As we head to the end of the year, the past week of WWE TV continued a theme of reading a very specific set of metrics instead of the room. Liv Morgan got booed for standing up to Becky Lynch, Johnny Gargano‘s NXT run was ended by Grayson Waller, and we’re on the way to Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar again. Let’s… do it…
WWE TV Recap (12/12 – 12/18/21)
Highlights:
– Riddle w/ Randy Orton vs. Otis w/ Chad Gable (RAW 12/13/21)
– Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop (RAW 12/13/21)
– Maryse endorses The Miz for the WWE Hall of Fame (RAW 12/13/21)
– No Holds Barred: Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson (NXT 12/14/21)
– MSK meet with Shaman Riddle again (NXT 12/14/21)
– Bron Breakker vs. Roderick Strong w/ Diamond Mine (NXT 12/14/21)
– NXT UK Heritage Cup #1 Contender’s Match: A-Kid vs. Nathan Frazer (NXT UK 12/16/21)
– The New Day vs. The Usos (SmackDown 12/17/21)
Stuff Happening: Day One’s Growing WWE Title Match, Edge Lectures The Miz, NXT Post-Gargano, Harland Wrestles, Regal’s Kid Beats Joe Coffey, Brock Attacks Bloodline
Good Work: Bobby Lashley, Maryse, Bianca Belair, Pete Dunne, Roderick Strong, A-Kid, Nathan Frazer, The New Day
RAW (12/13/21)
On a Monday night that announced WWE’s latest NIL program signings and aired a 7th week of Veer Mahaan vignettes, there were three Bobby Lashley matches. I love Bobby, but not 3-match Bobby.
- Riddle vs. Otis and Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop were a pair of pretty outstanding TV matches to open the show though, both telling the strength vs. size story and delivering a few classic pops. “Otis is down!”
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Austin Theory cost Finn Balor & Damian Priest a match against the Dirty Dawgs, while Rhea Ripley gave Nikki ASH a pep talk before losing in a minute to Queen Zelina. These are called STORIES.
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RAW On-Screen Pairing Updates: Theory had more awkward chats with Mr. McMahon, AJ Styles & Omos reunited, and Reggie sort of adorably offered Dana Brooke advice on being 24/7 Champion.
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The MizTV and Edge promo was a little repetitive and try-hard, though it had its’ moments including Maryse‘s incredible command of the crowd at the start.
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Becky Lynch attacking Liv Morgan a little repetitive and try-hard too, though it didn’t have moments or Maryse. Morgan delivers her lines confidently, but the lines and situation are so bad that the confidence ends up just co-signing the bad thing.
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Bobby Lashley’s 3-Match Odyssey: squashed Kevin Owens, 2 minutes and an easy out with Seth Rollins, and the working boots came on for Big E.
NXT (12/14/21)
NXT 2.0 is taking so many swings it can be hard to follow, though you’ve got to appreciate the swings. The week was really about NXT’s 3 Musketeers: Bron Breakker, Grayson Waller, and Harland.
- Harland (with Joe Gacy) made his in-ring debut, an occasion that celebrity Westside Gunn sat in the crowd for and agent Brian Kendrick took a bump down stairs for. It felt dominant.
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Grayson Waller‘s attack on Johnny Gargano last week was re-enforced all show with a heated arrival, Io Shirai yelling at him, and setup for a freaking LA Knight grudge match.
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“He’s not even verified on Twitter” – Vic Joseph on Grayson Waller
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In the opener, Cameron Grimes and Duke Hudson No Holds Barred absolutely smoked their Hair vs. Hair match at WarGames too. They actually got to use gimmicks and take bumps and the good guy’s win actually felt like a triumph.
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Elsewhere, the tonal inconsistency continued. Diamond Mine’s Ivy Nile beat Amari Miller, Jacket Time went on Lashing Out, and Briggs & Jensen went out with Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro. MSK met Shaman Riddle again too and it isn’t much but it also may be the weirdest goddamn thing WWE has allowed on their television programming since Vince McMahon was trying stuff out on TNT in late-1984.
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Dakota Kai, stuck in NXT amber, was rolled up and lost to Cora Jade before getting challenged by Raquel Gonzalez to a Street Fight – tough gig.
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Tony D’Angelo defeated Andre Chase in a battle of NXT 2.0 gimmick supremacy, then Pete Dunne confronted Tony D and sparks… mustered.
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Bron Breakker vs. Roderick Strong was the main event, a pretty easy layup of a wrestling match where some serious physical wrestling made Breakker look like a killer.
MAIN EVENT (12/15/21)
Main Event’s usual two cold matches got heated up a bit this week. Thy were practically cooking, baby.
- Cedric Alexander cut a promo so bitter I thought he was about to relaunch the Social Outcasts, then lost to the (debuting?) Veer Mahaan.
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T-BAR actually beat Apollo Crews too, which setup a confrontation with Commander Azeez like it was 1988. I’ll let you know if they follow-up.
NXT UK (12/16/21)
Talented young lads do pretty plain wrestling.
- Charlie Dempsey (Regal’s son) got a big win when he tapped out Joe Coffey amid faction wars with Gallus and Teoman‘s Die Familia.
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Blair Davenport cut a promo on Meiko Satomura, and Jordan Devlin did the same on Ilja Dragunov.
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Kenny Williams refused to wrestle Danny Jones, then did. Trent Seven teased retirement, then did not.
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The A-Kid vs. Nathan Frazer main event for a shot at Noam Dar‘s Heritage Cup was held under the rounds rules and a good showcase of two good wrestlers. Among all the moves, the second-rope sliding German suplex is an awesome move.
SMACKDOWN (12/17/21)
This was the first show of a 2-show taping that will take SmackDown through Christmas Eve.
- Brock Lesnar in Overalls was the story, his impending arrival providing a thread to follow before he laid out Roman Reigns and The Usos to end the show. Overalls Brock is a heck of a modern babyface that like everybody can use a better show.
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The Sasha Banks & Toni Storm vs. Charlotte Flair & Shotzi Blackheart 2-commercial break opener delivered some pretty nondescript wrestling before the Toni rollup on Charlotte. Sasha and Shotzi should’ve probably switched places.
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In other in-ring competition: Ridge Holland beat Cesaro in a quick and dumb match, and Shayna Baszler lost to Naomi in another quick and dumb match. The Viking Raiders pounded their chests, beat Jinder Mahal & Shanky, and pounded their chests.
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Right before the Brock attack came The Usos vs. King Woods and Kofi Kingston, which delivered a reliably exciting close to a solid tag team wrestling match. In the era of the Roman Reigns promo, his cousins and The New Day are carrying the show.
205 LIVE (12/17/21)
All the folks not getting love on NXT 2.0 are over here having wrestling matches.
- Sarray vs. Lash Legend was a rough one.
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Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon vs. Erica Yan & the debuting Fallon Henley wasn’t terrible, but a match of newbies doing WWE developmental.
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Ideally the 205 Live tag follows the format of the main event, where newcomers Ru Feng & Malik Blade were paired with Legado del Fantasma.
