'Takers hot tag, the rest of the booking was spot on, with Strowman allowing the Wyatts to take control twice in the bout, as well as taking a Double Chokeslam through the Spanish announce table. The finish was excitingly paced, and whilst if you didn't see The Brothers of Destruction double sit up coming you'd probably never seen wrestling ever before, it was still a pretty damn cool moment. Many will focus on The Brothers going over Wyatt (and Wyatt losing yet another marque feud), but I had a great time watching and that's all I care about right now. 

Winners - The Brothers of Destruction via pinfall (Undertaker on Harper (Tombstone Piledriver) in 10 minutes, 18 seconds

Fast-Forward...The Brothers of Destruction doing their classic hand raise pose on the entrance ramp capped off the nostalgia trip...A promo for upcoming WWE Network shows offering the likes of the TLC PPV, pre-recorded Stone Cold Podcast's with Shawn Michaels & Ric Flair, a new reality show Ride Along, new episodes Breaking Ground & Edge & Christian's Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness showed WWE's continued commitment to produce fresh content for their channel...It was main event time, we'd see a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, there was definitely a big fight feel heading in...

Match 7 - Finals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

This is a difficult one to review for me, because I thought the action we were given was of a high quality, but we just didn't get enough of it. Cutting the match to just over 9 minutes was a ridiculous decision, quite simple. Just as things were getting going and beginning to look like we could be breaking into something really quite special, between two men with chemistry and heaps and heaps of back-story to play off, Reigns hit his second spear and won the title. It didn't feel like it should have, I didn't feel like I'd just watched the main event and final match of a sixteen man tournament, I felt like I'd watched a great main event for Monday Night RAW. For what they did do, all credit to Reigns and Ambrose as both brought great energy, paced the contest as well as they could have and sold the heavy hitting nature of the contest to a tee. Give me ten more minutes and more exploration of Reigns' arm injury and I'd have been very happy.

Winner

Roman Reigns via pinfall (Spear) in 9 minutes, 1 second *NEW CHAMPION*

Fast-Forward...It all went on in the next four minutes, Reigns and Ambrose shared a brotherly moment, Reigns refused to shake Triple H's hand and speared him out of his boot, before taking a Brogue Kick from Money in the Bank Contract holder Sheamus and we quickly had another title match on our hands...Sheamus only went and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, connecting with his second Brogue Kick after dodging a spear attempt by the Juggernaut...

Wow, that was an interesting finish, tying into what was an intriguing night of booking for WWE. It was however clear that Sheamus, despite winning the World Heavyweight Championship was not the star here, as we closed with pictures of Roman Reigns leaving the ring. Yes, we did see Sheamus standing on the ramp with Triple H and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but I'm not expecting him to be holding onto that belt for long. He's another road block for Reigns to get to on his chase for the title (that now he's already actually held) and a rushed replacement for Seth Rollins within the Authority. There's a couple of avenues to explore over the next three weeks heading toward TLC, like Sheamus' relationship with King Barrett, the repercussions of The New Day leaving Sheamus to the wolves in their Survivor Series bout, Ryback getting the pin on the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and of course, the small matter of a rematch for Roman Reigns sooner rather than later. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.97 - Average/Good

Whilst the show came just shy of recent outings like Hell in a Cell, Night of Champions and SummerSlam on the ATPW Scale and had a number of issues throughout the card, this was still a pretty easy watch for me. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament offered some good quality outings, with the opening Semi-Final contest between Roman Reigns and Alberto Del Rio being the best of the bunch for me, even if I'd mark the Brothers of Destruction and Wyatt Family contest as my favourite of the evening.

Some bouts suffered from either a lack of build or an uninterested crowd or a mixture of the two. There was potential for this to be one of the best PPV's of the year, if Charlotte and Paige could have garnered some crowd involved in their Diva's Championship encounter and if the Survivor Series Elimination match hadn't been thrown together and booked in such a haphazard fashion. The Elimination match going over 15 minutes also meant that it had a big effect on the rating for the entire show. There was however nothing on this card that I would pronounce as being outright bad.

Here's hoping WWE builds on the positives of this show and quickly addressed the weaknesses, with the 2016 WrestleMania season quickly approaching.

Second Opinion...

Here's our buddy Marc Pearson's Youtube review of the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILIe6W2w_Tw&feature=youtu.be&a

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1173

After a flat episode last week in Manchester, could WWE step up their game on the go-home show for Survivor Series? With Paige and Charlotte's Divas Championship contract signing, The Brothers of Destruction opening the show, Cesaro and Roman Reigns battling in a World Heavyweight Championship quarter final and a lot more over the three hour show from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, how did WWE do as we head towards one of their biggest events of the year...lets take a look.


Fast-Forward...The commentary team laying out the four World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarter Finals was a quaint way to start Monday Night RAW into 2015, but it gave the viewer a complete view of what to expect over the next three hours...

The Brothers of Destruction ended last week's RAW in Manchester and this week they got to open the show. The Greenville, South Carolina crowd were popping loud for Taker's BONG at the start of his music was a cool moment and The Deadman managed to keep the entire crowd hanging onto his every word, even if the promo was full of mystical gubbins. Bray Wyatt's reply was a similar effort, and through some loud "What?" chants, the Eater of Worlds did manage to pull out a couple of cracking lines, like "After Survivor Series you'll just be remembered as the brothers that I destroyed". The Druids turning on Undertaker and appearing with sheep masks on was a nice visual, even if the attack on B.o.D was a little flat. By the end of the segment, I was much more interested in a clash between B.o.D. and two members of The Wyatt Family than I was previously and that's exactly how a segment like this should make one feel. Here's hoping the match can live up to all the special effects and pyro. 


Fast-Forward...The commentary team did a strong job of putting over the previous encounters of Neville and Kevin Owens as we headed into the first match of the night...

Match 1 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarter Final - "The Man That Gravity Forgot" Neville vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens

This was quality opening contest, that set the tone for the type of show we'd be getting this evening nicely. With a hot crowd that quickly sided with Neville, the pair worked well together to create a number of creative sequences, the Pop-Up Powerbomb escaped into a Reverse Rana standing out in particular. With an on-going story of Neville attempting to put Owens away with the Red Arrow and never quite managing to hit it, despite the crowd willing him on all the way, was easy to follow and the face/heel dynamic kept things simple but effective throughout. There was space perhaps for a little extra time to really up the ante and tell an even stronger story, but as Quarter Final for the World Heavyweight Championship, both men came out looking better than they came in.

Winner - Kevin Owens via pinfall (10 minutes, 45 seconds) 

Fast-Forward...During Owens celebration, Michael Cole ran us through the brackets for the tournament, a site that we'd become all too familar with by the end of the night...The coverage of Seth Rollins surgery was a good tie-in with the tournament and hopefully we'll see The Architect back in the ring sooner rather than later...R-Truth was stupidly over in his entrance, but Byron Saxton joining in on the "What's Up?" chant was cringey...Truth's contest with Tyler Breeze did a lot in a short space of time, with Prince Pretty picking up the win with the Beauty Shot...The announcers desk was at it again during Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose's entrance, putting over each man's relationship with the World Heavyweight Championship well.

Match 3 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarter Final - Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose

This could have been a bit of a disaster. By that I'm certainly not doubting either man's abilities in the ring, but judging by the crowd's reactions to the first to match, Greenville seems like a town that loves cheering their babyfaces, so I was a little tentative about how the sound scape of the bout would be. I needn't have worried, Ambrose and Ziggler held the crowd throughout the 16 minute contest. They worked an intriguingly slow pace early doors, adding layers of complexity into the bout as things progressed, gathering up more content like a snowball rolling down a hill. Back and forth with lots of near falls and a split crowd, you can't ask much more for a television contest, can you? Like the previous tournament bout, both men came out of the contest all the better for being a part of it, even if Ziggler did the job clean following Dirty Deeds.

Winner - Dean Ambrose via pinfall (16 minutes, 45 seconds)

Fast-Forward...Ambrose's post match promo was blisteringly captivating and his promise of "putting Michael Cole in a fish tank" if he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Sunday should surely be enough for anyone to will on the Lunatic Fringe...

Don't you dare be sour! Yes, it wouldn't be RAW anymore without a New Day promo, would it? The threesome put on another entertaining display, as they complained about the lack of coverage their 1st anniversary as a team was getting. With a little bit of continuiation of their feud with The Usos thrown in for good measure and reference to some thing called "Booty Juice" what wasn't to like about the WWE Tag Team Champions sermon? 

Match 4 - Six Man Tag Team - Ryback & The Usos vs. The New Day

This was an enjoyable six man tag team contest, but unfortunately we only got half of the bout. The New Day continued to work their arses off, with plenty of trash-talking as they dominated Jey Uso and worked quick tags. During the old school heel antics, the crowd got more and more behind Ryback, who was in desperate need of a rebuild following having to job to Kalisto on Smackdown. I'd suggest that because of this, WWE decided to have Ryback run in to take out the New Day after one trick too many, but it did leave a match that seemed to be heading in the right direction feeling rather flat.

Winners - The New Day via Disqualification (5 minutes, 47 seconds)

Fast-Forward....Ryback destroying The New Day was again a very transparent way to protect the former Intercontinental Champion, but I'm not sure it should have been done at the expense of the tag champs...Michael Cole and co pushed the benefits of watching Survivor Series on the WWE Network as opposed to PPV, a real treat for wrestling fans...Triple H and Cesaro's backstage segment was an interesting one, with Trips seemingly push The Swiss Superman on to "grab the brass ring"...Roman Reigns pre-match promo was the shits with the Samoan seemingly attempting to destroy the English language...

Match 5 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarter Final - Cesaro vs. Roman Reigns

I was surprised to see this not go on last, seeing how strongly Roman Reigns has been pushed on television over the last month. However, it certainly didn't effect the tie, as both men worked hard for each and put on another cracking quarter final contest. Cesaro looked great early door with a series of quick reversals and movements, that made him look more than capable of hanging with now bonafide main eventer Reigns. If you're not convinced by Reigns as an in-ring performers yet, there's probably little I can do here, but the selling of his injured arm, after hitting the ring post, brought an extra dimension to things. It certainly turned Cesaro's Sharpshooter transitioned into a Crossface look even more special. The third contest in a row where both men managed to come out of the match looking better than they did going in.

Similar to the Ziggler vs. Ambrose, the crowd could have made or broken this match. Had this been in one of the more "cool" wrestling cities, it perhaps wouldn't have had the same energy behind it. Part of the crowd were behind Reigns, part of the crowd was behind Cesaro and that suited the hard-hitting, alternating contest. The reactions to the various near falls as the bout picked up steam heading towards the finished told you all you needed to know. Everyone involved in the match (including the referee who put in a brilliant performance) took what was in it's essence a pretty predictable win for Reigns into a clash that Cesaro looked like he could have won at various points, non-more so that a backslide reversal of Reigns' signature Superman Punch.

Winner - Roman Reigns via pinfall (20 minutes, 23 seconds)

Fast-Forward...A big thumbs up for Reigns post match celebration, as he looked like he'd been through a battle, which only empathises the quality of his victory...The Dudley Boyz went over The Ascension in a short and meaningless piece of tag team filler...The awkward duo of Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter were met by Triple H backstage (during an interview with Renee Young) in what was another pretty clumsy moment...I got a strange sense of joy seeing Del Rio struggle with his "Mex-America" flag on the way to the ring, whilst Kalisto handled himself well in an in-vision promo...

Match 7 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarter Final - Alberto Del Rio with Zeb Colter vs. Kalisto

The final match of the evening was another enjoyable encounter, even if it didn't quite manage to reach the heights of the three tournament bouts that had gone before it. Del Rio looking to put the match away as quickly as possible, whilst trying to hit his Tree of Woe Double Stomp, not only gave the match it's narrative back bone, but also put over Kalisto well, following his surprise victory over Ryback on Smackdown last week. The flurries from Kalisto were worked well and his offence works best in that kind of environment, whilst the closing stages of the bout with Del Rio hitting the Double Stomp was sublime. With an extra five or ten minutes, I've a feeling that this could have found itself in the same area as the other tournament matches.

Winner - Alberto Del Rio via pinfall (10 minutes, 5 seconds)

Fast-Forward...The three amigos pushed the WWE Network's Undertaker Week...

A Diva's contract signing to close Monday Night RAW? Can you imagine that happened two or three years ago? The girls needed to hit it out of the park to make sure there was no real argument against the Diva's Revolution occurring this year. Paige and Charlotte got their characters spot on and whilst there will come a time when Charlotte will have to look for something other than her family for content, it made perfect sense to do so in Carolina. Paige's words about Charlotte's late brother, Reid, seem to have pissed off a lot of people (Including Charlotte's Mother) but it really made me want to see Charlotte beat the living piss out of the Norwich lass...surely the exact reaction I should have been having? Heels are supposed to get under peoples skin and if Paige's comments offended you, then she was doing her job right. Both women looked comfortable closing the show and I'm hoping that they are afforded the opportunity to do so again over the next few months.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.69/10 - Very Good, almost Superb TV

After last week's blip, this was another strong offering from WWE. In my opinion, this was the strongest we've seen Monday Night RAW in the bumpy build-up towards Survivor Series. The tournament quarter finals were all given plenty of time and a tournament that seemed to be lacking in star power heading in managed to raise the profile of pretty much everyone involved in those contests. With two very different segments book-ending the show, the Survivor Series card was promoted strongly and even though I'd side with the opener being the strongest of the two, it was great to see Paige and Charlotte getting the chance to close the programme. 


A big shout out to the Greenville crowd who were excellent throughout. More crowds like this one please.


Here's hoping WWE can continue this form into Survivor Series on Sunday! 

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1172

After Seth Rollins had unfortunately had to vacate the WWE World Heavyweight Championship due to an injury sustained at a live event, would WWE come out swinging with a killer of RAW? Or would the absence of The Architect end up seeing WWE's flagship programme slip in quality after two strong weeks of television. We got The Wyatt Family's eulogy to the Brothers of the Destruction in the main event slot, Cesaro facing off with Sheamus, and Roman Reigns scrapping with The Big Show, both in the first round of a tournament to crown a new champion, and more across the show, but was this week's edition worth staying up til 4am for?

If you had Triple H opening RAW with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on a red velvet plinth in your office pools then you'd have been a happy chappy! Let's be honest, the show was only going to start this way, and with The Game getting roundly cheered by the Manchester Arena (who also started a "Thank You Rollins" chant when the former World Heavyweight Champion was mentioned). Certainly not the strongest opening segment in the world, as Trips called Roman Reigns down to the ring, to put him over (strongly) and offer him Rollins spot as "The Man". Whilst I can leave and take Triple H's big long monologues, this fell apart on the fact that the crowd HATED Roman Reigns (especially when Triple H lay the belt across his shoulder) and mostly cheered Triple H, something which the creative seemingly hadn't bargained on. Not terrible, but certainly needed a bit more thought on how to get this smarky Manchester crowd on board with the direction. 

Match 1 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Round 1 - Roman Reigns vs. "The World's Largest Athlete" The Big Show

My absolute highlight of this match was Big Show shouting "I am a giant" and Michael Cole on commentary hollering back "Indeed you are". In fact, the commentary team was full of gems in this one. From Cole losing his shit when Show got a near fall of a jumping splash or asking "Who can forget the Last Man Standing match earlier in the year between these two?"...erm...obviously you think some people will have forgotten...because you're reminding them, right now! While the commentary team was unintentionally making me chuckle, the crowd was pissing me off big time. A Mexican wave followed by "We Are Awesome" chant...no, just no Manchester. Embarrassing. Oh yeah...the match...kind of what you would expect. Show battered Reigns early door, couple of hope spots, Reigns hit a Superman punch out of nowhere and a spear for the win. Not terrible, although Big Show shouting spots should have been editing out seeing as they had the opportunity, but failed to capture the crowd in the way that should have.

Winner - Roman Reigns via pinfall (Spear) in 11 minutes, 50 seconds

Fast-Forward...The first of a handful of video packages looking at The Brothers of Destruction's careers aired, with a look at their WWE debuts at Survivor Series 1990 (teaming with Ted DiBiase & Rhythm & Blues to defeat Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware and the Hart Foundation)  and Bad Blood 1997 (interrupting the Undertaker's Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels) respectively...Before his bout Intercontiental Champion Kevin Owens cut a promo that had the crowd cheering him, until he called them dumb, it really was that easy *slow clap for Manchester*...Owens defeated Titus O'Neil in a short bout, which saved me having to talk too much about how the hell O'Neil managed to get himself into the 16-man World Heavyweight Championship tournament in the first place...Owens strutted around with JBL hat on, looking a fat, white, male Alicia Fox...In an interview with Renee Young, Paige called Charlotte a cunt, really, go check it out if you don't believe me...More Brothers of Destruction highlights, as Undertaker goes over Psycho Sid at WrestleMania XIII and Kane cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Rey Mysterio at Money in the Bank 2010....The crowd singing along with Paige's theme music was probably the best thing they did all night...

Match 3 - Singles - Paige vs. Becky Lynch

This should have been another break out moment for the Diva's division...and it wasn't. It would be easy to blame the fact that the two were only given just over five minutes, but for me, that's enough time for a quick and enjoyable TV match. The dynamic was pretty undefined here, in terms of who was supposed to be the heel and the babyface, which meant the crowd had no idea what to do. They clearly wanted to get behind Paige, but how do you get behind someone who's just locked on an abdominal stretch? Either have Paige come out and trash Manchester (a la Bad News Barrett) to get the crowd behind Becky or do it the other way round and have Paige as a babyface for one night in her home country. Whilst the bout was poorly booked, both girls looked a little lost out their at times and it all contributed to what was a decidedly shoddy encounter. Becky Lynch winning with Paige being the Number One contender for the Diva's Championship also made very little sense, even with a handful of tights.

Winner - Becky Lynch via pinfall (Roll-up) in 5 minutes, 5 seconds. 

Fast-Forward... The crowd erupted for the post-match action however, with Paige locking Becky in the P.T.O. on the announce table, before the booed the fuck out of Charlotte for making the save and chanted "We Want Sasha"...A short WrestleMania 31 promo video aired, focused around the tickets going on sale, with your regular mix of excitable people queing up for tickets and such...As The Miz made his way to the ring for another WWE World Heavyweight Championship first round bout, JBL noted that he's more popular in England than Daniel Craig, which is definitely true for any Americans that were sceptical 

Match 4 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Round 1 - The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

The main problem I had with the Tournament matches were that they were just too damn predictable. Take this match for instance, I could have told you what was going to happen move for move and would have been pretty damn close. Miz worked the leg, Ziggler sold the leg, Ziggler escapes the Figure Four Leg Lock, flash win off a Superkick for Ziggler and done. It was perfectly fine, but I just couldn't bring myself to care. Miz has been doing a whole lot on television recently and Ziggler has been treading water in a feud with Tyler Breeze. Neither man did anything that stood out particularly, this was a decidedly average bout, in a tournament that needed to catch the imagination of everyone from the very first match.

Winner - Dolph Ziggler via pinfall (Superkick) in 5 minutes and 1 second

Fast-Forward... More Brothers of Destruction highlights as The Undertaker returned to haunt Randy Orton and destroy most of the Smackdown roster at Survivor Series 2005 and Kane won the WWE Tag Team Championships with Daniel Bryan from Kofi Kingston & R-Truth at Night of Champions 2012....Zeb Colter and United States Champion Alberto Del Rio came out on the ramp for a bit, to berate the crowd and continue to leave me to ask questions as to why WWE creative thought they would have any chemistry...I was cringing throughout Natalya and Naomi's bout, in which Natalya tried to join in with the "We Want Sasha" chants like an annoying Auntie trying to be cool... Rightly the crowd erupted when Sasha put Natalya in the Banks Statement post-match...More Brothers of Destruction highlights as things began to get a bit much, with The Undertaker defeating Edge inside Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam 2008 and Kane ruining Edge & Lita's wedding on RAW #630...Before Sheamus' contest with Cesaro we got shown some interaction between King Barrett and Wayne Rooney (An English footballer, who plays and captains both Manchester United and the England National Team...for anyone who was a bit clueless last night)...

Match 6 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament 1st Round - Sheamus with King Barrett vs. Cesaro

The first bout to really attempt to break out of the 1st Round tournament bracket, Cesaro and Sheamus showed the chemistry we've seen out of them time and time again. A hard-hitting clash as one would expect from these two European bruisers, but also featured some quite lovely reversals and sequences, like Cesaro ducking under a Brogue Kick and turning it into a Sharpshooter. The Swiss Superman's selling of an injured arm was spot on throughout and added a lot to his comeback towards the end of the bout, consisting of series of strong European uppercut and dropkick that knocked Sheamus off the top rope to the outside. Obviously, the moment that got everyone talking was Rooney's involvement as he slapped King Barrett at ringside, allowing the distraction that gave Cesaro the win. I thought the whole sequence was incredibly well done, and whilst you could see it coming a mile off, it did give the bout that little sports entertainment flourish that will have people remembering it for much longer than they would have otherwise.

Winner - Cesaro via pinfall (Small package) in 15 minutes, 30 seconds

Fast-Forward...Rooney awkwardly standing next to Cesaro, whilst "Scottish legend" and West Bromwich Albion widget Darren Fletcher stood on like a proud Uncle, was something I never thought I'd get the opportunity to see...Tyler Breeze's backstage interview with Renee Young, whilst being oddly placed in the middle of the entrances for his tournament match with Dean Ambrose, was a lot of fun, with Breeze adding lots of little touches and wealth of depth to the character that many current WWE roster members lack....

Match 7 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Round 1 - Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze with Summer Rae

Topping off a really pleasing selection of action and certainly the most enjoyable part of the show, this was a cracking TV encounter. Breeze was allowed to shine in his RAW in-ring debut, with some great character touches like moving Summer into the path of an Ambrose suicide dive, and a chance to show off his vicious streak by focusing in on an Ambrose shoulder injury. The shoulder injury for Ambrose off an English-style dropkick was done finely and kicked the match into the next gear. The narrative didn't feel contrived and I reckon it would have been pretty easy to get drawn in, if you had been watching as a channel hopper. More Tyler Breeze and Dean Ambrose on RAW please and thank you.

Winner - Dean Ambrose via pinfall (Roll-Up) in 11 minutes, 5 seconds

Fast-Forward...Another Brothers of Destruction highlights package, this time with The Undertaker jousting Triple H inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania 28 and Kane setting the Royal Rumble eliminations record during the 2001 event...

Whilst this week's New Day pre-match promo wasn't exactly still a home run, but it was certainly still entertaining. Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods make we want to sit up and listen every time they come on the screen and this was no different, even if the content wasn't quite as coherent as it should have been. The promo basically poked at the plot holes that had arisen out of none of The New Day being involved in the World Heavyweight Championship tournament, despite Big E and Kingston being involved in a Number One contender's tournament two weeks ago and the fact that all three members were part of Seth Rollins' team in last weeks' main event. 

Match 8 - Six Man Tag Team - WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Neville & The Usos

Another average bout, that was perhaps a little disappointing with the talent that was in this match. There was some nice spots, like The Usos dual superkicks and stereo dives, followed up by a Corkscrew press by Neville to the outside, but the contest as a whole never looked to become anything other than lengthy filler. The finish was done well, with The New Day using all three members to steal a pinfall on Neville, but it strangely took a little bit of the momentum away from The Usos who only returned last week and Neville as the only man in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament in the bout. Continually teasing Neville's Red Arrow finish and not delivering was a little shitty as well.

Winners - The New Day via pinfall in 8 minutes, 43 seconds

Fast-Forward...The New Day's gyrating in victory is still a joy to behold...The final Brothers of Destruction highlight of the evening saw things take a turn with The Wyatt Family taking both men out at Hell in a Cell 2015 and then Monday Night RAW #1170 respectively...

I still haven't gotten my head around the finish to the show. It was so rushed and put out the majority of my interest in the B.O.D. vs. Wyatt Family feud, but it got a massive reaction out of the live crowd. Basically Bray Wyatt said some words about Kane and The Undertaker, the legendary repair returned, the Wyatt Family turned up and The Brothers of Destruction battered them to end the show. It made the Family look shit, as four of them struggled to take out the end-of-the-road duo, and eventually all got took down. I can certainly see why someone would have enjoyed this segment, but in terms of continuing to build interesting in an upcoming Survivor Series match it was a pretty poor close to the show. I'll accept that WWE was backed into a corner with Seth Rollins injury, but they could have done many better things with this main event spot.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.66 - Average-Good TV

It was very clear that this was a WWE scrambling to pull something for the penultimate RAW before one of their biggest PPV's of the year, without a WWE World Heavyweigt Champion and with a house show elsewhere on the same night. Whilst the tournament for the main championship seemed to be picked completely at random, there was two quality match out of the five that were broadcast. Cesaro vs. Sheamus and Ambrose vs. Breeze were both very good television matches, whilst Wayne Rooney's involvement with King Barrett was a lot of fun. The main event segment gets by on having a "surprise" appearance from The Undertaker in Manchester alone, even if the content wasn't quite for me.


Elsewhere the tournament wasn't exactly setting the world on fire, Roman Reigns and The Big Show's being unable to grab the crowd standing out as a particularly weak bout. However, the ropiest contest of the night for me, was Paige and Becky Lynch short bout, that couldn't deliver on expectations, due to a number of mistakes in-ring and with the booking.


This was a bit of a step-back on the previous two weeks and it's a real shame that WWE had to change direction just as the Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins feud was beginning to gain traction on the back of two good episodes of WWE's flagship. I'm willing to be kind on WWE who not a whole lot of time to sort something out for the show and had the added problem of having half a roster elsewhere during the show. Here's hoping we get a return to form for the go-home show for Survivor Series next month.