I attended the RAW/SmackDown double-header in Chicago last year. It was fun, if not a little revealing of how taxing the WWE live experience can be when a brand isn’t clicking. SmackDown was awesome, while the RAW show was ROUGH.
This year I did not attend – I’ve got a kid on the way, for godssakes! Plus, Monday was Christmas Time with the family. Tuesday, my wife was working a night shift, but… well. SmackDown sucks.
RAW (12/25/17)
This was very much a “UK Tour”-ish edition of RAW, but still a lot of fun as this brand is clicking. Fun squashes that moved stories forward, a great double-header of main events, and CENA VS. ELIAS!?
The Cena/Elias opening promo was the good stuff, as it featured MERRY CHRIST-MAS chants and Elias saying that WWE actually stands for Walk With Elias. How do you throw that line away on a Christmas RAW!? That’s Road to WrestleMania stuff. Liked Elias’ ad lib against the Punk chants and him shushing Cena too. You can tell Elias is impressing all the right people and it made the promo a blast to watch.
The match between the two meanwhile was solid. I love a wrestling match where the heel takes out the face pre-match. The Low Ki double foot stomp is a good spot for Elias to use but he seemed scared to hurt Big John. As always, the sit-out powerbomb was impressive. It dragged a bit with the No Commercials gimmick and Ring Rust John, but it was fun to watch Elias doing his thing with The Man
KENTA vs. Spanky, a 2004 dream match in 2017! Kendrick is a puro mark and I was HERE for this, but why is guy whining for respect (Itami) taking on heel Kendrick? They had a decent enough match but Itami again hasn’t done anything to make anybody flip out. The GTS in Chicago was cool though, even if it broke Kendrick’s face. Had a laugh at Michael Cole saying Itami made a name for himself in “Japan’s sports entertainment scene” too.
The Sasha/Mickie/Bayley vs. Absolution match was another RAW women’s match that was OK enough but had something missing. Bayley and Sasha aren’t the over superstars you want them to be and it’s going to be interesting to watch Mandy and Deville develop but it’s not like they’re ring warriors right now. Insane clothesline by Deville though, yup.
Vince McMahon made Renee Young work RAW on Christmas, then approved a promo with Samoa Joe being a dick to her about leaving her injured husband at Christmas. Amazing.
I can’t hate on Kane vs. Heath Slater – great way to get Kane on TV and push him en route to the weird Royal Rumble match, great way to keep building on the Heath Slater and Rhyno angle that makes the RAW midcard interesting. Rhyno and Kane working a heated angle to close out 2017 is awesome.
Still not buying Corey Graves’ hard-selling of this Triple Threat Match.
Finn Balor vs. Curt Hawkins was a Finn Balor squash and that is fine. Great wild dropkick bump by Hawkins.
Superficial presents and PAGAN RITUALS, says Bray Wyatt on Christmas. WWE truly has something for everybody. Despite his shit year, I do like it how they have kind of made it a big deal any time Wyatt does appear in a ring. The Woken Matt Hardy gear finally appearing in WWE felt kind of special too. I guess Vinnie Mac likes the Matt Hardy laughing, huh? Oooo boy.
Good bit with Cesaro & Sheamus in the locker room and the Dean/Seth/Jordan action figures.
Good bits with the Miz-mas Carols.
Is anyone else impressed that Enzo Amore’s pose on the entrance ramp is him basically creating his own Michael Jordan-esque silhouette for himself? No? Just me? OK.
The Miracle on 34th Street Fight 6-man was a fun bullshit match, and to be honest the most interesting cruiserweight match in months. The spots were fun but between the elf costumes and candy canes they had some actual character to them. Ali doing a somersault plancha over the Tozawa tope was AWESOME, too.
The Enzo and Nia Jax romance thing is OVER, even if the acting got a little porn-y towards the end there. Great timing on the run-in by Alexa.
“If you hurt one of my brothers, I WILL hurt you” – Roman Reigns
Reigns vs. Samoa Joe was ANOTHER great Roman Reigns TV match and like his fourth great match with Samoa Joe this year. God bless the chemistry these two have. There is just so much goodness any time they lock-up – Reigns’ intensity and selling, Joe’s shit-talking and ass-kicking and glaring and sweating, a strong atmosphere with heat from start to finish. These crazy fellas busted out a sunset flip here!! Loved the sequence where Reigns hit a sudden Superman punch for a near fall and gave an amazing reaction of disbelief, only to be followed by Joe countering a spear into a uranage for a near fall and his own amazing reaction of disbelief. The Kokina Clutch struggle was the good stuff too. DQ was the right finish here as Joe is on a serious ascent as The Shield Destroyer and Roman is Roman. With a few more minutes and a proper finish this is a legitimate epic, as it was it was still must-watch awesome stuff.
Roman destroying Joe for revenge on Dean is good stuff too. Referee John Cone deserves a belated Christmas gift from Joe for saving him from more chairshots.
Between Seth Rollins’ confidence and Jason Jordan’s shit-eating grin as he said he made a great replacement for Ambrose, I dug the Rollins and Jason Jordan locker room promo.
BRAUUUUUNNNNN destroying The Miztourage as payoff to the show-long Miz-mas Carols is FUCKING AWESOME. Bo’s clothesline bump was incredible. As was the “I hope Curtis Axel didn’t throw out that neckbrace” line.
Alexa Bliss and Asuka did a thing. OK.
The Rollins/Jordan vs. Cesaro/Sheamus main event was fun. Thought it was laid out really well… you can tell when THE MACHINE is into something when all the matches are laid out with extra care. First there was Braun, now there is Jason.
The action early was built around Jordan taking down Sheamus and Rollins flying around, which is sticking to guys strengths. Then The Bar started beating on Seth and it was all gritty and effective. I liked Cesaro’s choice as Seth tried to escape the chinlock to pull his arms back and whip him into the corner – real simple cool tag wrestling stuff that there should be a lot more of. Jordan not waiting for the hot tag and just spearing Sheamus was very very cool, and it was followed by a classic JASON JORDAN HOT TAG~! A feel good finish to RAW in 2017.
Fun Fact: Jason Jordan won the SmackDown and RAW Tag Team Titles on the last SmackDown of 2016 and the last RAW of 2017, both in his hometown of Chicago.
SMACKDOWN (12/26/17)
Ugh. An OK show. I don’t know.
The opening promo with Dan Bryan and all the tag teams was a loose-feeling promo on SmackDown for once, with Chicago doing their best to make Rusev a superstar. RU-SEV chants as Bryan discussed the US Title Tournament! RUSEV DAY chants during the Gable promo! RUSEV DAY chants during the Rusev promo! Bryan moving his hips with The New Day and Rusev calling Shane McMahon Daniel Bryan’s Mommy were other highlights.
Until they do something serious (pancakes? pancakes now? really?) or just work The Usos again, I am not down (since day one-ish) with The New Day.
The 3-way tag was pretty great, though first half was just a bunch of STUFF. Rusev being over was cool, but guys just kind of traded spots and Chicago again did not seem into the time-killing during a commercial-free opening match. However, as these guys tend to do, they built to a hell of a crescendo: Gable’s double German suplex, HOT TAG RUSEV, a Chaos Theory by Gable on Rusev, the New Day corner uranage into a backstabber, Shelton catching Woods with a nasty knee to set up the Gable moonsault near fall, and Woods’ selling ALLLLL made this thing bounce. And the last few minutes were based all around the Rusev win tease, which is just fantastic. Everybody came out of this looking better… New Day again showed their tag skills, Gable again impressed, and Shelton as guy who peppers spots in in multi-man matches is the ROLE. Oh and RUSEV DAY!!!!
Breezango vs. Bludgeon Brothers was a squash BRAWL and I was into it. The Ascension actually getting an angle is pretty inspiring stuff. We must prepare ourselves for Ascension vs. Bludgeon Brothers at WWE Fastlane 2018.
Ruby Riott vs. Naomi was just a nothing angle of a match where nobody really got over. Riott Squad, Natalya & whoever defending the honor of SmackDown (like 2 weeks after she basically walked out on SmackDown), Charlotte Flair… none of this is really clicking. And they ended it by setting up a perfect Becky Lynch run-in that did not happen.
I love the idea of a US Title Tournament, as it’s a great way to re-establish a midcard … aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Baron Corbin vs. Robby Roode.
Talking Smack earlier in the year made Baron Corbin seem like a future star – now all he has are the wrestling matches and I’m over it. This match was competent enough but lifeless. It did have some pretty awesome counters towards the end though that wrapped it up well… liked the finish with the End of Days Counter > Corbin going under the ropes and setting up the corner clothesline > Roode catching Corbin with a spinebuster > Glorious DDT setup countered with Deep Six > superplex setup leading to a cradle finish. Nice.
Jinder Mahal going after the U.S. Title, WWE Champ AJ Styles and Kevin Owens main eventing… this is what should have been happening in May 2017, not December.
If Jinder vs. Tye Dillinger happened 6 months ago in a U.S. Title Tournament, it might have been something. As it was, it was OK but – again – lifeless. Cool gutbuster by Jinder though.
Nakamura: LET’S RUMBLE
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens can be added to the list of disappointing AJ/Owens matches this year. These guys had one epic, back in March 2016. After that… yeesh. AJ’s dropkick, crazy bump outside, and back body drop, as well as Zayn being a turd on the outside were highlights. But… Chinlocks. Lots of chinlocks. And chinlocks aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but they are when everything around them ain’t great. Welp. A fitting end to SmackDown in 2017.
205 LIVE (12/26/17)
Hey it’s 205 Live whatever
The fire is just missing from Hideo Itami and it is all very sad. It’s also weird because he is still doing his RESPECT MEEEE shtick but working other one-note heels like Kendrick and Gallagher. Itami vs. Jack was a match. There were some decent beats and these guys conceivably could have good chemistry, but overall not much here. Jack doing a Captain’s Hook was a nice touch. Pretty sweet punch to the face by Itami towards the end. I WANT TO LOVE YOU HIDEO PLEASE SUCCEED.
Tony Nese vs. Tozawa was a match where they showed a little more intensity than normal but the steam-killer that is 205 Live strikes again. I’m spoiled though – Tozawa’s tope is still one of the top 10 cool things in the world.
The Mustafa Ali/Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari match was pretty standard stuff, though it was carried by the A-LI chants in Chicago which was very cool. Last year in Chicago he got a solid pop and worked that creepy Mr. 450 dude who got hurt. This year he’s main eventing his show and getting chants. In WWE, we must accept whatever progress there is sometimes.
NXT (12/27/17)
A strong NXT to close the year, with two solid matches, one great match, and a sweet debut. NXT has been stacking these shows and actually seems to be back to telling stories again and it is very good.
Street Profits vs. Kris Starr & nWo JBL was another solid Profits squash. These guys are the new Enzo & Big Cass and I mean that as the highest compliment. Liked the promo in the crowd aesthetic. Love Montez Ford.
Ember Moon vs. Sonya Deville lost some steam towards the end but was very solid wrestling. Deville still feels like she’s play fighting a bit but the early stuff was the best example yet of what she could be. Nice speed by Moon on some of those counters too.
The SHAYNA BASZLER (re)-debut attacking and choking out Kairi Sane was AWESOME. She looked like a stone cold killer. Tremendous.
Johnny Gargano vs. Killian Dain vs. Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan was like the Summerslam 4-Way Jr. and that is very high praise. Lots of chaos all while they actually told a story. Lars catching Black’s moonsault outside, Killian Dain’s tope, Lars launching Johnny off the stage, Dain’s flying splash through the commentary table = CHAOS!!! And then Johnny and Black tore it up – the slingshot spear countered with the kick was awesome. And then Lars and Dain had a MONSTER SHOWDOWN and it was great. And then Undisputed Era interfered and Gargano eventually WON which got an absolutely MASSIVE POP. Great stuff. Johnny getting THE PUSH is awesome, and he and Almas are 2/2 for great matches so I am very excited for what they have in store for TakeOver.
MAIN EVENT (12/27/17)
There were actually two matches I’d call a Main Event Match Worth Watching this week. I think somebody lit a fire under Tony Nese’s ass because he again showed a lot of intensity here as he wrestled Kalisto. These guys kind of went balls out for 5 minutes – it wasn’t anything you haven’t seen before but it was pretty dang fun. The other match was The Revival vs. Titus & Apollo and it was a 5-minute Revival tag which is better than most stuff. Why isn’t Tozawa with Titus Worldwide anymore though?
WWE TV Match of the Week: Loved the NXT 4-Way, but Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe was another completely excellent Roman Reigns TV match to end the year.
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Samoa Joe has an aura right now that I hope they can keep up. Great match with Reigns, and the Shield Destroyer gimmick is very nice.
This was a solid week of WWE TV… nothing crazy happened as WrestleMania’s Road is just beginning to be paved, but the Christmas-time shows felt looser than normal and I had a good time.
RAW: 7/10
SmackDown: 5/10
205 Live: 4/10
NXT: 7/10
