Wednesday 27 December 2017

WWE Clash of Champions 2017 Review

The match on the Kick Off Show was Mojo Rawley taking on Zack Ryder. Ryder goes right at Rawley at the beginning before Rawley gets the advantage. Ryder does make a comeback but Rawley hits a brutal elbow to the head to get the win. This was a pretty decent match between the two.
Winner: Mojo Rawley  (1 for 1)

The first match of the show was a triple threat match for the United States Championship as Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler challenge Baron Corbin. Ziggler and Roode team up to take out Corbin before fighting each other. Corbin recovers and focuses on Roode while keeping Ziggler down. The match goes at at fast pace and Ziggler comes close after hitting a fameasser on Roode. Roode covers Ziggler after hitting him with a Glorious DDT but Corbin pulls him off. In the end, Corbin is about to hit The End of Days on Roode when Ziggler hits Corbin with the Zig Zag to get the win. Thisu was a realyl good match and I enjoyed the match. The only problem is what happened on the following Smackdown. Ziggler basically vacates the Championship and walks away. It does beg the question of why he wanted to be added to the match if he was going to vacate the Title. Anyway, let's see who our new Champion will be in the new year.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler (1 for 2)

The second is a fatal 4-way match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship as The Usos deal with the challenges of Aiden English and Rusev, The New Day and Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin. Highlights of the match include: Jey Uso and Big E briefly working together; English hitting a Samoa drop into a spine buster on Gable and Rusev putting Big E in the Accolade. After Gable goes through a tonne of German suplexes, The Usos proceed to superkick him to death then hit an Uso Splash to get the win. The match was hard to follow at the beginning with 4 wrestlers in the ring at the same tine. However, as the match went on, it got better.
Winners: The Usos (2 for 3)

We now get our 3rd Championship match as Natalya challenges Charlotte Flair in a lumberjack match for the Smackdown Women's Championship. Natalya gets the advantage and keeps throwing Charlotte out of the ring so that she can get beaten up by the lumberjacks. Eventually, thanks to the lumberjacks, it degenerates into a clusterfuck. Natalya dithers putting on the sharpshooter and Charlotte reverses it into a Figure 8 to get the win. The match was pretty decent although I felt that the match was more about the lumberjacks than the actual competitors.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (3 for 4)

Next is Breezango taking on The Bludgeon Brothers. After about 2 minutes, Harper and Rowan hit Fandango with the double crucifix powerbomb to get the win. This match was shorter than the time they took to show the international announcers during Breezango's entrance. I feel that this didn't mean to be a squash match, especially as The Fashion Files have led up to this point.
Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers (4 for 5)

The penultimate match is Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens taking on Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan as Special Guest Referees. After a while, Owens and Zayn get the advantage, wearing down Orton. Orton manages to hit a back suplex on Zayn, giving him the chance to tag in Nakamura. Owens frog splashes Nakamura through the announce table and Orton RKOs Zayn but Owens pushes Bryan onto Shane to stop the count. Zayn rolls up Orton but Shane doesn't finish the count. Bryan and Shane argue and Orton tries to RKO Zayn. However, Zayn rolls up Orton and they get the win after Bryan does the count at lightning speed.

I struggled to enjoy the match to be honest and it shows that Shane is the absolute worst right now. Owens and Zayn have got their comeuppance a couple of times but Shane proceeds to stack the deck against them and then try to fuck them over during the match, giving Bryan the reason to do the fast count. don't forget, Shane is technically the face here but if you're a face in the WWE, that somehow gives you permission to be a bigger dick than the heels. Anyway, I expect that this will lead to a Shane/Bryan feud in the near future.
Winners: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens (5 for 6)

The main event is Jinder Mahal challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Styles attacks Mahal's left leg before he gets bounced off the ropes, injuring the ribs. Mahal continues the advatnage by suplexing Styles onto the announce table and applying a body scissors. Eventually, Styles manages to recover and start a comeback after hitting a electric chair drop. After some back and forth, Styles hits a 450 splash but The Singhs try to pull Mahal out of the ring (which is not a disqualification apparently). In the end, Mahal goes for the Styles Clash but Styles gets out of it and gets Mahal to submit to the Calf Killer to retain the Championship. The match was a pretty decent way to end the show.
Winner: AJ Styles (6 for 7)

Like a lot of the WWE events this year, I felt that Clash of Champions was a mixed bag. Some matches were pretty good but some weren't great. Hopefully, with the Rumble coming up, it will improve.

Sunday 17 December 2017

WWE Clash of Champions 2017 Preview

Clash of Champions 2017 poster.jpg



The last PPV of the year, Clash of Champions will be taking place this evening at the TD Garden in Boston. There are some interesting matches on the card so how will it go? Let's take a look.

Zack Ryder vs Mojo Rawley
The match on the Kick Off Show involves the break up of The Hype Bros. I'm going for Mojo to win.
Predicted Winner: Mojo Rawley

Breezango vs The Bludgeon Brothers
Er...I'm not too bothered about this match but I'm going for The Bludgeons to win.
Predicted Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers

Charlotte Flair vs Natalya  
Lumberjack Match for the Smackdown Women's Championship
I can see this developing it into a clusterfuck between The Riott Squad and the rest of the women's roster.  I feel that Charlotte will find a way to win here.
Predicted Winner: Charlotte Flair

The Usos vs Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable vs The New Day vs Rusev and Aiden English
Fatal 4-Way for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship
This is one match that I'm quite looking forward to seeing and I'm torn on how I think will win this. I think that The Usos will retain here.
Predicted Winners: The Usos

Baron Corbin vs Bobby Roode vs Dolph Ziggler
Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship
Another tough one to call but I'm going on a limb here and going for Bobby Roode to become Champion.
Predicted Winner: Bobby Roode

AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal
WWE Championship Match
I cannot see Jinder winning so Styles to win here.
Predicted Winner: AJ Styles

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon Special Guest Referees
This is a very interesting one to watch. Even though Owens and Zayn are technically the bad guys, Shane has been a jerk to them unncessarily. Having two referees will definitely degenerate into a clusterfuck and does that mean we could see a Bryan heel turn? I can't see it but you never know. I'm going for Owens and Zayn to find some way to win here.
Predicted Winners: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

As usual, I won't get to see this til at least Tuesday. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy the show.

Wednesday 6 December 2017

WWE Survivor Series 2017 Review

WWE Survivor Series 2017 took place on Sunday 17th November at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas? After this, we will get the answer to who is the better brand: RAW or Smackdown. I mean, if you care about that kind of thing. Anyway, let's take a look at the show.

There were 3 matches on the Kick Off Show and the first was Elias taking on Matt Hardy. Elias gets the advantage after bouncing Hardy's neck off the top rope and focuses on his left shoulder. Hardy hits the side effect to start his comeback. However, he is limited due to the shoulder. In the end, Elias sends Hardy into the ring post and follows up with the Drift Away to get the win. The match was ok for me.
Winner: Elias (N/A)

Next was Kailsto challenging Enzo Amore for the Cruiserweight Championship. Kalisto almost gets the win early on with a sunset bomb. Enzo gets the advantage and goes on to hit the JawdonZo to get the win. The match wasn't that great to be honest. Hopefully, we get a new challenger for Enzo.
Winner: Enzo Amore (1 for 1)

The last match on the Kick Off Show was Breezango taking on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Breeze gets isolated by Owens and Zayn and they wear him down. Breeze stops a senton by Owens, giving him the chance to tag in Fandango. However, Fandango misses the Last Dance due to Owens pulling Zayn out of the way. Owens then gets tagged in and hits Fandango with the pop up powerbomb to get his team the win. I quite enjoyed this match and I'm liking the team of Owens and Zayn.
Winners: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn  (N/A)

The first match of the event is The New Day taking on The Shield. After some close near falls, The New Day hit a double Midnight Hour on Ambrose and Rollins but Reigns breaks up the pin. In the end, Kofi gets hit with a spear from Reigns followed by a triple powerbomb from the too rope and The Shield get the win. This was a really enjoyable match and a great way to start the show.
Winners: The Shield (2 for 2)

The next match is our 1st Survivor Series Elimination Match. The team of Becky Lynch, Carmella, Natalya, Tamina and Naomi from Smackdown taking on the team of Alicia Foxx, Asuka, Bayley, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks from RAW. Becky is the first to be eliminated when she gets rolled up by Bayley. This is followed by Tamina eliminating Bayley with a splash. Nia Jax gets counted out and Naomi pins Alicia. Sasha gets Naomi to submit to the Banks Statement and Asuka eliminates Carmella after kicking her head off but Sasha submits to the Sharpshooter by Natalya. Asuka goes on to get Tamina to submit to an armbar then Natalya to submit to the Asuka Lock, becoming the sole survivor. This match was pretty decent, although the timing of the eliminations did bug me slightly.
Winner: Asuka  (2 for 3)

We now get our first Champion vs Champion match as the United States Champion Baron Corbin takes on the Intercontinental Champion Hollywood Miz. Corbin comes close after hitting a Deep Six and goes on to get the win after avoiding a dropkick to hit the End of Days. Although nothing really stood out, I still found the match to be quite entertaining.
Winner: Baron Corbin (2 for 4)

Now a match that I was looking forward to watching: The RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus taking on the Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Usos. The match goes back and forth before Cesaro and Sheamus get to wear down Jimmy. Jimmy gets a cockscrew on Sheamus, giving him the chance to tag in Jey Uso. Cesaro does the giant swing into the Sharpshooter on Jey but he gets to the ropes. Cesaro and Sheamus come close to winning a couple of times but in the end, The Usos superkick Sheamus to death followed by a Uso Splash by Jey to get the win. This was a good match with some really cool spots.
Winners: The Usos (3 for 5)

Our second Women's match is the RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss taking on the Smackdown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair. Alexa pulls Charlotte off the apron to the floor to get the advantage. Alexa keeps her down by hitting moves such as the insult to injury and a sunset bomb but Charlotte hits a sit down powerbomb to start her comeback. Alexa comes close with a DDT but Charlotte manages to get the win after hitting a big boot followed by getting Alexa to submit to the Figure 8. Even though it went longer than I thought I would, this was a really good match.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (3 for 6)

Our penultimate match is the Universal Champion Brock Lesnar facing the WWE Champion AJ Styles. Lesnar goes at Styles at a fast pace, going to hit a variety of suplexes during the match. Lesnar misses a knee strike, giving Styles to fight back, coming close after a 450 splash and a Phenomenal Forearm. When Styles goes for another forearm, Lesnar catches him in mid air and hits the F5 to get the win. This match was really good and it was quite possibly Lesnar's best match in years. It just goes to show how good Styles is right now and makes me wish that he was in WWE a few years earlier.
Winner: Brock Lesnar (4 for 7)

The main event is another Survivor Series Elimination Match with the team of Kurt Angle, Triple H, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Braun Strowman from RAW taking on the team of Shane McMahon, Bobby Roode, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena from Smackdown. Strowman eliminates Nakamura then Roode with running powerslam to give his team a 2 man advantage. Cena eliminates Joe with an AA but he gets eliminated after 2 Olympic Slams by Angle. Orton then eliminates Balor with a RKO. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens come down and attack Shane, who fights back with a chair. In the chaos, Orton gets eliminated after another running powerslam by Strowman, leaving Shane to take on Angle, Triple H and Strowman. Angle puts Shane in the anklelock but Triple H stops it and Pedigrees Angle. He then puts Shane over him and Angle gets eliminated. Triple H checks on Shane while Strowman, me and the vast majority of the crowd is wondering what the fuck is going on and then suddenly, Triple H Pedigrees Shane and Team RAW get the win. Afterwards, Strowman beats up Triple H.

This match for most of it was pretty good and we got to see cool matchups such as Triple H fighting Roode and Balor fighting Nakamura. Then the ending just went off the fucking rails. It involved 3 part timers, one of them isn't technically a wrestler. Then Triple H doing what he did confused me and made no sense at the time plus did Triple H really needed to get the winning pinfall? I assume it was to build an Angle/HHH match and cement Strowman's face turn. However, I suspect that there was a better way to do that. Anyway, well done to RAW for winning the event 4 matches to 3, if you give more of a fuck about that than I do.
Winners: Triple H and Braun Strowman (5 for 8)

Up until the main event, I was enjoying Survivor Series with some really good matches. Unfortunately, the main event really spoiled it for me. Whilst it's nowehere near the level of what Hulk Hogan has done, some of the creative involving Triple H over the years has made no sense and at times, been total bullshit. I feel that the ending of the show is an example of that. WWE had a chance to big up a wrestler. Instead, we got unnecessary nostalgia and a nonsenscial ending with Strowman's face turn seemingly an afterthought. Hopefully, Clash of Champions will not have any of this although I'm not holding my breath.