ROH FINAL BATTLE

New York City

ELI ISOM vs. KENNY KING (8:55): Good opener. It certainly wasn't anything special, but this loud, awesome NYC crowd was on fire (and still awake) early so it made the match better. Fast, action packed. **1/2

ADAM PAGE vs. JEFF COBB (13:35): This was probably the best Ring of Honor match of the year. That isn't really saying a lot since ROH hasn't been all that great this year, but still, this was a fucking great match. The crowd helped, as they roared with approval as if this was Omega/Okada or something. Cobb is great, a big, swift, beast of a man. Page is always a crowd favorite. One particular memorable moment had Page doing his Shooting Star Press from the apron to the floor and Cobb catching him and giving him a belly to belly suplex out on the floor. This was fast and brutal and all big moves. Really, this should've been the main event for the title when you think about it. Cobb retained his TV title or whatever the hell it's called. ***1/2

KELLY KLEIN vs. MADISON RAYNE vs. KAREN Q vs. SUMIE SAKAI (13:40): The women's division is fairly new in ROH, and thus it's still finding it's sea legs. The crowd didn't really want to see this, even though it certainly wasn't terrible or anything. Just forgettable. *

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. JONATHAN GRESHAM (11:50): Good match, albeit too short to turn into anything great. This was Zack Sabre's ROH debut and the crowd loved him, although they got a little quiet once it hit the mat. **1/2

MATT TAVEN vs. DALTON CASTLE (15:50): Good match. This was pretty much a typical WWE main event style match where every possible outside interference occurs and it's a little ridiculous but entertaining at the same time. Taven did a top rope leap to the floor, which is his patented maneuver, but crashed ribs first right onto the steel guard rail. I thought he'd be out for a year with that injury, yet he continued and I guess is fine. The best moment came when one of Taven's Kingdom goons tossed a boy into the ring onto Castle who was about to pin Taven to win. That was unique. Fun match. ***

MARTY SCURLL vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS (17:30): Another good match. Daniel's is probably leaving ROH to join All Elite Wrestling, the mysterious new company that The Young Bucks and Cody are starting in 2019, so this was his farewell match. The stipulation was that if he lost he was fired. So he lost. And then when he was being cheered post-match by the crowd, Bully Ray came in and beat him up. **1/2

FLIP GORDON vs. BULLY RAY "I QUIT MATCH" (14:25): This was a kitchen sink match. It had everything. Flip's girlfriend, the president of ROH, The Sandman, blood, Singapore canes, tables, chairs, and an American flag. Am I missing anything? Bully Ray eventually quit when Flip was hitting him with two Singapore canes at once. Earlier, Bully tried to get Flip to quit by grabbing Flip's girlfriend out of the crowd and attempting to power bomb her through a table. The Sandman showed up after the lights went out for no reason. Flip gushed blood but still kissed his girlfriend mid-match, getting blood on her. Silas Young came out and poured lighter fluid on a table but it was never lit. This was wild and stupid but entertaining. **1/2

JAY LETHAL vs. CODY (23:45): Cody is gone. He's leaving ROH for AEW. He won't be missed. I think he's a good character but he's never in good matches. This was pretty boring stuff. Lethal retained the title. *1/2

THE BRISCOE'S vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN & SCORPIO SKY "LADDER WAR IX" (22:40): The problem with this match was that it was too fast-paced to even see or contemplate everything going on. The camera men missed a bunch of big spots, too, which didn't help. The Briscoe's are brutal, so most of this was just sickening bumps and chairs being thrown at people's heads. Nobody stood atop a ladder and waited to build anticipation then jumped...everything just happened super fast like a car crash and a lot of it was missed and you only saw out of the corner of your eye. In that sense, this was a disappointment. It was mildly entertaining, though it was too sloppy and all over the place. This whole show was the end of an era, as The Young Bucks have been the face of ROH for the last two years and they're leaving. They've always been the most exciting on every show and the crowd favorites, so it'll be weird to see them gone. ROH has signed a few new people, the best being Bandido, the masked Luchador that wrestled in Dragon Gate, AAA, and in the main event of All In this year. Will ROH survive without The Young Bucks, Cody, Adam Page, and So-Cal Uncensored? I suppose time will tell. Though it's a sad day for Ring of Honor. **

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES

Los Angeles

THE USO'S, THE NEW DAY, LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON & THE COLONS vs. BOBBY ROODE & CHAD GABLE, THE REVIVAL, THE B-TEAM, LUCHA HOUSE PARTY & THE ASCENSION (22:20): This was the pre-show match. A pre-show, I might add, that was two hours long. Jesus Christ. This match was fairly decent. It had a lot of action. The highlight was when Gable gave one of the Uso's a German Suplex off of the top rope down to the floor onto everyone. That was pretty nuts, and something I don't think I've seen before. The Smackdown team won here, which was weird because by the end of the night the announcers were constantly mentioning that Team RAW went 6-0 on the show and it was a clean sweep. Did they forget about the pre-show? Or does the pre-show not matter? Whatever. **1/2

MICKIE JAMES, NIA JAX, TAMINA, BAYLEY & SASHA BANKS vs. NAOMI, CARMELLA, SONYA DEVILLE, ASUKA & MANDY ROSE (18:50): Nia ended up being the sole survivor. The she-beast. Last week she punched Becky Lynch in the face and broke her nose and gave her a concussion, thus deleting the Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch match from this show. So instead of punishing Nia for a stupid thing they've seemingly rewarded her. How nice. This was just okay. **

SETH ROLLINS vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (21:50): This was the best that Nakamura has looked in forever. The match started slow, though, but by the end it turned out good. The only recent Nakamura matches that have been any good have been when he faced AJ and now Seth. So I guess he's only good when he's facing the elite. **1/2

AOP vs. THE BAR (9:00): AOP are the tag champs. Remember they were popular and pretty entertaining in NXT and now they suck? Yeah, weird. This was by far the worst match on the show. I've been sick of Sheamus and Cesaro forever and I guess they don't have good matches anymore, either. 1/2*

BUDDY MURPHY vs. MUSTAFA ALI (12:20): This was perhaps the match of the night. Both guys are nuts and it was big moves one after the other. Ali gave Murphy a Spanish Fly off of the announce table to the floor. And they both did big over-the-rope-to-the-floor dives. This was fun. Murphy retained the Cruiserweight title. ***

DOLPH ZIGGLER, DREW MCINTYRE, BRAUN STROWMAN, FINN BALOR & BOBBY LASHLEY vs. THE MIZ, SHANE MCMAHON, REY MYSTERIO, SAMOA JOE & JEFF HARDY (24:00): NXT Takeover on Saturday night was awesome. The best match was Gargano vs. Aleister Black, but pretty much every match on that show was awesome except for the main event War Games match that was a little too boring in spots (and too long!). But the hot L.A. crowd for Takeover made the show. And I was surprised that tonight's crowd was almost as hot. They were super loud for this match and it helped to make this a good match. Samoa Joe got pinned fast by McIntyre. Shane O'Mac did a top rope elbow drop onto Braun through the announce table. Then Shane did two Coast to Coast Van Terminator's minus the chair (the second one was ruined when Braun slapped him down midway). Shane was great in his day, but, c'mon, he's too old to be doing this shit. Mysterio looked great. It was very entertaining. **1/2

RONDA ROUSEY vs. CHARLOTTE FLAIR (14:40): This match was okay but the post-match was awesome. Becky Lynch was injured so they threw in Flair to face Rousey. The Flair/Rousey match has been rumored to be the Wrestlemania main event so it was kind of a surprise that they did it here on five days notice. But they still might do it because this set up a revenge match. Flair turned heel by hitting Rousey with a Singapore Cane and causing a DQ. Then she went crazy, hitting Flair with the cane and a chair then putting Rousey's head in a chair and stomping on it all the while the officials were going crazy trying to stop it and the place was going nuts. Awesome angle. ***

BROCK LESNAR vs. DANIEL BRYAN (18:50): Ah...the dream match, a few years too late. So Bryan beat AJ for the title and turned heel on Tuesday on Smackdown. So we got a five day build for this match. Okay. Bryan did kick Lesnar in the balls and did taunt him pre-match, so I guess that was his only heel antics. But the crowd wanted Bryan to win so he was sort of still a good guy in their eyes. This turned into a good match once it got into a back-and-forth match, but before that it was ten minutes of Lesnar destroying Bryan with suplexes and the crowd a silent tomb between chants of, "Same old shit!" The only good Lesnar matches have been the ones that are even and back and forth, and so eventually Bryan got going and kicked him in the balls then did some flying knees and put him in the Yes Lock and the crowd was wild. This probably wasn't as good as last year's AJ/Lesnar match but it was pretty similar, and at least this one was the main event unlike last year when AJ and Lesnar were mid-card. Bryan's a heel and the champ now so at least his return has gotten some momentum going. **1/2

NJPW POWER STRUGGLE

Osaka

RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, CHRIS SABIN, ACH & TOA HENARE vs. JYUSHIN THUNDER LIGER, TIGER MASK, VOLADOR, JR. & SOBERANO, JR. (6:10): A lot of these guys were in Japan for the Jr. tag team tournament for the last few weeks, hence why the two CMLL dudes were in this match. Soberano, Jr. slipped on the ropes numerous times during the tournament but still did some pretty cool flips and dives. Volador, Jr. is always exciting and the crowd loves Taguchi and ACH. This was short and fun. **1/2

TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & ROBBIE EAGLES vs. TOGI MAKABE, TOMOAKI HONMA & KUSHIDA (7:39): Honma's still doing multiple diving head butts...even though he had a neck injury. Perhaps he's suicidal. Eagles is from Australia and was in the Jr. tag tournament. The tournament was his New Japan debut. He's great, albeit a B-version of Ospreay. Taiji Ishimori, who wasn't in the match, hobbled out on crutches and hit Kushida with a crutch. They're set to face each other at the Dome. This was short and fairly entertaining. **1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA & BERETTA vs. JAY WHITE & BAD LUCK FALE (4:32): This was to set up the White/Okada Dome match. So it was just Okada and White going on at it and Gedo interfering. White has turned into a pretty entertaining heel...but rarely transfers that into a great match (the one exception this year was the Juice/White match in San Francisco which was awesome). **

KENNY OMEGA & KOTA IBUSHI vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & DAVID FINLAY (9:47): This was more to set up Omega/Tanahashi at the Dome than anything. Usually a Golden Lovers tag match would be incredible, but they played it safe here and it was just okay. Omega's facing Findlay in California for New Japan next weekend at some low key Young Lions match. I barely know who Findlay is yet he's been in the company for years. Ibushi looked incredible as always, though. **1/2

ROPPONGI 3K vs. YOSHINOBU KANEMARU & EL DESPERADO vs. BUSHI & SHINGO TAKAGI (15:55): Good match by the end. Roppongi won the titles here. This was the final of the Jr. tag tournament. And yes, what's the point of having a tournament when three teams are in the final anyway? Half the teams made the final. And they're doing this match again at the Dome. Shingo Takagi is the new dude from Dragon Gate. He's great. He's more brute force and pain than high flying, though. **1/2

HIROOKI GOTO vs. TAICHI (15:02): Ospreay got hurt so they threw Goto into his spot then gave him the NEVER title. Hmmm. We were going to get Ospreay/Ibushi at the Dome and now that's out. Fuck. That's two straight years that Ibushi gets a dream match at the Dome scrapped (he was rumored to face Omega last year). As for Taichi...he fucking blows! Hilarious entrance, though. There's that. Maybe he should just enter and leave and never wrestle. 1/2*

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. MINORU SUZUKI (19:21): This was supposedly for the British Heavyweight title...which they didn't bring to the ring. So was it? Ishii retained either way in a brutal match that was good but not great. Suzuki is aging fast and these two have had better matches against each other in the past. **1/2

TETSUYA NATIO vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (20:12): I guess I'm not a big fan of Zack...because the wrestling fans loved this match and I was bored. I do admire the fact that Zack's submission style of wrestling is different...but, unfortunately, it's a little too slow for me. This was good in spots but didn't really have the heightened drama at the end that it needed. **

CHRIS JERICHO vs. EVIL (21:40): Ugh. Will New Japan fire Jericho already? He's old and fat and all he does is brawl and breathe heavy and his matches are sloppy as fuck now. It didn't help that he was facing Evil, the dullest of the dull. Jericho retained the IC title and is set to face Naito again, this time at the Dome. I suppose it wasn't Crown Jewel-esque awful, but it certainly wasn't good. *

WWE CROWN JEWEL

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. RUSEV (9:30): This show was live at 12 noon Eastern on a Friday. I suppose I could go on and on about how awful Saudi Arabia is...but what's the point? The U.S. has been doing business with the country for years no matter what terrible things they do (public beheadings, murdering newspaper critics, banning homosexuality, alcohol, and porn, treating women like slaves, starting a war with Yemen, etc.), and so is it that surprising that the WWE still does shows there? The show ended up being perhaps the worst WWE show of all time, if that's any consolation. This match was on the hour long pre-show. Shockingly, the name of the country was never mentioned during the broadcast. They did have Renee Young doing commentary without a head scarf, though. Progress! They showed the crowd a lot; kids, women in burqa's. I feel so bad for those people. Then again, they're born there, they grow up there, maybe they don't realize how prison-like it is. Or do they? And what're they gonna do? Rebel and be imprisoned? Killed? Hard to enjoy a wrestling show with that doom hanging over it. And this was the start of the endless, boring, pedestrian matches on the card. Nakamura retained the U.S. title. 1/2* (out of ****)

REY MYSTERIO vs. RANDY ORTON (5:30): Mysterio is back and looks great. Weird, because he was great in the late 90's...what the fuck? Is he immortal? Orton lost then beat him up post-match. This was a first round match in the "Best in the World" tournament that had only North Americans and was eventually won by someone not in the tournament. *1/2

THE MIZ vs. JEFF HARDY (7:05): This was like a house show. No one really did much and the matches were all short except for the main event. This was a part of the soon to be forever infamous "Best in the World" tournament. *

SETH ROLLINS vs. BOBBY LASHLEY (5:30): Another tournament match. Lashley sucks. He's so big and dumb and plodding. He is old, so I guess that's one excuse. Rollins might be WWE's big star now that Roman Reigns is out battling leukemia. *

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. KURT ANGLE (8:10): Angle looked as good as possible considering he's old and broken. This was another tournament match. The crowd chanted, "You suck!" when Angle entered. That was amusing. *1/2

CESARO & SHEAMUS vs. THE NEW DAY (10:30): These teams have had some great matches in the past, but, man, this sucked. It was dull. The New Day came out on a big, flying carpet type of rig. *

THE MIZ vs. REY MYSTERIO (11:15): The second round of the tournament. The Miz won. I wonder if Mysterio is questioning his WWE return at this moment. *1/2

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. SETH ROLLINS (13:05): This is the blood feud that no one cares about. Ziggler won which means we're getting a Ziggler vs. Miz final to crown the best wrestler in the world. Huh? *1/2

AJ STYLES vs. SOMOA JOE (11:15): Daniel Bryan was supposed to wrestle AJ for the title here but he refused to go to Saudi Arabia (even though he wrestled there in the Greatest Royal Rumble event earlier this year) so they had AJ beat Bryan clean on Smackdown before this show. This was probably the best match on the show, though it was short and just okay. **

BROCK LESNAR vs. BRAUN STROWMAN (3:15): Roman Reigns has leukemia so he had to leave the WWE and forfeit the title. So this was for the title and Lesnar won quickly after Baron Corbin, RAW's GM, hit Strowman in the head with the title then Lesnar delivered five or so F5's. Strowman kept kicking out for awhile but he still got destroyed. Lesnar was suppose to be going to the UFC so I'm not sure why he won the title here. *1/2

SHANE McMAHON vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (2:30): This was the final match in the "Best in the World" tournament. John Cena wouldn't go to Saudi Arabia so he wasn't in the tournament. So maybe you would think that, well, it's not really the best wrestlers in it, anyway. Well it got worse. The Miz got injured so couldn't wrestle, so Shane announced he would wrestle here even though he didn't wrestle in the first or second round, wasn't in the tournament, and is a GM, not a wrestler. Shane quickly won then ran around with the trophy. This was apparently set up to turn Shane heel eventually. What a stupid fucking story. This is the best they can come up with? 1/2*

HHH & SHAWN MICHAELS vs. KANE & THE UNDERTAKER (27:45): Shawn Michaels returned to wrestle for the first time in eight years. That would normally be a big deal, but with the whole Saudi Arabia controversy swirling around everything, his return was kind of an afterthought. He's bald now and did a moonsault off the top rope and landed hard on his face. HHH injured his pec muscle and now needs surgery. Kane's mask/hair came off during this match. My God was this a disaster. The crowd cheered for a lot of it but that was just because they were probably happy to see these stars in the flesh. This show and this match were atrocious. And yet, the WWE signed a ten year deal with Saudi Arabia so we'll be seeing shows like this every year for too long. -No Stars-

WWE EVOLUTION

Nassau Coliseum
Long Island, NY

TRISH STRATUS & LITA vs. MICKIE JAMES & ALICIA FOX (11:05): This was the WWE's first all-women's ppv. The reason behind it isn't great, though. The WWE is having a show on Friday in Saudi Arabia. This will be their second visit this year to Saudi Arabia. The first time they went the company got a lot of flak because women aren't allowed to wrestle on the show there. That's not the only thing bad/wrong about Saudi Arabia (alcohol, homosexuality, and porn are illegal, among other ridiculousness). A few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia had a U.S. citizen murdered in Turkey because he was a newspaper critic of them. But the WWE only cares about money. So here's at least a bone to throw the women that can't get a big pay day like Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar who are only wrestling in Saudi Arabia because the paycheck is so large. An all women's show! The WWE, granted, has made strides in the last few years at making their women's division less of a bra-and-panties, mud-pit melee type of a comedy farce. Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Asuka, Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Bayley have led the charge. They did a women's Royal Rumble this year and last year a women's Hell in a Cell match was the main event on that ppv. There was only one good match on paper on this card, though, and that was the only one that delivered. As for this opener? It was three old hags and Alicia Fox. It was okay but the crowd was super hot. The arena was as dark as a cave, probably because there were a lot of empty seats, but this was a hardcore crowd which was good. *1/2

BATTLE ROYAL (NIA JAX) (16:10): They always throw a monotonous battle royal on shows when they don't know what else to do it seems. I didn't pay much attention to this. It was the usual stuff. *1/2

TONI STORM vs. IO SHIRAI (10:20): Shirai was Stardom's big star in Japan. That's an all women's wrestling company. Of course she lost here, though, which seems fairly inept. This was the finals of the Mae Young Women's Classic...which I didn't watch and probably no one else did since it wasn't on RAW or Smackdown. The internet fans slobbered over this match when it was announced but it was way too short. Both of them did some crazy moves, though, like a top-rope moonsault to the floor and a suplex on the apron. They're both definitely future stars. **1/2

SASHA BANKS, BAYLEY & NATALYA vs. RUBY RIOTT, LIV MORGAN & SARAH LOGAN (13:10): Good match. The last great women's match was Bayley vs. Sasha at a NXT Takeover awhile back. So you'd think they'd put Banks or Bayley in a one on one match. Nope! Banks is great, perhaps the WWE's best women's wrestler. They've been sort of setting up a Bayley/Banks feud forever...so maybe pull the trigger. **1/2

SHAYNA BASZLER vs. KAIRI SANE (12:10): Good match. This was for the NXT title. Kairi Sane is awesome and gorgeous, a true WWE rare gem. Baszler is a UFC style brute. This was more entertaining than their Takeover bout earlier this year. The end had outside interference from Baszler's Four Horsewomen contingent so that ending sucked and blew. **1/2

BECKY LYNCH vs. CHARLOTTE "LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH" (28:40): The WWE doesn't have many half hour long matches. Maybe they should, as it takes time to build drama and emotion and tell a story. This was the WWE's best match of the year. NXT had better matches, but the WWE main roster hasn't had much to cheer about all year. This was awesome stuff. It was basically a tables, ladders, and chairs match. Becky elbow dropped through Charlotte on the announce table. Charlotte did a moonsault onto Becky on a table and it didn't break so she did it again but did a Swanton Bomb. They both dropped each other on a pile of chairs in the ring. They hit each other with Singapore canes. They brawled through the crowd. The finish had Lynch power bomb Charlotte off the top rope through a ring side table and Flair didn't beat the ten count. This was emotional and dramatic as hell. Also very entertaining. I do love plunder matches so perhaps I'm biased, but this still was definitely a high water mark for WWE women's matches. Lynch retained the title, and is still apparently a heel even though she was voraciously cheered throughout. ***1/2

RONDA ROUSEY vs. NIKKI BELLA (14:15): They created this feud out of thin air two weeks ago for no reason. They should have made the Lynch/Flair match the main event. Seeing Rousey selling for ten minutes was atrocious. Rousey kept her title. This was perhaps better than even I thought, albeit it still was pretty bad. *1/2

NJPW KING OF PRO WRESTLING

Tokyo

EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU vs. JYUSHIN THUNDER LIGER & TIGER MASK (9:51): When these four dudes waltzed out for the first match I was like, oh, jeez, a typical, random New Japan multi-man opener. I was sadly mistaken, as this was for the Jr. tag titles, which Desperado and Kanemaru retained. What a fucking title that is, as I'd forgotten who the champs were. It's probably because I loathe Suzuki-Gun. And where the hell is the Dragon Lee vs. Desperado mask vs. mask match we were promised? This was mildly entertaining. **

TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. JUICE ROBINSON & TOA HENARE (10:20): Honma was almost paralyzed but is back and looks...the same? I guess a little rusty, but he's still doing diving head butts for some reason. This was just okay. The crowd still loves Honma, though, which at least made this a hotter match than it had any right to be. *1/2

BAD LUCK FALE, TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & TAIJI ISHIMORI vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS, HANGMAN PAGE & CHASE OWENS (12:06): Where the hell has Ishimori been? I know he wrestled for TNA/Impact at their last ppv...but he set the world on fire in June during the Super Juniors. Hopefully he'll face Kushida at the Dome. And The Bucks are always fun to watch, so there was that. **1/2

TOMOHIRO ISHII, HIROOKI GOTO & WILL OSPREAY vs. MINORU SUZUKI, TAICHI & TAKASHI IIZUKA (12:10): Ugh. Taichi. Dude comes out dressed like The Phantom of the Opera. He's the NEVER champ and is facing Ospreay next for it. Why does Taichi exist? And what's the point of Iizuka? He's like a chained animal set loose. Actually, that's his gimmick. Ospreay and Ishii were fun to watch. **1/2

TETSUYA NAITO, SANADA, BUSHI & SHINGO TAKAGI vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA, TORU YANO, YOH & SHO (9:30): Takagi was the new member of Los Ignoberables that debuted. He's from Dragon Gate. He looked good. Match was okay. The set-up video for this match was hilarious, though. It had Los Ignoberables gambling and drinking in a private room while dressed in suits. They're so fucking cool! I guess. Although they were in the room alone. No girls. **

EVIL vs. ZACK SABRE, JR: Chris Jericho was dressed up as one of Evil's ring entrance zombie/ghost characters. He beat up Evil and unmasked and there was no match. Sabre stood at ringside at watched. This was amusing. **1/2

KUSHIDA vs. MARTY SCURLL (18:33): Good match. Kushida is the new Jr. champ. Takahashi broke his neck so he had to vacate the title. The last time these two wrestled on a big show it was for Ring of Honor in 2017 on a ppv and it was a bore. This was not super fast paced but it was well wrestled and entertaining. With Ospreay moving up in weight and Takahashi out, this division is fairly depleted these days, which is a shame. It was the greatest thing on earth three months ago. **1/2

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. JAY WHITE (20:40): This match was good and the post-match was good...but, c'mon, Jay White was not winning and going on to main event the Dome. So that took any drama out of this. The problem is that the G1 winner gets a title Dome main event match. Well Tanahashi won that but still had to defend his title shot against Okada last month and now White. What the hell is the point of winning the G1 these days? It's kind of like how winning the Royal Rumble became pointless once the February ppv was added. So the post-match had Jay White and Gedo joining The Firing Squad...creating a new, NWO style heel faction. Okada ran out and got beat up, too. Gedo is a great heel and they're pushing the hell out of White for some reason but he still can't win the big one. **1/2

KENNY OMEGA vs. CODY vs. KOTA IBUSHI (34:13): This match was announced last week at the Long Beach show. I guess I'd rather see an Ibushi/Omega match at a bigger show where the end result isn't obvious (Omega was not going to lose the title after his Tanahashi Dome match was pretty much set up two months ago), so I wasn't too mad that Cody was meaninglessly added to this. And Cody added nothing to this. He detracted. It was still great in spots but a bit sloppy and a bit pointless. **1/2

WWE SUPER SHOW-DOWN

Melbourne, Australia

THE NEW DAY vs. CESARO & SHEAMUS (9:38): This show was held at a 100,000 seat cricket stadium. It was probably 75% filled, although they did have seats on the floor which, I assume, cricket does not. Plus the giant stage blocked half of the arena. They said the attendance was 70,000, which, even minus a few thousand since they always lie, is impressive. My question is: they actually get 100,000 to watch cricket? Really? Strange that there's a sport somewhere that fills a 100,000 seat stadium that the U.S. media doesn't cover or put on TV. I guess because we hate immigrants, right? Fuck cricket and all that? There are college football stadiums that fill close to that and I'm guessing Australia doesn't cover those games, so I'm not sure why I'm confounded. As for this show...it had some big matches and was entertaining, although, like the Saudi Arabia show, it wasn't anything particularly special besides a big crowd. The only title to change hands was the 205Live title, and that was only because Buddy Murphy is Australian. This opener, for the tag titles, was good but short, fun while it lasted but pretty forgettable. **1/2

CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs. BECKY LYNCH (10:50): Good match with a lame DQ finish. Flair had Lynch in the Figure Four and Lynch hit her with the belt to lose but retain. This was hard hitting and fast paced. I'm glad Lynch is finally getting a push because she's charasmatic as hell. **1/2

BOBBY LASHLEY & JOHN CENA vs. ELIAS & KEVIN OWENS (10:05): Cena hasn't wrestled in a long time. I forget the last time. Saudi Arabia, maybe. He has more hair now than usual so you can see his bald spot. His face looks hollow and he looks really old now for some reason. They've really destroyed Owens, though, right? Remember when him and Cena were having four star matches? Now Owens is a fat joke. This was like a RAW main event. *1/2

BILLY KAY & PEYTON ROYCE vs. ASUKA & NAOMI (5:45): Kay and Royce are from Australia. I guess that's why they were on the show because they're awful at everything besides looking pretty. Asuka is another one they've buried. Remember when she was a big, undefeated monster? Now she's like a comedy character. 1/2*

AJ STYLES vs. SAMOA JOE "NO DQ MATCH" (23:45): Good match, perhaps their best yet. Styles bled from the mouth. He put Joe through a table. A chair was used. I still wish AJ never left New Japan and Joe was still in Ring of Honor. **1/2

BRIE BELLA, NIKKI BELLA & RONDA ROUSEY vs. LIV MORGAN, RUBY RIOT & SARAH LOGAN (10:05): This was good when Rousey was in there. They better have her start wrestling Asuka or Lynch instead of all of these joke opponents that she whips around like rag dolls. Nikki Bella legit KO'd Morgan on RAW two weeks ago with a kick to the face, so it was kind of surprising she's already back wrestling. In a few weeks they're doing an all women WWE ppv...which, let's be honest, has the potential for being the worst wrestling show in quite some time. *

BUDDY MURPHY vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER (10:35): This was the match of the night. Murphy is from Australia so the crowd was boisterous. Shocking to see a 205Live match have heat and noise. Good action, good near falls. This was pure action and Murphy won the title. ***

THE SHIELD vs. BRAUN STROWMAN, DOLPH ZIGGLER & DREW MCINTYRE (19:40): Ugh. If you watch RAW then you're sick to death of these six dudes. I watch RAW. RAW has had the worst ratings in their history the last two weeks. Either the audience is sick of these guys or it's just because Monday Night Football is back. This was like a typical RAW main event. Nothing memorable. *

DANIEL BRYAN vs. THE MIZ (2:45): Short! I guess they didn't want to go over four hours so they cut this short. Bryan wins a title shot against AJ. Unfortunately it'll be in Saudi Arabia and not a main event. At least this feud is over. Maybe. Probably. Still, it was Bryan's best ppv match yet this year. **

HHH vs. THE UNDERTAKER "NO DQ MATCH" (27:35): This was awful. And boring. 'Taker should not be wrestling. He tried to pick up HHH and slam him on a guard rail in the crowd but couldn't lift him. Shaun Michaels was a ringside and got involved, as did Kane. Michaels Super Kicked Kane and 'Taker. HHH elbow dropped Kane on a table. HHH kicked out of a Tombstone. Two ref bumps. What else? I guess the crowd was just happy to see two legends wrestling. Kevin Nash noted somewhere online that it says a lot about how bad the WWE is now that they have to put old guys in the main event. I disagree. AJ vs. Bryan for the title could have been the main event. Or Reigns vs. Bruan for the title. And those matches would have been better and the stadium would still have been packed. 1/2*