Rating guide (matches start as a 5 and slide as they improve or decline
10- Perfect, 9- Excellent, 8- Great, 7- Good, 6- Above Average, 5- Average 4- slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Pre show and backstage crappenings
- Alexa Bliss and Charlotte were great. Alexa brought up her success against the Horsewomen.
- Shawn Michaels looks uncomfortable here.
- They have Sam Roberts out there Todd Pettingilling. It's an art form.
- A really awesome Styles/Lesnar video package that features WCW footage.
- I don't see why stakes weren't added to the Raw vs. SD 5 on 5 matches. It's as simple as saying "the Survivors will get a title shot or be in a number one contender match"
- Bayley can't take a shit without someone busting in and proposing next to her.
Elias defeated Matt Hardy
4.75/10
- All due respect to both guys -- I enjoy them both -- but why couldn't you announce another 5 on 5 match instead? Give people on the Kickoff show a taste of the main card.
- A double underhook shoulderbreaker? Hose me down.
- This is a fine, fundamentally sound match that you'll see on Raw five more times. Elias wins.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Enzo Amore (c) defeated Kalisto
6/10
- Kalisto is such a weak character that sometimes I forget how incredible he can be in the ring. A springboard Code Red reminds me of that. Enzo is a selling machine.
- Kalisto using Velveteen Dream's cartwheel Death Valley Driver 22 hours later, eh?
- Either way, these guys are working their asses off. Excellent stuff.
- Enzo escapes by the skin of his teeth. He has really good in-ring chemistry with almost everyone because he keeps it basic and sells his ass off.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeated Breezango
5/10
- Kevin Owens is really playing up the "not wanting to be around" thing.
- He and Zayn justify their actions from Tuesday night.
- This was a paint-by-numbers WWE tag match. It wasn't bad, it was just the standard.
- You see the guys go through their normal spots and KO/Zayn win.
The Shield defeated New Day
7/10
- This is hard hitting stuff.
- Rollins and Ambrose are wearing really dumbass half Raw half Shield shirts
- Big E screams "SUCK ON THAT SUCKA!"
- Ambrose teases Dirty Deeds, but can't hit it.
- Unicorn Stampede leads to a neat comeback by Ambrose. Booker T, a great tag team wrestler, accuses the ref of not doing his job. Ha!
- Dean Ambrose LEAPING three inches to make the tag was wrestling comedy gold.
- The match picks up big time after a Roman Reigns series. Kofi gets caught with Ambrose and Rollins finishers, but it's broken up.
- The crowd seriously cheered The Shield getting their Triple Powerbomb stopped by New Day.
- I get the feeling WWE didn't expect "New Day Rocks" chants here. They follow it up with a Snake Eyes Boot and an interesting Electric Chair Leapfrog Splash. Yeah, you read that right.
- A DOUBLE MIDNIGHT HOUR!!!! Big E had Rollins and Ambrose up! Reigns breaks it up.
- WWE production miss: Ripcord Knee to Woods on the outside. Trash reffing, too.
- A Super Shield Bomb gets the win. Really, really good match.
Survivor Series
Team Raw (Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax & Captain Alicia Fox) defeated Team Smackdown (Natalya, Tamina, Becky Lynch, Carmella & Naomi). Asuka was the sole survivor.
3.75/10
- You could argue that 2017 is the most successful run of Tamina's career as a character.
- Becky Lynch gets pinned in a matter of minutes by a sneaky Bayley roll up pin. Nothing gets a babyface over quite like being a steaming pile of loser!
- Tamina wrestling in a vest. Watching her try to keep up with selling Asuka's strikes was sad.
- Bayley had a really good comeback in the corner where she attacked all of Team Smackdown. She's beaten by Tamina soon after.
- Biggest pop of Nia or Tamina's run? Them facing off. They should trade headbutts and not sell any of them.
- Tamina superkicks Nia twice to sent her outside the ring, then once more outside. A countout beats Nia. This is easily the biggest year of Tamina's career. It hasn't been pretty, but I never thought she'd be back after her knee injury.
- Alicia is pinned by Naomi. She's late to kick out and was supposed to get submitted. Naomi gets tapped by Sasha.
- The 5-man announce team and this match fit together perfectly and that's not a compliment in any manner
- The agenting of this match was bad and the execution was worse.
- Camella gets kicked REAL HARD by Asuka. She's pinned.
- Sasha's bump off of being ran into the turnbuckle was neat. Natalya submits her after.
- Asuka eliminates both Tamina and Natalya.
- Boy, did that suck.
Baron Corbin defeated The Miz (w/ Miztourage)
5/10
- This was, in fact, a match that happened.
- Maryse is ringside.
- Bo Dallas clips Corbin's knee, and he works from underneath. Miz works the leg well.
- Corbin wins with End of Days, it looked rough. Wondered how Miz would take it.
- Baron Corbin cut an ALL YOU PEOPLE promo to remind everyone he's a heel.
Usos defeated The Bar
7/10
- Paint By Numbers WWE Tag Match™ until an Uso back body drops Cesaro into a turnbuckle.
- I was lost on how anyone thought WWE was positioning the Usos as anything but babyfaces over the last month. Jey gutting out the Sharpshooter solidifies that point.
- Sheamus catches Jey in midair and sets up a cool assisted White Noise. Cesaro used a springboard off the second rope for it.
- Jey Uso, on Cesaro's shoulders, manages to Samoan drop Sheamus. Wow
- There's a "superkick party," complete with Byron Saxton using the term. Cesaro sacrifices himself, but then Sheamus gets beaten with them.
- Really good. The crowd is hot despite no real stakes.
Charlotte defeated Alexa Bliss
7/10
- Alexa Bliss slams Charlotte face first to the floor from the apron by her arm. Nice, simple move that makes an impact.
- A bodyslam reversal by Alexa looks really good too.
- Corner spots have really advanced in WWE in recent years. I write this after a scary looking exploder from Charlotte into the corner.
- Alexa's offense has been really good thus far. A powerbomb goes into a huracanrana, and then a Code Red hits.
- A Charlotte powerbomb and a huge Alexa punch, and this match is cookin'. Natural Selection gets two. A missed moonsault and DDT does the same. This has been fantastic.
- The women need a couple of new spots in general. The turnbuckle and Tower of Doom are overused.
- Charlotte gets the win with the Figure 8. I could see this being a WrestleMania match in the future.
Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated AJ Styles
8.5/10
- I haven't seen anyone tweet that this show has needed more Jinder Mahal.
- Lesnar manhandles AJ early. He drags Styles across the ring by his hair.
- Nobody has taken a Lesnar belly-to-belly suplex better than Styles. He sells the German suplex by tumbling and tangling into the ropes. Follow that up with a sick bump outside.
- AJ Styles should adopt Sting's old comeback.
- The crowd goes nuts when Styles gets any offense.
- There's some sloppiness off of a moonsault where Brock catches AJ, and then whips Styles down on a tornado DDT attempt. This is great.
- Styles takes the old school German suplex sell where he lands face down.
- Styles connects with a slingshot forearm. I feel like I'm just doing play-by-play, but this is just outstanding.
- Styles even busts out a Lionsault and a springboard 450.
- LEGLOCKS ARE A LESNAR WEAKNESS!! CALF CRUSHER!!! Lesnar repeatedly slams Styles' head to get out. This is just great.
- A Phenomenal Forearm gets two. Styles/Lesnar was the right match to make. Styles got horizontal on that forearm in midair.
- Lesnar catches AJ Styles. F5. Win.
- The commentary team indicates that Lesnar's knee could be hurt.
Survivor Series Match
Team Raw defeated Team Smackdown. Braun Strowman and Triple H are the Survivors
4.75/10
- Sorry, but you're not winning a battle of the entrances when you have Greg Hamilton on the other side. Pack it in, call it a day in that regard.
- Half of these guys haven't wrestled a match on the actual cable show they're representing since before the summer.
- Lots of finish teases right out of the gate, which I think is a good move.
- "HERE COMES SHIN." Stop that. Balor Too Sweets Nakamura's forehead.
- Roode and Triple H trading spinebusters and taunts was enjoyable.
- Nakamura is beaten first by Braun. They set this up by Nakamura taking a cheap shot at Strowman.
- I'm glad that Nakamura got eliminated first just so we don't have to hear Cole call him Shin all night. Roode is gone next.
- Cena and Orton get help from Shane, Roode and Nakamura in putting Braun through an announce table.
- Joe overhead superplexes Shane. That's a horrifying bump to have or trust a nearly 50 year old Shane McMahon to take.
- Joe is out next after a Cena AA. I get the feeling someone walks out of this match injured.
- A Coup De Grace and Olympic Slam eliminate Cena!
- Orton may be the Survivor Series GOAT from a kayfabe perspective. That should be someone's deal. He catches Balor with an RKO.
- Zayn and Owens attack Shane McMahon. Shane whips them with a chair and Orton RKO's Owens. He gets beaten by Braun
- Triple H turns on Kurt Angle and Pedigrees him. It looked bad. Shane is really selling the ankle, and Triple H puts him on Kurt for the pin. Then he Pedigrees Shane and beats him. Ok.
- Strowman goes off and Powerslams Triple H twice for crossing him!