Opener
Baron Corbin met up with Steph McMahon and HHH as they arrived to the show and Stephanie tore Corbin a new one after putting himself in a Universal Title match last week and having no control of the chaos on the show. She told him to get himself 2 partners to face The Shield later. Surprisingly this was quite the Babyface approach. Which was pretty cool.
Promo
The Shield came out to a big reaction. Roman talked about how the titles make you the best and everyone wants them because they’re the keys to the kingdom. Ambrose doesn’t have a belt, and he looked a little shifty during the promo.. perhaps some cogs turning for a turn soon? Super Showdown maybe? Anyway, Rollins invited Corbin to the ring to have their match that very moment, but Corbin introduced Braun Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre. Braun said some stuff to Roman about shining the belt up for him and he said that it’s only a matter of time before the Shield explodes. Ziggler talks to Ambrose and says he doesn’t need the Shield. He says he saw him on SmackDown 2 years ago and he won the WWE Championship all on his own, but now Roman and Seth have everything and he has nothing. Both Ziggler and Drew make very good points and about Ambrose being in the background and them using him and replacing him with Jason Jordan so quickly. They invited him to join them, but Roman cut Ziggler off and Ambrose didn’t get a chance to talk. The turn is coming! The fans wanted this match and they were ready, but Corbin stopped it and saved it for later.
Finn Balor w/ Bayley vs Jinder Mahal w/ Sunil Singh & Alicia Fox
Lovely to see Finn and Bayley together again since they’re real life best buds and all. Jinder didn’t even get a televised entrance. So I knew he wasn’t winning immediately. Man, that push for Jinder has seriously taken a nose dive. On another note, Renee Young is sounding much more relaxed this week. Cracking jokes and poking fun at Graves and offering her opinion without being asked by Michael Cole first. It put a big smile on my face to hear her so comfy, she deserves this role so much. Jinder took a lot of control in this one, he got the Jobber entrance treatment, but he did look really strong in this match. The finish was a lot of fun with Sunil grabbing Balor’s leg and causing a roll up for a 2, then Bayley did the same thing and tripped Jinder, she then got attacked by Foxy but Foxy got the short straw as Bayley floored her, then Sunil went to get Bayley but got Bayley to Bellied on the outside, Balor rolled Jinder up for 3 and then Jinder beat up Sunil before having a meditation session in the ring. Hilarious ending, potential seeds planted for the Bollywood Boyz to make their debut after turning face on Mahal.
Riott Squad vs Natalya & The Bella Twins
I love The Riott Squad, they have come a long way from their cringey comical bullying ways. Unfortunately, Brie Bella knocked Liv Morgan out for real in this match! It was scary, man! Liv got a bit low for some Yes Kicks and took one to the chin, totally out cold yet still kicked out at 2, still got back into the match after coming to despite the ref telling her to get down from the ring. The squad had a discreet little cuddle with Liv whilst they took an outside bump. I have mad respect for Liv Morgan right now. Fair play. Fair effin’ play. Although once we came back from a break, Morgan was gone. Probably the right call. Brie then botched yet another move and clocked Ruby in the mouth this time. She visibly apologised after it too. Screw Brie Mode, Brie Bella has been in Botch Mode since her return. 4 failed suicide dives.. FOUR. In 2 weeks. Maybe she needs a little more training, she’s putting herself and others at risk at this point, as the evidence shows. But, it turned bittersweet as Ruby Riott got the win for the Squad after a Riott Kick. That’s another tick in the win column for the Squad gals! Yes! Yes! Yes! (Upon proof reading reflection, signing this bit off with “Yes! Yes! Yes!” is probably in poor taste given that Yes Kicks turned Liv Morgan into jelly just now, but I stand by it damn it!)
Promo
Stephanie McMahon and HHH announce that Hyundai are now in partnership with Connors Cure and have donated 14.1 Million dollars in cars for the new hand print project they’ve done and WWE have helped raised 2.4 Million dollars too so far. Absolutely amazing stuff. Tear-jerking stuff too. They then bring out two survivors, Carter and Elizabeth, and present them with their own Universal and RAW Women’s Titles. Please, if you want to support this cause and join the fight against paediatric cancer then please go here and donate what you can.
Backstage
Dean Ambrose grabs Dolph Ziggler by the scruff after Ziggler finds him and Ambrose tells him to take a hike, Ziggler said he told the truth out there earlier and said Dean nearly died whilst he was out injured (which is true, he had a nasty staph infection that nearly killed him.) and where were The Sheild then? He said to do nothing later, told him he didn’t have to. This is an interesting angle. I really hope this does turn him heel. Good segment too. Very well done.
Chad Gable w/ Bobby Roode vs Konnor
Konnor looked awesome. He beat Gable with a modified Dominator. Very nice showing from both dudes. Unsure as to where this Roode and Gable thing is going. It’s infuriating watching Roode and his immense talent go to waste. Plus we all know he can get over as a Heel!
Backstage
HHH and Steph are leaving when Charlie Carusso asks HHH about Undertaker’s comments about taking his soul in Australia. HHH says the end is near for Taker and everyone knows it.
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs The Revival for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships
Yes! The Revival had a Hell of a match! They came within milliseconds of winning the titles more than once. But as Dean Ambrose watched from the back, McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler retained their titles clean after their Claymore Zigzag finish. Amazing match! Match of the Night thus far!
Elias w/ Kevin Owens vs Bobby Lashley w/ Lio Rush
The home town response to Lashley was awesome to see. Lashley and Elias had an okay match. Lashley won by DQ when Owens accidentally knee’d him in the face when chasing Lio around the ring. Meh. It was an okay match. Bobby Lashley just bores me as a character and his move set is a little stale in my opinion but Elias got a match so that’s good.
Backstage
Rollins tells McIntyre that all that was said about Ambrose earlier was a lie and that Ziggler is guilty of doing the same with Drew. Drew listened too it seems. Double turn? Nah. I doubt it. Just a tease.
Nia Jax vs Alicia Fox
They had a pretty okay back and forth. Samoan drop ended it. Not really anything coming from it but still lovely to see Nia back.
The Shield vs Baron Corbin &AOP w/Drake Maverick
But before the match starts, Ziggler, Strowman and McIntyre show up to watch from the ramp, but gradually move closer throughout. The match was really bloody good. I enjoyed it a lot. The match was running alongside the Ambrose story where he did a lot of damage on his own in this match, Corbin had it rough at the end in amongst the chaos surrounding the ring, Suicide Dives galore, suicide Dropkicks, tag finishers on the outside, Drake Maverick’s hair flipping and flopping about like a fish out of water, Strowman and his Dogs sitting on the ramp, Gangrel appeared as a floating hologram and then Corbin got Curb Stomped then took Dirty Deeds and then a Spear and got pinned absolute pandemonium! So Reigns got the win for his guys after blind tagging Dean, then Ambrose had a choice to make, The Shield or the Dogs of War? Coincidentally the Dogs were almost calling him over like he was a dog who had to choose who he loved more. But it worked. He chose the Shield, naturally. Although he will turn soon. I can feel it! It’s gonna be so good!
Conclusion
9/10 🌟
Really, really good episode this week. Had lots of momentum and I can feel it building up for Super Showdown for which I am really excited about. This week there were no matches that didn’t make sense, no segments that didn’t need to happen. It all fit together and made a lot of sense. I really enjoyed it.
Match of the Night: McZigglIntyre vs The Revival for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships. What a match! Both teams absolutely stole the show and The Revival had so many false finishes and it ended perfectly. Loved it!
Performance of the Night: I am going to give this to The Riott Squad. Particularly Liv Morgan, who despite being knocked unconscious still continued in the match whilst unconscious and when she came to, she took a big bump in a multi-woman Suplex spot. She’s a machine. Lots more respect for Liv and the Sqaud was born last night. The Sqaud managed to continue and take care of Liv at the same time, whilst not breaking character. She would have stayed to finish had she not been escorted to medical. That was amazing. Plus The Riott Squad STILL won their match, so that’s a plus!
That’s that for this week. Thank you so much for reading. Every single one of your eyes’ mean the world to me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.
Please feel free to comment, like and share and make sure to Too Sweet that follow button on the Twitter machine @KayfabeToday. Peace and love to one and all! ✌🏻💚
– CB
