RAW 1276 Review // Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose

On 6th November 2017, WWE aired the 1276th episode of Monday Night RAW on the USA Network, taped earlier that day at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The show featured Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins defending the Tag Team Championships against Cesaro & Sheamus, Kurt Angle booking The Miz in a match with Braun Strowman on Miz TV, Samoa Joe facing Finn Balor, as well as appearances from Kane, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox and Asuka...but was it any good? Lets take a look!

Tag Team Championship Match: Cesaro & Sheamus def. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose (C) via pinfall (15:18)

Cesaro and Sheamus demanded a Tag Team Championship match from Kurt Angle, with Angle replying that the pair needed to do something for the brand to prove themselves, at least I think that's what happened as for some reason the show cut back to the arena mid-segment  Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins cut a promo ahead of their match, which was mostly discussing the potential colour of bruises, but ended with a cute moment from Renee Young when she attempted to join in during the Shield fist-bump.

At the heart of the show's main event was a bloody good tag team match, with the energetic Rollins and Ambrose battling against the methodical Cesaro and Sheamus. Many of the elements that were present in their superb performances at SummerSlam and No Mercy were present here. Rollins and Ambrose's wicked fun face shine, Sheamus and Cesaro effortlessly controlling the crowd and Ambrose owning it when clawing his way from underneath and then Rollins silky hot tag sequence. Perhaps, the only thing missing was some of the visceral energy that the No Mercy clash got following Cesaro's teeth colliding with the ring post! The highlights for me were a pair of near falls towards the finish, the first coming with a feeling of momentum building for the heels as they sent Ambrose into the barricade with a crucifix powerbomb and then a powerbomb and diving clothesline combination on Rollins for a late kick-out, whilst the latter one saw Cesaro make a last minute save for his partner after a Rollins frog splash followed Dirty Deeds. Whilst there was a feel of going over old ground, it was still great to see a match of this quality on RAW. 

The finish is the main talking point though as The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) turned up from SmackDown, their music played and they appeared in the crowd, mirroring three week's earlier when the blue brand invaded. The entire RAW roster came out lead by Kurt Angle, after Woods claimed this was #UnderSiege2, only for New Day to laugh and leave Team Red looking like fools in the arena. I mean, everyone but Samoa Joe who looked like he was ready to pull Kofi Kingston's head off his shoulders and throw it at Big E. In the melee though, we ended up with new Tag Team Champions as Sheamus stole the win for his team, with the match never being officially stopped after the New Day appeared. Whilst it meant that we didn't get more of the two teams being great, we were left with a pretty memorable moment and a surprising title change. With Cesaro & Sheamus now scheduled to face The Usos at Surivivor Series and Roman Reigns returning next week on RAW, we now have an open door to a Shield vs. New Day match at Survivor Series, which is pretty fucking exciting.

Kurt Angle appears on Miz TV (9:02) & 

Braun Strowman def. The Miz by disqualification (5:04)

A slightly pedestrian opening segment as Kurt Angle guested on Miz TV, with their seeming too be too many objectives to fit into nine minutes of talking. You had Miz trying to get a feud going with SmackDown's Baron Corbin ahead of their match at Survivor Series, Angle keeping the feud with Shane McMahon ticking, Angle addressing Kane attacking Daniel Bryan last week, and Miz having problems with Angle following Braun Strowman attacking the Miztourage last week. All this going on ended up with the segment spending a lot of time in wordy exposition, throwing to footage from previous weeks and without a whole lot of anything actually happening. Angle finally turned up towards the end when he revealed he'd promised Strowman a match with the Miz later on in order to get the Monster Amongst Men on the RAW Men's Survivor Series team. Overall, the segment had too much length and not enough going on, but it did have Curtis Axel standing around sad with a neck brace in the background.

Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel appeared to act as the angel and devil on The Miz's shoulder backstage, with Dallas offering a pep talk, whilst Axel suggested they should just run. 

Braun Strowman threw The Miz around. Boy, did Strowman throw Miz around. This was a bowl load of fun, because Strowman kept throwing the Miz around. Basically, Miz would run away and then Strowman would catch up with him, because he's big and fast and agile and then lob him somewhere else because he's big and strong and beardy. Also, Strowman punches Bo Dallas in the face, which made an amazing noise and chucked Curtis Axel into the barricade, neckbrace and all. The DQ finish with Kane appearing was a mild disappointment, because I wanted to see Strowman throw Miz into some other things for a bit. This performance surely earns Strowman an Intercontinental Championship shot in the future.


After Kane sat up following a Running Powerslam, Strowman took out The Miz and Bo Dallas, sending a message to the Big Red Machine. 

Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor [Prince Devitt] ended in a Double Countout (11:17) 

Titus O'Neil got some mic time, saying things were about to get ugly for Samoa Joe and also saying "Titus Worldwide". Unfortunately for O'Neil, Joe would end up attacking him and Apollo Crews on the ramp, before issuing an open challenge, that would be answered by Finn Balor.

Another really good television match as Finn Balor and Samoa Joe renewed their 2015/16 NXT rivalry. Joe worked well in control, with a presence that makes you take notice when he's beating someone up and Balor looked great when fighting from underneath, getting cut off repeatedly in the early stages, picking up the pace only to take an sly elbow from the Californian to keep him back down. When Balor lifted the pace later on in the bout, Joe matched him leading to a number of stellar exchanges with Joe cutting off Balor's finishing sequence after dodging the corner dropkick and hitting a running senton being the standout moment. Smooth, physical and exciting, with more than a hint of their Takeover: London epic. Obviously, the finish was again disappointing, as Joe hiptossed Balor onto the ramp before a double countout, because we all want to see a real conclusion, but it makes sense as part of the whole picture heading into Survivor Series, with a potential full-time feud between the pair heading into 2018 looking promising.

Post-match, Joe and Balor continued to scrap until security separated them, then after Kurt Angle added the pair to the Men's Survivor Series team, Balor dove off the stage with a flying forearm smash. 

Bayley & Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox & Nia Jax via submission (8:54) 

Sasha Banks and Bayley were interviewed about not being picked for the Women's Survivor Series team yet.

A basic tag outing, that was most notable for the crowd singing to Bayley and how the performers interact it. Banks joining in whilst on the apron was super cute and Nia Jax goading the crowd when in control showed how she's grown as a performer over the last year. The wrestling was mostly passable with Bayley working the face in peril role, with Jax and Fox working quick tags, before a Banks hot tag would signal the beginning of the end. The Banks hot tag was the highlight with a meateora, tilt-a-whirl rana and double knees in the corner to Fox lifting the energy that had been lacking for most of the match. There were opportunities to better use Bayley in the face in peril role and Jax and Fox lacked a little something as the dominant heel pairing. Fox would eventually tap out to Banks Statement.

After the match, Alicia Fox added Sasha Banks to the RAW Women's Survivor Series team.

Pete Dunne def. Enzo Amore via pinfall (3:48)

Pete Dunne was on RAW! I mean, we had to sit through Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore rambling on for what felt like at least a day and WWE sort of botched his entrance by having Kurt Angle come out to Dunne's music to announce that Dunne was there, but who gives a fuck about that, Pete Dunne is here! The rest didn't really matter, because I had a big smile on my face watching Dunne come out, walk to the ring and twat Amore in the face. He looked every inch of the star that he has become since I first entered the world of British wrestling in 2013. Pete Dunne, man, on Monday Night RAW. 2017 is mad for the graps. If you want more of Dunne check out his work in Attack! Pro Wrestling, Southside Wrestling Entertainment, Fight Club: Pro, Kamikaze Pro, PROGRESS Wrestling, Over the Top Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Shropshire Wrestling Alliance, Triple X Wrestling, Lucha Forever, 4 Front Wrestling, Great Bear Promotions, Pro Wrestling Chaos, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling and get out there and find the next Pete Dunne for yourself.  

A quick squash for Dunne's debut over the Cruiserweight Champion, not a bad way to make a statement on your first night on RAW, eh? Corey Graves put over Dunne something rotten on commentary, en route to a match-winning Bitter End.

Guitar on a Pole Match: Jason Jordan def. Elias [Elias Samson] (4:17)

Elias buried Noel Gallagher and Wonderwall, before doing an acapella tune about Manchester being full of losers etc. It was a nice riff on the idea that Elias' guitar was hung up ready for the match, but content-wise was pretty much a carbon-copy of any recent Elias promo. 

A sloppy bout with a lame gimmick, Elias and Jordan were all over the place here, with each move come across as awkward and clunky. The crowd booing Jordan didn't help the situation, but having him just twat Elias in the back with a guitar to close the match was a bizarre piece of booking that deserved derision, with WWE showing a lack of an understanding of it's audience again.

Later in the show, Kurt Angle added Jason Jordan to the RAW Men's Survivor Series team.

Asuka [Kana] def. Stacy Coates [Courtney] via submission (1:10)

Asuka goes to 4-0 on RAW, with another super speedy squash, locking in the Asuka lock for the submission victory.

Post-match, Alicia Fox announced that Asuka would be part of the Women's Team at Survivor Series.

Women's Champion Alexa Bliss talked about Natalya being a cat lady and some other things in an interview with Charly Caruso

Watch - Ambrose & Rollins vs. Cesaro & Sheamus, Strowman vs. Miz, Balor vs. Joe, Pete Dunne's debut

Avoid - Jordan vs. Elias. 

Review by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)

Bound for Glory 2017 Review // Johnny Impact vs. Eli Drake

On 5th November 2017, Impact Wrestling broadcast Bound for Glory 2017 live on PPV from Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. Johnny Impact [John Morrison] challenged Eli Drake [Shaun Ricker] for the Global Championship, James Storm, Ethan Carter III and Eddie Edwards tagged up as Team Impact to take on El Hijo del Fantasma, El Texano Jr. and Pagano representing AAA, as well as appearances from Alberto el Patron [Alberto Del Rio], Matt Sydal, Bobby Lashley, Abyss and Gail Kim. But was it any good? Lets take a look!  

Global Championship Match: Eli Drake def. Johnny Impact (19:30) 

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Eli Drake and Chris Adonis with some terrible audio, but Drake continuing to grow into his role as Global Champion. The bad audio continued later as Johnny Impact cut a rather dull and slow promo in an interview with McKenzie Mitchell that was nowhere near the energy level you'd expect for someone competing in the main event of a companies biggest show.

Before the finish, I found myself surprisingly into the main event between Eli Drake and Johnny Impact, even if the same couldn't be said for the Aberdeen Pavilion crowd. Despite the uninspired build-up and lack of heat, the two worked well together to put on a series of impressive moment, with Impact's cat-like agility front and centre on a number of occasions. The former Lucha Underground Champion, produced plenty of gif-friendly action, like getting whipped towards the barricade only to slide underneath it, an avalanche Samoan drop rolled through into a standing corkscrew shooting star press and a Spanish fly, whilst Drake upped his game, mostly matching Impact's smoothness, hitting a tasty springboard moonsault and one of the best jumping superplexes that you ever did see. The pair battled against an apathetic crowd, who had been given very little reason to care, with Impact having only debuted at the end of August (on the same episode that Drake won the title) and with the duo having already had a match on TV just over a month ago. The booking let them down, but Impact and Drake did the best they could with the very little that they had to work with.   

Lets talk about that finish. In a baffling moment, Alberto El Patron would cost Impact the win, pulling the referee out of the ring, before nailing Impact with a pair of nasty looking chair-shots, hitting Drake with the title belt and then dropping champion on top of challenger for the pinfall. On which planet was this a good finish? Maybe, it would be acceptable on an episode of Impact, maybe it would be ok on B PPV (which the company doesn't run), but on your main show of the year? We didn't even get the surprise factor from an AEP return because he'd turned up to rant earlier in the night. The supposed biggest night of the year ended up feeling like any other night because they pulled a TV angle in the main event. (The unprotected chairshot from AEP to Impact was atrocious and really has no place in 2017)

Team Impact (Eddie Edwards, Ethan Carter III & James Storm) def. Team AAA (Pagano, El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr.) (15:27)

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Team Impact (Ethan Carter III, Eddie Edwards & James Storm) with horrible audio problems and EC3 mostly staring into the middle distance.

I've never really got these inter-promotional rivalries, to be honest. They only really ever work when a high percentage of the audience has a strong feeling about one or both of the promotions involved and that couldn't be said for Impact or AAA here. How is it possible for anyone to currently get strongly behind a company like Impact that doesn't seem to know what it's own identity is? Beyond some heely cheating from Team AAA and ETJ pulling out his bullrope, the dislike between the two teams that had been pushed on Impact wasn't there. The story kept the focus on Team Impact and at times Pagano, ETJ and EHDF felt like bodies to facilitate that story. Not neccesarily a bad thing, but on the big stage I'd expect a little more substance. Also, anything involving Pagano tended to be clunky, with the standout moment being him just chilling on the apron whilst ETJ and EHDF bumped and fed for the EC3 hot tag.

What did work about the match however, was the relationship between Ethan Carter III and his team mates, which whilst being a little played out, came across well, especially at the beginning and towards the end. The match built nicely towards EC3's hot tag, showing him initially reluctant to help, before roaring into the bout when needed. The finish also played into this well, with EC3 on fire, escaping a double suplex from Pagano & ETJ, before nailing a pair of low blows and One Percenters and tagging in Storm to get the victory with a Last Call to Pagano. Carter screaming "Kick his fucking head off" as he tagged in the Cowboy seemed to put to be their problems and end EC3's short heel run, tying off the story well. It's just a shame it didn't come five minutes earlier. Special shoutout to the Package tombstone that EHDF gave Edwards on the apron as well, because that was clearly the highlight of the bout.

Monster's Ball: Abyss def. Grado (10:35)

Abyss and Grado had a confrontation backstage, with a fire-up Grado cutting a pretty good promo on their upcoming match and how much it meant to him. Moments before their match, Abyss berated Grado, asking him to dance, with Grado complying only to kick Abyss in his Monster's balls.

Good goly, where to start with this? This was not a good showcase for either man. The action was a times passable, with credit needing to be given for the bump that Grado took off the top rope through a barbed wire board, but quickly devolved into something else entirely. The spots with the board later on were poorly done, with the bout not only struggling to match the earlier highspot, but also not doing a good job of performing the following moments. Clunky spots like Abyss taking a shoulder block onto the board, before having to hold another one on top of him, so that Grado could deliver a top rope splash were poorly conceived in the first place, but weren't helped by how they were performed. Laurel Van Ness and then Rosemary getting involved saw the match devolve further, even if Rosemary got a good pop for turning up to nullify LVN's "threat". Then the bell went when the referee had clearly counted two, dragging an already poor match towards shambles territory. Close off with perhaps one of the worst Blackhole Slam's that Abyss has ever hit, that ended up looking like too drunk lads falling over on a Saturday night and you have a contender for the worst worked match in Impact (and perhaps beyond) for the year.

X Division Championship Match - Trevor Lee (C) def. Matt Sydal, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Dezmond Xavier and Garza Jr. (12:26)

Six good wrestlers, a decent amount of time and you've got yourself a strong opener, that ended up being one of the best matches on the show. It wasn't always as crisp as it could've been, mostly down to how fast the action was, but we did also get a number of brilliant one on one sequences thrown into the mix. Sydal and Dutt began with a great back and forth sequence, Sydal and Xavier were smooth as silk together, concluding with Sydal nailing a standing moonsault and a brilliant stretch between Lee and Dutt ended in a wonderful Orange Crush near fall for Lee. The champion being the bouts only heel worked well, whilst the crowd backing native Williams was used well, with the two elements driving the match and helping it to fill it's time, remaining interesting without becoming an out and out spot-fest. The build to Williams hitting the Canadian Destroyer produced some excitement in the closing stages, with multiple attempts getting good reaction from the Pavilion. I feel the finish was a little bit of a misstep, with a wonderful moment being teased as Sydal missed a Shooting Star Press and ended up in Williams' path, only to escape the Destroyer. Had that spot been completed and resulted in Williams winning the belt then you would have had a great moment that would've got people talking and elevated the match as a whole. Instead Williams hit the move on Xavier and Lee stole the pin to retain and we ended up with a cliche conclusion instead.

Six Sides of Steel Match: Bobby Lashley & King Mo def. Moose & Stephan Bonnar (10:39)

Dan Lambert psyched up Bobby Lashley, King Mo and the rest of American Top Team backstage, despite saying they didn't actually need it. Later on, Moose and Stephen Bonnar touched each other quite a bit and said "in the cage" a lot. 

There were moments were I felt like this match was leading to a really good pay off. Those moments were when Moose was just ploughing through American Top Team lads, hitting daft Go to Hell's (Double chokebomb) off the top rope and looking like a real beast of a man. Looking like a star and someone the company could potentially strap the rocket on. The rest of the match wasn't for me. With very little knowledge of or care for MMA, Bonnar and Mo scrapping meant nothing to me, so having he majority of the match centre around the potential of them fighting turned me off almost instantly. The fact that the fight amounted to the pair rolling around on the floor for a little bit, whilst the crowd sat in silence or chanting "GSP" for some reason turned me off even more. All of American Top Team's representatives would eventually get in the cage, in another shitty TNA cliche and even after Moose had crawled back inside the cage (he got locked outside after following Mo out there like a silly Moose), he ended up losing to a Lashley spear. What does American Top Team winning achieve? No one wants this story to continue and a Moose win could have potentially marked him out as a future star for the company. But that would've made too much sense.

World Tag Team Champion 5150 Street Fight: oVe (Dave Crist & Jake Crist) (C) def. LAX (Ortiz [Angel Ortiz] & Santana [Mike Draztik]) (10:21)

Backstage, we see a body laid out on the floor, drapped in a Mexican flag, with a figure standing over it, before offering us a thumbs down. Could it be?

This was match of the night, but wasn't above being fucked by the terrible creative that blighted the evening. Dave, Jake, Ortiz & Santana put on a thrilling spot-fest from the very beginning. Highlights included Ortiz nailing Jake with a sitout powerbomb off the ramp through a table, Santana climbing some scaffolding and diving onto Dave on a table below, Jake hitting a superplex on Ortiz through a bunch of seated chairs and a Street Sweeper from LAX to Jake onto a stack of chairs. Then came the matches main problem, the debut of Sami Callihan. Whilst we were told that 5150 Street Fight was like nothing we'd ever seen, there was no mistaking that the gimmick was a normal street fight, with no other members of LAX present with Low Ki having left the company, Diamante nowhere to be seen and Homicide "laid out". Had we seen Jake & Dave in unbelievable peril, battling against the whole group, before Callihan came out and cleaned house, it would have felt special, it would've been a moment. Instead, Callihan seemed to randomly walk out, to no reaction, throw something in 53 year od Konnan's eyes, before destroying Ortiz and Santana in two spectacular spots. As good as those spots looked, the right notes hadn't been hit and the crowd didn't know how to react to Callihan or a group in oVe that is yet to get over with this audience. The finish was flat. I was so excited to see Sami Callihan debut in Impact and they botched it. 

oVe laid the boots into Ortiz & Santana, with a quick soundbite promo from Callihan. 

Alberto El Patron Returns (10:08)

Fuck sake. Seriously? Who thought this was a good idea? This was ten minutes of AEP complaining about being suspended after being part of an alleged domestic violence incident earlier in the year. Ten minutes of him just droning on about it, aimlessly. He also kept randomly jumping on the middle rope for reasons known only to him. "They didn't care about my family. They didn't care about my three little babies" is one of the most bizarre arguments anyone could have in this situation. However, the weirdest part was AEP threatening commentator Jeremy Borash and then not actually doing anything. At best, this was uncomfortable viewing, at worst it was an embarrassment to professional wrestling.

Knockout's Championship Match: Gail Kim def. Sienna [Allysin Kay] (C) and Allie [Cherry Bomb] (9:43)

Terrible crackly audio as McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Gail Kim ahead of Knockout's Championship match. 

This match did very little for me, with the three often looking awkward and stunted together. The big moments of the contest were more often than not detracted from by sloppiness, with Sienna taking a nasty looking double back suplex onto the barricade, that had very little height on it. Sienna's avalanche fallaway slam on Allie, followed up with a spinebuster to Kim stood out as the opposite however, being well-timed, if not for the referee fannying around on the count. Story-wise, the match focused around Sienna's dominance and Kim and Allie's teamwork, but nothing stayed around long enough to create a coherent flowing narrative, with the bout seemingly looking to coast on a feel-good finish as Kim won in her final match. Personally, I think Allie taking the belt and Kim passing the proverbial torch would have been a more effective conclusion, with the right story, but I'm not majorly against what is in essense a nice gesture from the company for one of their hall of famers. Although, I think replaying match with Awesome Kong from Final Resolution 2008 would have done her career more justice! 

Taiji Ishimori def. Tyson Dux (4:47)

Extended squash match here as Dux made his first Impact appearance since Victory Road 2008. The bout was pretty much also Ishimori for the five minutes, who picked up the win with 450 splash, in a match the crowd couldn't have cared less about.

Jimmy Jacobs made a surprise appearance, briefly chatting to the commentary team and indicating that he now worked at Impact.

I didn't hate Bound for Glory 2017. I hated the booking, the creative and the lack of anything feeling remotely special, surprising or fresh. Whatever is going on with Alberto El Patron is trash. Grado vs. Abyss was really poor all on it's own, as well. But I thought the X-Division six man showcased some real talent, whilst the 5150 Street Fight featured some spectacular spots and would have unarguably been match of the night, had it not been for the flat finish. There was so much talent and potential on this show. But they were all to greater or less extent let down by terrible creative decisions and direction that dragged the show as a whole down.

Review by James Marston 

World Tag Team League 2017 Night Three Review // Ringkampf vs. Massive Product [Live]

On 8th October 2017, wXw held World Tag Team League Night Three at the Turbinhalle in Oberhausen, North-Rhine Westphalia. The show featured the final of the tournament that saw Ringkampf's Timothy Thatcher and WALTER battle Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) over the vacant World Tag Team Championship and a decisive last match in Block A between the aforementioned Massive Product and then World Tag Team Champions The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan), as well as action featuring Homicide, RISE (Da Mack, Ivan Kiev, John Klinger & Pete Bouncer), A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani), The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) & The Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey). But was it any good live? Lets take a look! 

Photo Credit - wXw

The Rottweilers (Homicide & Low Ki) kicked off the night with the news that Low Ki would be unable to compete against the Briscoe Brothers in their final Block B match, due to injury, meaning that The Briscoes would receive three points via forfeit. Bobby Gunns interrupted the pair, calling them "old timers", before a match was scheduled between Gunns and Homicide for later on the show.

World Tag Team League 2017 Block A Match: The Spirit Squad (Kenny [Kenny Dykstra] & Mikey [Mike Mondo]) [3] def. A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani) [3] (6:23)

This match featured one of the most memorable moments of the entire weekend as Absolute Andy turned on Marius Al-Ani and A4 exploded. The pair had just hit an aided leap frog body guillotine on Kenny and set up to do the same on Mikey, with Andy holding Mikey in place, Al-Ani bounced off the opposite ropes and charged directly into a superkick that echoed around Turbinhalle. The noise from the crowd was one of utter shock, a gasp and then silence for a moment. It took a second for my brain to realise what had actually happened. I'd really gotten into Andy and Al-Ani's act over the weekend and so ended up having a pretty legitimate reaction to their break up. Credit also to Kenny and Mikey who played the moment well, with their looks of confusion and Mikey keeping his eyes on Andy for the duration of the pinfall selling the moment and adding a little seasoning to the situation. 

World Tag Team League 2017 Block A Match: Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) [9] def. The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan) [3] (13:39)

The standing of the group meant that Block A was left with this Winner takes all match, whilst Young Lions would be forced to vacate the World Tag Team Championships if they were unsuccessful  A simple enough set-up, with the match following suit as The Young Lions and their RISE buddy Pete Bouncer did everything they could to keep the belts that Lucky Kid and Tarkan Aslan had been wearing since May, only for the seemingly unstoppable Massive Product to overcome and pick up the win with a Spike Piledriver. The winner takes all vibe produced a number of strong near falls for the Young Lions, especially once Bouncer arrived at ringside, with a distraction roll-up being followed up by a great false finish after David Starr took a title belt to the skull. For me, this was the best performance from the Young Lions across the weekend, with Massive Product providing the complimentary peaks to the Lions heely cheating troughs.

World Tag Team League 2017 Block B Match: Ringkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) [6] def. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) [3] (11:30)

The final group match of the tournament was interestingly poised. If Ringkampf came out victorious they would go through the final, being level on points with The Briscoes but also having a victory over the ROH pairing, whilst had EYFBO beaten WALTER & Thatcher, the Briscoes would advance due to Jay & Mark defeating Ortiz & Draztik on Night Two. Whilst, the action was just as good, if not better than the final match from Block A, the match lacked some of the drama, with a general feeling that Ringkampf was the logical choice, rather than what would've been a flat way for the Briscoes to make the final. Whilst the contest felt like a forgone conclusion, there was still some good work put in by both teams, with another impressive display from WALTER as his explosive power shone when in control. WALTER's tiger bomb would get the win for Ringkampf, after a dominant sequence from the pair, setting up a fascinating final opposite the undefeated Massive Product.

RISE were out next with Unified World Wrestling Champion John Klinger [Bad Bones], new member Da Mack, Chris Colen, Tarkan Aslan, Shotgun Champion Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid and Pete Bouncer all present, obviously I didn't understand the promo, but I imagine it was Bones discussing retaining his title on Night Two. This brought out Julian Nero...then Avalanche [Robert Dreissker]...then Ilja Dragunov...then the returning Adam Polak, before Dirty Dragan completed the Cerberus faction, getting a much deserved reaction with the two sides going to war in the middle of the ring.

Cerberus (Avalanche, Dirty Dragan, Ilja Dragunov & Julian Nero) def. RISE (Da Mack, Ivan Kiev, John Klinger & Pete Bouncer) (12:11)

As someone with very little experience of wXw prior to this weekend, this bout could have been difficult to get into. I had no knowledge of Cerberus or their importance in the promotion, beyond what a couple of fellow media personnel had told me and in fact having seen some of the performers earlier in the weekend, they appeared to be a rag tag bunch of lads and I was curious to see how the four would come together to make the whole. Luckily, however, I had no such problems, partly due to the crowd being into every movement and partly due to the bout being full of action, hitting the right notes at the right times and a thrilling back and forth closing sequence between Dragunov and Klinger. Would I have been more emotionally invested with more knowledge of the product? Of course and that would have made this bout even more enjoyable for me, personally. But that didn't stop this being a tremendously entertaining, rollercoaster of a story. From getting to know wXw over the four days, this contest was everything the company is about right now displayed across twelve minutes.

Of course, it would've been silly to have The Briscoe Brother in attendance and not have them compete, so Jay & Mark headed to the ring, issued an open challenge which was subsequently answered by Jay-FK (Francis Krispin and Jay Skillett)

The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) def. Jay-FK (Francis Krispin & Jay Skillett) (11:39)

Veteran team vs. rookie team (Jay-FK have only been tagging regularly since August) is one of my favourite arrangements for story-telling, giving lots of avenues to develop narrative and action, so this bout made a happy boy. The Briscoe Brothers controlled much of the match, able to cut off a number of hope spots and fire ups from Jay-FK with superior team work and know-how. Skillett would eventually get a hot tag that managed to showcase a lot of what Jay-FK are about, including a nice diving double stomp neckbreaker combination, but the section that elevated the bout and Jay-FK in general was Kaspin going toe to toe with Mark Briscoe, taking a massive chop, before firing back with slaps to the face. It was a well crafted moment, with both men playing it perfectly. The final stages saw Jay-FK get a near fall off a Spike Michonoku Driver II, before a flurry of offence from Mark and Jay, including Redneck Boogie (Crucifix Powerbomb/Neckbreaker combination), a Jay Driller (Double underhook piledriver) and a Cut-throat Driver (Inverted death valley driver) from Mark. Jay-FK showed they are capable of working high-profile matches against the world's best tag teams in this one and hopefully this will lead to bigger things for the talented duo in wXw and potentially a spot in next year's World Tag Team League.

Relaxed Rules Match: Bobby Gunns def. Homicide (9:41) 

A great example of how wXw is brilliant at pacing their shows (and indeed the entire weekend), as this bout was completely different from anything on the rest of the show, allowing the audience to take a break from the tag team action and revel in a scrappy, weapon-filled brawl, that was peppered with comedy and generally just an entertaining near ten minutes of wrestling. The two weren't going to feature in anyone's match of the weekend list, but that wasn't what they where here to do. Homicide had a fork, there was a bin, hip tosses into chairs, the steps being used a rudimentary sled, a table spot and the shocking win for Gunns against the former ROH World Champion and whilst not everything came off as well as it potentially could have, the bout was rarely boring and managed to hold a tired crowd eager for the main event. Show pacing and variety is something that is often forgotten when discussing professional wrestling, but it's something that becomes extremely notable across wrestling weekenders. Not everyone gets it right, but wXw have it nailed on. 

Post-match, Bobby Gunns continued to show disrespect towards Homicide, leading to The Notorious 187 nailing the Cop Killer (Vertebreaker) to a sizeable pop.

World Tag Team Championship World Tag Team League 2017 Final Match: Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) def. Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) (21:25)

Was this ever going to be anything other than magic? So much tag team loveliness and the perfect culmination to the weekend as David Starr & Jurn Simmons went to war with Timothy Thatcher & WALTER. The similar composition of the teams played a massive part in this, with the various combinations offering plenty of diverse options, in terms of both one on one duels and the narrative of the bout as a whole. Big hoss battles between WALTER and Simmons, smooth technical exchanges between Starr and Thatcher and everything in between, before the match had even begun there was a solid foundation for the four to play around with and build upon. With duelling chants from the very beginning the atmosphere inside the Turbinhalle had reached it's peak as an emotionally drained audience, was pulled up by the scruff of the neck and sent them wild with hot tags, near falls and gorgeous, physical, sexy and gritty wrestling. 

The storytelling here was rich, like a well-made quiche, with ingredients pulled in from across the weekend to produce those dramatic near falls, whilst also taking unexpected avenues before building to it's thrilling conclusion. Both teams used what got them to dance to try and put their opponents away, including repeated attempts from Ringkampf to lock in the rear naked chokes that bested the Briscoe Brothers and a tantalising false finish when Massive Product hit the sequence that had got them past A4, the Spirit Squad and the Young Lions in the group stage, only for Thatcher to kick out when it felt like it was all over, made even more impressive because Starr had pulled out a front flip piledriver to set up the move! There was A LOT more to the bout and I would tell you to go and watch it, but I honestly don't think you'd enjoy it as much without having watched (at the very least) Massive Product and Ringkampf's three previous matches across the weekend. Each bout played into this one in one way of another and whilst the bout stands up on it's own merits, there's certainly more enjoyment to be found in watching it as part of a set. Get yourself a wXwNow subscription and get your binge on. 

By the end of the weekend, I walked away with a tangible feeling of exactly what wXw is all about. Their style of professional wrestling at first appears to lean on a variety of styles, giving it a familiarity, but just like pro wrestling as a whole, when looked a little deeper, there really is very little else out there like this product. When taken on their own each show was good, but not excellent, hitting the right notes at the right times, rarely dipping below a high average standard and offering variety, but not hitting you over the head with incredible matches either. But the weekend as a whole, when each piece of the puzzle was factored in, when stories were built up and subsequently paid off, when strings were left hanging for future shows, I was left having one of the most complete wrestling weekend experiences one could wish for. This won't be my last experience with wXw and I can't wait to get to know this product even better going forward.

Review by James Marston 

NXT 272 Review // SaNItY vs Authors of Pain

On 2nd November 2017, WWE aired its 272nd episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 4th October. Our Main event was once again, a big TakeOver rematch as the big lads from SaNItY defended their titles against the probably bigger Authors of Pain. The show also saw action from Johnny Gargano against Fabian Aichner and Nikki Cross getting a one-on-one chance at revenge against Taynara Conti. But was it any good?

Nikki Cross def. Taynara Conti (2:35)

Off the bell, Cross is straight in with a running crossbody and grounded strikes, Conti tries to bail but Cross follows, trapping Conti in the apron banner before more strikes, Cross rolls Conti back in who catches the wild Scot with a kick and a mat slam before stomping her out, Cross finds it funny that Conti thinks kicks can stop her and powers back with a clothesline, slam to the turnbuckles, tree of woe stomps to the head, a reverse DDT and the Fisherman's Neckbreaker for the pin. A quick match that did its job giving Cross an undeniable win over the woman that nearly cost her a title shot. Conti is still new but seems to be developing quickly. 

Paul Ellering is doing bouncer duty on the Authors of Pain dressing room. I'm hoping they wear their tactical Ninja Turtles get-up again.

We get a recap of Mercedes Martinez's promo from last week, it's not just on the YouTubes now, lads.

Fabian Aichner def. Johnny Gargano (6:45)

Lock-up to start as the man whose nickname is 'wrestling' gets the best of the encounter, floating over into a drop-toe hold and keep the larger Aichner grounded, Aichner gets Gargano up and throws him to the ropes but Gargano rebounds with a sunset flip for a 2, hitting an on-the-button dropkick before running into a powerslam, Gargano immediately responds with slaps, sending Aichner out of the ring, Gargano goes for a plancha but Aichner catches him slams with shoulder first off the crowd barricade and into the ad-break, back from the break and Aichner has a big Italian bear hug on Gargano, how is that different from a normal bearhug? I don't know but the announcers keep reminding us that Aichner's Italian and so was Bruno Sammartino, knees to the face and Aichner goes for a running strike but misses giving Gargano an opening to hit the rolling floor kick, some neat clotheslines, Aichner tries to respond but goes straight into a beautiful slingshot spear for a 2, some tussling on the apron as the two men try to suplex each other but Aichner settles for a face-first slam on Gargano back into the ring, up top and Aichner goes for a springboard triangle moonsault but Gargano rolls to the apron and hits beautiful slingshot DDT for a very close 2, Gargano slaps Aichner into the corner and goes for a lawn dart but Aichner escapes, Gargano once again with the high-risk manoeuvres gets caught by Aichner into a backbreaker and a powerbomb for another close 2,  Aichner wears down Gargano with Italian uppercuts because as I noted earlier, he's not German, a pop-up backbreaker takes down Gargano and Aichner is up top again, another moonsault this time to the knees, Gargano hits a running kick and goes for the GargaNo Escape but Aichner leverages into a Full Nelson Pin for his first win on NXT. Really strong work for a no-feud, midcard NXT TV match with both men working clean, quick and precise. Johnny is the kind of talent who even though you root for him, he doesn't always need the win and he made Aichner look like a top-tier talent here, which he is. My one worry going forward is the parallels between how the commentary team talked about Apollo Crews & Fabian Aichner, unless it turns out he's an incredible talker, I hope he finds his Titus O'Neill to help him develop character sooner rather than later. 

Drew McIntyre is in William Regal's office, he's signing the contract for the NXT Title match, later tonight, they'll have a contract signing. But he just signed it. I know it's confusing but you know how Drew likes men to look him in the eyes. 

We get an Aleister Black-Velveteen Dream video package. Black talks about how Dream has been vying for his attention and now he has it, he's going to regret having it. I guess their TakeOver match is official now. RIP Velveteen Dream's head. 

The Street Profits are standing around a Maserati talking about how hard work gets you nice cars when up turn Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli to tell them that this is their car and to leave it alone. I know this is meant to be the spark of a feud between these two but I just want to know more about joint car ownership. 

Drew McIntyre is heading to the ring when Andrade Almas jumps him on the ramp and gives him one of the stiffest looking beat-downs on NXT TV. leaving him in a pile of 'ow', Andrade would sign the contract before taking some gum from Zelina Vega to use to stick it to McIntyre's shirt. Lad. 

The Iconic Duo are backstage complaining about how 'crazy Nikki' took Billie Kay's spot in the Fatal Four-Way, they mock Kairi Sane for being a pirate when 'Halloween was yesterday'. Kairi comes past and threatens the Duo with her elbow. Next week - Kairi Sane vs Billie Kay. 

NXT Tag Team Championship: Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar w/Paul Ellering) def. SaNItY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) via DQ (8:30)

Young and Rezar to start, Young is quickly overpowered and pushed to the Author's corner, tag to Akam, Akam begins working over Young but Young pushes Akam to his corner and tags in Wolfe as they work over the young author with double teams till Akam manages to hit a death valley driver to the top left corner on Wolfe, Authors of Pain utilise a similar game plan going for quick strikes and quick tags, keeping Wolfe down into the ad-break, back from the break and Rezar is now tagged in, maintaining a guillotine choke on Wolfe, tag to Akam and a double slam gets them a solid 2, Wolfe plays a good axeman-in-peril, powering his way to his corner but continually being cut off until a double big boot gives him the opening he needs to get that tag and apply heat to it, hitting big open forearms on both authors and a lovely leaping neakbreaker on Akam, Young goes up top, Rezar tries to intervene but takes a mighty German from the German allowing Young to hit the elbow drop for a 2, tag to Wolfe for a diving clothesline, tag back to Young and a Double Neckbreaker for the pin but Rezar breaks up the pin, Rezar hits a lariat on Wolfe, Young with forearms to Rezar, Akam takes out Young and they pick up both members of SaNItY for a Super Collider before hitting the Last Chapter on Young, before they can get the pin, in come The Undisputed Era and with a DQ finish, things go to shit. This was a distinctly average match for the most part, it had some exciting stretches but it did feel like with the angle being played to lead into what would happen after the match, the three teams have been saving their best stuff for WarGames. Hopefully that's true as the only really combustible element in this feud so far has been Roderick Strong. Let's hope they pull it out of the bag. 

The Undisputed Era beat down everyone and everything till Killian Dain hits the ring and temporarily takes out the Era but they respond and beat down the Belfast beast, Roderick Strong hits the ring, putting on the Undisputed armband he was given last week. They hold up one of the Authors telling him to kick him or something but instead Roddy uses the opportunity to elbow Adam Cole in the face and then tries to fight off Fish and O'Reilly, the Authors, now back on their feet, even the odds, as all hell is breaking loose, Regal tell them that this has gone insane and that it needs to stop. There's going to be a match between SaNItY, The Undisputed Era & Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong but only one match can hold them, a match that hasn't been seen for nearly twenty years, the match will be, in WAR GAMES! The crowd goes wild, everyone at home got this spoilt for them about a month ago. 
Thanks, Triple H.

On The YouTubes:

Johnny Gargano asks himself if he still belongs in NXT after another loss, he knows the people still believe in him but he doesn't know what to do. Guess you just have to do the obvious thing, have an ab-off with Shawn Michaels.

This was a perfectly good hour of television, well-paced with a good amount of in-ring action and around the ring storytelling. Gargano and Aichner effortlessly stole the show but the rest of it was still fine. Although, with two more episodes till WarGames, just fine won't quite cut it.

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)