What even goes on here anymore?
WWE is headed towards the 36th-annual Survivor Series, a tradition that in my younger years felt important. On the way there, Big E had a good match with Chad Gable and Roman Reigns did the same with Xavier Woods. There was also an edition of Tribute to the Troops aired over the weekend that felt so inconsequential I can’t in good faith include it anywhere else below.
WWE TV Recap (11/7/21 – 11/13/21)
Highlights:
- Big E vs. Chad Gable (RAW 11/8/21)
- Fatal 5-Way Match – Winner Earns a RAW Women’s Title Shot: Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan vs. Queen Zelina vs. Carmella (RAW 11/8/21)
- Sarray vs. Kay Lee Ray (NXT 11/9/21)
- Pete Dunne vs. Carmelo Hayes (NXT 11/9/21)
- Mark Andrews vs. Nathan Frazer (NXT UK 11/11/21)
- Sami Zayn practices his Survivor Series speech (SmackDown 11/12/21)
- King Woods vs. Roman Reigns (SmackDown 11/12/21)
Stuff Happening: Survivor Series, #1 Contender Liv Morgan, NXT 2.0, #1 Contenders Moustache Mountain, Aliyah Wins and Shanky Raps, The Bloodline vs. The New Day
Good Work: Big E, Bobby Lashley, Chad Gable, Kevin Owens, Andre Chase, Mandy Rose, Carmelo Hayes, Nathan Frazer, Sami Zayn, King Woods
RAW (11/8/21)
Big E and Becky Lynch maintain RAW now, two wrestlers both popular with fans and not entirely repetitive — yet. Yet.
- Big E vs. Chad Gable And His Master’s Degree rocked, with Big E a very giving champion taking a belly-to-belly and German suplex and treating Gable’s leg work like it was dangerous. Best match with a WWE Champ in the middle of RAW in a while.
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The Fatal 5-Way for a shot at Becky Lynch kind of rocked too, even if Liv Morgan deserved a more interesting path to a title shot and Bianca Belair is moving onto the Doudrop.
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The 24/7 Championship switched a few times, and Team RAW for Survivor Series probably will too. Adam Pearce (now bad) kicked Rey Mysterio‘s son off of Survivor Series by way of bad guy Bobby Lashley, all while Austin Theory took more selfies. This is a heel territory.
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There was also an 8-man tag team division tag team match: RK-Bro & Street Profits vs. AJ, Omos & The Dirty Dawgs.
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The Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins main event was a very OK Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins match. You can always tell when a guy is on his way out when they start to actually utilize him.
NXT (11/9/21)
There’s introducing characters and then there’s just more off-putting weirdo wrestling.
- Facepaint Boa beat Joe Gacy and used magic, Young Uso Solo Sikoa got showcased in a Triple Threat, Andre Chase continued to nail promos, Duke Hudson and Cameron Grimes agreed to a Poker game, Tony D’Angelo gave Indi Hartwell a dead fish, and Xyon Quinn danced with Elektra Lopez. NXT 2.0 is either still finding its’ voice or there are way too many voices.
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The Creed Brothers vs. Jacket Time was fun (with the exception of the name), MSK got another vignette, and Imperium bullied full-on dorknerd Kyle O’Reilly too.
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The women’s division is in possession of Toxic Attraction now, feuding with four or five different people who are also kind of feuding with each other. It’s like JCP in 1986 but not.
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Kay Lee Ray vs. Sarray was pretty fun, as was the Pete Dunne vs. Carmelo Hayes main event. Nice throwbacks to The Game’s NXT.
MAIN EVENT (11/10/21)
- Austin Theory vs. Akira Tozawa was kind of a drag, even if Theory sort of got himself over.
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John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin was also here on Main Event.
NXT UK (11/11/21)
There’s some weeks of NXT UK where it seems like only a few of the lads will make it. Sam Gradwell, Nathan Frazer, Noam Dar, and very possibly every woman on the roster probably make it, but everyone else feels in need of re-invention if there is to ever be a serious WWE run.
- Nathan Frazer vs. Mark Andrews was a very fun exchange of high-flying between an up-and-comer and guy that feels on his way down but is only twenty-nine years old.
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Sam Gradwell says: Thunderstorms don’t make plans, they change plans.
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Other than Dani Luna over Stevie Turner and a lot of “Earlier This Week” setups, the main event was a Fatal 4-Way #1 Contender NXT UK Tag Team Title match – bit of a mouthful. It wasn’t much more than the last Fatal 4-Way #1 Contender Match, but Moustache Mountain and Dave Mastiff and some other fellas nailed the landing of a show that opened and closed pretty strong.
SMACKDOWN (11/12/21)
Despite a quality main event, this felt like a bad version of a SmackDown 2.0. Nearly every segment had a new character developed, but the tone was more upsetting than anything.
- Team SmackDown at Survivor Series got introduced with a Sasha Banks/Naomi/Aliyah vs. Shotzi/Shayna Baszler/Natalya match that Aliyah actually won, only to be immediately removed from Team SmackDown. It’s sports and entertainment, you see?
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Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo completed their inevitable transformation into easy stereotype that makes sense to McMahon: say hello to Los Lotharios, who defeated Rick Boogs and the Intercontinental Champion.
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Ricochet and Mustafa Ali consoled Aliyah, Von Wagner was introduced as Adam Pearce‘s bodyguard, and Toni Storm challenged Charlotte Flair.
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Also Sami Zayn talked his way into losing his Survivor Series spot to Jeff Hardy. Great promo prior.
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Roman Reigns vs. King Woods was a reminder that wrestling can be good sometimes, with Reigns nearly as giving to Woods as Big E was to Gable on RAW. Woods’ superkick near falls and setup for the elbow drop at the end were especially choice.
205 LIVE (11/12/21)
It’s about gimmicks.
- Andre Chase working in a sweater vs. Malik Blade – good gimmick.
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Indi Hartwell all smug with her wedding ring flanked by her friend Persia who is raising her hands like she did something – good gimmick.
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Roderick Strong backed up by 27 people in Diamond Mine to beat the debuting Draco Anthony with a jumping knee – good gimmick.
