WWE's 3rd propaganda trip to Saudi Arabia, Super ShowDown, took place on Friday 7th June at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Some of the card looks quite decent in an event that WWE are saying will be the equivalent of Wrestlemania (fuck's sake..). Anyway, let's get through this.
The match on the Kick Off Show was between The Usos and The Revival. The Usos completely dominate Wilder and Dawson before they do a blind tag to help them take down Jimmy Uso. After a few minutes, Jimmy hits Wilder with a enziguri and he gets to tag in Jey Uso. In the end, The Usos hit a double superkick to Wilder to get the win. The match was ok but I thought it was a bit short.
Winner: The Usos (1 for 1)
The first match on the show is for the Universal Championship as Baron Corbin challenges Seth Rollins. Corbin focuses his attack on Rollins' ribs, that Lesnar fucked up on the previous RAW. Rollins hits a couple of suicide dives to get back the advantage. During the match, Corbin keeps intimidating the referee John Cone. Eventually the referee starts shouting back at him. This gives Rollins the chance to roll up Corbin to get the win. Corbin doesn't take the loss well and hits Rollins with an End of Days. Then Lesnar, who decided not to cash in after fucking up Rollins a few days ago, comes down to attempt to cash in. Unfortunately, Rollins hits him with a low blow and then proceeds to beat him up with a steel chair and then hit him with a Curb Stomp. The match was pretty decent.
Winner: Seth Rollins (2 for 2)
The next match is for the Intercontinental Championship as Andrade challenges Demon Balor. Andrade goes for the Hammerlock DDT early on but Balor stops it. Andrade gets the momentum after hitting a missile dropkick followed by 3 suplexes. Balor hits a dropkick of his own to start a comeback. Andrade goes on to hit the Hammerlock DDT but it only gets 2. In the end, Balor manages to hit the Coup de Grace to get the win. I thought that the match was quite good.
Winner: Finn Balor (2 for 3)
Next is Roman Reigns taking on "The Best in the World" Shane McMahon along with Drew McIntyre. McMahon goes after Reigns as soon as the bell rings and McIntyre helps out with a few cheap shots at every opportunity. McMahon goes to grind down Reigns with a chokehold and later on, applies a triangle choke. Reigns manages to deal with McIntyre trying to interfere then hits a Superman punch, sending McMahon flying off the top rope and that gets 2. Shane accidentally knocks into the referee, giving McIntyre the chance to take out Reigns with a Claymore Kick. Shane then pins Reigns and gets the win. Fuck's sake. The match was ok but I feel sorry for Reigns. I'm glad that he wasn't thrust into the WWE Championship picture when he moved to Smackdown but I would rather have that than have him lose to a guy who isn't trained to be a wrestler and looks exhausted seconds into a match.
Winner: Shane McMahon (3 for 4)
The next match is Lars Sullivan taking on The Lucha House Party. Sullivan is dominant throughout the match. When Sullivan goes to the top rope, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik get him off and gang up on him. That, somehow, is enough for the referee to disqualify them ending the match. After the bell rings, they continue their assault then try to leave. However, Sullivan quickly recovers and beats them up on the entrance ramp. This match was shit and completely pointless plus the ending was nonsensical.
Winner: Lars Sullivan (3 for 5)
We now get the revival of a rivalry as Triple H takes on Randy Orton for the first time in singles competition since Wrestlemania XXV. Early on, both guys try to hit their finishers. Orton accdientally hurts his arm, hitting it against the ring post. This gives the opportunity for Triple H to focus on it. However, Orton suplexes Triple H onto the announce table to get the advantage. Later in the match, Triple H hits a spine buster then applies a crossface, forcing Orton to get to the ropes. Triple H goes for the Pedigree but Orton powers out of it and hits a RKO for 2. Triple H eventually manages to hit the Pedigree but it only gets 2. After slamming Orton numerous times onto the announce table, Triple H rolls him back into the ring. However, when he follows him, Orton hits a RKO to get the win. I thought the match was pretty good but it felt that was too long.
Winner: Randy Orton (3 for 6)
Next is Bobby Lashley taking on Braun Strowman. Both guys show their strength and Lashley hits a powerslam for 2. The match goes back and forth and it goes to the outside When they go back into the ring, Lashley goes to the top rope but Strowman throws him off then hits a running powerslam to get the win. The match was ok, nothing special.
Winner: Braun Strowman (4 for 7)
We now get the WWE Championship as Dolph Ziggler challenges Kofi Kingston. Kofi misses an avalanche splash and Ziggler hits a dropkick to get the momentum. Kofi powers out of a chinlock and sends Ziggler into the turnbuckle to start a comeback. After some pinning attempts, Kofi hits a SOS for 2. The match goes to the outside and Ziggler hits Xavier Woods with a super kick when he goes to check on Kofi. When the match goes back into the ring, Woods retaliates with a kick when the referee wasn't looking. Kofi then hits Trouble in Paradise to get the win. Afterwards, Ziggler challenges Kofi to a steel cage match. I thought the match was actually quite good between the two.
Winner: Kofi Kingston (5 for 8)
The penultimate match is a 50-Man Battle Royal. Takng part were: Akam, Akira Tozawa, Ali, Apollo Crews, The Brian Kendrick, Buddy Murphy, Cedric Alexander, Cesaro, Chad Gable, Curt Hawkins, Curtis Axel, Dash Wilder, Drew Gulak, EC3, Eric Young, Erik, Heath Slater, Humberto Carrillo, Ivar, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Jinder Mahal, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Mansoor, Matt Hardy, Mike Kanellis, Mojo Rawley, No Way Jose, Oney Lorcan, Otis, Rezar, Ricochet, Robert Roode, Rowan, Rusev, Samir Singh, Samoa Joe, Scott Dawson, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sin Cara Version 2, Sunil Singh, Hollywood Miz, Titus O'Neil, Tony Nese, Tucker, Xavier Woods and Zack Ryder. A lot of people are eliminated early on such as the Singhs and Eric Young. Titus O'Neil eliminates both of the Viking Raiders but he gets eliminated by Shelton Benjamin. The final 6 end up being: Ali, Cesaro, Elias, Mansoor, Ricochet and Samoa Joe. Ali and Ricochet team up to eliminate Joe but Cesaro eliminates them almost immediately. Mansoor eliminates Cesaro then Elias to get the win...? Er, what? Nothing against Mansoor but he's only just started being on NXT TV and he seems pretty good. I suppose he got booked to win as he's from Saudi Arabia. As for the match, it was a mess to begin with as it was hard to see what was happening. As it went on, it became a decent match.
Winner: Mansoor (N/A)
The main event is Goldberg taking on The Undertaker for the first time. Goldberg spears Undertaker twice but it only gets a 2 count. When Goldberg goes for a spear in the corner, he misses and busts his head open hitting the ring post. Undertaker takes adavantage and he goes on to hit a poorly executed chokeslam followed by a Tombstone Piledriver, in which Goldberg lands on his head, but Goldberg kicks out. Goldberg tries to hit the Jackahmmer but it's botched and Undertaker lands on his head. In the end, Undertaker hits another poorly executed chokeslam to get the win. Well, that match didn't go well. There were moves that looked poorly executed and moves that threatened the safety of the wrestlers. These are wrestlers in their 50s who rarely wrestle and hopefully this will be the last time they face each other.
Winner: Undertaker (6 for 9)
Super ShowDown wasn't great. There were a couple of good matches but they were some that weren't great and the main event was a disaster. I don't think wrestling in temperatures of about 37 degrees Celsius helped. WWE need to stop pandering to nostalgia and keep faith with their current Superstars then hopefully, with some better writing, the show will improve.
No comments:
Post a Comment