Posted on 9/07/126 by Bob Magee
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern.
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Countdown to Sunday Night’s Main Event
– Joe Tessitore and The Miz were our pre-show hosts as they
discussed tonight’s match, most especially Oba Femi vs. Bron
Breakker. We then went to Michael Cole and Wade Barrett at
ringside for our pre-show opener.
Joe Hendry vs. “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio (w/ The Judgement
Day)
Dominik struck Hendry with a dropkick at the ring of the
bell and kept attacking him. Hendry recovered and hit Dom
with a clothesline before he cornered the AAA Mega Campeon
with stomps. Big scoop slam by Hendry was followed by a
stalling suplex as he walked around the ring with Dom held
firmly. The Scotsman slammed Dom and then clotheslined him
out of the ring. At ringside, the assembled Judgment Day
checked up on Dom as Liv Morgan mocked Hendry. J.D. McDonagh
got clobbered by Hendry for his troubles. This allowed Dom
to get the advantage through using the ropes to send him
down to the outside. Dom then kept the pressure with the
suicide dive on Hendry. McDonagh got his licks back on
Hendry while Dom had the referee distracted.
Back in the ring, Dom mounted Hendry and rained down the
rights on the face of his foe. Big stomp from Dom, followed
by the slingshot senton from the apron for the two. Dom
battered Hendry’s shoulders with hard elbows, but the
advantage was short-lived. Hendry fought back with some
punches, followed by the clothesline. Fallaway slam by
Hendry on Dom to wake the crowd up. Hendry missed the Hit
Single discus lariat as Dom got him with the neckbreaker for
the two. Hendry blocked Dom’s tornado DDT as he finally got
that Hit Single on his foe. One, two… not quite.
Hendry tuned up the band, but Liv Morgan stepped up on the
apron. J.D. McDonagh ate a punch on the apron, but that
opened Hendry up to a dropkick from Dom, followed by the 619
and the Frog Splash for the dub.
After the match, Liv Morgan got on the microphone and said
what Dirty Dom did to Hendry would be what she would do to
her opponent tomorrow on Raw, someone who wasn’t as iconic
or talented as her. That opponent being Stephanie Vaquer.
Liv promised to beat Vaquer again to retain her WWE Women’s
World Championship, so that she could prove to be the
greatest Women’s World Champion of all time.
“Dirty” Dominik Mysterio def. Joe Hendry via pinfall
It was an alright match, but it does kind of highlight how
far Joe Hendry has fallen since being a main roster guy,
that infamous concert with Danhausen notwithstanding.
Certainly a fair cry from the days where Hendry was the top
guy in TNA.
****************
– We learned that Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton were told to
stay in their respective buses all day before their match
tonight. It was suggested by Jackie Redmond that Rhodes
might be a problem that Orton couldn’t solve. Cathy Kelley
asked how far Rhodes might go once the bell rings. As we
went back to Miz and Tessitore, they talked further about
Rhodes vs. Orton before wrapping up with the big show just
around the corner.
Sunday Night’s Main Event – From Atlanta, GA
– The show kicked off proper with a flythrough of the
Atlanta skyline as Michael Cole welcomed us to tonight’s
show, sponsored by Minute Maid. We then went to the opening
intro featuring tonight’s musical guest Quavo talking about
tonight’s matches.
– After the cold intro, we got the arrivals of Baron Corbin,
The Baddies, Charlotte Flair/Alexa Bliss/Tatum Paxley, and
Oba Femi. After that, we saw Austin Theory arriving and
doing an ad for Arby’s chicken nuggets (I’m not kidding)
before his Vision buddies joined him.
– We then went to Quavo doing a live performance on the
stage, because that’s what we tuned in to see on our
wrestling show this evening. After that, we saw Trick
Williams and Li’l Yachty arriving backstage, as the latter
was ready to see if he could survive five minutes against
Baron Corbin.
Li’l Yachty vs. Baron Corbin (If Yachty Survives Five
Minutes, Trick Williams Gets A U.S. Title Shot)
This match was announced to have no countouts or
disqualifications.
Corbin took a mic before the match and said that it was
Yachty’s last chance to back out. Corbin said that Yachty
didn’t want to let Trick down as he offered him to forfeit
the match. Yachty responded as only he could by bashing
Corbin with the microphone. The match officially started
with Yachty going for the pin.
Outside the ring, Yachty was dragged out by Corbin, who then
threw the rap star into the barricade with about 4:20 left.
Corbin continued the punishment by throwing Yachty into the
timekeeper’s barricade, as he then rearranged the furniture
at commentary. Yachty’s entourage tried to escort him out of
the area, but they got waylaid by Corbin as the clock kept
ticking down. Corbin tossed Yachty back to the ringside
area. Yachty struck Corbin with the “Trick Stick” to stagger
the U.S. Champion with under three minutes to go.
Back in the ring, Corbin hit a big lariat on Yachty as the
entourage appeared in the ring to eat a Deep Six and End of
Days, respectively. In the corner, Yachty staggered Corbin
and hit a hurricanrana. On the opposite corner, Yachty hit a
rough-looking crossbody for the near-fall with under two to
go in the match.
Yachty ran at Corbin and got taken out for the End of Days.
Rather than going for the pin, Corbin pummeled Yachty with
punches as he hit another End of Days with the time running
out. Corbin rolled out of the ring and looked for a weapon.
He found a table with 45 seconds to go. In the ring, Corbin
tried to hurry up in setting the table, which he did with 30
to go. Corbin dragged Yachty into the top rope and looked
for a superplex through the table. Yachty hit Corbin with a
low blow, which was enough to survive the five minutes.
After the match, Corbin chokeslammed Yachty, as we learned
that Williams would get his U.S. Title match… right now.
WWE Men’s United States Championship: Baron Corbin (c) vs.
Trick Williams
Williams didn’t waste any time and ran into the ring to hit
Corbin with two side kicks before he sent him out of the
ring with a clothesline. Williams smashed Corbin’s head onto
the commentary table twice as he checked up on Li’l Yachty.
This gave enough time for Corbin to hit Trick with a forearm
before he tossed him into the ringpost. Corbin threw Yachty
into the timekeeper’s area, which opened him up to a diving
attack from Trick.
In the ring, Trick hit the flapjack on Corbin and looked to
be on top of things as he “Trick-Slapped” him in the corner.
“Whoop That” stomps into the corner was followed with the
modified Death Valley Driver for the two-count. On the
apron, Trick got hung up on the top rope and sent into the
floor by a running attack from Corbin. At ringside, Corbin
threw Trick into the steel steps to leave him stunned for
the time being. As the action returned to the ring, Corbin
maintained control with the back elbow to Trick. More
clubbing elbows to the upper chest of Trick from Corbin.
Corbin took Trick down with the clothesline before he hit a
slam for another two-count. Corbin had Trick trapped in the
most dangerous submission hold: a chin lock. However, Trick
was able to fight out of that hold and we got a double down
on the clothesline from both men. Trick and Corbin staggered
back to their feet and traded clubbing strikes in the
process. Punch for punch, elbow for elbow, but it was Trick
who got the best of Corbin with the jumping neckbreaker.
Spinning kick waws met with a chokeslam by Corbin, but that
wasn’t enough to get the three. Standing Book-End by Trick
had Corbin stunned.
Corbin recovered and sidestepped the Trick Shot to hit Deep
Six on Trick, but that still wasn’t enough for the three.
Leaping bulldog by Trick, but he got sent shoulder-first
into the ring post. Corbin rolled out of the ring to take a
breather, as he took the fur-covered U.S. Championship in
his hand. Before he could do anything with it, Li’l Yachty
had a hold of the title belt, which opened him up for the
spinning side boot from Trick. One, two…NO! While the
referee was dealing with Yachty, Corbin struck Trick with
the U.S. Title. The cover, but Trick somehow kicked out.
Trick reversed the End of Days and hit the Trick Shot knee
strike. One, two… three! New U.S. Champion.
Trick Williams def. Baron Corbin via pinfall to win the WWE
Men’s U.S. Championship
I can’t say I was a fan of the Yachty “match”, but it served
its purpose to get Trick his U.S. Title match, and we got a
halfway decent title bout between Trick and Corbin out of
it. This was significantly better than their last
encounters, and I did dig the finish of Trick countering End
of Days into his Trick Shot.
****************
Bron Breakker vs. Oba Femi
Paul Heyman was in the ring before this match to tell us
that this upcoming match would determine who the future of
WWE was. He was serving as our de facto ring announcer for
this match, which was sponsored by The Real Cost’s anti-
vaping campaign.
Breakker and Femi faced off as the bell rang before the test
of strength, which the latter won out with a forceful shove.
Back to the collar-and-elbow tie up struggle that Breakker
got the best of this time around. Femi lifted Breakker and
withstood a running shoulder block. Breakker went for his
super-speedy clothesline, but Femi took him down easily with
a clothesline. Breakker rolled out of the ring to take a
breather. Femi didn’t hesitate to chase down Breakker as he
slammed him face first onto the apron. Femi pulled Breakker
out of the ring and looked for a powerslam, but he got
pushed into the ringpost instead. Breakker looked for an
attack from the apron, but Femi literally cracked Breakker
with a shotgun-like chop to the chest. In the ring, Breakker
was left reeling by another Femi clothesline to the outside.
At ringside, Femi flipped the commentary table cover, but it
opened him up for Breakker to hit him with the flying
clothesline from the apron. That big move sent Femi over the
commentary table. Back in the ring, Breakker finally got to
hit his super-speedy clothesline as he choked Femi across
the middle rope. Breakker kept the advantage, but not for
long as Femi got him with the running elbow into the corner.
Breakker countered with a running clothesline, which led to
the lungblower for the two-count. Rear-naked choke by
Breakker held tightly on Femi, but that wasn’t enough to
keep the big man down. Breakker bounced back with the German
suplex for the near-fall.
Breakker talked some smack to Femi, but that got him a one-
handed choke. Shot to the knee of Femi broke the grip, which
allowed him to clothesline Femi over the top rope. Breakker
drove Femi spine-first into the hard apron. In the ring, the
Bulldog-sized chinlock from Breakker was applied, but broken
out of right away from. Both men traded strikes before Femi
got Breakker with the uppercut. Breakker responded with the
big knee and a German suplex. Femi bounced back right away
and shelled Breakker with the clothesline.
Snake Eyes from Femi opened Breakker up for the big boot
that nailed its target. This was succeeded by Femi’s barrage
of running uppercuts that left Breakker in a bad way.
Titanic chokeslam by Femi couldn’t put Breakker down for the
three-count. Rake of the eyes by Breakker caused Femi to
crash out of the ring. Breakker stalked his target and
looked for his ringside spear, but Breakker got crushed by
the uppercut. Austin Theory ran in and got put through the
table. Spear from Breakker, followed by the super-spear in
the ring. One, two… NO! Logan Paul ran in and caused a
distraction with his brass knuckles, but he got kicked out.
That was a distraction as Maxxine gave Breakker a spare set
of brass knucks. That didn’t seem to work as Femi slammed
him down.
Bronson Reed ran in and smashed Femi with a chair across the
back, as the match was thrown out. Big Tsunami from Big
Bronson left Femi down and out. Spear from Breaker was
followed by another Tsunami. And another. Then one more
Spear. And one more Tsunami.
Oba Femi def. Bron Breakker via disqualification
This was an alright match until the Bronson Reed
interference, and I’m not really sure if bringing him back
into the Vision Vortex™ is really the right move for
Bronson. The Vision is honestly a failed experiment and it’s
done nothing for Breakker but diminish his credibility.
Bronson could easily be a killer solo heel not tethered to
this Vision nonsense. Just utter rubbish.
****************
– Backstage, Paul Heyman was asked about his thoughts on
what just happened. He had plenty to say, but he was
interrupted by someone who was calling him.
Charlotte Flair, Tatum Paxley, & Alexa Bliss vs. The Baddies
(Jade Cargill, B-Fab, & Michin)
Paxley and B-Fab got this trios match going. Chop to the
chest by B-Fab was followed by the pieface, but Paxley
avoided a clothesline afterwards. Hard chop to the chest
from Paxley led to a flipping dropkick for an early pin
attempt. Michin tagged in and ran into a boot from Paxley,
who hit a dual arm drag/dropkick on both Michin and B-Fab.
Paxley held her own early against B-Fab and Michin, but a
tripup from Cargill led to a knee to the face. In the ring,
Michin battered Paxley with punches to the face, which
allowed the Baddies to take advantage with a double suplex.
B-Fab missed the clothesline in the corner allowed for
Paxley to tag Bliss in. Big dropkick by Bliss, who then hit
a modified Natural Selection on B-Fab. Bliss on the corner
but B-Fab caught her. Counter into Sister Abigail, but
Michin’s distraction allowed her to get away from it. This
led to Cargill and crew keeping Bliss isolated form her
partners. Quick tags from B-Fab and Michin allowed for their
team to keep the advantage firmly in their favour. B-Fab
blocked the tag from Bliss repeatedly, but Bliss sent her
into the corner to open up the opportunity for the tag.
Flair tagged in as she connected with the crossbody on
Michin. Boot to Cargil in enemy territor as she unleashed a
barrage of chops to Michin. Release German suplex from Flair
as she got her with the floatover clothesline.
Michin’s hurricanrana attempt blocked by Flair as she got
sent for a ride from the top rope for a rana by Flair. Near-
fall. Cargill tagged in and hit the big boot on Flair. She
lifted Flair up on her shoulders for the torture rack bomb.
One, two…. Paxley broke it up. Jaded by Cargill, but Flair
countered into a roll-up for the near-fall. Michin stepped
in and got sent for the fallaway slam ride. Both Cargill and
Michin were left in the drop zone for the Queen’s Moonsault.
One, two… Cargill kicked out. Bliss entered the ring, but B-
Fab pulled her out of the ring. In the ring, Michin broke up
the count but got thrown into the ring post. Cheating roll-
up, but Flair kicked out. Figure four locked in by Flair on
Cargill. B-Fab kicked Paxley into Flair as that led to Jaded
from Cargill and the win.
The Baddies def. Charlotte Flair, Tatum Paxley, & Alexa
Bliss via pinfall
Surprising result, but I have to give begrudging credit to
how strongly booked the Baddies have been since their
inception. They always seem to be on top most of the time,
though YMMV on that. It does have the side-effect of making
their trios matches feel a bit repetitive for people, since
they almost always end the same. Fun match, at least.
****************
Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton
Orton tried to ambush Rhodes from behind during his
entrance, but Rhodes got ahead of it and caught him. Rhodes
then started to fight Orton outside the ring. Rhodes tossed
Orton over the barricade as the bell hasn’t officially rang
on this match. Rhodes and Orton’s fight spilled over through
the crowd with the former smashing a trashcan over his foe’s
head. Thumb to the eye by Orton finally allowed him to get
the advantage as he paid Rhodes back with some trashcan
shots of his own. The fight raged on with exchanges of
strikes. Rhodes brought Orton back to ringside, but he got
thrown into the steel steps not long after. Orton brought
Rhodes into the ring as he noticed Cody’s family sitting at
ringside, including Brandi Rhodes and Mama Rhodes. Orton ran
into the ring as the match officially started and ate a Cody
Cutter right away. Figure-four by Rhodes had Orton trapped
in the middle of the ring. Orton dragged himself to the
ropes to break the hold. Orton on the apron was caught by
Rhodes, who looked to hit the draped DDT. Orton escaped and
went to work on the back of Rhodes’ head. Orton slingshotted
Rhodes throat-first into the bottom rope. Orton planted his
foot on the back of Rhodes’ head to continue the pain train.
Rhodes fougth back with some shots to the face, but a back
elbow from Orton snuffed that out. Stomp to the hand of
Rhodes by Orton, who then dropped him across the top rope.
The throw over the rope into the ring led to Orton applying
a vintage resthold on Rhodes. Orton went for the back
suplex, but Rhodes landed on his feet and hit the dropdown
uppercut. Clothesline over the top rope by Rhodes might’ve
caused Orton to hurt his arm, but it appeared to be a trick
as he jammed the thumb into Rhodes’ eyes. Back in the ring,
Orton kicked Rhodes in the gut and uppercutted him into the
corner. Punch to the face, but Rhodes got himself out of it.
With Orton in a compromising position, Rhodes made no
mistake with the ten-punch salute. Outside the ring, Orton
kicked Rhodes in the gut again and hit his signature back
suplex combo across the commentary table. Orton rolled out
of the ring with Rhodes recovering as he again approached
Cody’s family. Orton talked some smack to Brandi Rhodes, but
got a drink thrown in his face. Cody recovered in the ring
and began to get a head of speed. Powerslam by Rhodes as he
got himself hyped up. Disaster Kick from Rhodes was soon
followed up with the Dusty bop and bang combo. Cross Rhodes
attempt, but Orton escaped it.
Orton hit Rhodes with the clotheslines, followed by the snap
powerslam. Then Orton got the draped DDT on Rhodes as he
looked to have the win here. Orton taunted the crowd before
he stalked Rhodes for a possible RKO. Rhodes countered it
into Cross Rhodes. One, two…. 2.9999999!!!!!!!! Orton went
for a Cody Cutter, but he got caught. RKO attempt, but the
referee got inadvertently hit after Rhodes accidentally
barreled into him. With the official down, RKO hit its
target as Rhodes was left out cold. Orton saw Rhodes
sprawled on his knees and looked to have the Punt lock and
loaded. Rhodes avoided it and hit Cross Rhodes instead. The
force of the move caused Orton to roll out of the ring with
the referee still down. Rhodes hit the suicide dive on
Orton, which caused Orton to hit the referee again.
Rhodes threw Orton into the ring post repeatedly before he
unloaded with some punches to the face. Rhodes took the top
of the steel steps and hit Orton across the face with it.
Rhodes took some time and saw Orton busted open after the
steps to the face. Rhodes kept up the attack on a stunned
Orton as he threw him back into the ring. Rhodes stalked
Orton and hit the super variation of the Cody Cutter from
the top rope. Rhodes had Orton in his sights and connected
with Cross Rhodes once more. He kept the hold going as he
hit Cross Rhodes number two. Orton looked like he was out of
it, completely bloodied up by Rhodes’ attack. Rhodes saw
Orton helpless and sized him up for a Punt. He stopped when
Orton begged him to stop.
Orton was left groveling at Rhodes’ foot to stop, as Cody
appeared conflicted. A second official stepped in and
checked up on Orton Low blow to Rhodes and the referee by
Orton. RKO outta nowhere. The cover, and this one’s done.
The night ended with a tribute graphic for Bill Dundee.
Randy Orton def. Cody Rhodes via pinfall
****************
That main event was okay. I didn’t feel like it was a big
time match to end what was ostensibly meant to be a big
night card. The cheap finish likely means we’ll run back
this match at some point. Maybe with a grander stipulation.
All in all, a decent SNME show that mostly felt like Sunday
Night Raw or Sunday Night SmackDown than an actual
supercard. A lot of the booking just felt really kinda
there, whcih is something I’ve said a lot about TKO Presents
Paul Levesque’s WWE as of late. Nothing really grabs my
attention.
Before we wrap up here, it’s hard not to talk about
wrestling tonight without talking about Andy Williams,
better known to wrestling fans as ‘The Butcher’. Last night,
he suffered a medical emergency during an Enjoy Wrestling
event. And unforuntately, Williams passed away at the young
age of 48.
Williams was known to many for his tenure in AEW from 2019
onwards, though many more might know him best as one of the
founders of the band Every Time I Die. To his friends in
wrestling and music, Williams was loved for his kind and
caring nature. To fans across the world in music and
wreslting, he was known as one of the coolest people around.
He may have been presented as a monster badass wrestler, but
there was no question that Williams’ heart was as big as his
personality was.
The outpouring of support for Williams shows us how truly
important it is to practice kindness every day. Sometimes,
that’s a lesson that can get easily lost as the noise of the
world can be all-consuming and inescapable. Yes, the world
can be a place of hate, discord, and despair, but the
appreciation for what someone like Andy Williams brought to
this world from his friends, family, and fans reminds us
that the beauty of our world can never truly be
extinguished. It’s why I believe that now more than ever,
you should tell those that you love how much they mean to
you. Whether it’s your family or your friends, never take
that love for granted.
I want to leave you now with the words of the great American
newscaster Lester Holt: “Please take care of yourself and
each other.”