Impact Wrestling 695 Review // Alberto El Patron & Johnny Impact Brawl

On 9th November 2017, Impact Wrestling & Border City Wrestling aired the 695th episode of Impact Wrestling on POP TV, taped on 14th October at St. Clair George Coliseum in Windsor Ontario and 6th November at the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. The show featured a clash between Matt Sydal and Sonjay Dutt, a brawl erupting between Johnny Impact and Alberto El Patron, as well as appearances from Chris Adonis, oVe (Sami Callihan, Dave Crist & Jake Crist), Petey Williams, Ethan Carter III and Eddie Edwards, but was it any good? 

"Reborn" Matt Sydal def. "The Original Playa from the Himalayas" Sonjay Dutt // 10:37 

Jimmy Jacobs turned up again, took a selfie with Josh Mathews and joined the commentary booth for Sonjay Dutt vs. Matt Sydal.

An interestingly paced match here, with Matt Sydal and Sonjay Dutt pushing more into the technical category than the high-flying style that they're better known for. There was still a good deal of flippy shit, including a standing moonsault from Sydal, but the majority of the match however saw Sydal target Dutt's leg, following a dragon screw leg whip. This produced a couple of lovely moments, like Sydal cutting off a sunset flip attempt by going after Dutt's leg before locking in a single leg Boston crab, with the Original Playa for the Himalayas selling the body part well. Considering both were babyfaces heading in, I'm not convinced this was the right direction to take the bout, with the crowd not really getting into it and with the action often feeling a little bloated in the middle. After a Bound for Glory marred by poor booking decision, it was just nice to start the show with a clean victory, as Sydal put Dutt away with a Shooting Sydal Press. Jimmy Jacobs on commentary was a thing, with the Zombie Princess only staying around for a few minutes before leaving because he wasn't getting enough attention, despite the screen having featured him more than the action in the ring.

After the match, Ethan Carter III came out to say that Sydal was a choke artist, apparently turning back heel, days after he turned babyface at Bound for Glory. We closed without any real confrontation with EC3 saying "Maybe in another life...you could've been reborn a winner"

Alberto El Patron [Alberto Del Rio] and Johnny Impact [John Morrison] brawled // 12:32

Johnny Impact interrupted McKenzie Mitchell's interview with Global Forged winner Hakim Zane, grabbing the camera and letting Alberto El Patron know that he was coming for him.
Later on, Alberto El Patron turned up outside the building with the camera man letting him know that Johnny Impact was looking for him.

Parts of this brawl worked really well, parts of the brawl was just two lads rolling around backstage. Honestly, there were portions that felt like I was watching two teenage brothers have a scuffle and the action backstage went on for at least five minutes too long with the unnessarry inclusion of Braxton Sutter and Caleb Konley. The things that did work were Impact flying through the screen as Mckenzie Mitchell attempted to interview AEP, Impact's dive off a toilet building thing and the portion that went out into the arena. The two getting on the mic, with Impact having to goad AEP to get in the ring by telling him he wasn't the pride of his own father, let alone the Pride of Mexico was nicely done and played well by both men. The finish with the 2 time WWE Champion hitting a DDT on Impact, taking out security and locking on an armbreaker in the ropes had some punch, furthered the issue between the pair and made AEP look like trash. Also big shoutout to AEP wearing a full red Adidas tracksuit, whether it was conscious decision or just how he dresses, it added to his trashy image.

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Eddie Edwards (C) def. El Hijo del Fantasma // 9:57

The match of the night came in this clash, as Eddie Edwards and El Hijo del Fantasma put on a pacy, back and forth match. The two packed their ten minutes full of action from the very beginning, with the former Gift of the Gods champion pulling out some lovely looking offence when controlling the first third, including a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a frankensteiner. Edwards has always been compelling when fighting from underneath here, with a likeable persona and that shone through here as he scrapped for everything he got, pulling out a nice near fall off a Blue Thunder Bomb hopespot, before making the Tiger Driver his focus, attempting to hit the move multiple times. This resulted in a strong near fall when Edwards managed to hit the move, after removing his elbow pad to hit a lariat, only for EHDF to get a shoulder up before two. The final stretch lifted the quality, even if EHDF blocking a Boston Knee Party was poorly shot and/or edited together. Edwards would eventually hit the Boston Knee party and Diehard Flowsion to cap off a convincing victory, that raises his stock within both Impact Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. The only nit-pick I have here is that the two trolled repeating a spot on the apron that was arguably the best moment of Bound for Glory, only for it not to happen, which seemed a little unnecessary. It did result into two gorgeous suicide dives though, so not all was lost.  

Petey Williams interrupted Eli Drake [Shaun Ricker] & Chris Adonis [Chris Masters] // 8:26

Until Petey Williams made his entrance, I was losing patience with this lengthy opening duo-loge from Global Champion Eli Drake and his pal Chris Adonis. I usually like Drake on the mic, but there was very little going on here and a lot of time for that little to go on in. Adonis told the crowd to sit down, Drake said somethings, put over beating Johnny Impact at Bound for Glory, Drake fiddled with his title belt quite a lot, said something about Alberto El Patron and then said he'd been given the night off because "there's no one left to challenge for this title". It just went on and on and nothing happened, we got no new information and Drake seemed to be lacking in some of his usual energy and charisma. Luckily, once Williams entered, Drake seemed to wake up, seemingly because his best work comes when he has some one to bounce off of. It all ended up with Adonis saving Drake from taking a Canadian Destroyer and we'd find out later that this had somehow earned Williams a title shot. The crowd loved Williams though, because he's Canadian and if there's one thing we know about Canadians it's that they love Canadians. Canada.

Allie [Cherry Bomb] def. KC Spinelli // 7:04

The company has literally just held TV tapings, but they're airing footage from a BCW show from October? Go figure. In all honestly, the BCW footage actually looked better than footage from Impact itself, with a better looking crowd who seemed to be more into the action. The match itself took a while to get going, consisting mostly of strikes from Spinelli and Allie running out of the way of corner attacks. The last few minutes saw the action improve with a couple of nice near falls for both, including a Fisherman's suplex from Spinelli. Unlike most of the Impact footage, the finish featured some brilliant camera work, as Spinelli went for a moonsault, only for their to be no water in the pool, before an Allie Valley Driver put the SHIMMER performer away.

Allie was interviewed, speaking about being in the ring with Gail Kim at Bound for Glory and what Kim's announcement next week could be.

The GWN flashback moment of the week, saw Team International (Sonjay Dutt, Amazing Red & Hector Garza) go over Team Canada (Bobby Roode, Eric Young & Petey Williams) from the original episode of iMPACT from June 2004. The finish included some of the most exciting wrestling showcased on the entire show with a Code Red, Canadian Destroyer and Tornillo all being pulled out. (3:35)

oVe (Sami Callihan, Dave Crist & Jake Crist) def. Mike Burke, Phil Atlas & Ray Steele // 2:36

Sami Callihan got a much better introduction here as oVe picked up a dominant victory with their wacky All Seeing Eye triple-team move.

LAX (Homicide, Ortiz & Santana) attacked oVe, with Callihan taking a 187 cutter from Homicide but just escaping the Gringo Killer. 

A smiley Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews opened the show in the ring, running down the card for the show before throwing to a Bound for Glory highlight package. 

The Pluto TV rewind of the week featured Roddy Piper blasting Chris Rose with a fire extinguisher after Rose proclaimed "Wrestling is Fake" from The Best Damn Wrestling Event Period in October 2004. 

After a Bound for Glory that featured some good wrestling, but terrible booking, this episode of Impact was a set in the right direction. Eddie Edwards victory over El Hijo del Fantasma was a high-quality contest for television, whilst Sonjay Dutt vs. Matt Sydal was also a decent watch and seeing Sami Callihan and the Crist Brother beat the shit into people is always fun. The non-wrestling segments were a little pacier, with a weak performance from Eli Drake standing out as particularly disappointing.

Review by James Marston

NXT 273 Review // Roderick Strong v Adam Cole

On 9th November 2017, WWE aired its 273rd episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 4th October. Our Main event was an NXT TV first-time meeting of Adam Cole and Roderick Strong, though far from the first time these two have faced each other with matches in Ring of Honor & Pro Wrestling Guerilla under their belt. The show also features The Velveteen Dream against Cesar Bononi, Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane taking on the half of the Iconic Duo who doesn't have a title shot, Billie Kay and Heavy Machinery taking on Sean Maluta and Chris Payne. But was it any good?

Heavy Machinery (Otis Dosevic & Tucker Knight) def. Sean Maluta & Chris Payne via pinfall // 2:20 

Quick squash m8. Otis and Payne to start, Payne ducks under Dosevic and slaps him on the back which just makes the big meaty man angry, he knocks over Payne, picks him back up, slaps him on the bum, hits a shoulder barge, a delayed body slam, starts hype-slapping himself and then hits THE WORM into a big elbow drop, tag to Knight and they pick up Maluta who sillily got involved for a double shoulder barge, a double splash in the centre of the ring on Payne, one bottom-rope springboard elbow drop, a tag to Dosevic and a Trash Compactor slam-bulldog combo later and it's a pinfall for the big boys. Otis Dosevic hit the worm 11/10.

Christie St. Clair or any one of the number of nondescript backstage interviewers is backstage with Ember Moon, in response to Mercedes Martinez saying that she can't win when it matters, if that's the way she feels, she wants Martinez to meet her in the ring next week and she'll show her how much of a threat she is. Them's fightin' words.

Kairi Sane def. Billie Kay via pinfall // 3:53 

Quick, slightly-less squash m8. Kay and Sane lock-up to start, trading holds and running the ropes till Kay hits a shoulder block, back on their feet and Sane hits a tilt-a-whirl rana and a dropkick for a 2, Royce is up on the apron and Sane punches her off opening up for Kay to forearm her down for a 2, grounded strikes from Kay transition into an Argentine torture rack, dropped to the corner and rolled up for a 2, Sane retaliates with chops pushing Kay to the corner and hitting a sliding knee strike for a 2, Royce is back on the apron and kicked off, a back fist knocks down Kay setting up for the Insane Elbow for the pin. X marks the Spot, shouts Mauro Ranallo presenting us with another better name for the Insane Elbow. This was meant to be another solid win for Sane to remind us of how much of a threat she is going into TakeOver: WarGames but it didn't really work with it relying too much on heel domination over the short time and also reminding us that as much fun as Kay is as Royce's manager/tag partner, she's a far less compelling in-ring presence.  Not great, Bob.

Regal's on the phone, chatting to Robbie Brookside about World of Sport or something when Kassius Ohno comes in dressed in a Cesaro T-Shirt like a right King of Wrestling, talking about how his return to NXT has had ups and downs but recently, it's been on the up and he'd like to get back into title contention by taking on Lars Sullivan at TakeOver: WarGames. Regal says OK but looks like Ohno's an idiot. Big Boots and Elbows, probably.

There's a package for the WarGames match with talking heads from Dustin Rhodes, Arn Anderson & Booker T. Beyond the affectionate tributes to Dusty Rhodes, you could probably re-edit this to be any number of Hell in a Cell packages, playing up 'demonic structures' and the like, and it would still make sense.

Andrade Almas & Zelina Vega are being interviewed backstage, they ask about the strategy going into TakeOver, Vega says that she wouldn't be as 'successful' as she is if she gave away her secrets but suffice to say that they have given Drew what he wants by coming up to him and looking him in the eye but he clearly wasn't ready for Almas, who does he think he is? Asuka? When asked about what the relationship is between Vega and Almas (which is clearly Client and Manager, would you ask the same of Lesnar and Heyman?) She instead diverts to talking about how she's known Almas for 7 years and knows what he's capable of when he keeps his eye on the ball, she says that people may have wins over the old Almas but no one can take down the new Almas, Almas says some bits and pieces tl;dr he says he's going to the next NXT champion.

The Velveteen Dream def. Cezar Bononi via pinfall // 1:17

Quickest squashiest m8. Dream and Bononi lock-up, Dream takes control with a rear-waist takedown, uppercuts in the corner are interrupted by a back elbow from Bononi, he hits strikes and picks up Dream for a big slam who slides out, hits a kick and a clothesline to take down Bononi hitting ground strikes, in the corner Dream stomps out Bononi till nearly five so ref Jessica Carr separates the two of them and Dream screams at her not to touch him, big spinebuster and the rolling Death Valley Driver and Dream has the pin. Dream is so much fun to watch, even though this was just another short burst, here's hoping he can deliver in a PPV-length match setting.

Post-match, Velveteen Dream tells Aliester Black he's given him what he wanted and now he's on his mind, at TakeOver, everything that is in the dark will come to light and Black will say his name. Don't worry, I'll do the Destiny's Child jokes eventually.

Ruby Riot is backstage getting an update on the injury sustained during her triple threat match back at NXT #269, the doctor tells her she'll be out for another two weeks, Sonya Deville turns up and tells her that she should have just tapped instead of taking the cowards way out and trying to crawl to the ropes, especially as it caused Deville to lose her shot at the title, Riot responds saying she shouldn't have stopped and should have just broke the arm and that she's tired of Deville making excuses, challenging her to a match in a few weeks when Riot is healthy, Deville accepts and tells her to heal up her arm, so she can break it.

Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) are backstage handing out solo cups to children in business attire when in comes a delivery man from a dry cleaners with a suit for Tino Sabbatelli, who Ford pretends to be, up come Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss and all of them exchange promo in their signature promo style, namely talking all over each other. Constantly. Somewhere amongst this, a match challenge is made for next week.

Next week: Ember Moon v Mercedes Martinez, Street Profits v Moss & Sabbatelli, Drew McIntyre and Andrade Almas meet.

Roderick Strong def. Adam Cole via Disqualification // 8:35

Cole is out on his own so Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish are definitely going to get involved and fuck up the match later, collar and elbow tie-up to start as Strong goes for a double leg takedown transitioning to a rear arm bar into a headlock, a reversal by Cole into a hammerlock is returned to a headlock by Strong into headscissors from Cole, Strong escapes and hits uppercuts and slaps, whipping Cole to the corner he runs into a double boot, whip by Cole allows Roddy to hit a running dropkick, knocking Cole out of the ring, on the apron, Roddy hits a flying forearm and hits further forearms on the floor before rolling Cole back in, Cole takes momentary advantage, hitting a superkick straight into the ad break, back from the break and the two men are trading kicks, Cole whips Strong to the corner and hits a floored axe handle before going into what seems to be about ten minutes of headlocks, Strong escapes with a pendulum backbreaker straight into a boo-yay sequence, Strong hits chops, slamming Cole's head off the turnbuckle, a leaping lariat, corner strikes and a twisting backbreaker get a 2 count for Roddy, standing switches from the two men lead for an enziguri from Adam Cole for a 2, Cole goes to hit a suplex but Strong escapes, hits a boot and a step-up enziguri, goes for a backbreaker but Cole knees his way out, a kick, a superkick and  a Last Shot twisting brainbuster into a Neckbreaker for a very close 2, Strong comes back with a huge leaping knee before planting Cole up top, the two of them trade strikes for control before Strong hits a brutal avalanche backbreaker, before he can crawl to get the pin, up turn O'Reilly and Fish to fuck up the match and give Strong a DQ victory. The opening and closing stretches of this match were very much up to standard for Strong's current run in NXT with some smooth, clean and well-sold action. Sadly the middle section, where Cole could really show off was just headlocks and shtick. The ending itself, continues the run of trying to present The Undisputed Era as a threat while never letting matches end without a DQ. The problem is this doesn't feel like an organically evolving story but one being put in place to precipitate the War Games match with especially the haphazard team of Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong seemingly thrown in just to make it a triple threat like some of the War Games matches of old, even when quite clearly the booking of early in this feud could have leant into British Strong Style being put in as the third team far more naturally. Overall, I'm sure the match will be fine but for a feud that has been the main event of NXT for what feels like half a year, it's going to have to do a lot to make all this build up seem worth it.

 AoP turn up before the Undisputed Era can jump Roddy, as do SaNItY, after a staredown, everything goes fucking wild as everyone trades punches, Dain and an Author slide out of the ring, Eric Young throws O'Reilly and Fish out of the ring and Fish pulls him out, Wolfe does a crazy dive out onto Fish as the other Author follows, Cole and Strong fight in the ring to the corner and Strong hits an outside superplex onto everybody leaving a pile of sweaty men on the floor to close out the show.

On The YouTubes

Nothing on the YouTubes this week so instead, here's this...

I'm all in for Otis Dosevic becoming his generation's Scotty 2 Hotty, I'm also here for Velveteen Dream and Roderick Strong continuing his quest to have a match that is 100% backbreaker. The highlight of this week's episode was of course, Kassius Ohno's classic Cesaro shirt. That's about it for this week.

Review by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

205 Live 50 Review // Enzo Amore welcomes the UK Championship Division to "The Zo Show"

On 7th November 2017, WWE aired the 50th episode of 205 Live on the WWE Network, taped earlier that day at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, Greater Manchester. The show featured Enzo Amore inviting six members of the UK Championship to the show and subsquently facing off with Tyler Bate, as well as appearances from Kalisto, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Cedric Alexander, Mark Andrews and Joseph Conners...but was it any good? Lets take a look!

Enzo Amore welcomed the UK Championship Division to "The Zo Show" // 13:10 // 

Enzo Amore def. Tyler Bate via pinfall // 8:15 //

As cool as it was to see Tyler Bate (Fight Club: Pro), Mark Andrews (PROGRESS Wrestling), Joseph Conners (Southside Wrestling Entertainment), Jordan Devlin (Over the Top Wrestling), Tucker (Pro Wrestling Ulster) and James Drake (Futureshock Wrestling) on WWE television, I didn't get much out of their 205 Live debuts. That's mostly down to the make up of the segment, which had Enzo Amore auditioning them for a spot on "The Zo Train", with his regular crew not appearing on the show.  This almost felt like a segment from the original NXT, with the six men having to do their own versions of "How you doin'?", before asking each individual questions. Drake's deadpan "choo choo" line was probably the highlight until the end, whilst low moments included a confused Andrews being told to lose weight and Tucker telling Amore that Finn Balor was twice the man Enzo is. Luckily, things finished on a high, when Bate getting a good reaction for his promo and then hitting bop and bang on the Cruiserweight Champion to set up the show's main event.

Enzo Amore spoke to Dasha Fuentes, saying something about bar tabs in reference to Tyler Bate.

An initially hot crowd quickly cooled on Amore vs. Bate, losing interest almost as soon as Enzo took control. Bate appearing to suffer an injury in the stretch then killed the bout further, as his knee got caught in the top rope when taking a bump from the turnbuckle to the floor, with Amore then spending time mocking the crowd before Jordunzo sealed the victory for the Cruiserweight champion in a flat finish. It seemed like we were scheduled to see more from Bate, who never really got a satisfying comeback sequence once Amore took control. The earlier part of the match featured the hottest crowd of the evening, with Bate having them eating out of the palm of his hand as he out wrestled his opponent, causing Enzo to bail to the floor. The sequence with Bate holding onto a wrist-lock whilst bantering with Amore was a particular highlight, as was the Exploder suplex that followed. Hopefully, Bate's injury wasn't too serious, but at just 20 years old he'll have more opportunities to show the wider WWE fanbase what he has to offer well into the future.

Amore laid some more punches in on Bate post-match before Kalisto made the save.

Kalisto def. Jack Gallagher via pinfall // 5:07

On the way to the ring, Jack Gallagher cut a promo on the Manchester crowd, calling them dole scum with chavy children, before putting himself over as "bigger than Britain".

There was some lovely wrestling on display here, it's just as shame that Manchester wasn't particularly interested in it. Kalisto got a fun shine included a wicked modified somersault plancha and the rough and tumble Gallagher making the #1 Contender's wrist his focus. There wasn't really enough time to fully make it work and the pair could have done more to bring the crowd into the action, with Kalisto's ridiculous selling of a shoulder tackle not helping the cause. Kalisto did, however, sell his wrist and arm well later in the bout and having Gallagher dodge a second rope moonsault and then lock on a Fujiwara armbar was a nice piece of work, which would've garnered a good reaction in a different environment and with a little more time. The finish with Kalisto rolling through the armbar and straight into Salida del Sol was smoothly done, as well, setting him up for his title challenge a week on Sunday.

Cedric Alexander & Mark Andrews def. Joseph Conners & James Drake via pinfall // 4:34

The crowd didn't care, but Mark Andrews, James Drake and Joseph Conners all gave good showings of themselves in their 205 Live debuts, whilst regular Cedric Alexander glued the bout together, setting up Andrews to pin Conners with a Shooting Star Press with a double Neuralyzer (Handspring 540 Kick). Minus a slightly awkward headscissors from Alexander to Drake, the action was all quality in this simple tag contest, with Drake tagging Conners whilst on the apron to cause a distraction was my personal favourite moment!

Watch // 
N/A 

Avoid // 
N/A

Review by James Marston

SmackDown 951 Review // AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal

On 7th November 2017, WWE aired the 951st episode of SmackDown on the USA Network, taped earlier in the day at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, Greater Manchester. The show featured Shane McMahon kicking off the show with The New Day leading to Kofi Kingston facing Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal defending the WWE Championship against AJ Styles, as well as appearances from Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, Becky Lynch, Rusev and The Usos...but was it any good? Let's take a look!

Shane McMahon & The New Day Kicked Off SmackDown // 12:36 // 

Kofi Kingston def. Sami Zayn via pinfall // 6:27 //

The opening segment had similar vibes to the one that kicked off RAW on Monday with Shane McMahon basically doing house work for the brand, covering a number of bases. McMahon ran down the card for the show, which got some good reactions, but when he moved to Survivor Series and his "issues" with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle, McMahon felt a little forced and ended up doing a half-arsed job of selling the hackneyed brand rivalry. McMahon also not understanding why the crowd booed when he said Daniel Bryan would return next week showed a real disconnect with the fanbase and how they enjoy the product. Once the New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) arrived though things began to pick up, bringing some much needed energy, as they ran down the red brand for doing nothing following two invasions of their brand. The trio also did a great job when interrupted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, with their being signs of chemistry between the two units with Kingston getting over the idea that Zayn looks like a paper boy as Big E gave it the big ones as well. Whilst a tag team match would've made more sense, McMahon booked a match between Kingston and Zayn.

A short, but fun first-time clash as Kofi Kingston got creative and pulled out a number of great spots. The Dreadlock Dynamo controlled much of the action shown on screen, with Zayn still settling into playing an antagonist, spending lots of time out on the floor, stalling with Kevin Owens. The standout moment was a dive to the floor from Kingston that is difficult to describe, but essentially saw him get momentum by grabbing and bouncing on the top rope, before flipping over and hitting a senton. The match is probably worth checking out for that moment alone! The final few moments of back and forth saw the two connect well inside the ring, with a slick near fall for Zayn after he ducked a Trouble in Paradise attempt and quickly hit a Blue Thunder Bomb. The two dodged a number of strike attempts in the closing stages, including Kingston blocking a Helluva Kick, although Kofi winning with a springboard crossbody ended up feeling a little flat. Whether Owens was supposed to break up the fall before the three count for a DQ finish, I'm not sure, but it didn't feel like the ending to the match.

After the bell, Kevin Owens jumped Kofi Kingston, with Big E & Xavier Woods quickly running him off.

WWE Championship Match // AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal (C) via pinfall // 12:32

AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal cut promos directly to the camera, putting themselves over ahead of their WWE Championship clash. Later, in an interview with Renee Young, cut a promo about eating AJ Styles, I think. AJ Styles would also have an interview with Young, discussing portion control, before launching into a passionate speech about being the hardest worker on the roster. 

WWE have been coming to the United Kingdom since 1989 and this was the first ever WWE Championship change in this country. In fact, when AJ Styles downed Jinder Mahal with a Phenomenal Forearm it was the first WWE Championship change outside of the USA since 2006, only the seventh non-US title change and the first time the belt had changed hands outside of North America. That's a great bit of history for the Manchester Arena. That being said, had the match been of the standard of some of Mahal's other title defences, then I'm not sure the win would've had the same level of impact that it did here. Ironically, this was the best match of Mahal's title run. It took a while to get going, with Styles spending a while in a couple of weardowns but Manchester was hyped enough that it didn't end up mattering. At times the action was scrappy, but the right storyline notes were hit and the crowd was hooked for moments like Styles locking in the Calf Crusher repeatedly (unfortunately not later sold by Mahal), Styles kicking out of a Khallas in a false finish that mimicked the finish of most of Mahal's title defences and then the match-winning Phenomenal Forearm. In triumphing, where Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura have both failed and having a watchable main event with Mahal, AJ Styles proved that he's the best professional wrestler in WWE and a match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series is tantalising prospect (if we get a motivated Beast Incarnante)

Becky Lynch def. James Ellsworth via submission // 5:56

James Ellsworth reminded Becky Lynch that they were in Manchester, not Womanchester, ahead of their Intergender bout, with Lynch replying by telling Ellsworth he had no balls. 

WWE did an Intergender match! 2017 is mad. You know what? It wasn't half bad either! There'll be people who hated it just for just being intergender or having comedy elements, but screw those wankers, this was a blast. It told a good, solid story, with Ellsworth playing the cocky, yet outmatched villain, until he realised he wasn't as good at fighting as he thought he was, tried to concede with an unwanted hug and ended up almost losing an arm in the Disarm-her. Inside that it was full of cute moments like Lynch rolling Ellsworth around, Ellsworth doing dorky things and then Lynch seemingly focusing on his balls with an atomic drop. It was a little long for what it was, but Manchester was hot for both acts and seemed to adore the story, lapping up Ellsworth's daft comedy and coming alive for Lynch in a way that hasn't happened for the Irish Lass Kicker for a while.


Carmella nailed Ellsworth with a superkick, seemingly signalling the end of their alliance.

Randy Orton def. Rusev via pinfall // 3:29

Aiden English sang Rusev to the sing, bringing out the big hit, It's Rusev Day.  

After the early attempts at the RKO and Machka Kick, this bout devolved into nothingness, before Randy Orton pulled out a flash victory with an RKO to keep Rusev off the SmackDown Men's Survivor Series team. What this means for Rusev going forward I'm not sure, although the logical move would be to turn him face and batter Aiden English, celebrate Rusev day and show more of his real personality that shines on Total Divas.

Tag Team Championships // Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable def. The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) (C) via countount // 2:49

The Usos cut a prom on the way to the ring, calling Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable "American Alpha Part 2", before welcoming them to Uso Peneteniary with a couple of right hands. 

Chad Gable attacked Jey Uso's knee at ringside with a chop block, ducked under the ring and then Shelton Benjamin watched as the referee counted Jey out, ending up looking dumb as fuck for not rolling Jey in the ring and taking the Tag Team titles.

Another forest-based vignette from the Bludgeon Brothers (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) aired, as we await their debut. Somewhat weirdly, we also got a behind the scenes look at Damnation, which features Luke Harper, as creator Toby Tost and star Killian Scott (Love/Hate) put the former Intercontinental Champion over.

Shane McMahon booked Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair for 952 with the Women's Championship on the line. 

Watch // 

AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal // 

Kofi Kingston's crazy dive // 

Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth //

Avoid // 

N.A. //

Review by James Marston

The Merch Table // WWE // Pro Wrestling Tees // RevPro // EVE // Parts Unknown

So, it's Merch time again and with some incredible wrestling action that has already happened this week and due to happen en route to this weekend, is their a better time to for a Merch Desk? I think not. Hopefully this month's edition comes in handy for you 

WWE Shop

Pete Dunne "Bruiserweight" Authentic T-Shirt

After creating one of the best moments from RAW Manchester from the the UK Tour, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne defeated Enzo Amore, and of course you want to see if has merch...Good news he does, and for a limited time it is at a reduced price.

Price: Normally £25.00 Currently: £15.00

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The Shield "Shield United" Authentic T-Shirt

The reunion of The Shield has finally arrived and how is WWE celebrating this? MERCH and it is looking good as there is two different versions available:

"Shield United" - £22.59

Special Edition version - Normally £25.00 Currently: £15.00

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Alicia Fox "Crazy Like a Fox" Authentic T-Shirt

She is the captain of the RAW Survivor Series and finally she now has T-shirts available, she is Alicia Fox, and this is her colourful outing:

Price: Normally £25.00 Currently: £15.00

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Sheamus & Cesaro "The Bar" Women's Authentic T-Shirt

They are the NEW RAW Tag Team Champions and their new T-shirts are out now, the shirts actually really do look good.  

Price: Normally £25.00 Currently: £15.00

http://euroshop.wwe.com/en_GB/search?q=The%20bar&lang=en_GB&curr=GBP

All T-shirts are available in Men's sizes from: S-5XL and Women's Sizes: S -2XL

Pro Wrestling Tees

Lionheart "Still A Fanny"/"Hero" T-Shirt

He is known to fans as a Fanny or a Hero, either way you can now declare your opinion thanks to his latest T-shirt range. He is Lionheart, and you can find his range on the links below:

Sizes: S - 5XL

Prices start from $19.99 

http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/wrestler-t-shirts/lionheart.html

Sha Samuels "No Pinky No Party" T-Shirt 

He is one half of the Kinky Party, and if you are seeing him at a show you know your gonna enjoy yourself. His name is East! East! East! Actually its not, his name is Sha Samuels.

Sizes: S - 5XL

Prices start from $19.99 

http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/wrestler-t-shirts/shasamuels.html

Joey Janela "Bad Boy Terminator"/"Iconic Summer"/"Janela Saves"/"Saturdays Are For" T-Shirts

He is the AIW Intense and CZW Wired Champion, this month and through to December he is in the UK, his name is Bad Boy Joey Janela and this is a range of his incredible T-Shirts.

Sizes: S - 5XL

Prices start from $19.99 

http://www.prowrestlingtees.com/catalog/category/view/id/881

RevPro

Before this weekend arrives, Rev Pro alongside NJPW is hosting Global Wars in London in what is sure to be an excellent two day event, and Rev Pro have released some merch to celebrate it.

Limited Edition "Global Wars 2017" T-Shirt 

Price: £15.99 
Sizes: S - 2XL

Mug 

Price: £10

"Global Wars 2017" Football Scarf

Price: £12.00

https://shoprevpro.com/

EVE

This weekend, EVE is hosting She-1. Four shows. Two days. All female Event. All Sold Out. And guess what, you need merch, 

"Piledrive a Facist" Womens Fitted T-shirt 

Price: £18.00  
Sizes: S - XL

"Support Your Local Girl Gang" Straight-Cut T-Shirt multiple colours 

Price: £15.00 
Sizes S -3XL

A Day at The Resistance DVD 

Price: £12.99

 Episode 2: After the Storm DVD 

Price: £12.99

http://www.evewrestling.com/shop/ 

Parts Unknown 

She dances, she drinks, and once you have seen her in a wrestling ring, I'm pretty sure with that infectious personality, you can't help but think she's awesome. I'm referring to 'The Session Moth' Martina and thanks to Parts Unknown you can buy some of her merch.

Price: £14.99

Sizes: XS - 4XL

https://www.partsunknown.co.uk/collections/session-moth-martina

Until next time...buy merch! 

Article by Craig Hermit.