Road to Royal Rumble 2018 (The Counterfactual Turns 13)

Hey, first of all, it's December, that means it's anniversary time.  This is the 13th anniversary of the creation of the Counterfactual - that's a long time; if a wrestling promotion lasts 13 years you say "pretty successful, congrats."  It's entirely possible that someone reading these words had never even seen a wrestling match back when I started this in December, 2005. For those of you who enjoy the stuff, I'm glad - labor of love is an apt description. When we hit this point in the year, I do always consider if there's an end point.  I know it's not 2019, because I've got the main event program booked through WM35, which I'd be publishing in April, 2020.  I still enjoy it as much as ever, it still occupies more of my thoughts than it should - I still process all of the IRL big 4 PPVs through a "what guys do I get to use" prism - so I'm not planning on stopping in 2020.  However - 2 years from right now the blog will turn 15 and I'll have turned 50.  There's enough symmetry there that it could be I might shut the lights two years from now after Survivor Series 2019. I'm not planning to do it - but it is something I'll consider. If a month passes prior to that and you don't hear from me...well, that ain't good and you can start fighting over my stuff.  Thanks for reading.  Left to right.  Line after line.  It's fantastic.  

Survivor Series was here.

Royal Rumble 29, the 124^th PPV in WWF history, is in January from Philadelphia.

It’s the 5^th WWF PPV from Philadelphia:

{Summer Slam ’90 (Hennig kept the WWF Title over Savage in a cage)

WM 15 (Cactus took the WWF Title from Owen in a Pure Wrestling match)

Rumble ’04 (Angle took Eddy’s WWF Title)

Survivor Series ’06 (The pivotal moment of the first decade of the century, Punk took the WWF Title from Flair and then threw the belt down)

Rumble ’15 (Brock took Claudio’s WWF Title)

8 matches on the card.  Let’s start with the IC:

IC TITLE: BROCK LESNAR (W/HEYMAN) V. SHELTON BENJAMIN

The night after Survivor Series, RAW begins with the announce quickly filling us in, the WWF Title has been held up, an announcement will be made about how it will be filled later tonight; Bryan Danielson suffered a concussion last night and there is no timetable for his return. 

And then Brock Lesnar’s music hits.

With this successful defense last night over Kurt Angle, Brock will go into the Rumble as IC Champ for a full year. 

(Each IC Reign of 1+ years:

Pedro Morales (1 year, 2 mos)

Don Muraco (1 year, 1 mo)

Roddy Piper (1 year)

Randy Savage (2 years)

Bret Hart (1 year, 10 mos)

Shawn Michaels (1 year, 2 mos)

Cactus Jack (1 year)

MVP (1 year, 5 mos)

Sheamus (1 year)

The Rock (1 year)}

Since the moment Lesnar won the IC at Rumble ’17, Heyman has been proclaiming him to be the “real world’s champion” and you can understand, after nearly a year, that when he comes to the ring to begin RAW after a PPV, in what has traditionally been the spot reserved for the WWF Title – that when he and Brock come to the ring knowing the WWF Title is now vacant – you can understand that Paul is going to cut a “I told you so” promo.

It’s full triumphalism for Heyman and Lesnar – even a suspension that has kept Brock from challenging for the WWF Title couldn’t keep Lesnar down – he has overcome everything in his path – CM Punk, gone, Bryan Danielson, gone – heck, GDI got blown to bits.  And now, Brock Lesnar has defeated Kurt Angle and stands alone as the Reigning, Defending, Undisputed, Real World’s Champion. Brock comes to the ring with two belts, the IC - and a belt that Heyman had made "The Real World's Championship Belt"  It's enormous.  

(Brock’s been a babyface for awhile, which means the fans cheer him as opposed to Brock really doing anything differently.  But that extra F5 at the end of the Angle match last night, was a sign that maybe we should shift our Lesnar thoughts – and now Paul reminding us that Brock’s main feuds were against babyface heroes Punk and Danielson – that’s signaling that heel Brock is back in the building)

Paul says Brock’s not going to sit around and wait for another challenge – who Brock wants is Shelton Benjamin. 

Paul does whatever level of “here’s the history of Brock and Benjamin” needed to sell that fight and we move forward.

Beats to hit during the program:

-Benjamin accepts the following week, obviously – the IC is the only belt he’s never won, so, like Angle, he is wrestling for the Triple Crown – that’s the highest honor in the sport, so we just roll the discussion prior to Survivor Series over.

-In the way that Brock, despite all of his accomplishments, still felt a need to vanquish Kurt – Benjamin feels the need to vanquish Brock.  Whether as an amateur wrestler in Minnesota; or from their mutual days on the MTV show Camp Angle, or when Brock overshadowed Benjamin as Kurt’s chosen pupil, or when Benjamin then went to work for Brock as a member of Team Lesnar – it was always (1) Brock and (2) Benjamin.  Obviously, the intervening years have shown much, much more success for Brock – and at this point in their careers, with more fights behind them than ahead of them – this is clearly Benjamin’s last, best chance to rewrite his history.

-Benjamin starts working with American Alpha; we’ll talk about that when we get to the Alpha match, but he serves a mentor role in a couple of vignettes.

-Brock only appears a couple of more times in the build just so Paul can keep beating the appropriate drum.  In the final appearance, a couple of weeks out of the Rumble, Brock is attacked from behind by Benjamin – he hits Paydirt on Brock and then really goes to work on that injured Brock elbow (Brock’s had an elbow thing all year, Angle almost was able to use it to steal a win) stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp. 

-The announce sells this as less a heel move and more a “this shows you how important this is to Benjamin, he will do whatever it takes at the Rumble to beat Brock Lesnar!”

WWF TITLE: ROYAL RUMBLE WARFARE

-Virtually every man in the promotion is around the ring or on the ramp for the main event segment of RAW the night following Survivor Series.  The WWF Title is on a stand in mid-ring.  On the video wall, direct from his office in the White House, is HHH-M.  Hunter jokes that given President McMahon signing a bill to dramatically increase the inheritance tax for estates of over a million dollars, both he and Stephanie are hard at work.  Hunter says the Commissioner, Bryan Danielson, is resting comfortably, but there is no timetable for his return.  However, he has put together the following plan regarding the WWF Title:

-Given the controversial double pin finish last night (both Devitt and AJ pinned Joe simultaneously after AJ drilled Danielson with a flying forearm smash resulting in a second referee needing to enter) the WWF Title is held up.

-20 men will compete at the Royal Rumble in a Royal Rumble Warfare Match (modeled after Dark Ride Warfare, a rumble style battle royal in which pinfalls and submissions are also eliminations in addition to being thrown over the top rope).

-12 (it'll wind up being 14) of those men will be announced prior to the event.  No faction will have more than 3 entrants.

-Understandably, that’s perceived as a shot to the Bullet Club. 

-Who also views this entire idea as a shot is Joe, RAW ends with much hubbub around the ring, each man believing, even if for a moment, that he is about to become WWF Champion.  Joe was WWF Champion just 24 hours before, and hearing that he won’t get a rematch, despite fighting a 1 on 2 match a good portion of the night before, causes him to take the tape off his hands and walk up the ramp and disappear as the show ends. 

-The next week on RAW is a taped vignette in which the Bullet Club considers what to do.  They have 4 guys (well, six, but Anderson and Gallows are otherwise occupied, as we’ll find out later) and only 3 spots.  The decision is a tag match, whomever drops the fall drops out of the battle royal. 

-How do they decide who the tag partners will be?  They put a gun on a table (it’s the goddamn Bullet Club after all; I’m deciding that in a taped piece, we can use a gun) Becky spins it, and whomever it points to gets to pick his partner.  It points to Black.  You’d expect him to pick Devitt – but Black says at Survivor Series, Shinsuke stepped up when he needed someone; and now they are brothers. 

-It’s AJ/Devitt against Nakamura/Black the following week.  They have a long competitive match – Nakamura needs a tag, but Black suddenly has a cramp in his leg, hops off the apron – and Nakamura eats a Prince Devitt pinfall.

-The full Bullet Club then gets in the ring, Devitt says that he knows Shinsuke must be disappointed, but he’ll get his chance someday; and since the other 6 members of the Bullet Club all have title matches at the Rumble, Shinsuke will be invaluable as a bodyguard.

-If that feels disrespectful, it’s supposed to.  Nakamura pauses – looks at each member of the Bullet Club, stares hard at Black, who is doing an overly exaggerated rubbing of his quad, and Nakamura quits.

-He drops the mic down and attempts to exit the ring – he’s blocked by Anderson and Gallows; Devitt says wait a second – this isn’t something you quit – this is the Bullet Club, when you’re in the Bullet Club that’s for life. 

-The Club starts to surround Nakamura now; he stares at each of them – tells them they will regret this

-Black takes the microphone; tells Nakamura it’s time someone told him the truth, the reason Black was brought into the Club in the first place is Nakamura was a whiny little bitch who spent month after month in Dark Ride when his squad needed him.  Devitt had a broken skull, AJ was trying to hold onto the WWF Title – and Nakamura was nowhere to be found.  Black gets in his face “the reason you didn’t know I was joining the Bullet Club is I was here to replace you.  You don’t quit this.  This quits you.”

-And then they stomp him out.  AJ is last man in, he and Nakamura grew closer this year, and he hesitates for a moment  - just long enough that you might think what he’s going to do is aid Nakamura in fighting off the rest of the Bullet Club. 

-But he doesn’t – he joins in (Black kicks feverishly, his leg mysteriously healed) and eventually Nakamura has no fight left, goes down – and gets buried under the Bullet Club flag. 2 years after he began the Bullet Club invasion - Nakamura lies in ruins under his stable's flag.

-This brings AJ/Devitt/Black closer together; we see them go over the New Day in a 6 man; we see them cut promos together – their strategy is clear, they will work together, eliminate everyone else, and then let the chips fall.  The WWF Title is coming to the Bullet Club. 

-AJ also cuts a promo on Danielson.  He says, of course his forearm smash to Danielson’s temple was inadvertent.  If it were intentional, he’d clearly be suspended; in fact, he would almost certainly be kept from ever fighting for the WWF Title again.  So, that means it wasn’t intentional.  But it was a helluva good shot, right?  Caught him flush.  You know what you call a forearm that finally – finally drives Bryan Danielson out of the WWF entirely?  The Best Forearm In the World.  

-Each of the dozen men who are named for the Rumble will do promos in the build; the go home Fight Night will be a 4 corners 12 man match. 

Bullet Club: AJ, Devitt, Black (AJ is a former WWF Champ, Devitt has never held a belt in the WWF, Black was part of the longest reigning holders of any WWF belt in the modern era)

Underground: Nemeth, Kalisto, Crews (Kalisto and Crews are an exciting babyface tag team; Nemeth is a heel, but always stands with his Underground comrades regardless of their persuasion.  We see Nemeth in an angle during the build ---- with Broken Matt Hardy.

-The Hardys came back at Mania, won the tag titles, then lost them at Summer Slam and vanished.  But Matt returns in vignettes from the Hardy Compound in North Carolina.  He laments his lack of gold, what will become of his Broken Brilliance?  We see Matt visited by the Ghosts of Hardy Past (anyone from OMEGA, we can get some use from Shane Helms, as he worked IRL Rumble) Ghosts of Hardy Present (ideally the Young Bucks, even if they have to wear masks) and Ghosts of Hardy Future (King Maxel, and ideally someone similar in age) and they all work to convince Matt that all isn’t lost despite the loss of all of his gold. 

-At some point, a couple of segments following a vignette airing on RAW is a Renee interview with Nemeth, unrelated to Hardy.  Nemeth starts talking about whatever he is supposed to talk about and then stops to cut a promo on Hardy “what the hell are we watching here; if Matt Hardy wants to wrestle for this promotion, he should get his ass to this ring.  I am a Triple Crown holder; I am a legend; and I’m here busting my ass week after week while we put some old crazy man’s home movies out on the air? It’s insulting.  I don’t want to see that crap again.”

Random Babyfaces: Kevin Steen, Langston, Bray Wyatt (Steen, in his Kid Canada persona, will appear via video wall as part of a later match; during an interview with Renee, he completely denies being Kid Canada, says he’d never want to cover up such a pretty face). Langston being in this match indicates which two members of the New Day will be in a match discussed later, Bray is really now a bottom card act, he and Harper remain aligned, but Luke can’t stay healthy. 

Random Heels: Claudio Castagnoli, Roman Reigns-Uso, Jack Gallagher (Claudio doesn’t speak a word of English, he and Renee have an act; she’ll ask questions in English, Claudio will answer in any other language, Gargano, standing next to Claudio, yells at the fans who don’t appreciate Claudio, and acts as if he understands what Claudio is saying; Reigns is in this match, telling us who the two Usos are who will defend the tag titles, Gallagher is part of a Dark Ride British Invasion that’s going to get some discussion during the Dark Ride segment later)

In the match, we get the rivalry spots (Claudio/Steen; Langston/Reigns but not Black/Langston, although they jaw at each other; Steen against the Bullet Club, Bray against the Bullet Club).

Devitt eliminates the heel team by pinning Gallagher; Gallagher had a flash nearfall on Devitt, a 2 ¾ situation, that Devitt sold as shocking and angering, and then Devitt pinned him.  Bray eats a pinfall; Crews survives multiple nearfall attempts; enough that the announce plays up his resilience, before he’s finally pinned.

The Bullet Club wins; all 3 men stand alone in the ring – the clear implication that if the Bullet Club can remain together, they’ll be able to overcome the rest of the field. But then the other 9 men all storm the ring and throw the Bullet Club over the top – the implication being that if everyone else were to band together, they’d be able to defeat the Club.  And the show concludes with Claudio attacking Steen, starting a full brawl among those 9 men, because how could they ever possibly all work together?

WWF TAG TITLES: USOS (JIMMY/JEY) V. BULLET CLUB (ANDERSON/GALLOWS)

-We got a taste of this in the big 7x7 go home before Survivor Series; these two cocky heel tag teams going at each other.  That’s the tenor of this build – the Usos say they are the best tag team in the world, they prove it day after day, year after year – and it’s time for Anderson and Gallows to shut up about their IWGP Titles.  Anderson and Gallows say the Usos aren’t even one of the two best teams in the world (they say that wearing Young Bucks shirts).  Usos make a superkick party reference. 

-My rule of thumb – if they haven’t touched, you keep them from touching until the match.  If they have touched, then get them in the ring to build the match.  We’re going to do some 6 man matches; Reigns obviously joining the Usos and it’s going to be Black joining Anderson/Gallows (we continue to see that, post Nakamura, the Bullet Club becomes closer – it’s the two year anniversary of their invasion of the WWF, the Royal Rumble is their event – they say that Philly is a Bullet Club town).  They trade falls; Reigns gets a fall on Black, and in the rematch Black gets the fall on Reigns (Reigns just turned heel, so you want him to get a big pinfall, and since both men are in the battle royal, this helps build some animosity).

-They also do a mixed 6 person tag, Becky and Naomi added to the match, Becky getting the fall.

NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS: 2 OF 3 FALLS: AMERICAN ALPHA V. REVIVAL (w/AA)

-American Alpha and Revival came up through developmental together; for watchers of the WWFU livestream, they’ve been able to watch all four men from the moment they signed their contracts to the development of their characters to their rivalry in Underground, to their rivalry on the shows that were the precursors to Dark Ride Wrestling.  And on the main roster, they were positioned against each other when each was added to the Bullet Club/Horsemen program.

They don’t hate each other, it’s not a blood feud – but it is highly, highly competitive as these two are career long rivals.  And one of them will finally get a title shot at Wrestlemania.

This is a series – best two of 3.  Obviously, they split the two matches.  They add a third, a 6 man, with Benjamin joining Alpha and Arn going out to find a third man to join the Revival – winner of the match gets to pick the stip for the deciding third match.  Arn finds Drew Gulak, and while he’s going to eat the fall from Benjamin, the announcers discuss how impressive he was in this spot, and he’ll later be announced as the 13^th entrant into Royal Rumble Warfare. 

Alpha says they want a 2 of 3 falls stip at the Rumble – one of these teams is moving to the biggest match of their lives – they want to make sure there’s no doubt at the end of the night which team is best. 

WOMEN’S TITLE: BECKY LYNCH V. ASUKA

-Becky has held the title since WM33, a win and she’ll be the first woman in the modern WWF to hold the title for a full year.  She rolls through some small feuds with Naomi and Nia Jax; Becky’s doing this by herself, and that’s the story of this build – every other member of the Bullet Club is occupied with title matches at the Rumble, so no one will be in Becky’s corner when she defends the title.

-It’s about ¾ through the build before the challenger is named – it’s not supposed to be surprise, Becky’s baiting the fans “I’ve beaten everyone here – there’s nobody left – who could possibly be worthy of a title shot”?

-The fans wave their “Whatever-0” signs, “Who’s Next” signs – they chant Asuka – Becky no sells every week.  Until finally Becky says “well, I guess I’ll get the night off at the Rumble, no one here can lace my boots.” – the camera cuts the back and we get the Asuka walk, see Asuka come through the curtain, see the Asuka pyro – Asuka, unbeaten Asuka who has captured the imagination of the WWF fans like no woman in history – she makes her way to the ring.  Asuka and Becky go nose to nose – Asuka says “You’re Next” and the people react as they will.

THE LEGENDARY REY MYSTERIO V. EL GENERICO

-After nearly 4 years, Rey Mysterio returns to the WWF to face El Generico as part of the Tres Bon Mask Challenge.  Mysterio is a Triple Crown winner; Mysterio was the last NWA Champion before they were taken over by WWF.  Lot of taped packages in the build as he’s not going to appear in person; the thrust is he’s the greatest masked wrestler of all time; there’s a nod to the more culturally significant wrestlers, but in terms of pure work, it’s Mysterio and then there’s everyone else.  So – that he’s returning for one night only to wrestle Generico is  seen as a great honor. 

-Generico gets some workrate wins against Alexander and Tozawa; there’s one taped message on the video wall from Kid Canada – he says if Generico can defeat the greatest masked wrestler of all time he will have reached the pinnacle of his career. 

DARK RIDE LUMBERJACK MATCH: SOMBRA (W/VEGA) V. ADAM COLE

-The backbone of Dark Ride Wrestling has been the feud between a collection of veteran babyfaces (Somba/Kenta/Hero) and the newest incarnation of GDI (Cole/O’Reilly/Fish) multiple additional members of the roster get worked into that program during the cycle, leading to a couple of large full scale brawls with multiple stables such that a lumberjack match…well, it doesn’t make sense as much as it promises the possibility of altercation.  There are 20 lumberjacks, 18 are announced, 2 are a surprise.  There’s a definite tradeoff to being in this match – if you wrestle on PPV you’re ineligible to compete for the Dark Ride Title for a year, so that’s a chance given up by both Cole and Sombra in order to work the Rumble.  Lumberjacks are not wrestling and therefore remain eligible.

1. Kenta (He’s mainly programmed with O’Reilly, but there are lots of tag combinations with the two main stables)
2. Hero  (He’s mainly programmed with Fish)
3. Fish (see above)
4. O’Reilly (see above)
5. Tozawa (Tozawa and Alexander begin tagging, their team is called Blood Warriors International, and its made clear their relationship is due to Dragon Gate)
6. Alexander (see above)
7. Dunne (Nigel and Regal are relatively friendly antagonists as color analysts for RAW and Fight Night, but where they overlap is in the influx of British talent which has come to Dark Ride Wrestling.  They can sometimes be seen together just sitting in the crowd during a Dark Ride broadcast.  The Brits have largely been segregated to working each other; those matches increase in intensity during the build to the Rumble; Gallagher, as previously noted, got a spot on the PPV)
8. Bate (see above)
9. Seven (see above)
10. Strong (The Dark Ride Wrestling Champion, also a member of the Four Horsemen, he and Roode work a program with Trash)
11. Gargano (Gargano is a member of Trash, which currently consists of he and Claudio, he wants to be known as Johnny Trash.  He and Claudio tag against Roode and Strong, that adds to the Strong/Gargano program and gives Claudio and Roode some juice headed to the Rumble, Roode is named as the 14^th participant.
12. Aleister Black (in a program with Velveteen Dream)
13. Dream (see above)
14. Ali (in a program with Buddy Murphy and Lio Rush, Rush is the babyface, Murphy is a heel, Ali is in between - Murphy occasionally works in 6 mans with AoP)
15. Murphy (see above)
16. Rush (see above)

17-18. AOP (they’ve been working Nicholls and Haste)

FULL CIRCLE V. NEW DAY (WOODS/KINGSTON) V SHEAMUS/MIZANIN

-Orton and Cena got a heel tactics win over Sheamus and Mizanin at Survivor Series; we’re going to run that back with the addition of the New Day. 

And that’s your show.  Back in January for Royal Rumble 2018

Survivor Series 2017

The build is here.

Survivor Series 31 (2017) comes to you live from the city of Houston, Texas.  It is the 123^rd PPV in WWF history.

(Dark: GDI: Cole/O’Reilly/Fish d. Kenta/Hero/Sombra

                     Strong d. Gargano)

The lead announcer is Mauro Ranallo – it is his 9^th PPV (Ranallo is really the 4^th voice of the WWF, Gorilla, JR, Joey, and now Mauro). The color analysts are Regal – it is his 19^th PPV; here are all the color analysts who have called more:

-Cornette (23)

-Taz (22)

…that’s it, that’s the list.  Now add that Regal is the primary figure behind the developmental system (Underground) in addition to being a former IC Champ, and you should think of him as a really, really significant figure in promotion history.   Nigel McGuinness is calling his 6^th PPV, and making his debut, sitting in on the first 2 matches, is Corey Graves.  Nigel and Regal will largely lay out during those matches, interjecting only when needed. 

The show opens with a video montage of every Kurt Angle title match:

….Wrestlemania 17 (from Houston, coincidentally) from 2001, Angle takes the WWF Title from Benoit

…Summer Slam 2001, Angle combines the WWF and ECW titles by beating RVD…coincidentally, at ringside, one Paul Heyman…

…Survivor Series 2001…Angle wins a Lumberjack Match against NWA wrestler Booker T…coincidentally, he’s from Houston…

…Royal Rumble 2002…in Atlanta...where, coincidentally, Angle won an Olympic gold medal with a  broken freaking neck, Angle ends the “Invasion” by beating Ric Flair…

…Wrestlemania 18…where, coincidentally, the dark match featured the dark match debut of one Brock Lesnar…Angle beats Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig in his final WWF PPV appearance…

…Summer Slam 2002…Kurt now unifies the NWA Title with the WWF and ECW Titles to create an Undisputed Heavyweight Championship by defeating Rey Mysterio…there’s a coincidence there too, but you don’t know that yet…and that it appears to be the first of these clips without a coincidence is a clue for the eagle eyed viewers for something that’s going to happen a little later tonight…

…Survivor Series 2002…Angle keeps the belt over Jericho in a match that sees postmatch activities between HBK and, coincidentally, Brock Lesnar…

…Royal Rumble 2003…Angle defeats Michaels, postmatch…Haas and Benjamin, who won the Tag Titles earlier that night turn on Kurt to join Lesnar.  Coincidentally, Benjamin is in Kurt’s corner tonight..

…Wrestlemania 19 2003…Angle keeps the WWF Title by beating Brock Lesnar. 

…Survivor Series 2003…Angle and Brock are both in a 4 way match that also includes WWF Champion Eddy Guerrero and Chris Benoit (man, consider that foursome)…Eddy keeps the belt, pinning Brock…

…Royal Rumble 2004…Angle regains the Undisputed Title by beating Guerrero in Philly…earlier that night Haas and Benjamin regained the tag titles by beating Shawn and Hunter, and Lesnar beat Cactus Jack in a barbed wire match that…somewhat controversially…ended with he and Bill Goldberg urinating on the prone Cactus….

…Wrestlemania XX…Angle drops the title to Benoit at MSG….Haas and Benjamin dropped the tag titles to Flair and Leviathan (IRL Batista)….and Brock/Goldberg lost a Weapons Match to Cactus and The Rock that ended Brock’s first run with the company…

…Summer Slam 2004…Angle’s last WWF Title match…he loses again to Benoit in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match…

…Survivor Series 2004…Angle wins a different title, the tag titles, along with Benjamin – they beat RVD/Rey to take the straps…

…Royal Rumble 2005…Team Angle drops those belts, to the Spreekillers (Helms/Rhyno) there’s a postmatch brawl with Team Angle (including Regal) against the Clique…

…Survivor Series 2005…Angle’s next title match was his last…he and Benoit for the vacant IC Title in Detroit at the Eddy Guerrero Memorial show…both men only needed the IC to win the Triple Crown (named the Hart-Guerrero Memorial Triple Crown).  Benoit won. 

Now…12 years later…Survivor Series 2017…Kurt Angle returns in the exact spot where he left…fighting to win the IC Title, which he needs to win the Triple Crown…12 years later…and he’s fighting, of all people, Brock Lesnar. 

(it’s really kinda something if you think about it)

1.       Full Circle (Orton/Cena) d. Sheamus/Mizanin

-One of the clips in the pre-show package was Rhyno/Helms taking the tag belts from Angle/Benjamin – do you know who took the belts from those guys?  It was Orton and Cena, a dozen years ago.  It’s all come around Full Circle, they use heel chicanery to go over the mismatched babyfaces Sheamus/Mizanin.

2.       Asuka d. Bayley Kid Canada d. Claudio Castagnoli

-Asuka has an unbeaten streak – the fans hold up signs, they chant “As-ka” “As-ka” – hell, her catch phrase is “Who’s Next?”  Give her the fireworks, show her walking in from the back. She’s great – Graves, heel announcer, is her biggest cheerleader – the goal for her matches isn’t destruction, it’s to have 4 star matches; you watch Asuka matches knowing you’ll see workrate; wondering if today will be the day someone finally beats her.  For Bayley – it’s hard not to notice the crushing disappointment is just taking its toll; she tries and tries and tries – and never beats Asuka. 

Graves leaves the announce. Kid Canada d. Claudio Castagnoli

3.                          

Kid Canada d. Claudio Castagnoli
Kid Canada is, of course, Kevin Steen in a maple leaf mask.  He’s wearing his regular ring gear, but he’s thrown on that mask. After a year long feud seemingly culminating in a loser leaves town match, all of the “this feud is now over” messages were given, everyone seemingly moved on to someone lighter programs – and apparently, Kevin Steen created a grizzled Canadian luchador named Kid Canada.  Gargano yells at him – Claudio is clearly irritated – he climbs out of the ring, he walks around – he grabs a microphone – he curses in any language except for English, as he doesn’t ever speak English.  Steen wrestles like himself, controlling the early part of the action against a distracted Castagnoli.  Interference from Gargano helps turn the tide, Claudio has control until Steen pulls out whatever kind of lucha moves he’s able to do – ideally, he hits some thrown together version of the 619 (Nigel calls it the 450) the moves can be lousy, they just startle Claudio so much that he winds up getting cradled.

Kid Canada then joins the announce for the next match.  He maintains the persona, and when the announcers say “come on Kevin, stop this” – he no sells it in that thick Quebecoise accent “I don’t know who is this Kevin, but he sounds handsome and talented and girthy in the trunks”

4.       Tres Bon Mask Challenge: El Generico d. Kalisto

-Kid Canada brought with him a little tournament to crown the greatest masked wrestler in WWF, and while it’s a fairly lighthearted program, Ranallo makes sure to put over that that mask isn’t a lighthearted matter, reminding WWF fans that the loss of his mask was a loss of identity for Pac, he became Neville, he and Claudio left GDI to form Trash – and now Neville is gone, totally gone, and as far as we know will never wrestle again.  Generico goes over in the best match they can have.  Kid Canada enters the ring, Generico clearly had no idea that his best friend was, in fact, Kid Canada, and is clearly quizzical as Canada enters the ring. 

Steen stays in character, talks about welling up with pride as a great wrestler who he understands has spent some time in Quebec has survived in the Tres Bon Mask Challenge.

But – Canada says – you’re not done yet (part of the build was Kid Canada saying that at Survivor Series he would announce what very special masked wrestler would be taking on the winner of Generico/Kalisto at the Rumble)..

Rey Mysterio’s highlight package plays on the video wall.  The Legendary Triple Crown Winning Mysterio will make his return for one night only – to face El Generico at the Royal Rumble!

Generico is super excited, as one would expect – and probably we’re pretty stoked for that matchup too.

5.       Women’s Title: Becky Lynch (w/Anderson/Gallows) d. Charlotte Flair (w/Strong)

-It’s a 6 month build and it’s the blow off; so it’s a clean match, they have the best back and forth match they can have- and it’s Lynch, from the Bullet Club, stopping Charlotte’s attempt to become the first 3 time Women’s champion.  It is a full celebration for the Bullet Club as they retain this title.

6.       Shinsuke Nakamura d. Bobby Roode

-Another Bullet Club vs. Horsemen blowoff – and another win for the Club; once again, just the best back and forth clean match the two can have, with Nakamura getting the pinfall win. 

7.       No DQ: Tyler Black (w/Anderson and Gallows) d. Dean Ambrose

-Black and Ambrose were the heart of the Shield, who had the longest reign for any beltholders in the modern WWF era.  Langston left the group, Black got injured, Ambrose didn’t show the type of loyalty that Black wanted to see (years before it appears real world WWF is doing the same program in reverse) creating distance between the two men that culminated in Ambrose beating Black at WM.  They shook hands – largely these were just harsh words and hard feelings as opposed to something more serious – but Black was, apparently, less conciliatory than he appeared as, in the close of a Summer Slam loss to Devitt and Nakamura, Black turned on Ambrose and joined the Bullet Club.  A shocking…shocking turn of events. 

So there’s no wrestling at all here; it’s just  a fight – Ambrose comes from the crowd, entering like he’d enter as a part of the Shield – Anderson and Gallows meet him up there in an ambush, but Ambrose swats each away with a steel chair, both men taking some type of tumble down the concrete steps.  Ambrose barely breaks stride as he now has Black alone – and they fight hard, it should be a fairly violent fight, only occasionally going in the ring – Black grabs a chain under the ring and punches Ambrose with it, busting him open; Ambrose will bite at Black’s forehead, ripping at his flesh and busting him open.  The finish comes when Nakamura runs in to lay Ambrose out.  Nakamura and Black have no relationship at all – Nakamura didn’t know Black was joining the Bullet Club, and that’s created distance between himself and Devitt.  But here, he shows his loyalty to his squad, hitting Ambrose with the Bomaye, allowing Black to get the fall.

Anderson and Gallows have now recovered, and along with Nakamura and Black they beat Ambrose down and bury him under the Bullet Club flag, signifying that it may be a very, very long time before we see Dean Ambrose again.  Tyler Black extinguishes his longtime partner. 

8.       WWF Tag Titles: Tornado Match: Usos (Roman/Jimmy/Jey) d. New Day (Langston/Kingston/Woods)

-A staple of tag matches for a decade has been mechanisms to permit a lot of guys getting involved (it’s how I can keep guys physically involved when I can’t actually put them in matches) and with the emergence of squads like The Shield, the Wyatts and these two teams, there have been a lot of great 3 on 3 matches in recent years.  This is one of them, it’s a really good match of skills (adding Roman to the IRL mix is a big win) and this one has a very specific storyline.  The Usos are heels who pretend to be babyfaces when Roman is looking – and that leads to Roman believing the New Day are heels, when in fact, they are babyfaces.

That view of the New Day has caused real animosity between Roman and those three guys – so the pivotal spot in this match makes sense.

Jimmy and Jey are lining up Woods for a con-Chair-to (it’s a tornado match, the official is occupied, but not knocked out, for reasons that will be apparent before the end of the night) when, for the first time ever – Roman sees them.  And we know that Roman now knows what’s going on – Jimmy and Jey are the bad guys. 

Roman snatches a chair away from one of them – pauses – pauses – and then turns and lays Woods out with the chair. 

Roman then runs wild on Kingston and Langston – full on superman stuff – he gets the fall – Jimmy and Jey are shocked – what’s happening here – but then Roman signifies that he’s with them. Roman has turned heel, joining the rest of the heel Usos – and they are united as a cocky heel tag threesome. 

Prior to the next match – still images of the 12 men in WWF history to have won the Hart-Guerrero Memorial Triple Crown

PEDRO MORALES

BRET HART

SHAWN MICHAELS

OWEN HART

STEVE AUSTIN

CACTUS JACK

EDDY GUERRERO

REY MYSTERIO

CHRIS BENOIT

CHRIS JERICHO

EDGE

NICK NEMETH

9.       IC Title: Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman) d. Kurt Angle (w/Benjamin)

-An Angle win will get his name engraved on that Triple Crown trophy (like the Stanley Cup) which remains in possession of the most recent winner until it is passed forward (Nemeth’s had it since WM 29) a Lesnar win will mean he’s held the IC for a full year as he moves to the Rumble, and with his first ever win over Angle he adds to the claim that he is, in fact, the Real World’s Champion.

If you don’t know the Lesnar/Angle/Benjamin backstory the Angle highlight package to start the broadcast hopefully filled you in.  This is a deep relationship.

Most of Brock’s matches are No DQ, for obvious reasons, and there’s not any evidence that Angle can give a ton in 2017, but given the nature of the rivalry, with this not being  a blood feud, but instead a competition between two professionals (like a real athletic contest, not like “I will murder your children”) it’s a straight match.

And seeing these guys grapple a little bit, even at this age, is fun – let’s see Angle and Lesnar exchange amateur holds for a couple of minutes knowing it is the last time.

Lesnar largely dominates, Angle fights from underneath – Lesnar hits an F5 and Angle kicks out.  The F5 is a really protected move – so Lesnar sort of goes white when Angle kicks out – Lesnar immediately tries to get him up again, but Angle desperately bangs away at Brock’s bad elbow (Rusev injured Brock’s elbow at the Rumble, Jericho looked to take advantage of it at Mania, Strowman was too green to do so at Summer Slam, but Angle spent some time working out with Brock before that Strowman match, and Angle knows exactly where that weakness is – and here he springs the trap).  Lesnar can’t get Angle up, and Angle moves from that spot into an armbar and – for a moment – it looks like he’s going to win this title. 

He’s not – Lesnar powers out with fury – hits an F5, decides not to go for the pinfall – but instead stares hard at Benjamin on the outside – Benjamin, with whom he goes back all the way to their MTV reality show Camp Angle days – and Lesnar then goes back – hits Kurt with another F5 and pins him.

Benjamin leaps into the ring to tend to Angle – and we see he and Brock stare hard at each other as Lesnar and a celebrating Heyman “Like I said – this is the Real World’s Champion” exit.

10.   WWF Title: Triple Threat Match: Samoa Joe No Contest AJ Styles, Prince Devitt (guest referee-Bryan Danielson)

-One fall to a finish.

-We see the tension between AJ and Danielson, they have been antagonists for over a year

-Devitt and AJ work together, really dominate Joe.

-AJ has a chance to get a pinfall.  Devitt breaks it up.

-That’s the last straw.  AJ shouts and Devitt.  Devitt shouts back.  That tension has built and built and built – and now it explodes and the two just start punching each other, just firing shots.

-That allows Joe to recover and then get the advantage on both of them. 

-Here’s the crucial spot – AJ is going to hit Joe with the flying forearm, Devitt pulls Danielson in front, and he takes hit to the head. 

-Danielson’s knocked out; obviously, he retired because of concussions, and he’s just taken that forearm strike flush.

-The agents come out from the back, they pull Danielson from the ring, a second official takes his place – Danielson doesn’t go to the back, he stays near the ring, shaking his head, talking to the trainer.

-Here’s the finish: there’s been a second ref bump (I know) Nakamura and Black enter, they grab a ladder from under the ring – AJ and Devitt set it up – and that’s going to lead to some huge bump where AJ and Devitt both leap from the ladder atop Joe, crashing down – both men laid atop him – and at the same time the second referee recovers and crawls over to make the pinfall count on AJs behalf….Danielson staggers back into the ring to make the pinfall count on Devitt’s behalf.  Both officials count simultaneously and the match ends.  The Bullet Club entrance song plays. The second official raises AJs hand and Nakamura celebrates while Danielson simultaneously raises Devitt’s hand and Black celebrates. 

-Danielson, still on what would have once been called “queer street” without concern that it was either culturally insensitive nor insufficiently capturing the severity of a concussion, grasps what has happened – the music is cut off – Danielson grabs the title belt and exits the ring.  AJ, Nakamura, Devitt, Black all shouting at each other as the show ends. 

This is the last we’ll see of Danielson until the RAW following the Rumble.

But – tomorrow night – what we’ll learn is that he’s decided that the title is held up. 

To be awarded to the winner of Royal Rumble Warfare – a 20 man pinfall/submission/or over the top battle royal in the main event at the Royal Rumble.

It is the first battle royal in Royal Rumble history.  It is the first Battle Royal ever to determine the WWF Champion. 

And we’ll start talking about it next month

Road to Survivor Series 2017-Part II

Survivor Series is next month.  Last month, we covered half the card:

That’s the first half of the card:

WWF Title: Samoa Joe v. AJ Styles v. Prince Devitt (Guest referee – Bryan Danielson)
No DQ: Dean Ambrose v. Tyler Black (w/Bullet Club)
Shinsuke Nakamura d. Bobby Roode
Womens Title: Becky Lynch (w/Anderson and Gallows) v. Charlotte Flair (w/Strong)
Full Circle (Orton/Cena) v. Sheamus/Mizanin

Here, we’ll cover the other half of the card plus Dark Ride.

IC Title: Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman) v. Kurt  Angle (w/ Shelton Benjamin)
Tags Titles: Tornado Match: Usos (Roman/Jimmy/Jey) v.New Day (Langston/Kingston/Woods)
The Tres Bon Mask Challenge: El Generico v. Kalisto
Claudio Castagnoli (w/Gargano) v. Kid Canada
Asuka  v. Bayley  


IC Title: Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman) v. Kurt  Angle (w/ Shelton Benjamin)

Before Paul Heyman, the pivotal figure in Brock Lesnar’s life was Kurt Angle – Lesnar (Haas, Benjamin, Batista) were all on Camp Angle (IRL Tough Enough) being put through their paces on the way to a WWF career.  Lesnar became Angle’s protégé at a time when Kurt was a dominant babyface world champion.  Lesnar, however, was a dick, a condition that Angle was the last to notice, so when the other babyface wrestlers/fans began to turn on Kurt – he felt that betrayal. By the time Lesnar (and Haas and Benjamin) all turned on Kurt, the damage had been done in each direction.  Angle beat Lesnar at WM19, Lesnar would leave the promotion, Angle would become the diabolical leader of Team Angle (Regal/Haas/Benjamin) and maintain that persona as he then left the promotion (by the hand of Benjamin, who himself would go on to be WWF Champion)

Cut to today; Lesnar is a babyface IC Champ – the Real World’s Champ, according to Heyman (Brock has been prohibited from challenging for the WWF Title) and as he’s been beating that drum the entire calendar year it has really started to take hold.   A week after Summer Slam (Brock kept against Strowman) the main event segment of RAW is Heyman and Brock in the ring, waiting for the announcement of the main who will be challenging him for the title.

Paul does his “reigning, defending” shtick.

And then Kurt Angle’s music hits.

There is no reason to have anticipated this – Angle hasn’t wrestled in a WWF ring in well over a decade, he returned as a special guest referee at WM, had a special night dedicated to him the night following, and has only been seen since in a couple/three workout vignettes with Lesnar, really two old warhorses catching up.  UFC talk.  TNA talk.  Family talk – just seeing a rebuilding of that relationship so many years later.

But now – Kurt Angle – arguably the greatest WWF Champion of the modern era – is coming to the ring.

Before Angle can speak – Brock takes the mic from Heyman “Hell, no Kurt.  I am not going to be responsible for hurting you.  Hell no.”

Kurt responds – the beats are these:  he thinks Brock is the Real World’s Champion, he thinks he has a couple more matches left in him, the one thing he’s never done, from his great amateur career, to the WWF, to TNA – the one thing he’s never done is win the Triple Crown.  All he needs is the IC Title to do that.  Kurt says he doesn’t have a bucket list – but if he did, it would only have one item – win the Triple Crown.

Heyman now responds – and even as he’s saying no, he’s putting Angle over: Angle’s the greatest WWF Champion of all time, he’s had a legendary wrestling career, but he doesn’t want it to end the way Brock Lesnar would end it at Survivor Series.

Kurt, really for the first time, now talks to Paul.

Two men – like a father and stepfather – now battling over their shared son.

Kurt says nobody knows Brock like Paul does – but maybe Kurt knows a couple of things too.

Kurt says Brock might not know too many of the wrestlers, and might not care about too many things but the numbers of zeroes on his checks – but deep down, in places that Paul Heyman might not know about – Brock Lesnar knows theres one thing missing from his resume.

He’s never beaten Kurt Angle.  Not in an official match, not a sparring session, not in a gym, not in the locker room.  Never.  Once.

And Brock can win all the titles and make all the money and shoot all the deer he wants – but until he beats Kurt Angle, he will always have that hole in his life.

Brock sells that completely– he stops smiling, he gets closer to Kurt, he now stands between Heyman and Angle.

Kurt says that he knows something else  (he taps Lesnar’s elbow) “you got a weakness, Champ.

Strowman was too green to know what to do about it – but I’m not.  Maybe what happens at Survivor Series is I tap you out – I  win the Triple Crown – I become the Real World’s Champion – maybe that’s what happens”

Lesnar grabs the microphone from Heyman and accepts the match, throws down the mic, and walks out before Paul can say anything at all.  Angle smiles broadly next to a shocked Heyman as the segment ends.

Angle spends the build at WWFU – his old running mate Regal gives him access to the facilities – and so we get multiple hard training segments with Angle ---and Shelton Benjamin.  And in a reversal from their decade ago dynamic it is Benjamin who is the taskmaster – really driving Angle hard – Benjamin getting personal with Angle, Benjamin saying whatever he has to say to drive Angle harder and harder and harder in preparation for Lesnar.  This is a nice, nice payoff from stories long ago; we saw Angle in the role of taskmaster with Benjamin really under the thumb - and now, here we are.

We get the build from Heyman/Lesnar that you’d expect – about three in ring promos where Heyman builds of the enormity of the match – hitting all the themes that were established in that first segment.  It’s a match you’d never thought you’d see again and never will see again after Survivor Series – it will be the end of Kurt Angle’s career – Heyman reminds us that Angle once consolidated all the World Titles – Rey Mysterio came over to the WWF with the NWA Title and Kurt took it from him.  RVD came over with the ECW Title and Kurt took it from him.  Heyman remembers that clearly because he was there with RVD, he saw Kurt take control over the ECW Title – saw his life’s work snatched away forever by Kurt Angle.

Well – there’s a title that Angle has – Angle’s the greatest WWF Champion of all time.  And at Survivor Series, Brock Lesnar will be taking that from him (this is a good build, right? You can see it)

That’s the stakes – it’s the IC Title, the “Real” World’s Title, the Triple Crown – is it the end of Kurt Angle’s career – it’s as big as we can build it – Lesnar vs. Angle, for the last time.

Tag Titles: Tornado Match: Usos (Roman/Jimmy/Jey) v.New Day (Langston/Kingston/Woods)

Since the end of the Shield two years ago, the constants in the division have been The Usos and The New Day – it was the Usos, then babyfaces, who took the titles from the New Day at WM a year and a half prior, and it’s the Usos, now heels, who hold the belts again.  They’re challenged by the now babyface New Day – at Summer Slam, Langston and Reigns fought to a time limit draw, Reigns didn’t hear the bell, so when Woods and Kingston jumped into the ring to stop him from going after Langston – he thought it was a 3 on 1 attack and takes that feeling into this build.

Why that matters is the Usos have been doing a IRL Sting/Luger thing with Roman, they’re heels, but they act like babyfaces when Roman is watching.

But thinking that the New Day have acted in an underhanded way sticks in Roman’s mind; and the build for this match furthers that belief (like the Usos do the spot where they pretend the New Day has used a foreign object to knock them out, when in actuality they planted the object – but it’s not the referee whose back is turned, it’s Roman’s, and so he thinks the New Day continues to cheat.  A couple of moments in that vein, and so as we get to Survivor Series the dynamic remains that Jimmy and Jey are heels, but Roman, a face, believes them to be faces – and the New Day are faces, by Roman believes them to be heels (I don't want Roman to come off as an idiot, it's really that IRL Sting/Luger thing with an extra twist; and Sting wasn't an idiot - just an overly trusting babyface)

It’s going to be a Tornado Match, all 6 men legal, they can fight both in and out of the ring, and it’s No DQ – it’s the type of match that really has been the backbone of the division since the formation of The Shield, leveraging the use of these 3 man teams to their maximum benefit.

The Tres Bon Mask Challenge: El Generico v. Kalisto
Claudio Castagnoli (w/Gargano) v. Kid Canada

At Summer Slam, Steen beat his former stablemate Neville in a Loser Leaves Town match, culminating the year long feud between the two former halves of GDI.  It was a blood feud, very intense, featuring a very emotional conclusion with Neville forced to leave the territory.  So – everyone takes the first half of the build off (for Steen, it’s more, we don’t see him at all). We are told in very clear terms that this feud is all over.

We return on a lighter note.  Generico is in the ring with the other masked wrestlers in the promotion – Kalisto/Dorada (IRL Metallik) and Sombra (IRL Cien Almas).

A video plays on the video wall – it’s  filmstrip/newsreel  like footage showing a history of Lucha Libre, focusing on the importance of the mask.  It’s cheesy – and the VO is done by someone identifying as Kid Canada, legendary Canadian luchador.  Kid Canada has a thick Quebecoise accent (like he’s doing a Pat Patterson impression).  It seems more familiar than that though...I can't quite place it...

The upshot is the four men in the ring will compete in the Tres Bon Mask Challenge (the name is supposed to be sort of funny) designed to prove who is the greatest masked wrestler in all of WWF.

In the qualifying matches, Generico beats Mascara Dorada, Kalisto beats Sombra.

There’s another segment then where Generico and Kalisto are in the ring – and there’s a second video from Kid Canada – he congratulates both men, says they will meet at Survivor Series – and also at Survivor Series, the winner of that match will learn what great masked wrestler from outside the WWF will be coming to the Royal Rumble to face him.

The other thing we learn from that segment is that Kid Canada will, himself, be making his WWF debut at Survivor Series – where he will take on – Claudio Castagnoli.

Claudio, for his part, has stopped speaking English.  The gimmick is Renee interviews him, asking him questions in English, obviously – and Claudio answers in any other language.  Never speaking a word of English.  Next to him is Gargano, who slides into the role as the other member of Trash.
Gargano and Ciampa were a babyface tag team – the Dark Ride Wrestling chapter of GDI, when GDI split up, they each chose sides.  Gargano went with Claudio and Neville – you can understand why Gargano might see an affinity with Neville’s basic argument “I was a great babyface wrestler for years and what do I have to show for it”

Gargano sat at Neville’s learning tree for the last year, internalizing all the gripes, and when Neville was then shown the door – losing his job, the way he feeds his family gone – it’s Gargano who feels that most personally.  Gargano now cuts promos saying “Don’t call me Johnny Wrestling.  You call me Johnny Trash.” (note, I'm always a year ahead in my preparation and then real world events cause me to edit/modify, meaning even though we're building to Survivor Series '17, I can switch screens right now and look at my card for Summer Slam 2018 - anywho - I've had this Johnny Trash thing on my board 6 months before the current real world NXT Gargano name thing)

Claudio doesn’t seem thrilled with the matchup against Kid Canada, a wrestler no one seems to know at all – and there’s something about his voice that multiple people seem to maybe….I don’t know…it’s sort of hard to put your finger on. He sort of sounds like - nah.  Can't be.

Asuka  v. Bayley  

Asuka and Bayley are making their PPV debuts together; Asuka is the headliner here – she’s doing an IRL Goldberg unbeaten streak – fans hold up sides with Whatever Number It Is-0 (pick your own number, do you want her to be 30-0, fine.  17-0? Great.  201-0? – honestly I don’t care, it’s an unbeaten streak and its gone on for awhile).  She doesn’t squash most opponents (because Asuka is a better worker than IRL Goldberg) she has great matches – and her best matches are with Bayley – who is IRL Bayley, plucky white meat babyface who hugs the fans and has climbed up from the very bottom of developmental to, against all odds, make the main roster and appear on Survivor Series against the woman she’s (obviously) never beaten, Asuka.  Like IRL Heenan with Goldberg, Corey Graves is a heel announcer on Dark Ride who rides hard for the monster babyface Asuka – he appears on RAW when this match is announced to hype it  - and he will be joining the announce team (making his PPV debut) for this match.

Over on Dark Ride Wrestling – the main rivalry is Kenta(the champ)/Hero/Sombra against the newly arrived next version of GDI – Cole/O’Reilly/Fish.  Near the end of the build, GDI fully stomps out Kenta at the top of the show, let’s say in the parking lot – it’s a night when Kenta has a scheduled title defense against Roderick Strong.  There’s speculation if he’ll be able to make it – but he’s Kenta, by God – and he does – and he loses.

Roderick Strong becomes Dark Ride Wrestling Champion – the rest of the Horsemen (including Joe, who created Dark Ride Wrestling and was its first champion) hit the ring for the celebration.
That means – that for that go home 7 on 7 that we set up in Part 1 of the Build – where Roode pins Nakamura – that’s a full on “Look at the Four Horsemen, on top of the Wrestling World” – moment; Samoa Joe is WWF Champion, Roderick Strong is Dark Ride Champion, Charlotte is about to take on Becky Lynch for the Women’s Championship – Roode has just pinned Nakamura (and, not for nothing, their three teammates, also standing tall in the ring post match are the 3 Usos – who all have tag belts – that’s a ton of title belts in the ring as we head to Survivor Series).

Okay, that’s plenty.  Here’s the show.

WWF Title: Samoa Joe v. AJ Styles v. Prince Devitt (Guest referee – Bryan Danielson)
IC Title: Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman) v. Kurt  Angle (w/ Shelton Benjamin)
Tags Titles: Tornado Match: Usos (Roman/Jimmy/Jey) v.New Day (Langston/Kingston/Woods)
No DQ: Dean Ambrose v. Tyler Black (w/Bullet Club)
Shinsuke Nakamura d. Bobby Roode
Womens Title: Becky Lynch (w/Anderson and Gallows) v. Charlotte Flair (w/Strong)
Tres Bon Mask Challenge: El Generico v. Kalisto
Claudio Castagnoli (w/Gargano) v. Kid Canada
Asuka  v. Bayley  
Full Circle (Orton/Cena) v. Sheamus/Mizanin

It’s fun, right? Some good matchups, some interesting storylines?  You’d buy this – Danielson as a guest ref, Angle vs. Lesnar, the Shield match?  You know that tag title will be good; you know Generico/Kalisto and Asuka/Bayley will both be good.  You’re buying this thing.  Let’s do it.  See you in November

Road to Survivor Series 2017 - I

Summer Slam was here.

Survivor Series is coming in November from Houston.  It’s the 4th ever WWF PPV from Houston (the first Rumble, WM 17 and 25)

We’ll split this in half (there are 10 matches on the card).  Half now, half in October.  The show’s in November, as you probably know. 

WWF Title: Samoa Joe v. AJ Styles v. Prince Devitt (Guest referee – Bryan Danielson)

No DQ: Dean Ambrose v. Tyler Black (w/Bullet Club)

Shinsuke Nakamura d. Bobby Roode

Womens Title: Becky Lynch (w/Anderson and Gallows) v. Charlotte Flair (w/Strong)

Full Circle (Orton/Cena) v. Sheamus/Mizanin

We're gonna talk about the four Bullet Club matches all together here.

RAW the night following Summer Slam begins with the Horsemen – for a year and a half it has been the Bullet Club, dominating the first segment – but tonight, there’s a new WWF Champion, and his name is Samoa Joe.

The Horsemen (Joe/Roode/Charlotte/Strong) hit the ring – I’d expect an overwhelming reaction; Samoa Joe winning the WWF Title is an emotional experience and Joe is going to let them applaud; there is a cohort of fans who have traveled 15 years with Samoa Joe to get to this exact moment, and since his WWF career has really been the push/pull of “I don’t even want to win your stupid title” up to and including the creation of Dark Ride Wrestling and his own Championship belt – it’s just a special moment.

Joe says he’s just going to say this once…”thank you” .  That’s going to lead to another round of chanting – which is interrupted by AJ Styles. 

The former Champ comes to the middle of the ramp and says this is a lovely moment – and he hopes Joe enjoys his lovely moment – because he’s exercising his rematch clause, and at Survivor Series, he’s taking back his title.

Before Joe can respond – the Bullet Club music hits again – and the rest of the squad comes out, now including Tyler Black, who…shockingly…joined them the night prior.

They stay at the top of the ramp – so, it’s AJ at midramp – the Horsemen in the ring.

Devitt says, “first of all, AJ, let me introduce myself – I’m Prince Devitt, the leader of the Bullet Club” (AJ and Devitt have not been in the same place at the same time in a full year) “I’d also like to introduce you to the newest member of the Bullet Club – Tyler Black”

(that allows the fans to react to Black’s turn)

Devitt then makes it clear that AJ didn’t know that Black was joining the same way AJ didn’t know that Becky Lynch was joining – and why should he, because AJ isn’t the real leader of the Bullet Club – Devitt is.

Devitt says another thing AJ doesn’t know is that the rematch clause from his contract isn’t a rematch clause for AJ Styles – it’s a rematch clause for the Bullet Club.  And as the leader of the Bullet Club, Prince Devitt will be taking on Samoa Joe for the WWF Title at Survivor Series.

AJ says Devitt can call himself the leader of the Bullet Club all he wants – but Devitt was gone for a year, and for that year, it’s AJ Styles who kept the Bullet Club on top – AJ Styles who wore the WWF Title.  And if Prince Devitt wants that belt – he’s got to go through AJ Styles.

AJ starts walking up the ramp – like it’s all about to go down right now.

Devitt tells him to slow down.  Devitt says lets do it like this – we will ask every single member of the Bullet Club who should get the shot at the title – and if every single member says it should be Prince Devitt – then AJ will step aside, like a leader should, and defer to the wishes of the team.

AJ stops…thinks….and…agrees.

Devitt asks each member – Black says “Devitt”…Lynch says “Devitt”…Anderson and Gallows, in one voice say…Devitt…

And then he gets to Nakamuara, who says “Nakamura.”

Devitt says “Shinsuke…you don’t understand…it’s either me or AJ…”

Nakamura then gets into Devitt’s face…”You don’t understand.  I said Nakamura.”

Devitt: I thought we had an understanding.

Nakamura:  You and me had understanding.  I don’t know him (pointing to Black…it was clear last  night that Nakamura was surprised by Black’s turn)

So – there’s tension all the way around – broken up by Joe. 

He says as entertaining as this is – he’s going to solve it; at Survivor Series, he’ll defend the title against both AJ and Devitt in a Triple Threat Match.

And that ends that segment.

Danielson’s added about midway through the build – he has been AJs chief antagonist over the past year; AJ claiming he’s the “best wrestler in the world” – there’s an AJ promo in early October where he’s feeling himself “it doesn’t matter whether I pin Devitt or whether I pin Joe” (it’s Triple Threat rules – one fall) “I’m walking out of Houston as a 2 time WWF Champion and, more than that, the Unquestioned Best Wrestler in the World”

That draws Danielson out – it’s their first interaction since Summer Slam.

Danielson says something’s missing..he can’t quite place it…its AJ’s title belt..did he leave it back at the hotel…

AJ says that’s funny.  AJ likes jokes.  Here’s a joke.  Who has 2 thumbs and cant wrestle anymore.  You.

Danielson and AJ are full nose to nose.  “AJ..we’ve known each other a long time, so I hope you can tell when I’m serious.  And I’m being serious when I say this…stop knocking on my door.  If you keep knocking on my door…one day….I just might answer.”

(and that line gets some buzzzzz going).

AJ laughs – cocks his fist as if to hit Danielson – Danielson doesn’t flinch. 

AJ laughs again.  Starts to exit.  Danielson says “shoot..I almost forgot to tell you why I came out here in the first place.”

AJ doesn’t break stride, doesn’t look over his shoulder, keeps walking.

Danielson reveals that he’ll be the special guest referee for the title match at Survivor Series.

AJ stops, to sell the impact of that, but doesn’t look back.

In the build, we move away from “AJ vs. the Bullet Club” and instead re-divide; AJ is most often with Nakamura.  They tag together a couple/three times, allowing AJ to save Nakamura a couple/three times, once a normal “Nakamura’s getting double teamed in the ring, AJ saves” and another from a full scale Horsemen beat down.

This gives us a few things – it adds a tick of a babyface shine to AJ, as he’s coming to someone’s aid.  

It adds a tick of a babyface shine to Nakamura, as he’s on the short end of a beatdown.  It adds an edge to the Horsemen, who, while they are babyfaces, are never pure babyfaces, because they’re always the Horsemen.  It allows Roode to get some steam heading into his Nakamura match.  And it brings AJ and Nakamura closer together – Nakamura was, like the rest of the Club, entirely in Devitt’s pocket – but he was out of the loop on the decision to recruit Black, and he might think that within that alliance, adding one more mouth to feed might drop him in the pecking order – and so he moves closer to AJ in this build.

Devitt and Black are always together in the build.  Black repeatedly refers to Devitt as the Next WWF Champion, making clear on which side he’s going to stand in the title match.  Devitt is all steam in the build, if he’s in a match in any configuration; singles/multi-man/mixed tag – he’s the one who gets the fall.  There’s a lot of Prince Devitt getting his hand raised in the build. 

Black does multiple in ring interviews with Renee (who has never been acknowledged as being with Ambrose IRL) and establishes why he turned on Ambrose.  Black didn’t kill the Shield, Ambrose killed the Shield.  Black lay in a hospital bed for weeks, rehabbed for months – and did his brother stand beside him to plan their return, to plan their revenge against Langston?  Nah.  Ambrose put himself ahead of the Shield.  Ambrose put himself ahead of me. 

Black says he didn’t make this choice – Ambrose made this choice – all Black needed was a new home.  Black says Devitt, his new best friend, his real brother, reached out, and they made a deal – if the Bullet Club beat The Shield at Summer Slam that would show once and for all that the Shield was really dead, and then Black would join the winning team.  Because that’s what winners do – winners win – and no one wins more than the Bullet Club.

There’s another interview, about halfway through the build, where Black says he doesn’t think they’ll see Ambrose for awhile – but while he’s gone – there isn’t anything Ambrose can do that Black can’t do better – and maybe Renee would like to find out.

And that brings out a wild Ambrose – he hits Black with full velocity and starts driving his head into the canvas, over and over – Devitt, who is right there, as always, is unable to pull him off – he waves to the back and Anderson and Gallows run in, and eventually they’re able to pull Black from the ring. 

We only see Ambrose one more time in the build; Danielson makes their Survivor Series match a No DQ and rules that Ambrose can’t step foot in an arena until Survivor Series for everyone’s protection. 

Ambrose does a go home week promo, it’s taped Shield style with the phone camera and Ambrose in the full Shield gear.  He says it took him a second, but he realizes who Tyler is.  Tyler’s a guy who can’t stand on his own.  Tyler started with GDI, left them to join Underground, saw that Ambrose was the baddest dude in the prison and cozied up to him, and now that a bigger gang looks like they’ve taken control of the yard, he’s made himself their fish.  Tyler’s a pussy and now everyone sees it.  

And the Shield isn’t dead.  As long as Dean Ambrose’s heart’s still beating, the Shield is alive, and we’ll see how many hearts are still beating after Survivor Series, Tyler.

The women go home about halfway through to do a sports build for their match; we’ve been building Becky and Charlotte since Mania, so they don’t need much more interaction – let’s watch them each kick heavy bags for a few weeks in training montages and then throw them in the ring.

The go home is the only time we see the whole Bullet Club together for a 7 on 7.

AJ, Devitt, Black, Nakamura, Anderson, Gallows, Lynch

v.

Joe, Roode, Strong, Charlotte…

…and they need 3 partners.  Who will they be?

The Usos.  Roman/Jimmy/Jey

Unease, obviously, between Horsemen and Usos.  Unease, obviously, between AJ and Devitt.

The babyfaces go over; Black inadvertently takes out Nakamura and he gets pinned by Roode. 

We get some good physicality between Usos and Anderson/Gallows – Usos are the tag champs, Anderson and Gallows always say they’re the best tag team alive, regardless of what program they’re in, so while the two teams have never had prior interaction – that animosity plays out.  Roman (who is now more heelish than not, and we’ll discuss that in part 2 when building the tag title match) does some flexing on Joe in a “maybe I want that belt you got” sort of way.  AJ and Devitt have only two interactions, they each have occasion to tag the other and there’s a long pause and then a hard hand slap followed by a stare after both exchanges. 

After the pinfall, Nakamura, once he recovers, gets in Black’s face – Devitt tries to explain that it was an accident and Nakamura slaps his hand away – that gets Anderson and Gallows in Nakamura’s face and draws AJ to defend Nakamura – they all are face to face to face to face to face and then the Horsemen attack – even though there are only 3 male Horsemen, the distraction allows them to clean house and knock the entire Bullet Club from the ring.  And that’s how the build ends – Devitt, AJ, Nakamura, and Black, all competing at Survivor Series – all scowling on the floor as the united Horsemen stand strong in the ring.

The only other match we’re covering today is the opening tag – Full Circle continues to roll on and now they will be taking on the brand new team of Sheamus and Mike Mizanin; similar to the IRL joining of Sheamus/Cesaro, they are doing a kinda comedic mismatched thing.  Sheamus introduces Mizanin to rugby, to barroom brawls – Mizanin takes Sheamus to…like a shooting of Floribama Shore or some similar MTV happening.  I see like a montage where Sheamus shows Mizanin a collection of hockey jerseys and Mizanin shows Sheamus a collection of Cuck ball gags. 

That’s the first half of the card:

WWF Title: Samoa Joe v. AJ Styles v. Prince Devitt (Guest referee – Bryan Danielson)

No DQ: Dean Ambrose v. Tyler Black (w/Bullet Club)

Shinsuke Nakamura d. Bobby Roode

Womens Title: Becky Lynch (w/Anderson and Gallows) v. Charlotte Flair (w/Strong)

Full Circle (Orton/Cena) v. Sheamus/Mizanin

In a month – we’ll look at the second half:

IC Title: Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman) v. Kurt  Angle (w/ Shelton Benjamin)

Tags Titles: Tornado Match: Usos (Roman/Jimmy/Jey) v.New Day (Langston/Kingston/Woods)

The Tres Bon Mask Challenge: El Generico v. Kalisto

Claudio Castagnoli (w/Gargano) v. Kid Canada

Asuka  v. Bayley  

See you in a month, when we'll also peek in on Dark Ride, which has a title change.  

Summer Slam 2017

The build is here.

Summer Slam 2017 comes to you from Brooklyn.

It’s Summer Slam 30, the summer included a countdown of the 18 greatest matches in Summer Slam history; the 18 matches rated at 4 ½ stars and higher (that terminology is used in the countdown, talking heads on the various ESPN like Network shows can debate all the things one would assume they’d debate).  The number one match was to be revealed at the beginning of Summer Slam.

Summer Slam opens with a clip package of those 17 already revealed matches – followed by a longer clip of the greatest match in event history.

18.  '99 WWF Title: Career vs. Career: Cactus Jack d. Steve Austin (Guest referee-HBK)  4 ½

17.  '05 IC Tournament: Kurt Angle d. Shawn Michaels 4 ½

16. '05 IC Tournament: Chris Benoit d. Chris Jericho 4 ½

15. '89 WWF Tag Title: Rockers d. Brainbusters (switch) 4 ½

14. '89 WWF Title: Randy Savage (w/Liz) d. Bret Hart 4 ½

13. '02 Unified Titles: WWF/NWA/ECW: Kurt Angle d. Rey Mysterio 4 ½

12. '95 IC Title: Ladder  Match: Shawn Michaels d. Razor Ramon (w/Waltman/HHH) (switch) 4 ½

11. '00 Tags: TLC2: Edge/Christian (w/Trish) d. Hardys (w/Lita) d. Dudleys (w/Stevie) 4 ½ 

10. '96 IC Title: Vader (w/Perfect) d. Cactus Jack 4 ½ 

9.  '96 WWF Title: Shawn Michaels d. Owen Hart 4 ½

8. '10 Bryan Danielson d. CM Punk 4 ½

7. '91 IC Title: Bret Hart d. Ricky Steamboat 4 ¾

6.  '00 IC Title: 2 of 3 Falls: Chris Jericho d. Eddy Guerrero 4 ¾ (switch)

5.  '94 WWF Title: Cage Match: Owen Hart d. Bret Hart 4 ¾

4. '92 WWF Title: Bret Hart d. Davey Boy Smith 4 ¾

3. '04 Unified Titles: WWF/NWA/ECW 2 of 3 Falls: Chris Benoit d. Kurt Angle 4 ¾

2. '05 Unified Titles: WWF/NWA/ECW: 2 of 3 Falls: Rey Mysterio d. Eddy Guerrero (switch, Rey wins triple crown) 4 ¾

…and the greatest match in Summer Slam history…

1. '13 WWF Title: Cage: Bryan Danielson  d. Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman/Swagger) 5 (switch)

(Dark-Cole/O’Reilly/Fish d. Kenta/Hero/Sombra

          Dunne d. Bate)

Your announcers are Ranallo, calling his 8^th event; Regal, calling his 18^th, and Nigel, calling his 5^th.

They open the show and set the stage for what should be the hottest show of the year; Samoa Joe challenging for the WWF Title; the return of the Shield against an all star tag team of Devitt and Nakamura; either Kevin Steen or Neville will leave the WWF tonight; Brock Lesnar – the Broken Hardys – it is Summer Slam 30 and it is a happening!

1.    No DQ: Full Circle (Orton/Cena) d. Bray Wyatt/Taylor Rotunda

Orton and Cena were tag champs back in 2005; both men just starting their careers; it’s a dozen years later and they’ve gone Full Circle, back together again.  Cena was once  a Wyatt Family member, so now babyface Bray has been the flashpoint of his newly found heelish tactics. With Luke Harper on the shelf, career enhancement guy Rotunda (who, for whatever reason, was drawn to Bray) threw himself into this mix. 

He’s going through a table here (is there a way to combine an Attitude Adjustment and an RKO…like Cena picks up a guy and Orton RKO’s him from that position?) for the fall. 

2.    Claudio Castagnoli d. Akira Tozawa

-Former WWF Champion Castagnoli turned heel along with Neville, splitting away from GDI to become disaffected babyface team Trash. An epic feud with former stablemates Steen and Generico ensued; later tonight, Neville and Steen are finishing it with a loser leaves town match.  This is just a workrate match; its Tozawa’s PPV debut and unclear if/when he’ll get another shot – he throws everything he has here in a losing effort against Claudio.

3.    Mike Mizanin d. Rusev (w/Lana)

-Rusev was a super hot foreign heel act with Lana and GHB (real world JBL) as chief antagonist of Linda McMahon in her Presidential candidacy – Linda won to become our 45^th President (she then fell into a coma, Vince McMahon is now babyface President of the United States) and Rusev lost his IC title to Brock.  Mizanin was once Hunter’s protegee/young boy, he and Johnny Nitro, who, in a separate storyline, was in Shawn Michaels’ stable, joined the Clique and then turned on the veterans (in the way that Hunter and Waltman once turned on Razor and Diesel, sending them to the NWA).  Nitro’s leaving, however, really caused the Clique to fizzle; the Miz moved from chickenshit heel to “The Cuck” standing by as his wife slept with other wrestlers in exchange for pinfalls, and now is pure white meat Mike Mizanin.  He gets a slip on a banana peel pinfall; Rusev dominates, but Mizanin is a veteran and takes advantage of one Rusev concentration slip with an inside cradle to get the win.  Rusev explodes in anger – throwing Mizanin around --- until he is saved by his once rival Sheamus, whose respect he earned in abandoning the Cuck lifestyle.  Sheamus, a member of Underground, was once known as the Clique Killer, so as he and Miz demonstrate friendship in the ring postmatch, it is a significant movement in his career.

4. Langston (w/Woods and Kingston) NC Roman Reigns-Uso (time limit draw)

-Langston was the 3^rd member (bodyguard/enforcer/occasional wrestler) in The Shield, the longest reigning champions of any division in the Wrestlemania Era.  He turned on Black and Ambrose, winding up with Woods and Kingston as the New Day, a heel Black separatist act.  They’d go onto win the tag titles – but lose them to the Usos, a babyface trio.  The two squads have almost fully flipped sides, the New Day still talks about racial justice, but is a babyface act (Langston still gets some boos, given the severity of his breaking up The Shield) Jimmy and Jey are now full heels, while Roman remains a babyface.  This battle of the powerhouses is a time limit draw – the men don’t hear the bell and continue to fight, Woods and Kingston enter the ring, Roman doesn’t understand why and he attacks them – the three member New Day then clear Roman from the ring.  Sure, it was a misunderstanding – but Roman when Roman holds up 3 fingers and then points 1 to himself, its clear he thinks he’s been on the short side of a 3 on 1 beatdown from supposed fan favorites. 

It’s time for the Women’s Title Contract Signing.

WWF Commissioner Bryan Danielson comes to the ring first – it’s a pretty big reaction from the Brooklyn crowd. He makes a joke about he and Brock having the best Summer Slam match ever, the crowd loudly responds with a “one more match” chant – Danielson no sells it and moves on, introducing first, the challenger for the Women’s Title, to be contested at Survivor Series, representing the Four Horsemen, Charlotte Flair.

Charlotte enters with Roode/Strong; she’s a two time women’s champ – it was her turn on 4-Ground (Sasha/Lynch/Paige) that really jumpstarted the feuds that made up the women’s division through multiple events. She’s now a babyface; having joined the newest edition of the Horsemen as part of the build to Summer Slam.

Danielson then introduces the women’s champion – representing the Bullet Club, Becky Lynch.

Lynch had been a victim of that Charlotte turn; so she matched her, turning heel to join the Bullet Club, taking the title from her best friend Banks, and here we are.  She’s flanked by Anderson and Gallows, who basically have been her constant companions since the turn. 

There’s some bad mouth by the four men as they sign the contracts – it looks like it’s going to get out of hand as the language gets heated – but Flair calms her side down – she says she’s got this – and the Horsemen hold up 4 fingers as the announcers remind us that that it’s all going down at Survivor Series 31 in Houston in November. 

Taking us to the upper card matches. 

5.WWF Tag Titles: Usos (Jimmy/Jey) d. Broken Hardys

-The Usos become the 103^rd WWF Tag Team Champs, this is their second title run.  The Hardys started 20 years ago as young boys for Owen Hart; they won the tag titles twice, feuding with their former friends Edge and Christian and the veteran Dudleys from ECW.  We’ve seen Matt managed by Eric Bischoff; seen Jeff become the Blood Dragon; seen Matt become the maybe the most popular babyface in the promotion during his feud with Edge – and eventually turn heel, sending his brother out of the promotion in the second Montreal Match, and even team up with Edge in a Wrestlemania main event.  The two men were both psychologically “breaking” even as they left WWF – so that they returned as the Broken Hardys reflects a continuation of WWF storyline. They took their third titles (no team has ever won 4) at Mania. The Usos, along with Roman, had been star crossed babyfaces for much of their WWF careers, they finally won the big one at last year’s Mania, taking from the New Day.  This year, however, Jimmy and Jey turned, finding a swagger they had previously lacked, and are reveling in their new attitude.  They go over clean here; it’s the best match the two teams can have; the Usos (like the Bucks in the Hardys ROH matches with them) really driving the athleticism (and they can unleash a torrent of superkicks – there can’t be too many Usos superkicks). 

The Usos have retaken the tag titles!

6. IC: Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman) d. Braun Strowman

-Brock’s a 2 time WWF Champ (3 is the most for anyone) but is currently prohibited from challenging for that title due to his career ending attack of Joey Styles.  He did win the IC however, getting that shot as part of an exchange of favors between Paul Heyman and Lesnar’s only real nemesis, Bryan Danielson (Brock doesn’t really know any of the other wrestlers names).  That led Heyman to proclaim Brock to be the “Real World’s Champion” – and as the months have continued, that call grows louder and louder.  Strowman’s spent all of 2017 squashing guys, most specifically from the prior generation from the Underground – his challenge to Brock here was speculated to be maybe a little premature – he’s a powerhouse, but green.  That turns out to be true, once Lesnar neutralizes Strowman with a couple of potatoes to the face, he overwhelms him in a 6-7 minute match.  Heyman holds up the IC to the camera “Don’t Believe What You Read – this title belt reads Real Worlds Champion – Brock Lesnar”

7. Loser Leaves Town: Kevin Steen (w/Generico) d. Neville (w/Claudio and Gargano)

-Steen/Generico/Neville/Claudio were the most recent version of GDI; a stable started by Punk over a decade ago.  Steen was a dickhead leader; riding all three men hard – and when Neville (who was then Pac) lost his mask and identity (in a match pushed on him by Steen) and Claudio lost the WWF Title; the two had just been pushed two far and turned on their former stablemates, forming the tag team Trash.  They’ve been feuding for the better part of a year – including some of the greatest tag team matches in promotion history.  They seemed willing to “fight forever” and so they find themselves in a Loser Leaves Town match.

It’s probably the best match of the night – every nearfall frought with anxiety – none of the seconds make a move to get involved at all, the stakes just transcend some sort of outside interference.  Steen goes over – there’s no celebration; Generico hugs him tightly in relief, but not joy.  Gargano, who has really prayed at the church of disaffected babyface Neville for months “see how they treat you, Johnny – do you see, do you see how they treat you?” is holding back tears – angry – yelling at Steen “how could you do this – he is your friend – how could you do this” – but Claudio pulls him away.  It’s too solemn a moment for that.  The five men stand silently in the ring for a moment – and then Neville leaves alone, wordlessly, and disappears up the ramp. 

8. Bullet Club (Nakamura/Devitt) (w/Anderson and Gallows) d. The Shield (Ambrose/Black)

-So, something’s gonna happen here.

The Shield had the longest title reign for any beltholders in the Wrestlemania Era, but Langston turned on the other two, injuring Black in the process.  The recovery was a long one and created a fissure between the two men, Ambrose didn’t pursue revenge against Langston, instead moving to challenge for the IC title (he won, he’s held the belt twice).  Black, however, was singleminded in his return, going after the other two members of the New Day when he couldn’t get a 1-1 with Langston; and he was clearly salty at Ambrose’s perceived disloyalty.  The cracks grew between the two men, they just met at Mania – and with Black still working through injury, he lost to Ambrose.  The two men made up and accepted the challenge – this is the first match for the Shield since losing their titles two years ago.  They put on the old gear, the come through the crowd they have their old music – it’s the Shield.

Devitt hasn’t wrestled a PPV match since Lesnar fractured his skull at last year’s Summer Slam and this is Nakamura’s WWF PPV debut.  So you understand the heavy star power involved.

They have the best match they can – Devitt pins Black.  The Shield has lost clean as a sheet. 

You can see the frustration on Black’s face…is it his leg…will he just never be the wrestler he once was…is this all there is…

The Bullet Club exits the ring but remains at ringside as Ambrose and Black take a moment to embrace – Black saying “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry” Ambrose shakes his head as if to assure Black it’s not his fault – but that’s not what Black’s apologizing for.

Black takes his right hand – turns it into a finger gun.  And points it at Ambrose.

That’s the cue for Anderson and Gallows – they storm the ring and beat Ambrose down – Devitt laughs maniacally, joining in – Nakamura stays at ringside, clearly unsure what is happening. Devitt/Anderson/Gallows beat Ambrose down – he fights valiantly – but they gain control of him, holding him in place so we can see his look of total betrayal as he says “why…why…why…” before his face is shoved to the mat – and at the exhortation of Devitt “do it…do it…do it” Black curbstomps his now former partner and best friend. 

Tyler Black has joined the Bullet Club.

9. WWF Championship: Samoa Joe (w/Horsemen) d. AJ Styles

Samoa Joe held the longest ROH Title reign in history.  Samoa Joe held the longest TNA title reign in history.  Samoa Joe is the 56^th WWF Champion. 

Joe comes with his crew – Roode/Strong/Charlotte; AJ comes alone, we just saw the Bullet Club, of whom he has been the nominal leader, in the previous match so they are nowhere to be found, notably here.  AJ wears his “Best Wrestler in the World” gear he debuted at Mania, and prior to the match he stands in front of the timekeeper’s table, at which sits WWF Commissioner Bryan Danielson – AJ has been Danielson’s primary antagonist over the past year, and Styles demands that after he beats Joe tonight that Danielson present him with the WWF Title and proclaim that AJ is better than he ever was.  AJ personally hands the belt to Danielson – tells him to enjoy it, he’ll be back for it in five minutes.

 

AJ and Joe is a big fight feel – they were the cornerstone feud in TNA for years, exchanging wins/losses for the TNA Title. They’ve been fighting for over a decade – if you were to say this is the defining feud in North American wrestling in the 21^st century, that’s not an unreasonable choice. 

Joe wins – it’s a back and forth, main event style match, hard striking, suplexes, big spots, false finishers the whole thing.  And Joe beats him with the Muscle Buster. 

It’s been an unbelievable stretch of matches for this Brooklyn crowd – they saw Steen end Neville’s career, and then Black turn on Ambrose – and now, Samoa Joe wins the WWF Championship.

The Horsemen celebrate – Danielson gets into the ring with the WWF Title to present it to Joe – AJ cuts him off – AJ, near tears, his year+ long title reign over, stands nose to nose with Danielson…and then AJ exits the ring.  Bryan Danielson hands the WWF Title belt in the middle of the ring to Samoa Joe – and raises his hand in victory as the show ends.

Summer Slam 2017.  That’s what I’m talking about. 

I’ll be back next month with the first half of the build for Survivor Series 2017.

Your main event…Samoa Joe v. AJ Styles v. Prince Devitt for the WWF Title.