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

-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. 

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