Stephanie - The Princess Diaries

[alpha2117]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">WWE RAW: San Antonio Texas</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

Pre- show: Ever-rise, Akira Tozawa & KUSHIDA, Velocity (Cedric Alexander & Ricochet), Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik), Thunderstruck (Mayu Iwatani & Io Shirai) defeated local talents.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

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The show opens with Smackdown Tag champs the Revival & Randy Orton in the middle of the ring. Randy says he’s here today because he knows the Mi is in the building and he wants that 24/7 title.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

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The Miz comes out and says that he doesn’t like the 3 on 1 odds and knows if he let Randy have a shot tonight those odds would be used against him but he has a couple of good friends visiting backstage that even those odds.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

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MNM return to the WWE. John Morrison & Joey Matthews join the Miz on stage. Orton says he’s not worried about them. Miz says if Randy and his goons aren’t worried lets have a match.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="CgjpBSz.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/CgjpBSz.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="5rUCuku.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5rUCuku.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="SO9HcUc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/SO9HcUc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="C6aVxnU.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/C6aVxnU.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="YGgMClZ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/YGgMClZ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="siN2L1q.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/siN2L1q.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>1: The Miz & MNM (John Morrison & Joey Matthews) def Randy Orton & The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)</strong> – A top quality six man match follows. Morrison looked smooth and as good as ever. Matthews was the weak link here, he is a smart worker and his in ring psychology is strong but he’s lost some of his athleticism over the years. They used Matthews weaknesses as strengths storytelling wise – playing off his well known facial injuries suffered when a ladder hit him severely injuring him and derailing his career, the heels worked hard on head shots and Matthews sold it well. He finally managed to get the hot tag to Miz who cleaned house. Randy went for the RKO but Miz countered. Orton tagged in Dawson but he ran straight into a stiff shot from the Miz who tagged in Morrison. Morrison hit the Starship Pain on Dawson and his partners prevented Wilder and Orton from making the save. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="OBSlYIK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/OBSlYIK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="BiZtTZH.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/BiZtTZH.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="Mnr9au1.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Mnr9au1.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="7f0n5dF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7f0n5dF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p>

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The 4 Horsewomen speak – Kabuki Warriors appear joined by Mayu Iwatani & Io Shirai from NXT and another 8 woman match is set up after last weeks upset loss by the Horsewomen</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

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</p><p><strong>

2: The Four Horsewomen defeated Asuka, Kairi Sane, Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani</strong> – Up until now the majority of the Stephanie McMahon era womens matches have been shorter simple affairs highlighting the women’s physical attractiveness rather than skill leading to fears that we were heading back tot he bad old Diva days, this match showed that wasn’t the case. They let these 4 lose in a fast paced physical match. It was clear Io & Mayu were included to up the in ring skill factor when compared to someone like Zelina Vega who featured in last weeks match. Bayley hit a Bayley to Belly Suplex on Mayu Iwatani and then made the pin to give the Horsewomen the pin. Crowd reaction wise this was probably a tiny bit under what the jiggle-fests were getting but close enough to indicate that the women are starting to get the kind momentum needed to be let loose like this more often. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="Y0ZPJhe.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Y0ZPJhe.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="utD54Ep.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/utD54Ep.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2Te4Sac.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2Te4Sac.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="EIPQ5Ov.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/EIPQ5Ov.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn approach Buddy Murphy & Ali and say they want those tag belts, Murphy responds that they are welcome to try to take them. The four decide to have two singles bouts tonight. It is interesting to watch the dynamics with these two teams both of the red-heads Sami & Buddy were heels recently and still nominally are whilst their partners are clearly faces. It’s clear Sami & Buddy are turning but at the same time there is an edginess to their work and a darker tinge to their line delivery that makes both teams feel a bit more like Attitude Era faces than the more recent WWE workers. What is also clear is that the WWE has abandoned heavy scripting and gone back tot he old bullet point method – the pacing and wording feels more natural and distinctive in each worker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

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Candice LaRae is preparing for a match later tonight and gets encouragement from Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa. This probably highlighted the potential issues with not scripting things as the three of them didn’t exactly engage in the most scintillating of repartee. All three are newish to the Main Roster and without that familiarity with their characters the crowd probably didn’t catch some of the references. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="nBohJeZ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nBohJeZ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="aNPKexI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/aNPKexI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

A pair of local talents known as San Antonio’s Most Wanted (Reyna Pink & Joey Spector) are in the ring. Andrade & Zelina Vega hit the stage and cut a short promo where Zelina claims credit for beating the 4 Horsewomen last week and that was proved by the Kabuki Warriors failing to do so without her this week – it was an effective bit of deluded self absorbed heel work. Andrade mentioned Remember the Alamo followed by reminding everyone that the Mexicans slaughtered the Texans at the Alamo – which of course drew nuclear heat from the Texan crowd.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="nBohJeZ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nBohJeZ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="aNPKexI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/aNPKexI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>3: Andrade & Zelina Vega defeated San Antonio's Most Unwanted (Reyna Pink & Joey Spector) </strong>– The result of this match were never really in doubt although they gave the Texans a surprising amount of offence early in the bout. The ending came when Andrade hit a forward Firemans carry slam on Spector and followed up with a split-legged corkscrew senton. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="6kBMlp3.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/6kBMlp3.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>4: Candice Larae def Brooke Adams</strong> – Candice LaRae defeated former ECW talent Brooke Adams in a short match. Brooke is still a pretty woman as is Candice which never hurts in these sort of matches. Candice hit her Springboard Moonsault to finish Brooke.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="utD54Ep.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/utD54Ep.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="EIPQ5Ov.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/EIPQ5Ov.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>5: Sami Zayn defeated Ali</strong> – A nice little match that was worked at a lightning fast pace between two guys who can really go in the ring. It had a nice back and forth feel and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Sami seemed to revel in hitting a 450 Splash to end the match. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="iEPPBF2.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/iEPPBF2.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="bZO8OJK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/bZO8OJK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="JdFXQFn.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/JdFXQFn.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="B1IPD0D.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/B1IPD0D.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Rey Mysterio comes out and cuts a promo talking about how Texas is the heartland of American Lucha Libre. The Tex-Mex elements of the crowd pops for that big time. Conor McGregor comes out with Paul Heyman. Heyman says his client deserves to be the next to get a World title shot and a win because he’s a huge star (the crowd boos them). Daniel Bryan comes out and says that Conor might have been a big star in the Octagon but this is the WWE and you have to turn up every week, compete in ring and prove that you deserve a shot not like MMA where you get a match every 4 to 6 months and get handed a shot just because you have some interesting tatts. Conor gets angry, Paul splutters and Rey laughs. The crowd loved this and all four men really hit the mark with their mic work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="GLuuIk0.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/GLuuIk0.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="oyNZXxI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/oyNZXxI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="Y2z7qMM.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Y2z7qMM.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="62bPLKT.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/62bPLKT.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="acfCmt8.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/acfCmt8.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

John Cena comes out and calls out the Undisputed Era. He says they like to attack en-masse but are any of them man enough to face him one on one – Bobby Fish accepts the challenge. The feud between Cena and the Undisputed Era certainly seems to be working so far as the crowd seems to accept the Era as legit threats. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

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<strong>6: John Cena defeated Bobby Fish</strong> – An absolute banger that confirmed that the launch of the Undisputed Era has gotten over. Fish is arguably their lesser member but he was getting some serous heat and Cena wisely let him have a lot of offence. Cena gets too much flak for being a winner considering top level guys of the pre Vincent Kennedy McMahon past used to go for years without losing a match or title – Cena actually loses enough to create a sense of doubt in the result of these sort of matches. Cena hits an Attitude Adjustment to win and quickly slithers out of the ring to avoid the inevitable Undisputed Era attack post match. Fish might have lost but a match like this will have helped get him over more than 10 squashes against nameless jobbers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="KPm94oQ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/KPm94oQ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Aleister Black cuts one of his brooding angry backstage promos – Black in in an odd place right now, he’s a little too small to make the menace work on a big stage like the Main Roster and him playing face just feels a little odd given his look and manner. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="D4UUEj7.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/D4UUEj7.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="xBamVpF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/xBamVpF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="ebZPdoF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ebZPdoF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="h9VXQNl.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/h9VXQNl.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="BWJb56H.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/BWJb56H.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2tTJyaO.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2tTJyaO.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="cOatjiD.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/cOatjiD.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Cut to elsewhere backstage to two acts who are firing on all cylinders. The O.C. and The New Day get into an argument that rapidly escalates into a brawl. The crowd reacted well to this and frankly these guys could probably feud forever and it would still work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>7: Kevin Owens defeated Buddy Murphy</strong> – Another banger where the loser probably gained more in defeat than he would have squashing some local jobbers. Buddy Murphy has a history of bringing the best out of guys – Bryan, Reigns, Ali and Aleister Black have all had great bouts with him in the past and Kevin Owens can now be added to that list. Kevin Owens countered a Murphys Law attempt with a Stunner to narrowly avoid a loss and bring a really successful episode to a close on a real high note.</p><p> </p><p>

</p></div><p></p><p></p>

[Bigelow Cartwheel]

Good show. I would’ve thought there’d be a nice pop for MNM and it made sense for them to go over.

[alpha2117]

<p>RAW was easily the best TV show of the Stephanie era of the WWE with the last 3 bouts breaking the 4 out of 5 stars barrier. I have been tweaking the WWe product settings a tad much as the real WWE has over the years I'm phasing out scripted matches based on psych of the workers and scripting of promos are gone. Matches are now 70% on TV and 90% on Events and I changed the max allowable for Lucha and Puroreso to Medium and are edging those setting up to that level over time to bring the in ring product up a notch and make better use of people like Shinsuke, Andrade, Rey etc. My thinking is that Stephanie actually would do most of that - she's much more aware of Lucha Libre and Puroreso than Vince and would likely make changes to try to arrest the slow slide in ratings that the WWE has experienced. Trips loves good workers and I tend to think given her head so does Steph but right now she does what she does to please the audience of 1 that the WWE is programmed for. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Aurora 7/7 with 1 bonus for picking John Morrison as one of the new signings</p><p>

joshbrady91 4/7</p><p>

KingOfSwing 5/7</p><p>

Bigelow Cartwheel 5/7 (not a bad suggestion with SCU but they are actually under written contracts to AEW so I haven't been able to poach them)</p><p> </p><p>

I brought back Morrison much as the WWE just has in real life and signed Joey Matthews on a deal which might see him return to a Road Agent role after a bit of a run. He's got good Psych but his general physical stats and athleticism mean he's probably not a long term in ring option. They were a team that I really enjoyed until a ladder in the face took Joey Mercury as he was known out of action in one of those incidents that reminds you how dangerous wrestling can be when it goes wrong.</p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Main Event</strong></p><p> </p><p>

Pre-Show: Lucha House Party. Ever-Rise, Strong Style Samurai (Akira Tozawa & KUSHIDA), Velocity (Cedric Alexander & Ricochet) and Hawkins & Ryder defeated local talent</p><p> </p><p>

Show proper: DIY, Boss & Hug Connection (Sasha Banks & Bayley), Becky Lynch & Charlotte all defeated local talents. In the Main Event Secret Society (Ali & Buddy Murphy) retained the RAW Tag titles over NXT's The Von Erichs (Ross & Marshall w Lacey Von Erich) in a match designed to lean into the Von Erich's deep links to Texas and help increase their pop in NXT.</p><p> </p><p>

NXT's Allie divorces Pepper Parks</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="jQ01OPC.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/jQ01OPC.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="dQRYbge.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/dQRYbge.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Serena Deeb and Sonjay Dutt have both signed new contracts that allow for in ring work and thie profiles have been added to the RAW roster page.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Superstars</strong></p><p> </p><p>

Pre-show: Street Profits, Gulak & Nese, The Colons , Singh Brothers, The Ascension defeated local workers</p><p> </p><p>

Show Proper: Authors Of Pain, Viking Raiders, Glorious (Eric Young & Robert Roode) defeat local talent whilst in the Main Event Alexa Bliss retained the SMACKDOWN Womens title over Kaitlyn </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Breaking News</strong>: </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="urbm94k.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/urbm94k.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

WWE have apparently offered Celeste Bonin (Kaitlyn) a contract following her match with Alexa Bliss on Superstars. Kaitlyn is a good friend of recently returned AJ Lee and rumours have them reforming the Chickbusters tag team.</p><p> </p><p>

Alpha: I wont post a full SMACKDOWN card other than the Main Event</p><p> </p><p>

<strong>SMACKDOWN Main Event:</strong> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="E0VCOAY.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/E0VCOAY.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="hJMQkBd.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hJMQkBd.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="ijzlqqI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ijzlqqI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="nuePMhF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nuePMhF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

1: The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) vs Universal Champion Bray Wyatt and "The Acolyte" Bo Wyatt</p>

[alpha2117]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Bigelow Cartwheel" data-cite="Bigelow Cartwheel" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47102" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Good show. I would’ve thought there’d be a nice pop for MNM and it made sense for them to go over.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Thanks. Yeah I'm a big fan of MNM. Their return segment got a really strong rating as did the 3 v 3 match. The game doesn't really give the kind of pops real world returns can do but this one got over well as did Kaitlyn's the next night.</p>

[Aurora]

<p>Loved the show, lot of good matches. Love Morrison, I should have remembered Mercury.</p><p> </p><p>

The Shield for the win at Smackdown.</p>

[alpha2117]

Thanks Aurora

 

Sorry for the delays on posting a new show but it's been chaotic here lately. Yesterday I was living in the hottest place on earth (almost 49C) and the air quality is terrible even though I am not really near any bushfires. All the horrible death and destruction is kind of making it hard to feel inspired to write trivial fun stuff.

[alpha2117]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>WWE SMACKDOWN 5</strong></span>: Mobile Civic Center Mobile Alabama, 10112 att sell out, </p><p> </p><p>

Pre -</p><p>

Viking Raiders, Street Profits, The Ascension, The Mavericks (EC3 & Drake Maverick), & Rusev Day defeat local talent</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="wLd4jkv.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wLd4jkv.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="Aaz4Zqv.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Aaz4Zqv.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="gc3gRrb.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/gc3gRrb.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

The 2nd City Saints with AJ Lee are out to start the show. Punk rants about Stephanie & Triple H and how he was badly treated, how the McMahon’s made his life a living hell and how much he’s enjoying getting a small measure of revenge … not that he’s bitter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="DKXwt0R.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/DKXwt0R.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Shane comes out and heads to the ring. </p><p> </p><p>

Punk says he doesn’t have a problem with Shane anymore that's why he’s here at SMACKDOWN tonight. Shane says he seemed to have a problem with him at Survivor Series when he and his buddy laid the boots into him. Punk replies that Shane paid the price for years of ill treatment of them on that night but once he did they were good … unless he wants to make an issue of it.</p><p> </p><p>

Punk “Well do you want to make an issue of it Shane? … Do you want to fight your sisters battles and go to war with me?” </p><p> </p><p>

Shane “…. I’m not my father … I’m not my sister either … you and I are good for now”</p><p> </p><p>

Punk “Fine”</p><p> </p><p>

Shane “I said for now … I’m in charge here at Smackdown and I wont sit back and let you run amok. I’m not going to be a doormat you can just walk over”</p><p> </p><p>

Punk smiles “Good to see you have some backbone … You came down here and faced me in the ring like a man … you didn’t bring a bunch of goons … you stood here even though you knew I could destroy you in a heartbeat … if it wasn’t for your surname I might actually be starting to like you”</p><p> </p><p>

Punk holds out his hand … Shane hesitates and then shakes it”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="MpN8uib.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/MpN8uib.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="eVYBZjE.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eVYBZjE.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="0Yfto0s.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/0Yfto0s.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="hAIc6uR.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hAIc6uR.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Billie Kay & Peyton Royce approach Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose.</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “What the hell do you two want?”</p><p> </p><p>

Billie “Whoa … Whoa … Look girls … I think things have been misinterpreted”</p><p> </p><p>

Peyton nods “Yeah we weren’t trying to drive a wedge between you two”</p><p> </p><p>

Billie “No … we love you guys … you make such a cute couple”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “Stop that”</p><p> </p><p>

Peyton “Stop what?”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “Trying to make out that I’m in love with Mandy”</p><p> </p><p>

Billie “Look honey … you can deny that all you like … hey you might even believe it but I know a smitten kitten when I see one”</p><p> </p><p>

Peyton “You are totally a smitten kitten”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “I … I am not a … smitten kitten whatever the hell that is”</p><p> </p><p>

Billie “Sure you’re not”</p><p> </p><p>

Peyton “Of course not”</p><p> </p><p>

The IIconics walk away.</p><p> </p><p>

Mandy “Did you mean that?”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “Mean what?”</p><p> </p><p>

Mandy “ That … that you’re not … a smitten kitten”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “Uh … I … look you’re my best friend”</p><p> </p><p>

Mandy “And?”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “And … well ...”</p><p> </p><p>

Mandy “It’s okay you know”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya “What's okay?”</p><p> </p><p>

Mandy “If you are smitten”</p><p> </p><p>

Sonya blushes and Mandy smiles at her. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="d3U6XXh.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/d3U6XXh.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="Y5p6BVE.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Y5p6BVE.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="aB15yyh.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/aB15yyh.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>1: MMA Horsewomen (Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke) defeated 3 Local talents</strong> – This was very much a showcase for the ex Cage fighters offence as the three women pummelled 3 locals. Baszler is head and shoulders more advanced than the other two as a professional wrestler and looked really good here.</p><p> </p><p>

Post Match Baszler grabs a mic and states that they were down a member against the 4 Horsewomen last time they met but soon that wont be the case and when Ronda comes back they will prove once and for all who the real Horsewomen are – they flash the 4 signal.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="K8EmVCC.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/K8EmVCC.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Backstage – Alexa Bliss cuts a short promo about how she knows challengers are going to come for her title but she wont give it up without a fight. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="JdFXQFn.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/JdFXQFn.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><a href="https://imgur.com/IRv15mF" rel="external nofollow"><span>http://i.imgur.com/IRv15mF.jpg</span></a><img alt="IzkFU5d.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IzkFU5d.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="mCh6fPZ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/mCh6fPZ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="T04XMKm.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/T04XMKm.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="BU1N2Ah.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/BU1N2Ah.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="bZO8OJK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/bZO8OJK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

The full compliment of the Shooting Party are out – Paul does his normal schtick about his clients being the most dominant and dangerous men in not just wrestling but the world of sport. He says that tonight SMACKDOWN will get a small taste of the domination that the Shooting Party will display on both brands.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="T04XMKm.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/T04XMKm.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="BU1N2Ah.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/BU1N2Ah.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="HLow9NL.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/HLow9NL.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="OReCUi2.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/OReCUi2.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>2: Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) defeated the Singh Brothers (Samil & Sunil) </strong>– The Singh's have a lot more experience and lets face it skill so obviously they come out triumphant here … just kidding … The Singh’s greatest skill is taking bumps and selling like they are being brutally murdered and they were in fine form here – selling bumps and looking like they were being brutally murdered. Akam and Rezar are bulldozers with no real subtleties. They do have one major plus though Paul Heyman at ringside has absolutely stellar chemistry with Akam and they used it well for the finish with Paul doing a Roman Emperor impression with a thumbs down signal to Akam who nodded and hooked Samir into a Russian Legsweep before Rezar hist a Lariat for the Last Chapter finisher – Samir flew like a lawn dart.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="0Yfto0s.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/0Yfto0s.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="hAIc6uR.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hAIc6uR.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>3: Fire & Desire (Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose) def 2 Local talents</strong> – Poor Sonya Deville she had a nice little gimmick as a legit MMA fighter then the WWE went and signed Ronda Rousey and her MMA brethren and that went bye-bye – now she’s left with a gimmick revolving largely around her sexuality and the fact that her tag partner is gorgeous. Sadly that means she’s stuck in eye-candy style bouts – she’s a good looking woman but it’s not necessarily using the full gamut of her in-ring skills. Mandy Rose on the other hand is a winner here – these sort of bouts allow her to strut and preen and doesn’t expose her still developing skills to too much scrutiny. The match did it’s job of giving F&D another win and was probably largely forgotten before the next match had even commenced. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="IzkFU5d.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IzkFU5d.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="MHYGTqI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/MHYGTqI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>4: Bobby Lashley defeated Mojo Rawley </strong>– Remember when Mojo Rawley was given a push for 5 minutes and won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal just so his best friend Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski could get into a WWE ring and take out poor old Jinder Mahal? No … You are lucky … Jinder Mahal is not exactly skilled but he’s a solid worker – Mojo Rawley is … Rob Gronkowski’s friend and thats about it – the guy has lame offence and isn’t like the Singhs in selling, he’s just a guy that inexplicably is getting decent money to do his job relatively poorly. Mercifully this was a short brutal squash by Lashley over a guy with slightly more name recognition than a local enhancement jobber.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="E0VCOAY.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/E0VCOAY.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="hJMQkBd.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hJMQkBd.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="ijzlqqI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ijzlqqI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="nuePMhF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nuePMhF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="pl9zoKe.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/pl9zoKe.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="s8Ef80G.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/s8Ef80G.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="qqiIso2.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/qqiIso2.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Backstage Seth & Roman are attacked by the Family butt manage to grab some weapons and battle back. Seth says if Bray and one of his goons wants to face them they can do it later tonight and Bray smiles evily. The work here was pretty stellar from most everyone involved. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="OEL21vh.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/OEL21vh.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="MpN8uib.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/MpN8uib.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="VVC90lN.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/VVC90lN.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>5: The IIconics retain the WWE Womens title against local talent</strong> – One of the locals was former WWE & TNA wrestler Shelly Martinez well remember for her tattoo in a very interesting location and some videos that are best described as for fans of women wearing fetish clothing doing fetish things with other women wearing fetish clothing in a soft core way – she returned to the ring where 4 women wearing what could be argued was fetish clothing did things to other women in what was essentially a soft core way. Thankfully the WWE ring-ropes were not used for any Bondage purposes. The cause of Womens wrestling was arguably set back 20 years. The crowd popped happily for it. The IIconics are really getting good at this and showed glimmers or actual wrestling skill too.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="IRv15mF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IRv15mF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="mCh6fPZ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/mCh6fPZ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="vdHjVtX.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/vdHjVtX.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="Eo2Qxh4.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Eo2Qxh4.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>6: Minnesota Stretching Crew (Brock & Shelton) defeated The Colons</strong> – Shelton Benjamin is the perfect partner for Brock Lesnar, he can do the heavy lifting in a match allowing Brock to come in and clean house and hit his big spots. Tonight they faced two men with a wealth of experience, great skills and excellent chemistry. The Colons knew what they were here to do and came out of the blocks hard on Shelton creating the faint hope of a massive upset before the tag was made to Brock who proceeded to destroy them with his power offence. Was it predictable – sure – was it a 4 out of 5 star match – definitely. The work was crisp, the story telling well done and effective and the journey to it’s inevitable result was completely enjoyable. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="K8EmVCC.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/K8EmVCC.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="2oG9qTy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2oG9qTy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>7: Alexa Bliss retained the SMACKDOWN Women’s over guest worker Ivelisse Velez</strong> – Ivelisse has worked for the WWE in Tough enough and for places like Lucha Underground (famously suing them to get out of her contract), she’s a good looking girl with decent skills – not that she was asked to use any offensive ones here. This was an old fashioned squash by a champion. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<img alt="E0VCOAY.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/E0VCOAY.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="hJMQkBd.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hJMQkBd.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="ijzlqqI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ijzlqqI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="nuePMhF.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nuePMhF.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong>8: The Shield defeated The Fiend & The Acolyte by DQ</strong> – Up until this moment SAMCKDOWN was an utterly forgettable series of squashes reminiscent of the territory days when TV was largely used to hype big events and good competitive matches were a rarity. Then this happened. A stellar outing between two teams whose natural chemistry meant they were in perfect sync. Why oh why haven’t the Wyatt's ever been thrown together in a tag match on WWE tv before Bo’s recent turn to the Dark-side? It was almost magical to see how well these 4 worked this match and it wouldn’t have been out of place in any company. The Shield got the advantage and were looking to put Bray away when Rowan and Harper hit the ring causing a DQ. For some that ending might have been a disappointment but booking wise the tease of the champion being pinned but using lackeys to save himself meant that he was kept looking tough to beat whilst the Shield got the win. Bo or should I just call him the Acolyte now is clearly still developing and struggled a little to keep up with the others but they were smart enough to book the match in such a way that his weakness was used as a story beat and the fact he didn’t take the pin means he comes out of it at least looking like he can hang with the heavy hitters without being an embarrassment which wasn’t the case a few months back. Everybody in this match would have come out of it looking better than they did going in.</p><p> </p><p>

</p></div><p></p><p></p>

[alpha2117]

<p><strong>Breaking News</strong></p><p> </p><p>

- No way Jose has been working shows for NXT UK</p><p>

- Booker T's contract with WWE has entered it's last month and it's believed he will be let go. </p><p> </p><p>

In a lighter not two men not known for their senses of humour have formed an unlikely friendship after Tommaso Ciampa pulled a classic rib on Conor McGregor backstage at the last RAW. They are now comparing beards and scowling techniques. </p><p> </p><p>

Rumour has it a new female talent will be debuting at this weeks RAW.</p><p> </p><p>

<strong>RAW Card</strong> (matches announced)</p><p> </p><p>

Kyle O'Reilly vs John Cena</p><p> </p><p>

MNM vs Hawkins & Ryder</p><p> </p><p>

The O.C. (Balor, Gallows & Anderson) vs The New Day </p><p> </p><p>

Bonus: Can you guess the new non development female talent for a point?</p>

[joshbrady91]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="alpha2117" data-cite="alpha2117" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47102" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><strong>Breaking News</strong><p> In a lighter not two men not known for their senses of humour have formed an unlikely friendship after Tommaso Ciampa pulled a classic rib on Conor McGregor backstage at the last RAW. They are now comparing beards and scowling techniques.</p></div></blockquote> This made me laugh, I can picture it in my head and it's hilarious! <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> RAW Card (matches announced)</p><p> Kyle O'Reilly vs <strong>John Cena</strong></p><p> <strong>MNM </strong>vs Hawkins & Ryder</p><p> <strong>The O.C. (Balor, Gallows & Anderson)</strong> vs The New Day</p><p> Bonus: Can you guess the new non development female talent for a point?</p><p> <strong>Tessa Blanchard?</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p>

[Aurora]

<p>John Cena</p><p>

MNM</p><p>

New Day</p><p> </p><p>

You said RAW was more in ring. Lufisto?</p>

[joshspicer]

Sonya is such a tsun. I love it.

[alpha2117]

WWA RAW: Charleston Civic Center West Virginia, 13000 att sell out,

 

Pre-Show: Ever-Rise, Sonjay Dutt & Sin Cara, Strong Style Samurai (Akira Tozawa & KUSHIDA), Velocity (Ricochet & Cedric Alexander) & Lucha House Party defeated local talents

 

 

 

 

John Cena is out and he calls out the Undisputed Era. He wants to cut the snake that is the Undisputed era off at the head and take out Adam Cole tonight – Kyle O’Reilly steps up and says the Undisputed Era is a group of equals and challenges Cena right now. The crowd lapped this up.

 

 

 

 

1: John Cena defeated Kyle O’Reilly by DQ – John Cena continued his video game like trip through the bosses of the Undisputed Era by taking on Kyle O’Reilly in an absolute banger of a match. O’Reilly is the most under-rated of the UE talents and he showed tonight that he can well and truly hang with the big boys. This match was worked at breakneck speed and had the crowd on their feet. Cena eventually got the advantage and went into the 5 Moves of Doom sequence only to be jumped by the other three members of the Undisputed Era for a DQ.

 

 

 

 

All 4 members of the Undisputed Era lay the boots into Cena. Cole grabs Cena by the head and lifts it up to stare into his glassy half focused eyes and spits in his face. The previous match was amazing but this post match attack was white hot and the Undisputed Era was getting nuclear heat as they exited. The introduction of the Undisputed Era to the main roster has been an absolute success so far.

 

 

 

 

After the Break we get MizTv with Miz and his Mrs (Maryse) joined this week by his old friend John Morrison and his tag partner Joey Matthews. MNM don’t say a whole lot as the Miz controls the narrative with his stellar mic work – the sequence ends with the introduction of Morrison’s bride – Taya Valkyrie! Taya comes out to a high energy techno cover of Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries. Visually she’s very impressive as she’s clearly cut and has a great look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2: Taya Valkyrie defeated local talent – This was a squash for the debuting Taya. It was a solid but uninspiring match which didn’t really capture the crowds imagination. Debuts are never easy at this level – the Miz hype angle for her was a total success but once she was on her own in ring the crowd seemed to lose interest. She’s got a terrific look though and decent skills and given time it’s likely they will warm to her.

 

 

 

 

3: MNM defeated Hawkins & Ryder – Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder are really good workers with a ton of experience but sadly for them the crowd has been taught to expect failure from them. It’s probably going to take a fair amount of time for them ever to be seen as credible threats. This was a decent step in that direction though as the two men were allowed to get plenty of offence in. The match was fast paced and exciting and both teams have such a great teamwork that even though the result was never really in doubt the crowd managed to get into it. Morrison nailed a Starship Pain on Hawkins to get the victory. A familiar theme hits and the crowd goes nuts

 

 

 

 

Hall of Famer Edge heads to the ring – he stares at Hawkins and Ryder and then cuts a searing promo on them telling them that they have failed to reach their potential and that they need to take a long hard look at themselves because its not a lack of ability that’s holding stopping them succeeding it’s a lack of will. Ryder gets into Edges face – Edge slaps him in the face and Ryder looks stunned and then shapes up for a fight as Hawkins moves next to him but Edge just smiles and says thats what he was looking for and tells Hawkins & Ryder to remember how they feel right now … remember the anger, remember the pain … remember how to win! Edge was in absolute stellar form here and the crowd loved this.

 

 

 

 

Backstage – Secret Socety (Ali & Buddy Murphy) are approached by Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. Owens is respectful and asks for a title shot at Clash of the Champions – Ali responds that they are always up for a challenge and accepts – the 4 man shake hands. I’m confused? This is professional wrestling and I’ve been taught to expect angry ranting promos setting up title matches at events – here we got 4 people acting like adults. I suspect they realised that both Murphy and Ali work best with calm measured promos which portray them as no nonsense fighting champions. With Kevin and Sami there is always the potential for them to go full heel at Clash of Champions but for the moment they are playing it straight and very much babyface.

 

 

 

 

Cut to elsewhere backstage where Conor McGregor approaches Daniel Bryan and he tries to pick a fight – Bryan just shakes his head and tries to walk away but as he does Conor calls him a coward and Daniel turns and the two begin to brawl.

 

 

 

 

In Ring the Kabuki Warriors cut a promo about how they are real wrestlers but the 4 Horsewomen are more like models and actors – Asuka says Becky should go back to being a mile high flight attendant. The 4 Horsewomen then come out and respond – Becky mentions the Gravure videos and says even if the 4 Horsewomen did acting at least it wouldn’t be in films for dirty old men in raincoats.

 

 

 

 

4: Kairi Sane defeated a Local Talent – The WWE actually tried having a proper wrestling match between women here, and by proper wrestling match I mean a brutal squash where Sane totally dominated a local (Chastity Taylor) before hitting an Insane Elbow to finish her. The crowd was pretty dead, sadly they prefer strutting and preening from the girls.

 

 

 

 

5: Boss & Hug Connection defeated 2 Local Talents (The Southern Belles - Savannah Evans & Kaci Lennox) – Talking of strutting and preening the next match returned to that familiar formula. That might sound like I’m dismissive of it and to an extent I am but I have to be honest and say the strutting and preening here was particularly good. Bayley and Sasha were great as always but the real surprise was Kaci Lennox & Savannah Evans the two locals brought in to face them there was a palpable chemistry between the two and whilst they are still pretty young they look to be two to watch for in the future. Sasha put Lennox away with a Bank Statement. The crowd enjoyed it very much and rightly so, it’s not a technical masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it might be the starting point of two very promising careers.

 

 

 

 

6: Asuka defeated a Local talent – Sadly the next squash where Asuka was allowed to show her skills in ring once again didn’t really click with the crowd. They seem to only want the ladies for their looks and mic work rather than letting them go full out in the ring. Asuka locks in the Asuka lock on the local for the win. The crowd didn’t hate it but once again their reactions was considerably more muted for the faster paced and more technically interesting work on display in this match than they were for the last match and it’s more theatrical eye candy.

 

 

 

 

7: Becky & Charlotte defeated 2 Local talents – I fear for the future of Womens wrestling in the WWE sometimes, the crowd loved this match despite the fact that very little wrestling actually occurred (One of the locals came out in a onesey with a shark mofif – apparently her name is JAWSolyn – which the crowd kind of loved). Becky & Charlotte can actually wrestle well if given a chance but it seems that if they want to get a good reaction from the crowd it’s just a lot easier to have simple matches where they play for the crowd rather than go out hard. Becky locks in the Dis-Arm-Her on the non sharky local to get the win.

 

 

 

 

 

Rey Mysterio cuts a short backstage promo on the challenge of facing Brock Lesnar this Sunday at Clash of Champions.

 

 

 

 

Secret Society cut a short promo on their defence at Clash of Champions. Their promo work is coming on nicely. Neither is Hulk Hogan on the mic yet but their low key intensity is starting to be reminiscent of Samoa Joe’s work in a good way.

 

 

 

 

Kevin & Sami cut a short promo on the Tag title match at Clash of Champions, they are a lot more polished than the champs and it showed here.

 

 

 

 

William Regal & Stephanie hype Clash of Champions RAW matches – Secret Society vs Kevin & Sami, Becky vs Asuka & Brock vs Rey. They say if the New Day win tonight then Kofi Kingston will face AJ Styles at Clash of Champions for the United States title.

 

 

 

 

8: New Day def O.C (Finn, Gallows & Anderson) – You would be hard pressed to find 6 men who are better matched than these 6. This was a top quality bout where everybody got in some nice spots and the work was top notch. Given the stipulation there was always a good chance that the New Day were going to come out on top and Kofi nailed the Trouble in Paradise on Karl Anderson after 15 minutes of hot action for the victory to ensure he faces AJ Styles at Clash of Champions.

 

 

 

 

Post Match AJ Styles hits the ring and Nails Kofi with the United States belt and the rest of the O.C. pile on Big E & Xavier Woods as the show goes to black.

 

[alpha2117]

Aurora 3/3

joshbrady91 2/3

 

Nobody picked Taya as the debut. I like Taya - she has a good look and was a cheap way of making John Morrison ecstatically happy (he was already happy after signing a new deal).

 

 

WWE Main Event:

 

Pre-Show - Strong Style Smaurai (Akira Tozawa & KUSHIDA),Velocity (Cedric Alexander & Ricochet), NXT's Fire & Nice (Britt Baker & Chelsea Green), Serena Deeb & Candice LaRae and Zelina Vega & Taya Valkyrie defeated local talents.

 

Show proper - Boss & Hug Connection, Kabuki Warriors both defeated local talents and in the Main Event of the show Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair defeated the Southern Belles (Savannah Evans & Kaci Lennox)

 

 

WWE Superstars-

 

Pre-show: Street Profits, The Singh Brothers, Mojo Rawley & Mike Kanellis

Apollo Crews, Curtis Axel & Heath Slater and the Colons all defeated local workers.

 

Show proper: Heath Slater & Drew McIntyre, The Chickbusters (AJ Lee & Kaityln) defeated local talent whilst in the Main Event The Revival retained the SMACKDOWN Tag titles from the SAT (Wil & Joel Maximo) in a short bout which as more about the post match attack by Paul Heymans Authors of Pain on the Revival.

 

 

Breaking News -

 

NXT's The Brian Kendrick has been offered a new deal which is reportedly for an extra year.

 

WWE officials were very impressed by the work of Savannah Evans and Kaci Lennox at RAW & Main Event.

 

Rumours have it that WWE Producer Gregory Helms was sent on a mandatory 28 day Holiday without pay this week.

 

NXT Referee Jessica Carr (Kennadi Brink) was working the pre-show at Main Event and a WWE.Com article welcomed her to the roster.

 

Shawn Bennett was refereeing at NXT this week and it appears that it was a swap between he and Carr.

 

Carmella & Interviewer Charly Caruso have been showing up a lot in each others Social Media lately and the two appear to be firm friends.

 

Producer - Shawn Daivari has finished his time with the WWE. David Otunga is believed to be finishing with the WWE later this week.

 

It appears Triple-H is being aggressive with NXT and has declared war on the indies with the dev brand now having bad blood with SHIMMER, Ring of Honor, Championship Wrestling from Hollwood, Combat Zone Wrestling, AAW, NLL, Pro Wrestling Guerilla and Chikara.

 

It appears NXT's Rinku Singh is on the way out as his development deal is coming up and no new deal has been offered.

 

Strange but True: Stephanie McMahon took the risk of all risks this week by playing an elaborate trick on CM Punk which saw a package of Montreal Canadiens gear, a pink feather boa and a bottle of Cognac delivered to his home along with a note that they had reached a deal with the Montreal Hockey Franchise and that he would now be playing a new character called Charles-Maurice Le Punke a hard drinking flamboyantly gay French Canadian! This was followed shortly after by another package with a lot of Chicago Blackhawks gear and a note saying just kidding Phil. Punk apparently thought it was hilarious given he was seen flying into New York wearing the C-M Le Punke name branded Canadiens Jersey.

 

 

WWE SMACKDOWN Card - Announced matches

 

1: Intercontinental Title: Braun Strowman vs Sheamus

 

2: The Family (Bray Wyatt, The Acolyte Bo Wyatt, Rowan & harper) vs Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and 2 Mystery partners ??? & ???

 

3: Lethal Warriors (Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe) vs 2nd City Saints (Colt Cabana & CM Punk)

[Aurora]

I should have thought of Taya.

 

Sheamus

The Family , I think it's the Usos returning

2nd City Saints

[joshbrady91]

1: Intercontinental Title: Braun Strowman vs Sheamus

 

2: The Family (Bray Wyatt, The Acolyte Bo Wyatt, Rowan & harper) vs Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and 2 Mystery partners ??? & ???

 

3: Lethal Warriors (Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe) vs 2nd City Saints (Colt Cabana & CM Punk)

[Kijar]

Strowman

The Family

Lethal Warriors

[alpha2117]

 

WWE Smackdown: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale New York

 

 

Pre - Street Profits, Gulak & Nese, Titus O’Neill, The Colons & The Singh Brothers defeated local talent.

 

 

 

 

The Shield are out and they cut a promo about Bo’s betrayal at Survivor Series and how Bray has formed his own little cult again. The lights go out and then begin to flash red

 

 

 

 

The Family hit the ring and attack the Shield

 

 

 

 

The Uso’s return to SMACKDOWN and make the save chasing the Family off as the Shield rally. The segment ends with the Shield and The Usos staring down at the Family from the ring.

 

 

 

 

Shane McMahon comes out and books a 4 v 4 bout for later tonight. He then hypes up tonight’s Intercontinental title match between Braun Strowman and another returnee Sheamus.

 

 

 

 

2nd City Saints and AJ Lee come out and say they have a return to announce themselves

 

 

 

 

Kaitlyn returns to the WWE and the Chickbusters reunite when she and AJ hug.

 

 

 

 

Charly Caruso interviews the Lethal Warriors (Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe) – Joe glowers angrily while Lethal does his Macho Man schtick and says the Warriors are coming for the SMACKDOWN Tag titles …. Oh Yeahhhhhhhhhhh! Joe then says that tonight they are going to face the 2nd City Saints and then everyone is going to see just how Lethal …. the Warriors can be.

 

 

 

 

1: Braun Strowman retains the Intercontinental over Sheamus by DQ when the Kings of Wrestling attack – It was shortish, it was brutal and it was a whole lot of fun as two big boppers brutalised each other. Braun looked to have it won until Cesaro & Kassius Ohno hit the ring and take him out for the DQ.

 

 

 

 

Post match Cesaro & Kassius Ohno join Sheamus in beating down Braun.

 

 

 

 

The IIconics approach Fire & Desire, before they can speak Mandy starts talking to themselves

Mandy “We’ve got big news”

 

Sonya “Yeah … it’s big”

 

Billie “Wedding Bells?”

 

Peyton “Don’t rush them”

 

Mandy “No … we are still just good friends”

 

Billie “What not even with benefits?”

 

Sonya “Oh there are benefits to out friendship … big ones”

 

Peyton “Spill the T girl”

 

Mandy “We … We’ve got a tag title match at Clash of Champions”

 

Billie and Peyton’s jaws dropkick

 

Sonya “See you Sunday girls”

 

Fire & Desire walk away and Billie and Peyton look worried.

 

Peyton “That’s not good”

 

Billie “No … not good at all”

 

 

 

 

Shane comes out and hypes Clash of Champions and calls out the people who will be facing off

 

 

 

 

The Revival to face MNM for the SMACKDOWN Tag

 

 

 

 

Randy Orton to face The Miz for the 24/7 title

 

 

 

 

Alexa Bliss to face Nikki Cross for the SMACKDOWN Womens

 

 

 

 

2: The IIconics retain the WWE Womens Tag titles over Local talent – So we had to wait a long time for a 2nd match tonight and instead we got the epic battle between two distracted looking IIconics (who were really selling their worries about Sunday) and two local women which basically involved th IIconics squashing their opponents, Mandy and Sonya coming out to watch – Billie Kay getting distracted by their arrival and almost losing the titles to a schoolgirl from a jobber and Billie and Peyton then getting angry and destroying the two poor girls they are facing. At the end they grab their belts and stare down at a smiling Mandy & Sonya. The match itself was the usual prancing but the story around it actually kind of worked.

 

 

 

 

3: The Family with Abigail vs The Shield & The Usos with Naomi ends in a double count-out – This one was always likely to break down into chaos given recent events the 8 men went at it hard for about 8 minutes before Abigail began to stalk Naomi on the outside. This led to her husband intervening and everyone heading to the outside where the brawl got wild. Charles Robinson began to count and eventually reached 10 officially ending the match but not the vicious brawling – the lights then flickered and went out and when they came back on the Family had disappeared. The crowd loved this whole thing from beginning to end.

 

 

 

 

4: 2nd City Saints def Lethal Warriors after AJ Lee pushed Jay Lethal off the top turnbuckle – So up until now SMACKDOWN had featured around 30 minutes of actual wrestling and 1 hour of angles and I feared we wouldn’t see much actual wrestling – then this came on. A 30 minute bout that ebbed and flowed and showcased all four men’s undoubted abilities. The Warriors looked to have it won with CM Punk selling a Samoa Joe shot on the outside and Jay Lethal going up for his Macho Man finisher from the top turnbuckle on Cabana when Kaitlyn distracted John Cone and AJ Lee pushed Lethal off the turnbuckle. Cabana then got the pin on Lethal who was selling landing awkwardly in ring. This was a top quality bout and all four men looked good here.

 

 

[alpha2117]

Nobody picked the draw - not surprisingly

 

Aurora 1/3 (picked the return though - clever girl)

KingOfSwing 1/3

joshbrady91 2/3

Kijar 1/3

 

 

WWE Clash of Champions 2019 - Card

 

1: United States: AJ Styles © vs Kofi Kingston

2: 24/7: The Miz © vs Randy Orton

3: Intercontinental: Braun Strowman © vs Cesaro

4: RAW Womens: Becky Lynch vs Asuka

5: Smackdown Womens: Alexa Bliss © vs Nikki Cross

6: Smackdown Tag: The Revival © vs MNM

7: Womens Tag: The IIconics vs Fire & Desire

8: RAW Tag: Secret Society © vs Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens

9: WWE: Rey Mysterio © vs Brock Lesnar

10: Universal: The Fiend Bray Wyatt © vs Seth Rollins

[Kijar]

<p>1: United States: <strong>AJ Styles ©</strong> vs Kofi Kingston</p><p>

2: 24/7:<strong> The Miz ©</strong> vs Randy Orton</p><p>

3: Intercontinental: Braun Strowman © vs <strong>Cesaro</strong></p><p>

4: RAW Womens: <strong>Becky Lynch</strong> vs Asuka</p><p>

5: Smackdown Womens: <strong>Alexa Bliss © </strong>vs Nikki Cross</p><p>

6: Smackdown Tag: <strong>The Revival ©</strong> vs MNM</p><p>

7: Womens Tag: <strong>The IIconics</strong> vs Fire & Desire</p><p>

8: RAW Tag: Secret Society © vs <strong>Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens</strong></p><p>

9: WWE:<strong> Rey Mysterio ©</strong> vs Brock Lesnar</p><p>

10: Universal: <strong>The Fiend Bray Wyatt ©</strong> vs Seth Rollins</p>

[Bigelow Cartwheel]

<p>That Charles-Maurice Le Punke rib is EPIC. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

WWE Clash of Champions 2019 - Card</p><p> </p><p>

1: United States: <strong>AJ Styles </strong>© vs Kofi Kingston</p><p>

2: 24/7: <strong>The Miz</strong> © vs Randy Orton</p><p>

3: Intercontinental: <strong>Braun Strowman</strong> © vs Cesaro</p><p>

4: RAW Womens: <strong>Becky Lynch</strong> vs Asuka</p><p>

5: Smackdown Womens: <strong>Alexa Bliss</strong> © vs Nikki Cross</p><p>

6: Smackdown Tag: The Revival © vs <strong>MNM</strong></p><p>

7: Womens Tag: The IIconics vs <strong>Fire & Desire</strong></p><p>

8: RAW Tag: Secret Society © vs <strong>Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens</strong> </p><p>

9: WWE: <strong>Rey Mysterio </strong>© vs Brock Lesnar</p><p>

10: Universal: <strong>The Fiend Bray Wyatt </strong>© vs Seth Rollins</p>

[Aurora]

Kofi

Miz

Braun

Becky

Alexa

Revival

Fire and Desire

Kevin and Sami

Brock

Fiend

[KingOfSwing]

Kofi Kingston

The Miz

Braun Strowman

Becky Lynch

Nikki Cross

The Revival

Fire & Desire

Secret Society

Brock Lesnar

The Fiend Bray Wyatt

[joshbrady91]

1: United States: AJ Styles © vs Kofi Kingston

2: 24/7: The Miz © vs Randy Orton

3: Intercontinental: Braun Strowman © vs Cesaro

4: RAW Womens: Becky Lynch vs Asuka

5: Smackdown Womens: Alexa Bliss © vs Nikki Cross

6: Smackdown Tag: The Revival © vs MNM

7: Womens Tag: The IIconics vs Fire & Desire

8: RAW Tag: Secret Society © vs Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens

9: WWE: Rey Mysterio © vs Brock Lesnar

10: Universal: The Fiend Bray Wyatt © vs Seth Rollins

[alpha2117]

 

 

WWE Clash of Champions 2019 – Carrier Dome Syracuse New York.

 

 

Pre -

 

The Family (Acolyte, Harper & Rowan) defeated Mike Kanellis, Drew Gulak & Tony Nese

 

Lethal Warriors (Joe & Lethal) defeated The Colons

 

Roman Reigns, & The Usos defeated Sonjay Dutt & The Singh Brothers

 

2nd City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) defeated The Street Profits

 

 

Show Proper begins:

 

 

Hype videos for the United States, Intercontinental, 24/7 hype Universal title matches play before the fist match starts

 

 

 

 

1: Kofi Kingston wins the United States title from AJ Styles – In a match of the year candidate the former Fake Jamaican Pancake Eating Unicorn Lover (as AJ has been calling him in promos) captured the United States belt from the champion. This bout had nuclear heat and the crowd started up with a this is awesome chant within the first 5 minutes. Both men went out hard and fast. The ending blew the crowd away as Kofi came up with a new comeback spot that popped the crowd big time where AJ was putting him into position for a Styles Clash but where Kofi kicked free and went from a handstand onto the ropes whilst flipping upright and bounced back into a Trouble in Paradise which AJ sold like he’s been shot in the head. Any company in the world would have been proud to put this bout on their show.

 

 

 

 

2: The Miz retains the 24/7 title over Randy Orton – You almost have to feel sorry for these two vets – it was always going to be a bit of a nightmare coming after Kofi/AJ but then to have Kofi pull out an amazing MOTY candidate made this pale in comparison despite it being a 4 out of 5 technical feast. The Miz doesn’t get enough credit for his broad skill-set and Randy is the classic wrestlers wrestler and they worked the crowd well with lots of counters to RKO and Skull Crushing Finale attempts. The ending was fun as Randy went for a RKO out of nowhere but The Miz caught his arms as he was doing it and transitioned the move into a version of a Skull Crushing Finale using Randy’s RKO momentum against him and riding him down face first into the mat.

 

 

Videos play hyping the RAW Womens, SMACKDOWN Womens and Womens Tag title matches later tonight

 

 

 

 

3: Braun Strowman retained the Intercontinental title over Cesaro – The WWE is having a very good night. This fast paced banger saw the pound for pound strongest man in the WWE Cesaro trying his best to get Braun Storwmn in position for one of his power moves but Braun using his own sheer size and strength to counter each attempt. The ending came when Cesaro actually got Braun in position for the swing only for Braun to kick free and hit him square in the chest with both feet sending him to the ropes – as he bounced back of the rope Braun had transitioned back to his feet into a clothesline which sent Cesaro spinning through the air and popped the air – Braun then got him up into a reverse chokeslam to finish it. It was another 4 star mini-classic.

 

 

Videos for the RAW & SMACKDOWN Tag matches

 

 

 

 

4: Becky Lynch retains the RAW Womens title over Asuka by DQ – Any recent criticism of the WWE for only booking their women in short meaningless matches was answered by this. They let the two women have plenty of tiem to tell a meaningful story. Becky has struggles in beatign Asuka in one on one matches and tthey kept teasing a title change here with Asuka getting multiple false finishes in but everytime Becky would get out of the oin just before the 3 count. Asuka sold her growing frustration well and Becky had gone back to her plucky underdog mode for this match. The ending came when the ref caught Asuka blatantly raking Becky’s eyes in a clearly frustrated attempt to finally finish her opponents resistance. 4 from 4 as far as 4 star plus matches so far.$

 

 

 

 

Post match – Becky celebrated in ring for a minute or two going to each turnbuckle and climbing to the first rope holding the title aloft after she had done this for the 4th time she turned and got a face full of green mist followed by a Spin kick and being put into an Asuka lock. Becky was tapping frantically as officals tried to get Asuka to release her which she refused for a long time until the other Horsewomen ran down for the save which saw Asuka bug out before being put in a 4 on 1 position.

 

 

 

 

5: The Revival retained the SMACKDOWN Tag titles over MNM after cheating to win – You know it’s a good night when a match that falls just short of 4 out of 5 stars seems like a disappointment. These two teams knew they only had a little over 10 minutes to get their stuff in and they tried their best to make those 10 minutes as exciting as they could – they succeeded but on a night where the bar had been set so very height this was only good rather than truly great. The ending saw Joey Matthews taking a shot in his surgically repaired face from a tag title belt from Scott Dawson whilst ref John Cone was distracted by Dash Wilder. Attacking a man with well known facial catastrophic facial injuries like that was classic old-school heel work from the Revival and you had to love that they booked a 5th interesting and distinctly different finish to a match.

 

 

 

 

6: Alexa Bliss retained the SMACKDOWN Womens title over Nikki Cross – Alexa retained her title over Nikki in a nice short little toilet break … ooops Divas style bout. It was by no means bad – it’s just that after 5 really interesting bouts seeing two women work a simple little match like this isn’t going to inspire me to write it up as a classic – it was what it was and what it was, was a well worked little cool down match to allow the crowd to have a breather but still be reasonably well entertained. Alexa hit her Twisted Bliss finisher for the win.

 

 

Universal, WWE championship and Womens Tag hype

 

 

 

 

7: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens win the RAW Tag titles from Secret Society – Secret Society’s reign came to an end here but the last 2 months have been career defining for Murphy & Ali with their newly formed tag team clearly having legs and their status rapidly rising with a series of fine matches. Zayn & Owens reformed tag team has been no less successful and both teams are so smooth and good together that you could watch them fight over and over and never get bored. They gave this exactly enough time to hit the sweet spot where the crowd was satisfied with what they were given but wills till come back for more of this feud. Owens hit the stunner on Ali seemingly out of nowhere for a sudden victory which was the right choice – the Stunner always feels like a one of those moves that comes somewhat against the flow of the bout and is somewhat lucky which meant the former champs didn’t lose a whole heap of momentum by losing in a more dominant way. 5 of the 7 bouts so far have well and truly been at least 4 out of 5 stars and the other 2 were at least 3.5 – the WWE could end this PPV now and nobody would be disappointed in what they’ve been given.

 

 

 

 

8: The IIconics retained the WWE Womens Tag titles over Fire & Desire – This was one of those bouts where the set up over the last few months meant the crowd was able to engage in the story-line. Fire & Desire and the IIconics have had a low key feud here the Australians have been acting friendly and trying to encourage a Sonya/Mandy romance but nobody has really been buying the act (nor are you really meant too as they are so obviously trying to manipulate F&D for their own purposes). The ending of this was interesting and well done with Mandy selling an injury – Sonya looking extremely concerned over the potential object of her affections condition only to be caught by a Shades of Kay Big Boot from Billie as she turned around to return on the match. This would have been seen as a great match on most cards but was merely standard on this one coming in just on 4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

 

9: Brock Lesnar defeats Rey Mysterio to win the WWE Championship – Another 4 out 5 star mini classic. The story here was a basic classic one – these two men have been feuding for the last couple of months and the much smaller Rey actually managed to get the belt off of the Beast in somewhat controversial fashion. Brock was on a mission here to recapture the belt and despite his best efforts Rey simply couldn’t stop Brock from achieving his goal and eventually ate a F-5. This was fast paced and exciting and was yet another 4 out of 5 banger on a pretty stellar night for the WWE.

 

 

Post match Paul & Brock stand triumphant in the ring – before Brock decides to add insult to injury by sending Rey to Suplex City with multiple Suplexes before officials manage to intervene.

 

 

 

 

10: The Fiend defeated Seth Rollins to retained the Universal title after Abigail interfered – Was this better than Kofi & AJ, that’s a debate that will be had for some time. AJ vs Kofi was more about technique and flashy moves this was more about hot character work. Bray was in fiend mode here and it’s a compelling visual that does a lot to cover up his deficiencies as a worker in comparison to Seth. It was a top quality match full of interesting spots – the Family tried to get involved but Roman and the Usos stopped that leading to those 6 brawling on the outside. A momentarily distracted Mike Chioda allowed Abigail to hit a low blow from behind on Seth and The Fiend then hit the Sister Abigail for the win to retain his belt.

 

[alpha2117]

So two matches absolutely killed it on this card which is actually not easy to do in the WWE (the settings don't give scores in the 90's very often). The feuds have built up nicely though and the scores probably reflected that. Not claiming any brilliant booking but the result was really good.

 

Kijar 7/10

Bigelow cartwheel 6/10

Aurora 9/10

KingOfSwing 7/10

joshbrady91 5/10

 

The card was pretty well balanced and that seemed to be reflected in peoples picks with most matches being split decisions that could of gone either way.

 

A new two day event called New Years Evil will occur over New Years Eve and New Years Day in two weeks time (game time) much of the next two weeks worth of shows is about setting that up and then the Rumble in January. When I was booking them I thought I'd try to replicate the Real World and make it as if these were a bulk taping to allow people to have a Christmas break but didn't actually screw around with the whole pre-taping settings so I am going to do the write-up a little like the news sites would as if they are spoilers for the next two weeks worth of shows. So the next few shows will be stylistically a little different write-up wise.