Smackdown 9th July 2021
We open with Roman Reigns giving a long promo where he reunites Jimmy and Jey Uso. Yes, it was good, but it was treading water with the same sort of Reigns speech we've heard for the past few months.
Nakamura beats Sad News Corbin to qualify for the Money in the Bank match. Corbin looked sad. Rick Boogs now owns Corbin's car.
The best bit so far is Big E chilling on a ringside sofa to watch the Corbin match.
Tamina and Natalya give out an open challenge. This is answered by NXT's Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox.
Shotzi and Tegan beat Tamina and Natalya in a match which quickly showed a gulf in class in favour of the newcomers.
Sonya Deville announces that Bayley has suffered an injury and will be out for 9 months, which is a terrible, terrible blow to the womens division. Instead of facing Bayley next week, champion Bianca Belair will now face Carmella - which is a hell of a downgrade. Liv Morgan comes out to complain about a lack of a spot in the women's Money in the Bank match and is just given one. Talk about scrambling.
Although with the lack of women on Smackdown, the idea of Tegan Nox in the Money in the Bank is genuinely anxiety inducing. For those unaware of her, the real life Steffanie Newell is one of the most popular women in wrestling, both for coming across as one of the most likeable people in the industry, and also because she has come back from four torn ACL injuries in the last 5 years.
Seth Rollins pinned Cesaro to qualify for the Money in the Bank match when Cesaro was busted open and bleeding badly. That win at WrestleMania really did a lot for Cesaro...
Seth teases winning and cashing in on his former friend Roman Reigns. Then Edge shows up and has a bit of tension with Rollins, so I guess that's Summerslam.
Edge calls out Roman Reigns, who shows up in huffy mode. The Usos rush out to help only to be blindsided by the return Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik. Edge then takes down Reigns who makes a hasty retreat as his cousins are beaten up.
So that's now three weeks in a row Edge has had Reign's number. Making him strong before Reigns kills him on PPV.
Smackdown tends to rely on its one big match and storyline, but this week the storyline was still treading water, and the big match didn't live up to the hype of the last few weeks. As a result, Smackdown sinks down to 5/10.
RAW 12 July 2021
RAW opens with a tribute card to Paul Orndorff, an iconic villain of the 1980s WWF, who died on Monday. A Hall of Famer and a legendary trainer to boot, Orndorff will probably have a video memorial package on the next Smackdown. Paul Orndorff had been suffering from dementia (with a possible CTE side effect) and was 72 years old. RIP.
RAW starts with a genuine stunner, to the point I had to rewind to make sure I hadn't missed something.
Xavier Woods defeated reigning WWE Champion Bobby Lashley by pinfall, cleanly in the middle of the ring. Now, Woods is a hell of a talent, and frequently undervalued because he was in the shadow of Kofi Kingston (a former World Champion and a future HOFer) and Big E (who ought to be World Champion before too long) - but he is a great hand in the ring. However, he is a protected guy who makes the main guy look good, and Lashley has the most protected booking of anyone in the company not named Roman Reigns. And yet, Xavier straight up pins him with a modified inverse cradle in the centre of the ring. This worked for two reasons. One, it gives Xavier Woods a much needed credibility reminder. This guy has survived Hell in a Cell matches and wars with the Wyatt Family, but wrestling is very much a case of what have you done for me lately. Secondly, it adds vulnerability to Lashley right as he seemed to be taking the threat of Kofi Kingston as challenger lightly. Since becoming champion, Lashley has dumped everything that he had to get there, but still got the job down in the ring. Here he lets his guard down and is straight up defeated with no fallbacks. It gives a needed spice to the title match on Sunday.
The match had been a fun dominant champ vs plucky underdog tie up to the finish, too.
Jinder Mahal and henchmen arrive with Drew McIntyre's kidnapped claymore. Yes, really.
Alexa Bliss interviews Doudrop (sigh) and Eva Marie, and actually I quite like Piper Niven being the first women on the roster (bar Rhea Ripley's "feck your demonic possession" bit at the Rumble) to genuinely not be scared by the possessed interviewer and treat her as a friend. This creeps out Eva Marie who makes a sense and walks off. I hate the name Doudrop. A terrible name for a properly good wrestler. Also, I really don't like the Possessed Alexa Bliss gimmick. At some point, the playing on the tropes of being a child have gone a bit dodgy for my liking, especially as a glance as social media will tell you she is still regarded as a heartthrob in fandom. Yeah, no thanks.
Jinder Mahal stands in the ring with the Claymore and brags. Drew McIntyre shows up on the titantron, goes "that's a fake by the way, I've got the real one!" And then, Drew knocks over Jinder's motorcycle and breaks it.
Now we get a four way womens match. Nikki Cross is now known as Nikki ASH (as in Almost Super Hero - urgh). Alexa Bliss is a fan favourite, apparently. Naomi is still underused. Asuka is treading water, a phrase I use a lot in terms of WWE booking. All four have some nice spots then Doudrop shows up with Eva Marie and beats up Alexa. They throw her into the front row and she uses voodoo to disappear. As you do. A triple threat continues and after some close falls, Nikki pins Asuka. Blimey.
Ivar of the Vikings beats AJ Styles clean with a senton reverse roll up pin in the corner after dodging a splash. That was a surprise.
This leads to...
Omos beats Erik of the Vikings. Erik tries his best to make Omos wrestle, and actually gets Omos to show some vulnerability, before he gets killed with Khali old chokeslam powerbomb finisher. Surprisingly far better than it had any right to be.
Sheamus is angry Humberto Carrilo has a US title match, so he beats him up backstage. Humberto then crawls to the ringside.
Sheamus defeated Humberto by pinfall to retain the US Championship with the Brogue Kick in about 15 seconds. He then celebrates like it was a major victory. Sheamus is such a git. I love it.
Then out of nowhere Damien Priest rushes the ring to protect mediocre Humberto and start Instafeud with Sheamus. That could work.
Ricochet pins John Morrison in a flipping insane Falls Count Anywhere match. Despite being injured, The Miz is out there in a wheelchair as manager. Riddle takes him out of the equation. Ricochet seems to spend his entire life thinking up spots which could end his career. Seriously, 90s Jeff Hardy looks conservative in comparison. 450 off the barricade for a near fall? Check. Plancha shooting star press? Check. Somersault off a ladder? Check. There's also a neckbreaker spot which was cringe inducing. The whole story, such as it is, is Ricochet getting crazier and crazier to try and put Morrison away and Morrison surviving and playing on his veteran skills. It ends when Ricochet hits a splash out of the ring through a ladder to Morrison on the floor. Insane. Entertaining but also stupid. And a huge win for Ricochet.
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke challenge Tamina and Natalya.
Rhea Ripley defeated Natalya in a nothing match.
MVP has Lashley on the VIP Lounge set. Lashley tells everyone he has let his guard down, and then announces he loves MVP for everything before destroying the entire set.
"The bullshit is over. It's back to business. The circus is dead, and this Sunday, so is your career, Kofi Kingston."
Short, snappy, great promo.
With two very good matches, one great match, character development for people and pushes for underutilised stars, this weeks RAW was surprisingly good and gets a solid 7/10.
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