Posted on 10/19/124 by Bob Magee
The show opened with important-looking people carrying a
case with the Crown Jewel Championship into the building.
Shots of Columbia, South Carolina, were shown while Corey
Graves set up a video package recapping what happened last
week. A recap of what happened between Jimmy and Jey on
Monday’s Raw was part of the recap.
– Back in the arena, Solo Sikoa’s music hit and The
Bloodline walked out. The announce team was Corey Graves and
Wade Barrett. Graves said Michael Cole was “out on special
assignment.”
The Bloodline segment
This was pretty good and both Jey and Solo used good pro
wrestling logic to explain what they are doing and where
they are coming from (“pro wrestling logic” because no, this
isn’t Shakespeare, and if I never hear the phrase “this is
cinema” in a pro wrestling context again, it will be too
soon). We all know it can’t possibly go in this direction
(can it?), but I actually kind of root for Jey to swerve
everyone and join up with Sikoa just to spice things up.
It’s wishful thinking because this exchange all but cemented
Jey is here to help Jimmy and Roman despite his initial
reaction on Raw. The line Jey had about Fatu raised my
eyebrow, at least, because I whined and wondered aloud for
years about why WWE didn’t sign Fatu forever ago, and the
dialogue gave the confrontation between Jey and Fatu a lot
more intensity than I would have anticipated otherwise. Good
stuff.
Sikoa stood in the ring with a microphone as the crowd
chanted “OTC!” Sikoa said what we all knew he’d say:
“Columbia, South Carolina, acknowledge me.” He received a
ton of boos in response. “Solo sucks!” chants then broke
out. Sikoa told the crowd they were looking at the present
and the future, the Bloodline and the Tribal Chief. Sikoa
said he created a bigger and stronger family, a bigger and
stronger Bloodline.
Sikoa said Roman Reigns can’t do anything about that. Sikoa
said Jimmy Uso can’t do anything about it, either. Sikoa
said Jey Uso doesn’t want anything to do with him. The crowd
chanted “Yeet!” and Sikoa said “No yeet.” Sikoa said the
beatdowns will continue unless Reigns comes down to the ring
by the end of the night and acknowledges Sikoa. On cue, Jey
Uso’s music hit and Jey appeared in the crowd yeeting along
with the rest of the fans. Jey walked to the ring and boy
that crowd loved him.
Jey grabbed a microphone and asked Solo, “What’s up, little
brother?” Jey said it’s been a minute. Jey said he wasn’t
out there to fight Sikoa because he still cares about him
because Sikoa is his little brother. Jey said he was out
there to talk Uce-to-Uce. Jey told Sikoa to think about what
he was doing to his family and the Bloodline. Jey said he
still has issues with Roman, but dividing the family isn’t
the way to go. Jey said he left the family, went to Raw and
became the Intercontinental Champion. Jey said fighting over
the Ula Fala “is not it” because it’s earned, not taken. Jey
pleaded with Sikoa to not divide the family.
Sikoa asked if Jey was done wasting his time. Sikoa said he
wasn’t trying to divide the family, he was trying to unite
the family. Sikoa told Jey not to call him his little
brother because he is Jey’s Tribal Chief now. Sikoa said he
will always have a place for Jey and Roman in his Bloodline
– all they have to do is acknowledge Sikoa. Sikoa asked Jey
if he was in or out. Jey asked if what Sikoa said was true,
why did Sikoa have to go get Tama, Tonga and Jacob. Jey said
there was a reason they stayed away from him and if Jacob
kept staring at Jey, Jey would “knock his ass out.” The
crowd erupted.
Jey said the next time he sees Sikoa, it’s going to be
different, whatever that means. Jey said “yeet,” threw down
the mic and left the ring to his music playing.
**********
#DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano) defeated The Street
Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) & Pretty Deadly
(Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) to advance in the No. 1
contender’s tournament for the WWE Tag Team Titles [8:11]
Lots of action – and the type of action that has a fairly
large audience these days. The guys worked hard, but it is
suspect to put together an eight-minute match that has all
this stuff crammed into it … and still take two minutes away
via a commercial break. My prediction was #DIY going over
because MCMG vs. #DIY feels like an indi-rific fever dream
in WWE in the year 2024, but they did a nice job protecting
the Profits with the creative finish. Also worth asking:
Does this mean Pretty Deadly is back now? Consistently?
Maybe?
Only The Street Profits’ entrance was televised. Ciampa,
Ford and Prince started the match, but Prince retreated to
the outside and Ciampa and Ford took the first 30 seconds of
the match. Prince thought he had a chance to get some
offense and lured Ciampa to the outside, where Wilson took
Ciampa out. Things broke down from there and bunch of dives
and blind shots occurred. It resulted in Ford leaping from
the top toward Ciampa, but Ciampa hit Ford with a knee and
got a two-count out of it.
Pretty Deadly took control and hit a double-team move that
included a Codebreaker on Ciampa for a two-count. Pretty
Deadly posed in the middle of the ring and the crowd booed.
Ford rolled up Prince during the pose and that earned him a
quick two-count before the show went to a picture-in-picture
break.
The show returned and Ciampa hit an Air Raid Crash on
Prince, but Ford landed a Frog Splash on Ciampa for a near-
fall. All six men traded moves while an announcement
regarding the main event for next week’s Dynamite … er …
just kidding. Anyway, Ford went back to the top, but Prince
cut Ford off and Pretty Deadly went for something on Ford,
but Dawkins appeared and hit the Doomsday Blockbuster on
Prince. #DIY followed that up with a Meet In The Middle on
Wilson. Ford covered Prince and Ciampa covered Wilson. They
got simultaneous pinfall wins, but because Wilson was the
legal man, #DIY was ruled the winners of the match.
**********
– An SUV pulled up backstage and out of it came Roman Reigns
and Jimmy Uso. It wasn’t long before they ran into Jey, who
glared at Roman and walked away. Roman pulled at Jey and
Roman told Jey, “I’m proud of you. We all are.” Jey said,
“Man, no yeet,” and walked away, and buddy, it’s hard to
take a single person in this world seriously if they say “No
yeet,” but Jey sure tried to do just that.
– Nia Jax was shown talking on the phone in Nick Aldis’s
office. Jax said Tiffany Stratton was sick and therefore
wasn’t there. Jax tried to say her tag match was canceled as
a result of that. Aldis said the match wasn’t canceled
because Jax needed to find someone else. Candice LeRae
walked into the frame with Indi Hartwell. LeRae offered her
services and Aldis booked the tag match. It will be Jax and
LeRae vs. Bayley and Naomi later in the show.
Lash Legend defeated Piper Niven [3:01]
This was all right. Sort of in the middle (how much can two
people really do in three minutes … unless you’re booking a
squash, but this wasn’t a squash). That said, it’s good to
see Niven and Green on WWE TV each week because they work
their asses off in every aspect of the pro wrestling game
and it’s good to see that rewarded. Better yet, Legend got
somewhat of a surprise win here and that suggests Jackson &
Legend might be here to stay when it comes to the main
roster, and good on them for it. Legend’s finisher is a lot
of fun to watch on whatever show she’s on, but this time
around, it was mighty impressive and Niven took it
fantastically. Credit to both women.
Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair were shown in the crowd,
watching the match. Legend pushed Niven to begin the match.
Niven returned the favor. Legend hit the ropes, but ran into
Niven, who didn’t move. Niven then ran the ropes and took
Legend down. Niven went for a splash, but Legend moved and
hit Niven with a Pump Kick and a splash on her own for a
one-count. Niven caught Legend and slammed her before
landing a running Senton for a two-count.
Niven went for a Cannonball, but Legend moved and hit a few
strikes on Niven. Legend tried to lift Niven, but she
couldn’t and Niven headbutted Legend, but Legend ultimately
bodyslammed Niven to a pop from the crowd. Chelsea Green and
Jakara Jackson brawled outside, which distracted Legend
enough for Niven to briefly get the upper hand. Niven went
for a splash, but Legend moved and hit her finisher on
Niven, which was very impressive, and got the win.
**********
– Roman Reigns was shown backstage and Jimmy impersonated
Paul Heyman for a second, which was funny. Jimmy tried to
convince Roman to talk to Jey. Roman said if the Wiseman was
there, it would have already happened. Roman said he’s going
to fix it later tonight. Jimmy asked Roman how he’d do that.
Roman said he’s going to acknowledge Solo Sikoa and things
got serious for a second as the segment ended.
– The Crown Jewel Championship was shown and Graves talked
it up, saying it has something like a trillion diamonds and
900 pounds of gold in it. Ish. Cody’s theme played and out
walked the American Nightmare.
The Cody Rhodes segment
There was a little bit of heel Cody in this. His slow
delivery almost never translates into seriousness and
instead, it indicates he might be up for being a bad guy for
a little bit. Perhaps that’s foreshadowing. Perhaps it’s
nothing. Either way, this probably didn’t inspire the
reaction that WWE or Cody wanted from the live crowd, who
largely sat on their hands for this. Cody has his tropes, no
matter the company, and the notion that he’s the only
wrestler that ever does anything for his child has run its
course for this viewer. I understand how and why he tried to
make it seem like this match with Gunther has higher stakes
than normal via said tropes, but I’m not buying it. Next
week will hopefully be better with Gunther able to respond
and (probably) troll Cody in real time.
The crowd chanted “Cody!” loudly and Cody soaked it in. Cody
said it was an “unbelievably sized crowd this evening.” Cody
noted how someone told him that “the next one doesn’t look
like the last one,” when it comes to who leads the company.
Cody said about the Crown Jewel Championship isn’t about the
next one or last one; it’s about the first one. Cody
referenced Harley Race, Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkel, Goldberg
and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Cody said at the end of Crown
Jewel, there will be a definitive Crown Jewel Champion. The
crowd was flat.
Cody said he wouldn’t disparage Gunther. Cody said Gunther
is respected by everyone and could chop a tree down with his
hand. Cody said everyone is terrified of Gunther, but he is
not. Cody said he wouldn’t bet against him and he thinks he
will leave Crown Jewel as the Crown Jewel Champion. Cody
talked up the Crown Jewel title. Cody said in the last two
years, he and the pro wrestling audience has gotten to know
each other, and as such, he wanted to take the John Cena
schedule/model, and Cody said he has done just that. Cody
said the real reason he thinks he’s leaving Crown Jewel as
champion is because he needs to do it for his daughter (in
so many words).
Cody invited Gunther to SmackDown next week. Cody said he
wants to know what Gunther’s reasons for all this are. Cody
said he wants to look in Gunther’s eyes and say, “Hey champ.
What do you want to talk about?” And that was the end of the
segment.
**********
– Video of the Kevin Owens attack on Cody at Bad Blood
aired. Footage of Owens’s run-in last week then aired. The
social media video that Owens posted earlier on Friday then
aired. In short, Owens is mad that officials told him to
stay home because he feels it’s unfair and ridiculous
because we see ambushes every week on TV. Owens mocked the
fact that he “dropped their golden boy outside a stupid
bus,” and let’s be honest: He wasn’t wrong. Owens questioned
how much he’s valued in WWE. Above all, he’s mad that Randy
Orton betrayed him. Owens said he thought their friendship
was different from the other friends he’s had and he said
Orton picked Cody over Owens. The final seconds of the promo
featured Owens saying he doesn’t know if or when he can come
back.
– Randy Orton walked into Aldis’s office. Orton said he
needs to get his hands on Owens and it needs to be at Crown
Jewel. Aldis said it wasn’t something he could do. Aldis
said it wasn’t that he won’t; it’s that he can’t. Orton
screamed, but Aldis cut him off and said the order was
coming “from up above.” Orton said he then knew who he was
going to have to talk to.
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
defeated A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller & Austin Theory)
& Los Garza (Angel & Berto) to advance in the No. 1
contender’s tournament for the WWE Tag Team Titles [8:35]
Hey. You have to start somewhere. I’m a proponent of
wrestlers who you think should go to AEW actually going to
WWE because it’s simply more interesting. No shade on AEW –
I love AEW as much as you do, I promise – but Shelley and
Sabin in AEW would be a tag team that looks a whole lot like
a lot of other tag teams on that roster. In WWE, they can
stand out and see if it works. Maybe it will. Maybe it
won’t. The reaction to them here wasn’t lighting the world
on fire, but Shelley, especially, worked the crowd into a
position that was advantageous to both the match and his tag
team by the end of everything. You can tell how hard they
tried and how much it meant to them and that really does say
something in such a jaded world of pro wrestling these days.
There’s still work to do, but it was a fine enough WWE
debut.
Sabin started the match and the heels worked him over – the
heels in this case being Waller and Angel. Shelley tagged in
and basement dropkicked Berto & Angel. Sabin took everyone
except Waller out and Waller went after Shelley, but Sabin
helped Shelley out to regain control. “Motor City” chants
broke out. Shelley went after Waller, but Waller hit a
forearm on Shelley and tagged in Theory. From there, the
show went to a picture-in-picture break.
The show returned and Los Garza worked over Shelley. Waller
tried to intervene and Angel and Berto hit dueling
moonsaults on the outside. Waller took care of Los Garza
outside the ring. Waller set up for a rolling move, but
Shelley countered and took out A-Town, but Angel hopped back
into the picture and Los Garza took control. Berto and
Theory battled it out briefly, but Sabin took a blind tag
from his partner and the Guns instantly had the upper hand.
Shelley and Sabin hit their splash/neckbreaker finisher on
Berto to get the win.
**********
– Byron Saxton interviewed Carmelo Hayes and Andrade
backstage. Immediately Andrade and Hayes brawled. Next week
will be Game 7 for their series. Aldis showed up to yell and
look important.
Nia Jax & Candice LeRae defeated Bayley & Naomi [7:34]
Look at that! I love it. You can’t change until you change
and LeRae is long overdue for some booking love. Who knows
what the story behind Stratton not being there is, but LeRae
stepped up and LeRae is now kind of/sort in the women’s
title picture. Good for her. And hats are off for Bayley,
who probably was thrilled to take the pin, knowing how
supportive she seems to be backstage of her coworkers. This
was a nice, fun surprise.
Jax and Bayley started the match and Jax attacked Bayley
quickly. LeRae tagged in and Bayley took control. Naomi then
tagged in and LeRae rushed to tag in Jax. Jax ran at Naomi,
but Naomi moved and stood on Jax’s back and danced a little.
Jax came back and face-planted Naomi for a two-count. Jax
hit a spinebuster and a Senton for a two-count. The show
went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Bayley got the hot tag and Bayley came
in to clean house with LeRae getting the worst of it. Naomi
hit a splash on Jax on the outside, but Bayleu ran into a
forearm from LeRae. LeRae tried to climb the ropes, but
Bayley cut of her off. With the referee’s back turned,
Hartwell attacked Bayley and rolled Bayley into the ring.
LeRae then landed a moonsault on Bayley and actually got the
win for her team.
**********
– Next week, Melo/Andrade Game 7 happens. MCMG vs. #DIY is
also on tap. And Gunther and Cody will go face-to-face.
– Saxton interviewed Aldis backstage. Aldis named LA Knight
as the special referee for Game 7 for Melo/Andrade next
week. Knight came in and said he will call it down the
middle.
– Roman Reigns’s music hit and the crowd instantly stood up.
The show went to a break as Roman made his entrance.
The Roman Reigns/Bloodline segment
Maybe Roman Reigns needs to start yeet-ing and this could
all go away. Whatever it is, another week, another show-
ending segment with Roman being left for dead as Solo Sikoa
and his faction stand tall. You have to appreciate the long-
term approach, but the ending here did fall a tiny bit flat
if only because we all knew Jey was in the building and we
all probably thought this would be where Jey saves the day.
But it was not to be. The slow walk continues. Even so, good
promo work from both Sikoa and Reigns to end the night.
The crowd chanted “OTC!” and Reigns soaked it in. Reigns
looked tired and fired himself up when he said, “Columbia,
South Carolina … maybe for the last time, acknowledge me.”
The crowd did their part. Solo Sikoa’s music hit and Sikoa
walked out alone in wrestling gear. Sikoa and Reigns circled
each other inside the ring. “OTC!” chants broke out. Reigns
said that earlier tonight, Sikoa told Jey that their family
is strong now. Reigns said Sikoa told Jey that the Bloodline
was stronger now. Reigns said he doesn’t see it and he
doesn’t see anything that tells him the family is better off
now. Reigns said the family is divided and broken.
Reigns talked about everything they lost in the spring and
summer and wondered how they stand like they do now. Reigns
said he told his father that he could fix it. Reigns said
all he wanted to do is put them back in the promised land.
Reigns said he wanted titles around their waist and money
coming in from everywhere. Reigns asked Sikoa what he has to
do to fix it. Sikoa said all Roman has to do is acknowledge
him. The crowd booed and started back in on the “OTC!”
chants. Reigns took a minute and actually said, “I
acknowledge you.” Roman asked if that made Solo feel better
and Solo said that wasn’t good enough.
Instead, Solo said that he needs Roman to acknowledge Solo
as his Tribal Chief … or else. Roman yelled “Or else what?!”
The crowd blew up. Solo said he knew it – Roman never
changed. Solo said since Roman never changed, Solo will
never change, either, and Solo snapped his fingers. Tonga,
Tama and Fatu walked out with a beaten up Jimmy Uso. Solo
tried to attack Roman, but Roman got the best of Solo at
first. Roman then tried to battle all of the Bloodline.
Roman hit a Superman Punch on Solo and the Ula Fala fell
off. Roman grabbed it and tried to put it on, but Solo low-
blowed Roman.
The Bloodline beat up Reigns, complete with a suplex from
Jacob Fatu. The four Bloodline members were yelling at Roman
and set Roman up for a Samoan Spike, which Solo then
delivered. Solo jawed at the crowd and hit another Spike on
Roman. For the second week in a row, the Bloodline stood
tall above Roman Reigns as the show ended.