In week 3,439 of a TV run where any ambition left seems not on actual TV, WWE presented a week of shows sprinkled with some effort. There were promos, ladders, and promotion began for the 1/1 Day One PPV, which has a card so loaded it feels like a season premiere or maybe even a WWE show in Saudi Arabia.
WWE TV Recap (11/28 – 12/1/21)
Highlights:
– Becky Lynch/Liv Morgan RAW Women’s Title Contract Signing (RAW 11/29/21)
– Edge returns and is interrupted by The Miz & Maryse (RAW 11/29/21)
– WarGames Advantage Ladder Match: Kay Lee Ray vs. Dakota Kai (NXT 11/30/21)
– WarGames Advantage Ladder Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Bron Breakker (NXT 11/30/21)
– Sami Zayn has words with Brock Lesnar (SmackDown 12/3/21)
– Sasha Banks vs. Shayna Baszler (SmackDown 11/3/21)
– Toni Storm pies Charlotte Flair (SmackDown 11/3/21)
– Cesaro vs. Sheamus (SmackDown 11/3/21)
Stuff Happening: Road to Day One, Big E/Rollins/Owens, Balor Kills Time, 2 NXT WarGames 2.0’s and 2 NXT UK Title Defenses, Returns by Edge, Miz, Maryse, Kofi and Brock
Good Work: Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan, Edge, The Miz, Kay Lee Ray, Dakota Kai, Kyle O’Reilly, Solo Sikoa, Johnny Gargano, Bron Breakker, Sami Zayn, Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Charlotte Flair
RAW (11/29/21)
RAW’s such a busted institution that even its’ most weighty episode in a while had trouble finding meaning, but the direction for both it and its’ blue brother SmackDown this week felt like it was to have Something Going On at all times and each reaped rewards.
- Austin Theory hung out in Mr. McMahon’s office all night receiving something resembling advice, while Finn Balor opened the show with a good TV match that he lost to Seth Rollins. Different roads, etc. and so forth.
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Hey, Edge is back. And so is The Miz! And Maryse. Look at that. Crowd was listening. Crowd was into it.
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From Liv Morgan blaming Becky Lynch for getting her friends fired to calling Becky a crybaby for… crying, the tone of the RAW Women’s Title contract signing promo was a little jumbled. Once it got down to a go-home babyface promo from Liv though it connected.
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I do wish the 10-women tag it setup for later in the night had more going for it.
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AJ Styles is playing blind now and Riddle put a blonde wig on Randy Orton. There was a random Tag Team Titles defense too. Something! Going! On!
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Dad & Son Mysterio tagged against Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander, Bobby Lashley got a video package, and Alpha Academy wrestled Street Profits.
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In the evening’s main event, Kevin Owens added himself to Seth Rollins‘ WWE Title challenge at Day One by defeating Big E by way of DQ by way of interference from Rollins himself, who did commentary. It was a convoluted but tolerable way to get to a Triple Threat title match that is the same.
NXT (11/30/21)
The kind of show that NXT used to do where it opens and closes with a Ladder Match for an advantage in WarGames. It’s all a little silly, but at least the wrestling was good. I credit the wrestlers.
- Bron Breakker boldly approached his first ladder match bumps like there would be something to break his fall in the main event. The spot where he ran through Johnny Gargano‘s clothesline and immediately followed through with a powerslam was just sensational work by everyone involved too.
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Meanwhile, Kay Lee Ray and Dakota Kai have been prepared to be big superstar wrestlers for like a year now. In the opening ladder match and with maybe 10 minutes on air, they made sure to get all the good stuff in that they could.
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The NXT 2.0 squad in the men’s WarGame have a lukewarm ECW New Breed vibe while the entire women’s WarGame just feels poorly plotted out. Cue the sirens.
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Also scheduled for Sunday’s NXT Not TakeOver: WarGames show, Cameron Grimes has a Hair Match with poker guy Duke Hudson. PC Principal/budget S.E.S. guy Joe Gacy challenges for the Cruiserweight Title. And Von Wagner and friend challenge for Imperium‘s NXT Tag Titles after a win over Legado del Fantasma. Actually, it was a pretty good match. Kyle O’Reilly is good at this.
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Besides WarGames, Edris Enofe got a “debuts tonight” hype video before losing to Solo Sikoa in a few minutes. Tiffany Stratton and Draco Anthony received vignettes as well, with their surely odd introductions to follow. Elektra Lopez and Xyon Quinn created some sexual chemistry again too. 2.0!
MAIN EVENT (12/1/21)
- Reggie began a life free of the stress and obligations of being 24/7 Champion by having a match with R-Truth on Main Event.
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In the second match, T-BAR wrestled Tozawa and I will tell you this: he caught a dive through the ropes with a boot to the face. Waaaoww! The rating below is for that alone.
NXT UK (12/2/21)
Like clockwork, NXT UK is uploaded at the same time on Peacock every single week. It really is something.
- If you had not heard (and it is likely you did not), two NXT UK championships were on the line this week. In the opener, Xia Brookside mostly threw kicks in her pursuit for the NXT UK Women’s Title but eventually Meiko Satomura wrapped it up.
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Wild guy Saxon Huxley beat Kenny Williams with the assist from Subculture’s theme song (and screen effect?!).
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Charlie Dempsey and Teoman starred in I guess a short film where Teoman accepted Charlie into the family, as if Charlie isn’t already from a premium family.
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In the main event, Ilja Dragunov and Rampage Brown had a match approaching good physical main event before an enzuigiri by Dragunov might have legitimately KO’d Brown. If it didn’t, it was just an awkward choice of finish.
SMACKDOWN (12/3/21)
Granted support to pack the show a little, SmackDown felt more prepared than RAW.
- The Brock Lesnar/Sami Zayn exchanges, the Sasha Banks/Shayna Baszler opening match… in lieu of a big match or program, these things were pretty swell. Sasha couldn’t put Shayna down with a Bank Statement, did a great exaggerated sell of her knee smash, and had to settle for a rollup to win — good TV!
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Kofi Kingston returned and stood ringside as King Woods wrestled Jey Uso for a few minutes before disqualification. The Usos and The New Day should main event a pay-per-view one day.
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I can deal with a Cesaro vs. Sheamus Match, even a pocket-sized one. That Cesaro lariat!
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Even the Toni Storm/Charlotte Flair angle was great, with Toni getting actual visible on-screen revenge and pieing Flair in the face. The pie jokes can stop now though.
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Drew McIntyre interrupted Happy Time and danced with Jeff Hardy, though he also threatened Sonya Deville with a sword. I thought this was Damian Priest’s gimmick.
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The Brock/Sami promos were a lot better than what they laid the groundwork for, as a breezy show closed with Brock F5’ing Sami into dust before Sami’s challenge for the Universal Title that amounted to a Roman Reigns spear and 1-2-3. Maybe there is an angle here beyond another Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns match at Day One, or maybe there isn’t.
205 LIVE (12/3/21)
Friday Night Diamond Mine was OK.
- Erica Yan almost scored an upset over Ivy Nile, or at least Vic Joseph thought she did.
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Draco Anthony probably needs a little more to stand out than what his vignette offered, and his actions in-ring only showed him quickly losing to Boa (who might as well be called The Great Boa).
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Malcolm Bivens stood by as his Creed Brothers screamed a quick promo before an extended squash against poor Jacket Time.
