#roseplant | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

danwhobrowses · 2 years ago

Text

Survivor Series: War Games - Review

Regal's not here to say it, but it's time for the Main Roster to engage in War Games!

Only 5 matches on the card but two are the big 5v5 in Dusty's Cage Creations, so let's see how it goes.

Spoilers for the PPV

Scrubbed the Kickoff because it had no matches.

Women's War Games Team Bianca (Bianca BelAir, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Mia Yim & Becky Lynch) def. Team Bayley (Bayley, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Nikki Cross & Rhea Ripley) [Pinfall by Lynch on Kai via Leg Drop] It was odd to see Becky in a most tame attire, it kinda looked like a modification of her old Royal Rumble gear, the red and black one, Nikki Cross climbed the mini-cage too. Bianca started against Dakota (who has been in four matches), both did trade advantages but Bianca had the edge so Iyo could come in next, after a 1v1 bit the women's tag champs ganged up on Bianca - highlight being Iyo doing a double rope dropkick - until Asuka came back to cross with Iyo for a mini-match. Nikki came out next and brought out the weapons: kendo sticks and trash can lids, though she attacked the faces more with her coat until Bliss' arrival to face her former tag partner, Bianca's strength feat probably wasn't as impactful as she only bent the kendo stick over her knee, but Nikki did the top cage spot with a flying crossbody. With everyone prone, out comes Bayley to bring out more weapons. Ladders in hand and a table (much to the crowd's glee since they were asking for it) but she wasted a lot of time which allowed Mia Yim to come out with the trash cans - leaving her teammates to be beaten up for a bit - Yim did use the weapons and environment to her advantage, which gave the faces a respite, but next would be Rhea. Rhea of course bullied the babyfaces until Mia cannonballed a trash can into her, the final member unleashed The Man, hitting Iyo with a trash can leg drop before crossing her fellow Horsewoman. She held the advantage over Bayley but not Rhea, who hit a Riptide on The Man - broken up by Asuka - the two then combined to hit Rhea with the mist and a DDT, Asuka saved her team again when Becky was hit with a Roseplant on the middle steel bar between the rings. Iyo would be next to do a top-cage move with a moonsault, leaving all members prone, Nikki and Alexa took each other out when Nikki tried to cuff Alexa to the cage, only to be cuffed to Alexa and hit with an Electric Chair on a trash can, Rhea took out Asuka by throwing her in the cage wall, then reversed a Backpack Sleeper to cannonball Mia through a ladder. This left Damage CTRL vs Bianca and Becky, Kai escaped the KOD but landed right into a Manhandle Slam, the inverse happened for Iyo. Becky went up top as Bianca draped Iyo and Kai on the table, Bayley tried to make the save but was KOD'd into the cage wall as Becky landed the leg drop, pinning Kai.

Was a good match, this does mean however much of my predictions are gonna be wrong XD WWE gave Becky her big comeback win contrary to putting Rhea in line for Bianca's title, which you can't be too mad about - y'know if you ignore that Bayley's feud with Bianca involved her losing 4 Times in a row on PPV. I guess for main roster onlys this is your basic guide to War Games.

Jey comes to Roman backstage telling him about the conversation he overheard between Sami and Owens. Roman however tells his cousin that he will handle matters. When Jey leaves though an angry twitch appears on Roman, as he tells Heyman to call Zayn.

AJ Styles (w/ The Good Brothers) def. Finn Balor (w/The Judgement Day) [Pinfall via Phenomenal Forearm] Dunno what the deal is with Balor just wearing a blank mask but better than the spiky one, AJ's mask was better but also kinda weird. Styles worked on the leg, wearing him for the Calf Crusher but also weakening his Bloody Sunday and Coup de Grace, however, Balor worked on the ribs and lower back. AJ got the first pinfall attempt with a sliding forearm and an ushigoroshi but only good or 2, Judgement Day got involved to delay the Phenomenal Forearm, which got the Good Brothers involved, brawling into the crowd. Balor took control by reversing the Calf Crusher transition with a double stomp, fighting off a comeback attempt with a Reverse DDT, but his attempt at a Styles Clash was reversed, eventually knocking both men down with Pele Kicks. A lungblower was only good for 2 with Balor, so he hit an Ushigoroshi but failed the Bloody Sunday, allowing AJ to hit the backflip catch reverse DDT. Balor scouted a 450 and landed a Shotgun Dropkick, but the Coup de Grace missed, damaging the leg further to be rolled into a Calf Crusher, which Balor broke by slamming AJ's head against the mat. After some tussling, AJ hit the Phenomenal Forearm to pin Balor for the win.

Another good match, however I felt like the finish was a bit tame, would've been a lot more impactful if he won via the Calf Crusher. Plus the addition of Mia Yim hasn't really paid dividends since Rhea didn't get involved thanks to the prior War Games match, so it was more a limp win for the OC.

Smackdown Women's Championship Ronda Rousey (c) (w/Shayna Baszler) def. Shotzi [Submission via Armbar] Shotzi comes out with her tank, but even though Raquel did come to the stadium commentary says that she's not cleared to come to the ring. Ronda again with the ugly makeup but it works better for her now that she's a heel. And that is the key topic because her heel characteristics allows her to be more basic, but Shotzi is the one who ran wild to the start, hitting Baszler with a suicide dive. Ronda inevitably took control again, using her judo skills and submission technique to keep Shotzi grounded. A punch did stagger the champion, but a poorly-executed ring-apron DDT left both members a bit silly, fortunately Shotzi recovered by throwing both Ronda and Shayna into the crowd and crossbodying them. Shotzi tried to go up top but was Judo Flipped to the floor, hit with her ugly Piper's Pit then tapped to the armbar.

Basic, but not inoffensive, it's just that we never really had a reason to think Shotzi had a chance.

Sami was summoned to Reigns's office to discuss the interaction with Owens. Zayn however was honest with Reigns, saying he lied to Jey to not cloud his judgement. Reigns asked Zayn to look him in the eye and tell him whether he's with them or gonna stab him in the back, and Zayn did, pledging his allegiance once more and getting a hug from Roman - but the camera does linger on the pensive Tribal Chief.

US Championship Theory def. Seth Rollins (c) & Lashley [pinfall on Rollins] NEW CHAMPION!!! I did not expect Beyblade to be a sponsor for WWE, let alone hearing Michael Cole saying 'Let it rip'. Much like his wife, Rollins' outfit was once more extremely tame in comparison. Lashley and Rollins both kicked Theory out the ring to fight between each other, but Theory slammed Rollins into the barricade in retaliation. Lashley kept the role as the power player by facing both men at once, his OG Dominator would've gotten the 3 but Theory pulled the ref. Rollins and Theory fought each other between trying to take out Lashley, Theory using the steel steps to keep the All Mighty down. Rollins did fight off Theory's physical performance with end to end dives against both his opponents, catching a rolling cutter from Theory into a Sit-Out Powerbomb, Lashley pulled Theory away from the Stomp though and got in the Hurt Lock, Theory though put in the Backpack Sleeper on Lashley, releasing the Hurt Lock, Lashley dumped Theory out the ring but landed into a Pedigree for 2. Rollins went for the Phoenix Splash but missed, so Theory dumped him out of the ring, he hit Lashley with a rolling blockbuter, but the A-Town Down was reversed into a Hurt Lock, he used the turnbuckle to roll Lashley up but it was broken by a Frog Splash from Rollins, only good for 2 though. After tussling between each other, Theory and Rollins were put in the Hurt Lock together, they used the turnbuckle to sandwich Lashley out, then dodged the spear that followed up, causing Lashley to crash into the opposite turnbuckle, Rollins had two stomps lined up, but used Theory to platform the stomp to Lashley, Theory tried to throw Rollins out but went into a Superplex, when Rollins lifted for the follow-up Falcon Arrow however, Lashley speared him, meaning Theory collapsed on top of Rollins for the 3.

That finish was clever but also kinda dumb, like the whole point of Theory's new aggression was that he would earn an accolade by being more focused, instead he falls upwards into the title thanks to Lashley being a dumbass. It's also not lost on me that both WWE and AEW just went 'it's the 10th Anniversary of the Shield so we're gonna make our Non-Roman Shield members lose to shenanigans'.

Jey approached Reigns about Zayn, expecting him to have lied to Roman too, but Roman was more focused on the match.

Men's War Games Team Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch, Drew McIntyre & Kevin Owens) def. Team Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Jimmy & Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn w/ Paul Heyman) [pinfall by Jey on Owens via Uso Splash] Sundance - who has also had 4 War Games matches - started against Jey, while Sikoa stared daggers at the faces. They spent a minute talking...Sundance used his experience to damage Jey's arm - which remember had been injured before - but Jey hit back by attacking the arm also, Dutch arrived next to steamroll Jey, the Brutes going 2v1 against the heel. Jimmy was ready to come out, but was stopped by Roman, telling Zayn to save the man who doesn't trust him. Zayn gingerly entered, waiting until Dutch's back was turned before assaulting the Brutes, the two were still at odds though, allowing Dutch to hit a moonsault on them, however Zayn saved Jey from Dutch sandwiching him against the cage wall. Drew would be next, overpowering both Bloodline members as he threw them around, shouting 'I'm feeling pretty Ucey right now' for some light humor before Jimmy came out next with tables. Tensions between Jey and Zayn over setting up the table almost cost the advantage but they were able to fend the Brutes off, setting up the table on the corner. Owens came out next with chairs, smacking through the Usos, his staredown with Zayn cut short by Dutch. Jimmy set up another table but got sent through it by Owens' Uranage before Sikoa fended off the Brutes, in the middle he brawls with Owens, no-selling being hit into the cage wall and hitting Owens with a backdrop, against Drew the two took each other out for Shamu to arrive. Zayn tried to keep the door shut but had it slammed in his face, Sheamus continued this form by assaulting the Usos, rallying his Fellas to beat on Sami and the Usos, an avalanche White Noise on Sikoa preceded Reigns' arrival. Battle lines on either side drawn, but Reigns being the fresher held the advantage, Sheamus however countered the Spear, a scramble led to a full Bloodline being hit with the Beats of the Bohdrán. In one ring, Shamu and Reigns fought while the others fended off the Bloodline, when Sheamus went for the Brogue though, Solo got in the way, allowing Reigns to hit the spear that was broken up by Butch. Zayn then attacked Butch, looking to defend his tribal chief, but ate a superkick from Jey when Sundance ducked, Jey not looking remorseful about it. An Avalanche 1-D to Butch was saved by Dutch, but he ate a Spear through the table, Drew came to confront Roman next, but was also sent through a table by Sikoa. Sikoa was hit by a Stunner, which was broken up by Roman, Reigns hit a Superman Punch but ran into a Pop-Up Powerbomb and a Stunner, ref went 1, ref went 2, but Sami blocks him from going 3! Old friends and enemies stare down as Jimmy's superkick is caught, but Zayn uses this to hit a low blow, remorse flowed through Zayn's face but after exchanging a glance at Reigns, he hits Owens with a Helluva Kick, he sees Jey in his line of sight and lays Owens for him to hit the splash who pins him for 3. Reigns and Jey embrace Sami, proving his allegiance once more.

Spectacular storytelling that had been built up from the start of the PPV, Sami has literally saved the Bloodline's story from going stale again with the charisma and drama we knew him capable of, if this doesn't end with him as being world champion it is the biggest misstep WWE has done in a long time. The match itself was good, driven by the story with a lot more weapons spots, it was the better of the two in my opinion.

Overall it was a good show, I think it was weird that the double ring wasn't used in the normal matches, all of which were a tad on the weak side. The men's world title picture remains layered in the Bloodline soap opera which is good, but the rest of the titles do have a 'what now' feeling to them, but for a first Main Roster crack at War Games it was at least successful, could've still had a pre-show match though.

1 note · View note